Satrap

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Herakleia head, probable portrait of an Achaemenid Empire Satrap of Asia Minor, end of 6th century BCE, probably under Darius I[1]

Satraps (/ˈsætrəp/) were the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires.[2] The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with considerable autonomy. The word came to suggest tyranny or ostentatious splendour.[3][4]

A satrapy is the territory governed by a satrap.[5]

Etymology[]

The word satrap is derived via Latin satrapes from Greek satrápēs (σατράπης), itself borrowed from an Old Iranian *xšaθra-pā/ă-.[6] In Old Persian, which was the native language of the Achaemenids, it is recorded as xšaçapāvan ( WIKI