page_title: Sases
section_title: Phraotes
hierarchical_section_title: Sases / Phraotes
caption_attribution_description: English: Gondophares-Sases Circa AD 20-46 King enthroned slightly right, raising hand; tamhga to left Rev Male figure, wearing billowing veil, benediction
context_page_description: Sases, also known as Gondophares IV Sases, was an Indo-Parthian king who ruled in northwestern parts of India in modern Pakistan. He is only known from coins.
  Sases apparently succeeded Abdagases in Sindh and Gandhara, and at some point during his reign assumed the name/title Gondophares, which was held by the supreme Indo-Parthian rulers. His coins show the Greek deity Zeus, forming a benediction sign, and incorporate the Buddhist symbol of the triratana.
  With the modern datings supplied by Robert Senior, Gondophares IV is a likely candidate for several possible historical references to Indo-Parthian kings of the 1st century AD. Traditionally, these references have been thought to be about Gondophares I, as earlier scholars did not realise that "Gondophares" became a title after the death of this king, just as the name of the first emperor, Augustus, in the Roman Empire, was used by all later emperors as a title.
context_section_description: It has also been suggested that one Gondophares may be identical with Phraotes, a Greek-speaking Indo-Parthian king of the city of Taxila, met by the Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana around 46 CE according to the Life of Apollonius Tyana written by Philostratus. The Gondophares who fits this date is Gondophares IV Sases. Like the Acts of Thomas it is doubted if there is any truth in the story given by Philostratus, and most scholars see Phroates as a stock name deployed by Philostratus in what is otherwise an opportunity for him to deploy his sophist training.
caption: Coin of Gondophares-Sases (Circa AD 20-46). Obv King enthroned slightly right, raising hand, tamhga to left. Rev Male figure, wearing billowing veil, making a benediction gesture.
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