Fraates

Fraates is the Latinized form of the ancient given name Phraates (Greek: Phraatês), used by Classical authors to refer to several rulers and figures associated with the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, as well as to other contemporaries in Hellenistic and Roman-era sources. In modern scholarship the form Phraates is usually preferred, while Fraates continues to appear in older English translations and Latin editions of Greek texts.

The name was borne by multiple Parthian kings during the Arsacid period, spanning roughly from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. Because several rulers shared the same name, Phraates (Fraates) is typically distinguished in sources by regnal numbers or by identifying events, alliances, or coin evidence associated with a particular reign. These figures are known from Greek historians and Roman authors, as well as from Parthian coins and inscriptions, and they figure prominently in discussions of Parthian–Roman relations, frontier diplomacy, and internal Parthian governance.

Etymology and linguistic notes: The precise origin of Phraates remains uncertain; it is part of a royal onomastic tradition within Parthia. Fraates is simply one transliteration variant of the same name used by earlier editors and in Latin and some English-language texts.

See also: Phraates (disambiguation).