Arsames ( Aršāma,

modern Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () 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 three stages: Early New Persian (8th/ ...

:،آرسام، آرشام‎ Arshām,

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

: ) was the son of

Ariaramnes Ariaramnes (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶𐎴 ''Ariyāramna''; "peace of the Arya") was a great-uncle of Cyrus the Great and the great-grandfather of Darius I, and perhaps the king of Parsa, the ancient core kingdom of Persia. __NOT ...

and the grandfather of

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

during the

Achaemenid dynasty The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...

, and to have given up the throne and declared loyalty to his relative

Cyrus II of Persia Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

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 U ...

. In an inscription allegedly found in

Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...

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 The Behistun Inscription (also Bisotun, Bisitun or Bisutun; , Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of god") is a multilingual Achaemenid royal inscriptions, Achaemenid royal inscription and large rock relief on a cliff at Mount Behistun i ...

, where his grandson

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 ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...

), 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. Based o ...

(a general). Arsames lived to see his grandson, Darius I, become the Great King 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 (

:ارشاما rshāmā Greek: Arsamē), and was the name of the daughter of

, likely named in reference to him. __NOTOC__

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 monarchs in Asia 6th-century BC Iranian people {{iran-royal-stub