Kings –‘King of Kings’ The r o y al t i t les of ‘ King of Kings’ and of ‘ G r eat King’ der i v efr om t he I r anian Achaemenian, o r Parthian, o r Sassanian w o r lds ,but t heir o r igin can actually be dat ed back t o t he A ssyrian and Median w o r lds ,as among many o t hers Henr iFRANKFORT and G wynGRIFFITHS157 w e r eable t odemonstra t ein t heir classical w o r k s .Ne v e rtheless i t i s certain t hat d uring Roman imper ial t imesthe ideological meaning of t hes e t i t leswa sul t emat ely clear l y differ en- t iat ed on t he bas i s of along p r ocess t hat had t aken place particu lar l y in Hel- lenistic t imes , t he inv e stigat ion of w hos emechanis mis bey ond o ur p r e s ent s cope.158 While agood n u mber of o r ient al d y nasts w e r e t i t led G r eat Kings sta rting f r om t he s o v e r eigns of Pontus and A r menia and r anging t o t hos eof Commagene o r J u daea, none of t hem e v e rtook t he t i t le of ‘ King of Kings’ in Roman imper ial t imes ,asthe latte rti t le w a s cons ider ed t obeex clusi v ely d u efi rst t o t he A rsacid birth r ight and t hen t o t he Sassanian one. The inex - haustible u niv e rsal a s pir a t ions of C t e s iphon, w hich w e r e s har ed b ythe A rsa- cid d y nasty a s m u ch a s b ythe Sassanian r o y al house,159 fou nd t heir mor edi r - ect and clear e x p r e ssion in t histi t le, w hich i s als o u nequi v ocallyte stified a t t he beginning of Š KZ: Iam t he Maz d ā - w o rshipping div ine1 60 Šāb u h r ,King of Kings of A ryans and 157 F RANKFORT 1948; G RIFFITHS 1953 .Afu ll dis c ussion of t hissu bject in S CHÄFER 197 4. Cf. H ARTMANN 2001, 181-183 . 158 M UCCIOLI 2001, 2004. 159 W OLSKI 1982; K ETTENHOFEN 1984; G NOLI 1991; K ETTENHOFEN 2002; G NOLI forth. a. 1 60 About t he t e r m bay in t he Sassanian and G r aeco-Roman t i t les and polit ical ideology cf. P ANAINO 2003, 2 81: “ In s hort, t he Sassanian ideological p r opaganda w a s partl ysimpli- fied and deliber a t elytr ans lat ed and adapt ed accor ding t o t he Roman and Hellenistic polit ical langu age of r o y al pow e r ,al t hou gh t he p r ocess did not p r oceed w i t hout incon- s i stencies .Indeed i t i swell know n t hatthe useof bay (asreferred t oli v ing kings )did 8 2 The Int e r play of Roman and I r anian Tit les non-Aryans ,of t he r ace of t he gods , s on of t he Maz d ā - w o rshipping div ine A r dašīr ,King of Kings of t he A ryans ,of t he r ace of t he gods ,gr ands on of t he King Papak, Iam t he Lor dof t he A ryan nat ion ( trans l. L IEU).1 6 1 Thisti t le, clear l y cons ider ed of I r anian o r igin and t h us per ceiv ed als oby Rome, in ace rtain moment in t ime w a susurped b ythe Palmyrene d y nasts, w ho w e r eob v iousl y not ent i t led t oclaim t oan y link eit herwi t h t he new Sassanian s o v e r eigns o rwi t h t he r ecent l y det h r oned A rsacids . A v ailable e v idence in support of such usurpat ion i s e xtremelyscar ce, b ut s ignificant .The t e xts a r e w ell know nand r ais eanu mber of p r oblems , t hat a r efier cely debat ed b yscholars and w hich inv olv eimportant a s pects forthe int e r p r e t a t ion of t he Palmyrene v icissi tudes . 