Apodakos was a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Characene Characene (Ancient Greek: Χαρακηνή), also known as Mesene (Μεσσήνη) or Meshan, was a kingdom founded by the Iranian Hyspaosines located at the head of the Persian Gulf mostly within modern day Iraq. Its capital, Charax Spasinou (Χ� ...

, a kingdom presumably

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

. Apodakos is known from his

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

, only some of which are dated. Monika Schuol: ''Die Charakene. Ein mesopotamisches Königreich in hellenistisch-parthischer Zeit'', Stuttgart 2000, p. 220-221, 300-303 The dated coins belong to the years 110/09 to 104/3 BC. In 124 BC,

Hyspaosines Hyspaosines (also spelled Aspasine) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian prince, and the founder of Characene, a kingdom situated in southern Mesopotamia. He was originally a Seleucid Empire, Seleucid satrap installed by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( ...

, the first king of Characene died. After his death, his widow Thalassia tried to install their son on the throne. However, the events surrounding the

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

are known from

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

texts and the name of the son is not mentioned. Whether Apodakos was the son of Hyspaosines remains undetermined, however, he has certain historicity from about 14 years later, as king of the small kingdom.

Literature

{{s-end 2nd-century BC rulers in Asia Kings of Characene Year of birth missing Year of death missing 2nd-century BC monarchs in the Middle East 2nd-century BC rulers 2nd-century BC deaths Vassal rulers of the Parthian Empire