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[German version] (Ζιαήλας; Ziaḗlas). The son from the first marriage of Nicomedes [2] I was excluded by him from the succession to the Bithynian throne. Z. therefore fled c. 255 BC to an Armenian king whose name is not known (Samos [1]). After his father's death, with the help of the Galatian Tolistobogii in battles lasting until c. 250, he succeeded in gaining the main part of Bithynia (Memnon FGrH 434 F 14). In a letter sent to Cos between 246 and 242 (Syll.3 456 = Welles 25) Z. recognized the asylum ( ásylon ) of the Temple of Asclepius there. The letter also r…

[German version] (Ζαμάσφης/ Zamásphēs). Persian king, son of Peroz [1] I. His reign 496-499 interrupted that of his brother Cavades [1] I, who had been dethroned in a conspiracy of high nobles and Zoroastrian clerics because of his support for Mazdak. When Cavades, who had escaped from the 'Castle of Forgetfulness', returned at the head of an army of Hephthalitae, Z. vacated the throne without a fight (Agathias 4,28). His later fate is unclear. PLRE 2, 1195. Sassanids Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography A. Lippold, s. v. Z., RE 9 A, 2308 f. K. Schippmann, Grundzüge der Geschi…

(Φραάτης; Phraátēs). [German version] [1] P. I Parthian king, 1st half of the 2nd cent. BC Son of Phriapatius, Parthian king from 176 BC. In about 171 BC, P. defeated the Amardi and deported them to Charax near the Caspian Gates (Isidorus of Charax 7). He died soon afterwards, after having appointed his brother Mithridates [12] I as his successor (Just. Epit. 41,5,9-10). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography M. Schottky, Media Atropatene und Groß-Armenia, 1989, Index s.v. P. [German version] [2] P. II Parthian king, 2nd half of the 2nd cent. BC Nephew of P. [1], son of Mithridates…

(Δημῶναξ; Dēmônax or Δαμῶναξ; Damônax). [German version] [1] D. of Mantinea Arbitrator in Cyrene about 550 BC Respected aristocrat who was appointed as ‘arbitrator’ (καταρτιστήρ; katartistḗr) in  Cyrene about 550 BC on the advice of the Delphic Oracle (Hdt. 4,161). To resolve the internal conflicts, D. reformed the three phylai in which he redistributed the different groups of colonists and immigrants, the Theraeans and Perioeci, Peloponnesians and Cretans, ‘Nesiotai’, i.e. people from the (Ionian?) islands [1]. D. restricted the royal power o…

(Ἀριοβαρζάνης; Ariobarzánēs, Old Persian Ariyabrdana). [German version] [1] Satrap of Dascylium Vice-governor in 407 BC under  Pharnabazus, satrap of Dascylium, and perhaps his eldest son (Xen. Hell. 1,4,7) [1]; guest-friend of the Spartan  Antalcidas (Xen. Hell. 5,1,28). Succeeded Pharnabazus in 387 BC as satrap of Propontis [1]. In 368 BC A. succeeded, with the aid of his confidant  Philiscus, in assuring the support of Athens and Sparta (Xen. Hell. 7,1,27), which he in fact obtained during his revolt a…

[German version] [1] Member of the Parthian royal house P. (not P. I!), a son of Orodes [2] II; he is central to the first phase of the  Parthian Wars which followed the battle of Carrhae. In 53 BC, P. got engaged to a sister of the Armenian king Artavasdes [2] II, sealing the latter's coming over to the Parthian side. The Parthian invasion of Syria (51-50) was only nominally under the leadership of P., who was still young.  He played a greater part in the great attack on Syria, carried out under his command from 41 onward, but after initial success he died at Gindarus in 38 BC. Parthia Schottky, Mart…

[German version] (Ζαρβιηνός /Zarbiēnós). A king of Corduene (Gordyaea), who negotiated with Appius Claudius [I 24] Pulcher in 71/70 BC over an alliance with Licinius [I 26] Lucullus, and was betrayed to his overlord Tigranes [2] II of Armenia, who disposed of him. Lucullus gave him a magnificent burial in 69 and confiscated his treasures (Plut. Lucullus 21; 29). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld)

[German version] More correctly perhaps Gylakes (Armenian Głak), Armenian eunuch and ‘head gentleman-in-waiting’ ( Hajr mardpet). After C. had temporarily changed over to the Persian side, he attempted from AD 368 onwards, together with the ‘regent’ ( hazarapet)  Artabannes [1], to protect the interests of young king  Pap and to limit the power of the higher nobility and the Church. Around 370 Sapor II induced Pap, through secret messages, to murder his ministers and to have their heads sent to him (Amm. Marc. 27,12; 30,1,3). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography J. Markwart, S…

The term 'Parthian and Persian wars' refers to the wars which the Romans initially fought against the Parthians (see A an B below) and subsequently against their successors, the Persian dynasty of the Sassanids (see C and D). [German version] A. Up to the end of the Roman republic The diplomatic relations between Romans and Parthians, begun under L. Cornelius [I 90] Sulla, had gradually deteriorated. Nevertheless, the invasion into the Parthian kingdom in 54 BC, headed by the triumvir M. Licinius [I 11] Crassus, took place without any provocat…

