Artasyrus (also spelled
Artasouras;
Old Iranian:
Arta-sūra) was a
nobleman in the Achaemenid Empire, who was the father of
Orontes I (died 344 BC), the
satrap of the Armenia and ancestor of the
Orontid dynasty. The career of Artasyrus is obscure. According to the Greek historian
Plutarch, he held the high-ranking office of the "King's Eye". He has been suggested be the same person as the namesake Iranian noble who participated in the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC. He and Orontes I are the only Bactrians who are known to have occupied high offices under the Achaemenid Empire. Bactrians that settled in other parts of the empire either did so by their own will or as garrison-colonists.
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