1. Inv. III 3 1 62 Palmyra, honor a ry ins c r ipt ion f r om aniche in t he Tetrapy lon. [ ] [ ] [... ] |[ ] [ ] Β ασιλεῖ βασιλÔ ων πρÙ ς Ὀρ [ı ντῃ βα σιλε] Û ας, τὴν κατÏ Π ε ρ - | [σ ῶ ννε ῖ] κην ἀναδησαμ[ ] [ ] Ô ν ῳ [ Σεπ τιμÛ ῳ Ἡρωδι ανῷ ( ? Ἰο).˜...λιος Α à ρήλιος Σεπτ] ( Û )|μιος Ο Ã ο ρ ˘ [ δης ] καÚ Ἰο˜ λιος Α à ρήλιος[ ἐπÛ ]τροπος τ ῆ ς | [δ εσ] π [ ο ] Û νης[ κεντην]. Ì ριος ἀμφı τεροι στρα τηγοÚ τ ῆ ςλαμ προτÌ της κ ολω ν ε Û ας (Thisst a tueis dedicat ed) t o t he King of Kings ,[hav ing r eceiv ed? ] t he r o y - alty nearthe O r ont e s ,cr o w ned forvict o ry o v e rthe Persians ,Sept imius Her o- not corre s pond t o t hat of divus among t he Romans (asreferred t odeceas ed kings ), b ut t he cont inu i ty of t he Hellenistic tradit ion made possible t he (differ ent and a symmetric) useof for divus, s o t hat became t he best ‘ polit ical’tr ans lat ion of bay .We θεı ς θεı ς can s implyst a t e t hat comes midw a y between bay and divus,but does not p r ecis ely θεı ς corre s pond t oei t her;” P ANAINO 2004, in partic. 557 -559; About t he actual Sassanian r o y - al t i t les cf. now H UYSE 2006. 1 6 1 D ODGEON,LIEU 1991, 3 4. Š KZ l. 1of t he Parthian G r eek v e rsions , t he Middle Persian t e xt,almost complet ely faded a w a y ,ha s been r econstruc t ed on t he o t hertw o v e rsions : cf. H UYSE 1999, 22: A z ,ma z d ē sn baɣŠā buhr, šāh ā n šāh Ē r ā nudAn ē r ā n, k ēčihr a ž y a z d ā n, puhr maz d ē sn baɣ Ardašīr, šāh ā n šāh Ē r ā n, k ēčihr a ž y a z d ā n, puhrē puhr baɣ P ā bag šāh, Ē r ā n š ahr x wadā y ahē m. , ἐγὼ μασδασασνης θεÙ ςΣαπ˘ ρης βασιλεˆ ς , , βασιλÔ ων Ἀριανῶ νκα Ú Ἀναριανῶ ν ἐκ γ Ô νους θεῶ ν Õ ι ı ςμασδασασνου θεοῦ , ἈρταξÌ ρου βασιλÔ ως βεσιλÔ ων Ἀριανῶ νἐκγÔ νους θεῶ ν ἔγγονος θεοῦ ΠαπÌ κου [ ] . βασιλÔ ως τοῦ Ἀριανῶ νἔθνου ςκ˜ ριı ςεἰμ ι 1 62 IGRR III 1 032; S EYRIG 1937; S CHLUMBERGER 1942 , 3 8 ; G AWLIKOWSKI 1985, 2 55 n° 1 0; H ARTMANN 2001, 114 n. 198, 4 6 8 ; Y OUNG 2001, 236. Kings - ‘ King of Kings’ 8 3 dianus,by J u lius A urelius Sept imius Vor odes and [Ju lius A urelius .... p r o- c ura t o r ]of t he Q u een, centenarius,bo t h stra t egoi of t he illustrious colony ( trans l. L IEU).1 63 I t i sus efu l t oemphas i z efr om t he o utse tthat Inv. III 3 i s a t e xt of v e ry di- fficu l t and (equallyuncertain) r eading and s omu ch mor e t han c ustomary caution m ust be e x e r cis ed. The abov eci t ed v e rsion of t he G r eek t e xt i sthe most complet einex i stence and i sthe r eading cautiousl y adv anced b y Daniel S CHLUMBERGER in 1942 . In accor dance w i t h such a r eading, t he ins c r ipt ion possiblyrepr e s ents e v idence of t he a ssumpt ion of t he I r anian t i t le of ‘ King of Kings’ b y ace r - t ain Sept imius Her odianus, w ho can certainly be ident ified w i t hbo t hSept i- mius Ḥ air ā n, t he eldest s on of Odainat h, w ho i s know nfr om s ome Palmy - r ene ins c r ipt ions , 1 6 4 and w i t h t he Her odes a tte sted in t he Historia Augusta.