Pharnabazus II was a Persian soldier and statesman, and Satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. He was the son of Pharnaces II of Phrygia and grandson of Pharnabazus I, and great-grandson of Artabazus I. He and his male ancestors, forming the Pharnacid dynasty, had governed the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia from its headquarters at Dascylium since 478 BC. He married Apama, daughter of Artaxerxes II of Persia, and their son Artabazus also became a satrap of Phrygia. According to some accounts, his granddaughter Barsine may have become Alexander the Great's concubine.
Portrait of Pharnabazus II on his coinage.
Pharnabazus was Satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia.
Coinage of Pharnabazos, circa 398-396/5 BC, Kyzikos, Mysia. Obv: Legend ΦΑΡ-Ν-[A]-BA ("FAR-N-[A]-BA", for Pharnabazos), head of Pharnabazos, wearing the satrapal cap tied below his chin, with diadem. Rev: Ship's prow left, with a griffin and prophylactic eye; two dolphins downward; below, a tuna.
The assassination of the exiled Athenian general Alcibiades may have been organized by Pharnabazes, at the request of Sparta.
Hellespontine Phrygia or Lesser Phrygia was a Persian satrapy (province) in northwestern Anatolia, directly southeast of the Hellespont. Its capital was Dascylium, and for most of its existence it was ruled by the hereditary Persian Pharnacid dynasty. Together with Greater Phrygia, it made up the administrative provinces of the wider Phrygia region.
An Achaemenid dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psilos, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.
The Polyxena sarcophagus from Hellespontine Phrygia, in Late Greek Archaic style, 520-500 BC. Çanakkale Archaeological Museum.