Charaspes Explained

Charaspes was a Scythian king ruling in the Black Sea region.[1]

He was initially thought to be the King of Sophene c. 230 BC, attested only by a single coin currently kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

However, there is controversy whether or not this king is actually an Armenian: he is not mentioned in the inscriptions on Mount Nemrut which list the ancestors of Antiochus I Theos, and from other coin finds it appears that Charaspes was the name of a Scythian king in the western Black Sea region. It is quite possible that he is not an Armenian king, but rather a numismatical error.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Marciak, Michał . Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene . https://brill.com/view/book/9789004350724/B9789004350724_004.xml . Cultural Landscape of Sophene . 2017-01-01 . 56–112 . Brill . 978-90-04-35072-4 . en . 10.1163/9789004350724_004.