Orontes I (Old Persian: *Arvanta-; died 344 BC) was a Bactrian nobleman, who served as a military officer of the Achaemenid Empire in the first half of the 4th-century BC. He first appears in 401 BC as the satrap of the satrapy of Armenia. There he participated in the Battle of Cunaxa, where he harassed the Ten Thousand following their retreat. In the same year, he married Rhodogune, a daughter of the King of Kings Artaxerxes II ().
In the 380s BC, Orontes along with the satrap Tiribazus were assigned to lead the campaign against Evagoras I (), the king of Salamis in Cyprus. The campaign was initially successful, with Evagoras offering to make peace. However, after the negotiations between him and Tiribazus failed, Orontes accused the latter of deliberately prolonging the war and planning to declare independence. This led to Tiribazus' dismissal and imprisonment. This was followed by a chain of events which ultimately weakened the Persian forces, forcing Orontes to make peace with Evagoras in 380 BC. The terms of the treaty was that Evagoras was obligated to pay tribute to the Persian king, but as a subordinate king rather than a slave. Artaxerxes II did not deem the conclusion of the war satisfactory, as it had cost 15,000 talents, and as a result Orontes fell into disfavour.
Orontes later reappears in 362/1 BC, as the hyparch of Mysia and the leader of the revolting satraps of Asia Minor. The revolt was shortlived, as Orontes betrayed his allies and shifted his allegiance back to Artaxerxes II. According to the classical Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (died ), Orontes thought that he would be greatly rewarded if he did so at such a critical point. Since Orontes was in possession of the troops and money, many other rebellious satraps followed suit. By 360/359 BC, the revolt had ended.
Orontes revolted a second time in 354/3 BC, most likely due to his disappointment with the rewards he received by the king. He seized the town of Pergamon, but eventually reconciled with Artaxerxes II's son and successor Artaxerxes III () and gave him back the town. Orontes later died in 344 BC.
Orontes is regarded as the ancestor of the Orontid dynasty, which established itself in Armenia, Sophene, and Commagene during the Achaemenid and Hellenistic period. Orontes II, who was the satrap of Armenia and led the Armenian contingent (together with Mithrenes) at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, was either a son or grandson of Orontes.
Name
"Orontes" is the Greek transliteration of the Old Persian name *Arvanta, which continued in Middle and New Persian as Arvand. The name is related to the Avestan word auruuaṇt- ("swift, vigorous, brave"), which itself may be an abbreviated version of the Avestan name Auruuaṱ.aspa- ("having swift horses").
Background
Orontes was the son of Artasyrus, a Bactrian nobleman, who occupied the high-ranking office of the "King's Eye", and has been suggested be the same person as the namesake Iranian noble who participated in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC. Orontes has therefore sometimes been referred to as "Orontes the Bactrian". Him and his father are the only Bactrians who are known to have occupied high offices under the Achaemenid Empire. Bactrians that settled in other parts of the empire either did so by their own will or as garrison-colonists.
Orontes claimed descent from the Persian magnate Hydarnes, one of the six companions of Darius the Great (). This claim is supported by Orontes' later marriage in 401 BC to Rhodogune, a daughter of Artaxerxes II (). Orontes was thus most likely descended from Hydarnes through his maternal line rather than his Bactrian paternal line. The Achaemenid satrapy of Armenia seems to have been a semi-hereditary fief of Hydarnes, due to his descendants governing it until the Hellenistic period. From his maternal side, Orontes may have been related to two Persian noblemen also named Orontes, whom were prominent figures at the end of the 5th-century BC. One of them had deserted Cyrus the Younger (died 401 BC) during his attempt to take the throne from Artaxerxes II, and as a result was executed. The other Orontes reportedly had bad relations with Artaxerxes II's mother Parysatis, eventually being executed at her behest.
According to the classical Greek author Plutarch (died after 119 AD), Orontes' appearance was similar to that of the Greek mythological figure Alcmaeon.