Sisamnes was a corrupt royal judge during the reign of Cambyses II of Persia. He accepted a bribe at trial and handed down an unfair sentence. As a result, the king ordered him to be detained for being a trespasser and ordered him to be skinned alive.

His skin was used to upholster the bench on which he presided over the trials, and on which his son, Ótãs, was to sit, on which Sisamnes chose him to replace him.

Ótãs should remember the origin of the leather so that he would take it into account in his hearings, deliberations and sentences.

Ótãs, his son, never dictated unfair sentences or carried out acts of corruption.