Priapatius

According to the modern historian Mehrdad Kia, Priapatius was most likely the son of his predecessor, Arsaces II (r. 217 – 191 BC), who was in turn the son of Arsaces I (r. 247 – 217 BC), the founder of the dynasty.^[1] However, this is unlikely, as newly found contemporary Parthian ostracons call him a son of the nephew of Arsaces I.^[2] Efforts have been made by scholars to reconstruct the early genealogy of the Arsacids, which calls Priapatius the grandson of Tiridates, the brother of Arsaces.^[3] However, numismatic data and recent analysis of sources have led to the conclusion that the character of Tiridates is fictional.^[4]

Regardless of his precise ancestry, Priapatius succeeded Arsaces II in 191 BC.^[5] Like many Arsacid rulers, not much is known about Priapatius.^[5] His coinage in terms of style followed the same model as that of his predecessors.^[6] The obverse shows a beardless portrait of him wearing a soft cap (bashlyk), whilst the reverse shows him carrying a bow.^[6] However, changes to the titulary were made on the coinage: the Greek title of BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ (Basileus) was for the first time added and made regular on his coinage, and the title ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ (Great) was also added.^[6]

The adoption of these titles were most likely associated with the Arsacid reconquest of the lands lost to the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great (r. 222 – 187 BC), who had in 210 BC made a large-scale expedition in the east, including Hyrcania.^[6] There, he possibly compelled Arsaces II to abandon his right to mint coins freely.^[6] Afterwards, however, the fragility of the Seleucid Empire gave Arsaces II and later Priapatius the opportunity to resume having their coins minted freely.^[6] Like the rest of the Arsacid kings, Priapatius used the title of Arsaces on his coinage, which was the name of the first Arsacid ruler Arsaces I (r. 247 – 217 BC), which had become a royal honorific among the Arsacid monarchs out of admiration for his achievements.^[4][7]

Priapatius was the father of three Arsacid kings, Phraates I (r. 176 – 171 BC), who was his oldest son and successor, Mithridates I (r. 171 – 132 BC), and Artabanus I (r. 127 – 124 BC).^[8]

• Dąbrowa, Edward [in Polish] (2012). "The Arsacid Empire". In Daryaee, Touraj (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–432. ISBN 978-0-19-987575-7.
• Frye, Richard Nelson (1984). The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. pp. 1–411. ISBN 9783406093975. false.
• Kia, Mehrdad (2016). The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1610693912.
• Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). "Arsacid, Elymaean, and Persid coinage". In Potts, Daniel T. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–1021. ISBN 9780190668662.

• Schippmann, K. (1986). "Arsacids ii. The Arsacid dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5. pp. 525–536.