Ardakhshir I (also spelled Artaxerxes I;

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: ''rtḥštry'') was a dynast (''

frataraka Frataraka (Aramaic: ''Prtkr’'', "governor", or more specifically "sub-satrapal governor") is an ancient Persian title, interpreted variously as “leader, governor, forerunner”. It is an epithet or title of a series of rulers in Persis fr ...

'') of

Persis Persis ( grc-gre, , ''Persís''), better known in English as Persia ( Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, ''Parsa''; fa, پارس, ''Pârs''), or Persia proper, is the Fars region, located to the southwest of modern-day Iran, now a province. T ...

in the late 3rd-century BC, ruling sometime after 220 to .

Name

''Ardakhshir'' (''Ardashir'') is the

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

form of the Old Persian ''Ṛtaxšira'' (also spelled ''Artaxšaçā'', meaning "whose reign is through

truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belie ...

"). The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

variant of the name is '. Three kings of the Achaemenid Empire were known to have the same name.

Reign

Since the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, Persis had been ruled by local dynasts subject to the Seleucid Empire. They held the ancient Persian title of ''

'' ("leader, governor, forerunner"), which is also attested in the Achaemenid-era. The Achaemenid Empire, which had a century earlier ruled most of the Near East, originated from the region. The ''frataraka'' themselves emphasized their close affiliation with the prominent Achaemenid king of kings, and their court was probably at the former Achaemenid capital of

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

, where they financed construction projects on and near the Achaemenid plateau. The ''frataraka'' had traditionally been regarded as priestly dynasts or advocates of religious (and political) opposition to Hellenism, however, this is no longer considered the case. The chronology of the early Persid rulers is disputed. The traditional view was that the chronology of the early rulers were;

Baydad Baydad (also spelled Bagdates), was a dynast (''frataraka'') of Persis from 164 to 146 BC. Background Since the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, Persis had been ruled by local dynasts subject to the Seleucid Empire. They ...

, Ardakhshir I,

Wahbarz Wahbarz (also spelled Vahbarz), known in Greek sources as Oborzos, was a dynast (''frataraka'') of Persis in the 1st half of the 2nd century BC, ruling from possibly to 164 BC. His reign was marked by his efforts to establish Persis as a kingdom ...

Wadfradad I Wadfradad I (also spelled Autophradates I) was a dynast (''frataraka'') of Persis Persis ( grc-gre, , ''Persís''), better known in English as Persia ( Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, ''Parsa''; fa, پارس, ''Pârs''), or Persia proper, ...

and

Wadfradad II Wadfradad II (also spelled Autophradates II) was a dynast (''frataraka'') of Persis in the late 2nd-century BC, ruling sometime after 138 BC. He was appointed as ''frataraka'' by the Parthian king Mithridates I (), who granted him more autonomy, ...

. However, recent findings of Persis coins have led to more a likely chronology; Ardakhshir I, Wahbarz, Wadfradad I, Baydad and Wadfradad II.

References

Sources

* . * * * * * * * {{Fratarakas of Persis 3rd-century BC Iranian people History of Fars Province Seleucid Empire 3rd-century BC rulers in Asia Zoroastrian rulers Frataraka rulers of Persis