Orodes I (also spelled Urud I; Wērōd/Urūd), was king of the Parthian Empire from 80 to 75 BC. He was the son and heir of Gotarzes I. His reign is relatively obscure. His throne may have been usurped in 87–80 BC by his supposed uncle Mithridates III, however, this has found little support in scholarship. Of his military activities, it is known that Orodes I re-established Parthian rule in Elymais in 78 BC, which had been independent since 81/80 BC. Orodes I later lost the throne to the aged Parthian prince Sinatruces, who belonged to a different branch of the royal Arsacid family.

Overview

Orodes I (also spelled Urud I; Wērōd/Urūd), was king of the Parthian Empire from 80 to 75 BC. He was the son and heir of Gotarzes I. His reign is relatively obscure. His throne may have been usurped in 87–80 BC by his supposed uncle Mithridates III, however, this has found little support in scholarship. Of his military activities, it is known that Orodes I re-established Parthian rule in Elymais in 78 BC, which had been independent since 81/80 BC. Orodes I later lost the throne to the aged Parthian prince Sinatruces, who belonged to a different branch of the royal Arsacid family. Name Orōdēs is the Greek attestation of the Middle Iranian name Wērōd/Urūd. The etymology of the name is disputed. The Modern Persian version is Viru. Biography Orodes was the son and heir of Parthian king Gotarzes I. Rahim M. Shayegan (2011) has suggested that Orodes was one of the figures depicted on the rock relief of Gotarzes I at Mount Behistun. Orodes' mother may have been the Armenian queen Ariazate, who was a daughter of Tigranes the Great. According to Gholamreza F. Assar (2006), after the death of Gotarzes I in 87 BC, his brother Mithridates III usurped the throne from Orodes. In August/September 80 BC, Mithridates III was dethroned in Babylon, and was shortly afterwards expelled from Susa by Orodes. Mithridates III may have survived this event and managed to flee to the north, where he continued fighting until he died the following year. Other scholars, however, do not support the existence of a Mithridates III ruling in the 80s BC. According to Shayegan, the existence of rival kings such as Mithridates III during this period "repose primarily upon numismatic evidence, may find scant support in the literary and documentary sources, and can be contradicted by a diverging interpretation of the period's coinage." Shayegan deduced that Gotarzes I reigned till his death in , and was succeeded by Orodes I.

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