Arsames ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma,
modern Persian
New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...
:،آرسام، آرشام Arshām,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: ) was the son of
Ariaramnes and the grandfather of
Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been
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 ...
of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
during the
Achaemenid dynasty, and to have given up the throne and declared loyalty to his relative
Cyrus II of Persia
Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
before retiring to his family estate in the Persian heartland of
Parsa, living there peacefully for the rest of his life, perhaps nominally exercising the duties of a "lesser king" under the authority of the "Great King". However, the claim that he or his son were ever kings is rejected by historians such as
Pierre Briant
Pierre Briant (born 30 September 1940 in Angers) is a French Iranologist, Professor of History and Civilisation of the Achaemenid World and the Empire of Alexander the Great at the Collège de France (1999 onwards), Doctor Honoris Causa at the Uni ...
. In an inscription allegedly found in
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
[The inscription is known among Old Persian scholars by the code AsH.] he is called "king of Persia", but the document is widely argued to be a fake, either modern or ancient. Another attestation of his reign is the
Behistun Inscription, where his grandson
Darius I lists him among his ancestors, although he does not explicitly mention him as being one of the anonymous eight kings whom he claims preceded him.
Arsames was the father of
Hystaspes (satrap of
Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
),
Pharnaces (satrap of Phrygia) and
Megabates
Megabates ( Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; dates unknown) was a Persian military leader in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC. According to Herodotus he was a cousin of Darius the Great and his brother Artaphernes, satrap of Lydia.
Bas ...
(a general). Arsames lived to see his grandson, Darius I, become the
Great King
Great king, and the equivalent in many languages, refers to historical titles of certain monarchs, suggesting an elevated status among the host of kings and princes. This title is most usually associated with the '' shahanshah'' (shah of shahs ...
of the Persian Empire, though he died during his reign. Arsames and his son Hystaspes are noted as being alive in 522 BC, indicating that he had survived well into old age.
His name (''Aršāma'') translates to "having a hero's strength". The feminine version of the name is Aršāmā (
modern Persian
New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...
:ارشاما
rshāmā Greek: Arsamē), and was the name of the daughter of
Darius I, likely named in reference to him.
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References
Citations
Works cited
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External links
Arsames page at livius.org
Ancient Persian people
Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
5th-century BC rulers
6th-century BC Iranian people
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