Now hardly anyone, having heard how someone is called a satrap, will feel awe. Most likely, people will think about the unkind actions of this person and condemn him. But there were times when they wanted to become a satrap, reckoning it as a great honor. Who is satrap? What does this word mean now and what did it mean before?
Etymology of the word
The origin of the word "satrap" has several interpretations. In ancient Greek, slightly different from modern, “σατράπης” is a rich man, the governor of the Persian ruler. Curiously, in Greece even now some parents give their sons the name Satrapis. The word has the same meaning in the Iranian language. There it sounds like khshatrapâ. The ancient Persians xšaθrapāvan (kshathrapavan) consisted of two words - “kshathra”, meaning kingdom, and “pavan”, that is, the protector. It turns out that the satrap in ancient Persian is the protector of the kingdom. There is another unusual explanation of what the word satrap means. In Sanskrit, the root "sat" is being, the body of the universe, existence, and in a broader sense - truth, light, that from which life develops. "Ra" is a contributor. In this case, Sat-Ra-P will be interpreted as "trampling the truth of the light."
Satraps and satrapies
Answering the question of who is satrap, you need to mentally return to Ancient Persia. This once extremely powerful state is now called Iran. From 558 to 330 BC, the country was ruled by the Achaemenids. They were distinguished by their militancy, often attacked neighboring states and managed to conquer most of them. Mussel, Lydia, Bactria, Nubia, Colchis, Thrace and many others became part of the Persian kingdom. Of course, it was difficult for one person, even the most powerful, to manage such a huge territory. Therefore, Darius I, who reigned at that time, introduced a new management system. He divided the entire territory of the country into regions - satrapies, each of which was obliged to pay him an unquestioning tribute. They supervised the collection of tribute and monitored the order in the territory of the satrap entrusted to them. It is clear that they were very respected people, the first after the king.
The rights and obligations of the satraps
To become a satrap in those days was considered great mercy and great luck. Darius I personally appointed to this position, choosing candidates from among his relatives or family members of the court nobility. The chosen one thanked the gods for this, since now literally everything from the last slave to the highest official obeyed him in his satrapy. Satrap controlled the collection of taxes, monitored the maintenance of the army, acted as supreme judge, that is, he had the right to execute and pardon. He could even mint coins. Given that the king did not intervene in the internal and external affairs of the satrapies, even allowing them to fight with each other, you can understand who the satrap is and who he was for his subordinates. The only thing that limited his power was the royal garrisons, subordinate only to the king. This was done so that the satraps did not decide to achieve the full independence of their satrapy. In practice, the leadership of the garrison informed the king of the satraps, and those, in turn, the leadership of the garrison. So the king controlled the activities of one and the other.
Satrapies under the yoke of excessive requisitions
The taxation imposed by Darius I placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the conquered peoples. The fertile lands were taken from them and distributed to the Persian nobility, which did not pay any taxes. All the rest were obliged to regularly give the tsar a strictly fixed amount, calculated depending on the fertility and size of their land. Even temples were taxed. Later they began to charge tribute in silver. Its quantity was also strictly fixed. Those satrapies on the territory of which there were no silver mines should have bought this precious metal. With this conduct of affairs, the conquered states often rebelled. The most significant uprising occurred in 373 BC, when several regions rose immediately against the king. They were supported by the Egyptians and Greeks. Artaxerxes II, who ruled Persia then, was able to suppress the uprising only in the year 359. This historical fact perfectly explains who the satrap is and what enormous power people in this position had.
The most famous satrap of Persia
Now there are units who know who the satrap Harpag is. But this is the first governor of the king, of which there is documentary evidence. Herodotus wrote about this man, his name is mentioned in myths, and his story was included in the cycle of stories of the science fiction writer Paul Anders “Patrol of Time”. Harpagus, being in the service of King Astyages, received orders to kill the newborn son of Mandana, daughter of King Media. The oracle predicted that this child would become the ruler of the world, and Astyages tried to argue with fate. Harpag, not wanting to commit infanticide with his own hands, handed the baby to a shepherd named Mithridates. He brought him home. The wife of Mithridates just gave birth to a dead baby, and he was planted instead of the king, and they took the prince to himself. Mithridates took the dead child to Harpag, and he reported to the king about the fulfillment of the assignment. Thus, the child, who later became Cyrus the Great, remained alive. Astiag later found out about the deception and, as a punishment for disobedience, fed Garpag the meat of his own son. Harpoon brutally avenged himself by leading a rebellion against the king and removing him from the throne.
Other famous satraps
Another satrap that left a significant mark in history is Orontes I. Plutarch, Demosthenes, Diodorus, and others wrote about him. Orontes I was a satrap of Armenia. He repeatedly raised the people to revolt against the king, sought the independence of Armenia, fought with the king of Cyprus. His name was the river, now known as Typhon. In addition, Orontes I is the grandfather of Orontes II, from whom the genus Orontids in Armenia comes.
There was also a satrap Mazay, who ruled Cilicia, Syria, the lands in Israel and Lebanon. Later Macedonia was annexed to his satrapy. When Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great, Maseus was the satrap of Babylon. He gave the city to the Romans without a fight, for which he not only remained there in his former position, but also received permission from Alexander the Great to print his own coins, which other satraps were deprived of. The meaning of the word is now sometimes interpreted as the rulers of states that are dependent on a stronger power.
Satraps of Tsarist Russia
Satraps in ancient times were called the guardians of the state. Gradually, this word became a household word. Most likely, by analogy with the ancient Persian tsarist governors, who were stripping taxes from the people, regardless of prayers or tears, they began to call tax collectors in tsarist Russia as satraps. Later this term began to be applied to all statesmen, governors and chiefs, distinguished by rigidity. One of them is Arakcheev. He went down in history as an extremely merciless military leader who plagued a soldier with drill, frunt and corporal punishment. There is even a new term for cruelty - Arakcheevschina. In ancient Persia, also not all satraps were distinguished by good disposition. Information has been preserved about how they killed King Darius III. He himself was a satrap of Armenia, but in view of the fact that there was no one left who could take the reins of government, he occupied the royal throne. After less than 6 years, other satraps betrayed him and brutally killed. Having organized a conspiracy, they seized Darius III, inflicted many wounds on him with spears, and threw him to die right on the road. It is noteworthy that the leader of the conspirators was called Bess.
Satraps of modernity
After the merciless rulers of tsarist Russia , the Bolsheviks began to be called satraps, who carried out repressions against wealthy citizens who shot the tsar's family, even children. Satraps are called Stalin, Beria, Hitler, all those who have committed and are committing crimes against humanity. This word is also used in the literature. So, recently a new journalistic novel “Satraps of Satan” was published by Y. Udovenko, in which the author describes the real cases of concealment of various crimes by corrupt Russian officials holding senior government posts. Another book, The Son of the Satrap, is written by Henri Trois. Its plot is built on the memories of the author of his childhood.