[German version] [1] Q. Cornelius V. Author of an antiquarian compilation, 1st cent. Roman equestrian of the 1st cent. AD (probably c.45 praef. vexillariorum in Thracia). Author of an antiquarian compilation mentioned by Plinius [1] (Pliny the Elder) as source of books 3 (?), 8, 10, 14 and 15 of his Naturalis historia, and quoted at 3,108 (?), 10,5 and 14,11. Schmidt, Peter Lebrecht Bibliography PIR2 C 1471. [German version] [2] P. Licinius V. Roman emperor 253-260, born 199 (thus the gist of Ioh. Mal. 12 p. 298; SHA Valer. 5,1 is false); from a noble family (Aur. V…

(Vararanes). [German version] [1] V. I Son of Sapor [1] I, Persian Great King AD 273-276. The capture and death of Mani take place in his time. PLRE 1, 945. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [2] V. II Son of V. [1], Persian Great King 276-293. V. had to go to battle with Carus [3] in 283, who was advancing on Ctesiphon. The sudden death of the Emperor and the retreat of the Romans gave the King room to breathe. PLRE 1, 945. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography A. Sh. Shabazi, s. v. Bahrâm I-II, EncIr 3, 515-517. [German version] [3] V. III Son of V. [2], overthrown after his …

(Ἀρτάβ/πανος, Ἀρταπάνης; Artáb/panos, Artapánēs, Old Pers. Rtabānuš, Elamite Irdabanuš). [German version] [1] Brother of Darius I and uncle of Xerxes Brother of Darius I and uncle of Xerxes, who warned Darius and Xerxes against the campaigns against the Scythians (Hdt. 4.83) and against Greece (7.10-18) respectively [1]. Xerxes sent him back from Abydus on the Dardanelles and commissioned him with the regency for the duration of the war (Hdt. 7,46-53). Perhaps around 500 BC may have been satrap of Bactria and therefore identical to the Irdabanuš of PF 1287, 1555 [2]. Kuhrt, Amélie (L…

Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The gens was one of the so-called ‘Trojan families’, who were said to have moved from Alba Longa to Rome under king Tullus Hostilius [I 4] (see below). The Iulii were prominent in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. Their connection to the family branch of the Caesares, which rose to prominence from the 3rd cent. and whose outstanding member was the dictator  Caesar (with family tree), is unclear. Caesar's adoptive son,…

[German version] In AD 694/5, W. became co-regent of his father, the Visigoth king Egica, who had become senile and died in 702. Information about his sole reign is difficult to obtain. The acts of the 18th Council of Toledo ( c. 703) are lost; medieval historiography (beginning with the Chronicon Moissacense, 9th cent.) primarily describes the alleged (particularly moral) misconduct of the last but one Visigoth king. This was apparently supposed to explain the swift collapse of the kingdom, which W.'s successor Rodericus was scarcely…

[German version] Sassanid queen, daughter of  Chosroes II and possibly the sister-bride of  Cavades II. She came to power in spring 630, after the usurper Sharwaraz was deposed, and ruled until autumn 631 (PLRE 3A, 246). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography M.-L. Chaumont, s.v. Bôrân, EncIr 4, 366.

[German version] After the death of King Artabanus II [5] which did not occur before AD 39, the empire of the Parthians was shaken by battles for the throne that filled the entire period of the reign of his successor G. His relationship to his predecessor and to the Arsacids is unclear: whilst he is usually regarded in the literary sources as the son of Artabanus (Tac. Ann. 11,8f.; Jos. Ant. Iud. 20,3,4), various pieces of circumstantial evidence lead us to conclude that he was only the foster-son…

[German version] [1] Parthian king Parthian king; see  Osroes. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [2] C. King of Armenia, early 3rd cent. AD was most probably the name of the Arsacid king of Armenia who took part in the Parthian war of Septimius Severus, and in 214 or 216 was captured by Caracalla. His name was not given in the Greek sources, but mention of an ‘Armenian C.’ in an inscription at Egyptian Thebes (CIG 4821) may relate to him. The thesis of Armenian writers, frequently taken up by researchers, …

(Ἀρσάμης; Arsámēs). [German version] [1] Son of Ariaramnes Old Pers. Ars̆āma, son of Ariaramnes, father of Hystaspes, grandfather of Darius I [1. DB §2]. Xerxes [1. XPf §3] says that A. was still alive when Darius came to the throne (522/521BC). The insciptions attributed to him and his father are probably not genuine [1. 12; 2. 65-67]. Kuhrt, Amélie (London) Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) [German version] [2] Son of Darius I Son of Darius I and Artystone. Commanded the Aethiopians and Arabs for his half-brother Xerxes in the campaign against Greece (…

(Πτολεμαῖος/ Ptolemaîos). Personal name meaning 'warlike' (not 'hostile'), first recorded in Hom. Il. 4,228; the name occurred in Macedonia in the 5th and 4th cents. BC, from where it spread to Thessaly, still in the 4th cent. (IG IX 2, 598). It became prominent with the Lagid dynasty, and became common, not only in Egypt, where it may at first have indicated solidarity with the dynasty, but also elsewhere. It underwent many deformations and transmutations. Ptolemies Famous persons: P. [1] I Soter, P. [6] III Euergetes; P. [22], the son of Caesar; the scientist Claudius P. [65]. Ameling, Wa…

[German version] (Ῥοδομίστος/ Rhodomístos). The son of the Iberian king Pharasmanes [1] I; in AD 51, with the collusion of his father and the acquiescence of the Romans, he toppled his uncle, brother-in-law and step-father Mithridates [20] from the Armenian throne. Despite governing cruelly, R. was unable to withstand the Parthian nominee Tiridates [5] I and had to retreat to Iberia [1] in 54. His pregnant wife Zenobia [1], whom R. initially dragged along on the escape and then wounded and threw in…