Tiraios II was a

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, ...

who ruled from about 79/78 to 49/48 BC the state of

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 (� ...

, a

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 ...

state of the

Parthian Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

s. Like most

s of Characene he is known only from

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

sources, in his case his silver and bronze coins. He was also mentioned by

Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...

, who says of him that he lived till 92. His

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, 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 facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

age indicates he was

hellenised Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

. He was the first king of Charakene to call himself

Soter Soter derives from the Ancient Greek epithet (''Sōtḗr''), meaning a saviour, a deliverer. The feminine form is Soteira (Σώτειρα, ''Sṓteira'') or sometimes Soteria (Σωτηρία, ''Sōtería''). Soter was used as: * A title of gods ...

. One of his coins overstrikes a coin of a king Hippokrates Autokrator Nikephoros. The latter might be an usurpator in the Charakene.G.R.F. Assar: ''A New Hellenistic Ruler from Early 1st Century BC: King ipokrates Autokrator Nikephoros'', in: ''Portraits: 400 Years of Hellenistic Portraits/400 Jahre hellenistische Portraits. Staatliche Münzsammlung München''. Editor/Herausgeber: Dr. Andreas Pangerl. Publisher: Verlag: Staatliche Münzsammlung Munich 2020. , p. 340

References

{{s-end Kings of Characene 1st-century BC monarchs in the Middle East Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 1st-century BC deaths Vassal rulers of the Parthian Empire