Apodakos was a king

King

- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...

 of Characene

Characene

Characene, also known as Mesene , was a kingdom within the Parthian Empire at the head of the Persian Gulf. Its capital was Charax Spasinou, "The Fort of Hyspaosines"...

, a vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

 kingdom of the Parthian Empire

Parthian Empire

The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...

.

Apodakos is known from his silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 and bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 coins

COinS

ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...

, only some of which are dated. The dated coins belong to the years 110/09 to 104/3 BC.

In 124 BC, Hyspaosines

Hyspaosines

Hyspaosines or Aspasine was a satrap installed by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and later the first king of Characene or Mesene . Hyspaosines is mainly known from coins, but also appears in texts of cuneiform script...

, the first king of Characene died. After his death, his widow Thalassia

Thalassia (queen)

Thalassia was the wife of Hyspaosines, king of Characene . Thalassia is a rare Greek name....

 tried to install their son on the throne. However, the events surrounding the succession

Succession

Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. It may further refer to:*Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of another, usually in a clearly defined order*Succession...

 are known from Babylonian

Babylon

Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

 cuneiform

Cuneiform

Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...

texts and the name of the son is not mentioned.

Whether Apodakos was the son of Hyspaosines remains undetermined, however, he has certain historicity from about 14 years later, as king of the small kingdom.

Literature

• Monika Schuol: Die Charakene. Ein mesopotamisches Königreich in hellenistisch-parthischer Zeit, Stuttgart 2000, p. 220-221, 300-303 ISBN 3-515-07709-X

External links

• Coins of Apodakos