Pharnuchus

(Φαρ νοὺχος, Φαρνούχης), or Pharnu'ches.

1. An officer of Cyrus the Elder, and one of the chiliarchs of his cavalry in the war with Croesus. After the conquest of Babylon he was made satrap of the Hellespontine Phrygia and Aeolis. (Xen. Cuvrop. 6.3.32, 7.1.22, 8.6.7.)

2. One of the three commanders of the cavalry in the army of Xerxes. A fall from his horse brought on an illness, which prevented him from proceeding with the expedition into Greece, and obliged him to remain behind at Sardis. By his order the horse's legs were cut off at the knees on the spot where he had thrown his master (Hdt. 7.88). The name Pharnuchuse occurs also as that of a Persian commander in the Persae of Aeschylus (305, 928).

3. A Lycian, was appointed by Alexander the Great to command the force sent into Sogdiana against Spitamenes in B. C. 329. The result of the expedition was disastrous. [Caranus, No. 3.] Pharnuches had been entrusted with its superintendence, because he was acquainted with the language of the barbarians of the region, and had shown much dexterity in his intercourse with them. According to Aristobulus he was conscious of his deficiency in military skill, and wished to cede the command to the three Macedonian officers who were acting under him, but they refused to accept it. (Arr. Anab. 4.3, 5, 6; Curt. 7.6, 7.) [E.E]

(Φαρνοῦχος), an historian of uncertain date, who wrote a history of Persia. He was a native of Antioch in Mesopotamia, and, as this town was called Asibe or Nasibe by its inhabitants, Pharnuchus received the name of Asibenus or Nasibenus. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Άντιόχεια ; Voss. de Hist. Graec. p. 483, ed. Westermann ; comp. Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. p. 540.) [E.E]