Ardakhshir I (also spelled Artaxerxes I;

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

: ''rtḥštry'') was a dynast (''

frataraka Frataraka (Aramaic: ''Prtkr’𐡐𐡓𐡕𐡊𐡓’'', "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 o ...

'') of

Persis Persis (, ''Persís;'' Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿, ''Parsa''), also called Persia proper, is a historic region in southwestern Iran, roughly corresponding with Fars province. The Persian ethnic group are thought to have initially migrated ...

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

Name

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

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

form of the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

''Ṛtaxšira'' (also spelled ''Artaxšaçā'', meaning "whose reign is through

truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

"). The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

variant of the name is '. Three kings of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

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 The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

. 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 The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, originated from the region. The ''frataraka'' themselves emphasized their close affiliation with the prominent Achaemenid

king of kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...

, and their court was probably at the former Achaemenid capital of

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

, 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 language, 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 Pers ...

Wadfradad I Wadfradad I, Hellenized as Autophradates I was a dynast (''frataraka'') of Persis in the late 2nd-century BC, ruling from 146 to 138 BC. He was succeeded by Wadfradad II Wadfradad II, Hellenized as Autophradates II, was a dynast (''frataraka'') ...

and

Wadfradad II Wadfradad II, Hellenized as 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 monarchs in Asia Zoroastrian monarchs Frataraka rulers of Persis