Sisamnes was, according to Herodotus's Histories, a corrupt royal judge active in the Persian empire during the reign of Cambyses II of Persia. When Cambyses learned that Sisamnes had accepted a bribe to influence a verdict, he had him promptly arrested and sentenced him to be flayed alive. He had the skin of the flayed Sisamnes cut into leather strips. Cambyses then appointed Otanes, the son of the condemned Sisamnes, as his father's judicial successor. In order to remind Otanes what happens to corrupt judges and not forget the importance of judicial integrity, Cambyses ordered that the new judge's chair be draped in the leather strips made from the skin of the flayed Sisamnes.[1] Otanes later became a satrap in Ionia.[2] Cambyses warned Otanes to continually keep in mind the source of the leather of the chair upon which he would be seated to deliberate and deliver his judgment.[3] The story was also referred to by the first century Latin author Valerius Maximus in his Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX (The nine books of memorable deeds and sayings).[4] Whereas in Herodotus' version Sisamnes' skin is cut into strips, Maximus has the skin stretched across the chair.[5]
^Georges Martyn, Cambyses aan de Vlaamse kust, in Pro Memorie. Bijdragen tot de rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden , jaargang 14 (2012), afl. 1, pp. 126-136 (in Dutch)
^Perseus Under Philologic: Hdt. 5.25.1. Archived from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
^Anuradha Gobin, Representing the Criminal Body in the City: Knowledge, Publics and Power in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University, Montreal, September 2013, A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
^Valerius Maximus. Memorable Doings and Sayings, Volume II: Books 6-9. Edited and translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. Loeb Classical Library 493. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000
^Claes Jacobsz. van der Heck, Het oordeel van Cambyses Archived 2021-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, at the Stedelijk Museum, Alkmaar
had the skin of the flayed Sisamnes cut into leather strips. Cambyses then appointed Otanes, the son of the condemned Sisamnes, as his father's judicial...
Sisamnes claviger is a species of seed bug in the family Rhyparochromidae. It is found in North America. "Sisamnes claviger Report". Integrated Taxonomic...
Sisamnes contractus is a species of dirt-colored seed bug in the family Rhyparochromidae. It is found in Central America and North America. "Sisamnes...
Gerard David, depicting the arrest and flaying of the corrupt Persian judge Sisamnes on the order of Cambyses, based on Herodotus' Histories. The diptych was...
Judgment of Cambyses Part 1, The Judgment of Sisamnes (1498) The Judgment of Cambyses Part 2, The Flaying of Sisamnes (1498) The Baptism of Christ (1502-1508)...
25-5.28), Herodotus speaks of an Otanes - a son of a previously mentioned Sisamnes (3.31) - who served as a judge under Cambyses II and later under Darius...
warriors were flayed annually as sacrifices to him. According to Herodotus, Sisamnes, a corrupt judge under Cambyses II of Persia, was flayed for accepting...
leader of the 10,000-man contingent of "Immortals", while his brother Sisamnes commanded the levy of the Aryans. On the first day of the Battle of Thermopylae...
under Darius. Hydarnes was survived by two sons, Hydarnes the Younger and Sisamnes, who both served as commanders under Darius' son and successor, Xerxes...
Bagabigna Hydarnes I Persian nobleman (521) Sisamnes Hydarnes II chiliarc of Iran (480–428) Sisamnes (480) Otanes Hydarnes III Satrap of Armenia († 410)...
skin of the flayed Sisamnes so that he should not forget the importance of judicial integrity. The story of the corrupt Sisamnes inspired various Northern...
case of Prexaspes, who served as the "message-bearer" of Cambyses, and Sisamnes, who was the royal judge but later executed by Cambyses. According to Herodotus...
the skin of the flayed Sisamnes to be cut into leather strips. Cambyses then appointed Otanes, the son of the condemned Sisamnes, as his father's successor...
works have remained in Bruges: The Judgment of Cambyses, The Flaying of Sisamnes and the Baptism of Christ in the Groeningemuseum, and the Transfiguration...
against Persia. The successor to Megabazus' command was Otanes (son of Sisamnes). According to Herodotus (Herodotus 6.33) Oebares was a son of Megabazus...
chancery court seal to illustrate the punishment of the Persian judge Sisamnes, killed and skinned after taking a bribe. In 1777, Wythe became one of...
Sibyl influenced some later painters like Gerard David, whose Arrest of Sisamnes shows clear resemblances to The Tiburtine Sibyl meets Augustus. Also some...
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