Xerxes (Ancient Greek: Ξέρξης; Old Persian: 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠) was king of Sophene and Commagene from 228 BC to 212 BC. He was the son and successor of Arsames I.
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Name
Xérxēs (Ξέρξης) is the Greek and Latin (Xerxes, Xerses) transliteration of the Old Iranian Xšaya-ṛšā ("ruling over heroes"), a popular name amongst the rulers of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
Reign
Xerxes belonged to the Orontid dynasty of Iranian and Armenian origin. His father was Arsames I, who ruled Sophene, Commagene and possibly Armenia. Xerxes succeeded his father as the ruler of Sophene and Commagene in 228 BC, while his brother Orontes IV ruled Greater Armenia. In 223 BC, several Seleucid satraps rebelled against King Antiochus III, including Artabazanes (Upper Media), Molon (Lower Media), Alexander (Persis), and Achaeus (Asia Minor). By 220 BC Antiochus had put down most of the rebellions; however, Achaeus was not defeated until 213 BC.
These rebellions help explain Antiochus' subsequent aggressive policy toward his satrap Xerxes. By 212 BC, Antiochus III had invaded the domain of Xerxes, who had refused to pay tribute, and besieged him at Arsamosata. During the siege, some of Antiochus's advisors proposed deposing Xerxes and installing Mithridates, a nephew of Antiochus, in his place. Antiochus declined this counsel. He summoned Xerxes, waived the bulk of the tribute arrears that Xerxes' father Arsames I had accumulated, and accepted a reduced immediate settlement of 300 talents, 1,000 horses, and 1,000 mules. Xerxes was restored to his position as king and given Antiochis, sister of Antiochus III, as his wife.
Xerxes died c. 204-202 BC. John of Antioch, a late source, reports that he was poisoned by Antiochis on instructions from her brother. Grainger judges this account unreliable, noting that poisoning was frequently alleged in cases of politically convenient death in the ancient world, and that neither Antiochus nor Antiochis had any obvious motive: Sophene was vulnerable, Antiochus was not under pressure of time, and Antiochis, having been queen for approximately a decade, had no evident reason to act against her husband. Grainger concludes that Xerxes most likely died a natural death.
After the death of Xerxes, Antiochis subsequently returned to her brother's court in Syria, where Antiochus would have resumed his role as her legal guardian and Xerxes's kingdom appears to have been annexed by Antiochus. Xerxes and Antiochis had no known children, and his former kingdom was governed by an appointee of Antiochus, Zariadres, who belonged to another branch of the Orontids.