Arganthonios (nonfiction)
Arganthonios (Greek: Αργανθώνιος) was a king of ancient Tartessos (in Andalusia, southern Spain).
This name, or title, appears to be based on the Indo-European word for silver (secondarily money), reconstructed as Proto-Celtic *arganto- and proto-Italic as *argentom. Tartessia was rich in silver, like all of Iberia. Similar names (e.g. Argantoni) appear in inscriptions of the Roman period in or near former Tartessian territory. A name or title Argantoda(nos) is found on silver coinage in Northern Gaul and may have had a meaning akin to "treasurer". Some have identified Arganthonios with the "Tharsis Mask" at the Archeological Museum of Seville.
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, King Arganthonios ruled Tartessia for 80 years (from about 625 BC to 545 BC) and lived to be 120 years old. This idea of great age and length of reign may result from a succession of kings using the same name or title. Herodotus says that Arganthonios warmly welcomed the first Greeks to reach Iberia, a ship carrying Phocaeans, and urged them fruitlessly to settle in Iberia. Hearing that the Medes were becoming a dominant force in the neighbourhood of the Phocaeans, he gave the latter money to build a defensive wall about their town. Herodotus comments that "he must have given with a bountiful hand, for the town is many furlongs in circuit".
Notes
Attested reflexes in Celtic include: Celtiberian arkanta (also compare arkanto-beđom 'silver mine (?)'), Gaulish arganto- (in compounds), Old Irish argat, Old Welsh argant; in Latin as argentum, Falsican arcentom with cognates Sanskrit rajatám, and others, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵn̥tóm 'silver', which is derived from a nominal root *h₂erǵ- 'white, brilliant; swift'; also compare Ancient Greek ἄργυρον (arguron) 'silver'.
Fiction cross-reference
Nonfiction cross-reference
External links:
- Arganthonios @ Wikipedia