GOTARZES I

flourished 1st century BC king of Parthia (reigned 91-87 or 91-81/80 BC). Gotarzes first appeared as "satrap of satraps" under the Parthian king Mithradates II in a Greek inscription at Bisitun, Iran. A name carved nearby, Gotarses Geopothros (Son of Gew), may also represent him (or Gotarzes II, according to some scholars). While Mithradates was preoccupied with Rome, Gotarzes established himself as an independent monarch in Babylonia, and after Mithradates' death Gotarzes remained, with his queen, Asibatum, as sole ruler of the Parthian Empire. Not long afterward, however, Mithradates' son Orodes I asserted his hereditary right against Gotarzes, and contemporary records show that by 80 BC Orodes had replaced Gotarzes.