Masistes

Location of Bactria within the Persian Empire.

Masistes (Old Persian 𐎶𐎰𐎡𐏁𐎫, Maθišta; Greek Μασίστης, Masístēs; Old Iranian *Masišta;[1] died c. 478 BC) was a Persian prince of the Achaemenid Dynasty, son of king Darius I (reign: 520-486 BC) and of his wife Atossa, and full brother of king Xerxes I (reign: 486-465 BC). He was satrap (governor) of Bactria during his brother's reign, where he attempted to start a revolt in 478 BC.

  1. ^ Zadok & Zadok 1997, p. 5; Briant 1997, pp. 54, 91-92. The asterisk indicates that the name was reconstructed by modern scholars, and the sign "š" indicates the sound "sh". According to Ran Zadok, the name is of a non-Persic dialect origin.