Arses of Persia

This article is about a king of Persia. For other uses, see Arses (disambiguation).

Artaxerxes IV Arses
King of Kings Great King King of Persia Pharaoh of Egypt King of Countries
Probable portrait of Arses, wearing the Egyptian Pharaonic crown.
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
Reign	338–336 BC
Predecessor	Artaxerxes III
Successor	Darius III
Pharaoh of Egypt
Predecessor	Artaxerxes III
Successor	Darius III
Died	336 BC
Names Artaxerxes IV Arses
Dynasty	Achaemenid
Father	Artaxerxes III
Mother	Atossa
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Family tree of the Achaemenid rulers.

Artaxerxes IV Arses (/ˌɑːrtəˈzɜːrksiːz/; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂 Artaxšaçā), was king of kings of Persia between 338 BC and 336 BC. He is known as Arses in Greek sources and that seems to have been his real name, but the Xanthus trilingue and potsherds from Samaria report that he took the royal name of Artaxerxes IV, following his father and grandfather.

Name

Arses is the Greek form of the Old Persian Aršaka (also spelled Aršāma, Xšayaaršan). The common Iranian variant is attested in Avestan Aršan- (linguistically related to Greek arsēn "male, manly").

Biography

Arses was the youngest son of Artaxerxes III and his wife Atossa. Arses had several brothers, only one whose name is attested, a certain Bisthanes. Persia was experiencing a resurgence under Artaxerxes III, who reorganized his empire, and suppressed revolts throughout the country. However, the fortunes of Persia came to an abrupt end in autumn of 338, when Artaxerxes III was murdered by the ambitious eunuch and chiliarch Bagoas, who had the king poisoned. Artaxerxes III's early death proved to be a problematic issue for Persia, and may have played a role in the weakening of the country. The majority of Artaxerxes III's sons, with the expection of Arses and Bisthanes, were also murdered by Bagoas. Bagoas, who wanted to be kingmaker, put the young Arses on the throne.

On his ascension to the throne, Arses most likely assumed the regnal name of Artaxerxes IV. He was put on the throne by Bagoas due to his youth, which the latter sought to take advantage of in order to control him. Around the same period, most of the Greek city-states had joined the Greek league under the leadership of the Macedonian king Philip II, who took advantage of the events in Persia by demanding compensation from the country for helping the town of Perinthus during the reign of Artaxerxes III. Arses declined, and as a result, a Greek expedition was started with Philip II was general, who sent 10,000 Macedonian soldiers into Asia in 336 BC. At the same time, however, Arses was focused on trying to free himself from Bagoas' authority and influence; he made an unesuccessful effort to have the latter poisoned, only to be poisoned himself along with the rest of his family by Bagoas, who put Arses' cousin Darius III on the throne. Macedonian propaganda, made in order to legitimize the conquests of Alexander the Great a few years later, accused Darius III of playing a key role in the murder of Arses, and portrayed the latter as the last king of the Achaemenid royal house.

Bibliography

Ancient works

• Arrian, The Anabasis of Alexander.
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica.
• Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus.

Modern works

• Schmitt, R. (1986). "Artaxerxes III". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6. pp. 658–659. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• LeCoq, P. (1986). "Arses". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5. p. 548. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–272. ISBN 9781107652729. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Briant, Pierre (2002). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. pp. 1–1196. ISBN 9781575061207. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)