Arsames I

Arsames I (Armenian: Արշամ) seems to have taken control of Commagene, Sophene and Armenia in the year 260 BC after the death of his grandfather Orontes III, king of Armenia, and his father Sames, king of Commagene.

Quite why they both died in the same year is not recorded, though it looks suspicious. It is known the Seleucid Empire was always trying to overthrow the Armenian dynasties who still ruled the lands their forebears had in the time of the Achaemenid Empire.

Ziaelas of Bithynia found refuge at the court of king Arsames, and upon the death of king Nicomedes I of Bithynia Ziaelas returned to take the kingdom in 254 BC.

Arsames also supported Antiochus Hierax against his brother, Seleucus II Callinicus, who was defeated at a battle against king Mithridates II of Pontus near Ankara in 239 BC, after which Seleucus lost control of any lands he had across the Taurus mountains. This was to the benefit of Arsames.

Arsames then founded the cities of Arsamosata in Sophene and Arsameia (known today as Eski Kale) in Commagene in 235 BC.

Arsames

Arsames (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma,modern Persian: آرشام‎,Greek: Ἀρσάμης; – ca. 520 BC) was the son of Ariaramnes and perhaps briefly the king of Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty, but gave up the throne and declared loyalty to Cyrus II of Persia. After this, Arsames most likely retired to his family estate in the Persian heartland of Parsa, and lived out the rest of his long years there peacefully, though he may nominally have exercised the duties of a "lesser king" under the authority of the "Great King". In an inscription allegedly found in Hamadan he is called "king of Persia", but some scholars believe it is a fraud, either modern or ancient. Another attestation of his reign is the Behistun Inscription, where his grandson Darius I lists him among his royal forebears and counts him among the eight kings who preceded him.

Arsames was father of Hystaspes, satrap of Parthia, and of Pharnaces. Arsames would live to see his grandson, Darius I, become the Great King of the Persian Empire, though he would die during his reign. In any case, he must have been one of the longest-surviving royals anywhere in the world at that time, probably living well into his nineties.

Arsames (disambiguation)

Arsames (died c. 520 BC) was the son of Ariaramnes and possibly a King of Persia.

Arsames may also refer to:

Arsames (satrap of Cilicia)

Arsames was an Achaemenid Persian satrap of Cilicia who is most famous for his attempt to defeat Alexander the Great at the Battle of Granicus. He was able to survive that battle and flee to his native city of Tarsus, where he began to evacuate the population but failed.

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