1. The founder of the Median empire, according to the account of Ctesias (ap. Diod. 2.24, &c., 32). He is said to have taken Nineveh in
conjunction with Belesis, the Babylonian, and to have destroyed the old Assyrian empire under
the reign of Sardanapalus, B. C. 876. Ctesias assigns 28 years to
the reign of Arbaces, B. C. 876-848, and
makes his dynasty consist of eight kings. This account differs from that of Herodotus, who
makes Deioces the first king of Media, and assigns only four kings to his dynasty. [DEIOCES.] Ctesias' account of the overthrow of the Assyrian empire by
Arbaces is followed by Velleius Paterculus (1.6), Justin (1.3), and
Strabo. (xvi. p. 737.)