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Alarodians (Ancient Greek: Ἀλαρόδιοι (Alarodioi)) were tribe living in Northern Persia or Armenia during Classical antiquity.
According to Herodotus, the Alarodians were part of the 18th Satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire and formed a special contingent in the grand army of Xerxes I.[1] Some scholars have tried to link the Alarodians to the Urartians, suggesting that Alarodian was a variation of the name Urartian/Araratian. According to this theory, the Urartians of the 18th Satrapy were subsequently absorbed into the Armenian nation.[2] Modern historians, however, have cast doubt on the Alarodian connection to the Urartians.[3]
Nearly nothing is known about Alarodians except that they "were armed like the Colchians and Saspeires," according to Herodotus.[4]
The controversial Alarodian language theory, a proposed language family that encompasses the Northeast Caucasian languages and the extinct Hurro-Urartian languages, derives its name from the Alarodians.
An earlier, separate Alarodian language group was proposed by Joseph Karst in 1928. Karst's theory suggested a connection between the Armenian and Basque languages.[5] This theory has also failed to gain mainstream support as Armenian is not even a primary language family.
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