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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Arsames (satrap of Egypt)
Arsames was a satrap of Egypt during the late fifth century BC. He issued a document written in Aramaic on behalf of his estate manager, Nehtihor, in which he mentions a few cities in Assyria, showing that the region was economically active during the Achaemenid period. Otherwise, little is known of Arsames, the satrap of Egypt.
