View source for Sames I

{{Short description|3rd-century BC Near Eastern king}}
{{Other uses|Sames (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name               = Sames I
| succession         = King of [[Kingdom of Sophene|Sophene]] and [[Commagene]]
| image              = Sames coin 260 BC.png
| caption            = Coin of Sames I
| reign              = {{circa|260 BC}}
| coronation         =  
| predecessor        = [[Orontes III]]
| successor          = [[Arsames I]]
| spouse             =
| issue              = [[Arsames I]]
| royal house        = 
| dynasty            = [[Orontid dynasty]]
| father             =
| mother             = 
| birth_date      = 
| birth_place     = 
| death_date      = 
| death_place     = 
| date of burial     = 
| place of burial    =
}}
'''Sames I''' (also spelled '''Samos I'''), was the [[Orontid dynasty|Orontid]] king of [[Kingdom of Sophene|Sophene]], Armenia and [[Commagene]], ruling around 260 BC.

== Name ==
The name of "Samos" is possibly derived from the [[Avestan]] name ''Sāma'', the father of the Avestan hero [[Garshasp]], which would indicate some sort of custom of Iranian religious or [[Epic (genre)|epic]] lore amongst the [[Orontid dynasty|Orontids]].{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=109}}

== Biography ==
The Kingdom of Sophene was ruled by the Orontid dynasty of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] origin, which was descended from [[Orontes I]], a [[Bactria]]n nobleman who was the son-in-law of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] [[King of Kings]] [[Artaxerxes II]] ({{reign|404|358|era=BC}}).{{sfn|Facella|2021}} According to the Greek writer [[Strabo]] (died 24 AD) in his ''[[Geographica]]'', Sophene first emerged as a distinct kingdom under [[Zariadres]] ({{floruit|190 BC}}), who was installed as its ruler by the Seleucid king [[Antiochus III the Great]] ({{reign|222|187|era=BC}}). He further adds that following the defeat of Antiochus III against the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], Zariadres declared independence.{{sfn|Marciak|2017|pp=113, 117}} However this report is strongly contradicted by epigraphic and numismatic evidence.{{sfn|Facella|2021}}{{sfn|Marciak|2017|p=123}} Sophene most likely emerged as a distinct kingdom in the 3rd-century BC, during the gradual decline of Seleucid influence in the Near East and the split of the Orontid dynasty into several branches. Three rulers belonging to a different Orontid branch, Sames I, [[Arsames I]] and [[Xerxes of Sophene|Xerxes]] ruled the western part of [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Greater Armenia]], perhaps from [[Commagene]] to [[Arzanene]].{{sfn|Marciak|2017|p=157}}

== Building activity ==
Sometime before 245 BC, Sames I refounded the city of Samosata on the previous [[Syro-Hittite states|Neo-Hittite]] site of Kummuh.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=109}} He may have refounded the city in order to assert his claim over the area, a common practice amongst Iranian and [[Hellenistic]] dynasties, such as [[Kingdom of Cappadocia|Cappadocia]], [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthia]] and [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]].{{sfn|Michels|2021|pp=478–479}} The city was built in a "sub-[[Achaemenid]]" Persian [[architectural form]], similar to the rest of Orontid buildings in Greater Armenia.<ref>{{harvnb|Canepa|2021|p=84}}; see also {{harvnb|Canepa|2018|p=110}}</ref> Naming cities such as Samosata ([[Middle Persian]] ''*Sāmašād''; [[Old Persian]] ''*Sāmašiyāti-'') the "joy of" or "happiness of" was an Orontid (and later [[Artaxiad]]) practice that recalled the Achaemenid royal discourse.{{sfn|Canepa|2021|p=82}} Samosata served as one of the most important royal residences of the Orontid kings of Sophene.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=110}}

== Coinage ==
Similar to the early [[Arsacids]] of [[Parthia]] and [[Frataraka]] of [[Persis]], the Orontids of Sophene experimented with images of Iranian royal power. On his coins, Sames I is shown as clean-shaven and wearing the ''[[kyrbasia]]'',{{sfn|Canepa|2017|p=207}} a type of headgear originally worn by the satraps of the Achaemenid Empire.{{sfn|Canepa|2018|p=252}} The tip of Sames I's ''kyrbasia'' is more prominent, similar to that of the headgear worn by the early [[Ariarathid dynasty|Ariarathids]] of Cappadocia.{{sfn|Canepa|2017|p=207}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|last= Canepa|first= Matthew|author-link= Matthew P. Canepa|title= The Iranian Expanse: Transforming Royal Identity Through Architecture, Landscape, and the Built Environment, 550 BCE–642 CE|year= 2018|location= Oakland|publisher= [[University of California Press]]|isbn= 9780520379206}}
* {{cite book |last=Canepa|first=Matthew |title=Common Dwelling Place of all the Gods: Commagene in its Local, Regional, and Global Context |chapter=Commagene Before and Beyond Antiochos I |date=2021 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |pages=71–103 |isbn=978-3515129251 |url=https://www.academia.edu/52655937 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Canepa|first=Matthew P.|title=Persianism in Antiquity |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |year=2017|isbn=978-3515113823 |editor-last1=Strootman|editor-first1=Rolf|editor-last2=Versluys|editor-first2=Miguel John|pages=201–223|chapter=Rival Images of Iranian Kingship and Persian Identity in Post-Achaemenid Western Asia|url=https://www.academia.edu/31635801|url-access=registration}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/orontids-COM_362451|title=Orontids|first=Margherita|last=Facella|year=2021}}
* {{cite book|last=Marciak|first=Michał|authorlink=Michał Marciak|title=Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West|date=2017|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004350724|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwEtDwAAQBAJ&dq=}}
* {{cite book |last=Michels |first=Christoph |title=Common Dwelling Place of all the Gods: Commagene in its Local, Regional, and Global Context |chapter='Achaemenid' and 'Hellenistic' Strands of Representation in the Minor Kingdoms of Asia Minor |date=2021 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |pages=475–496|isbn=978-3515129251 |url=https://www.academia.edu/53107747 |url-access=registration}}

{{authority control}}
{{Kingdom of Sophene}}

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[[Category:3rd-century BC monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:Kings of Sophene]]
[[Category:Kings of Commagene]]