| King | Reign (BCE) | Yrs | Father | Mother | Persian Name | فارسی |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynastic Ancestors | ||||||
| Achaemenes | ~700–675 | ~25 | eponymous ancestor | unknown | Haxāmaniš | هخامنش |
| Teispes | ~675–640 | ~35 | Achaemenes | unknown | Čišpiš | چیشپیش |
| Cyrus I | ~640–600 | ~40 | Teispes | unknown | Kūruš | کوروش |
| Cambyses I | ~600–559 | ~41 | Cyrus I | unknown | Kabūjiya | کمبوجیه |
| The Empire | ||||||
| Cyrus II (the Great) | 559–530 | 29 | Cambyses I | Mandane of Mediadisputed1 | Kūruš | کوروش |
| Cambyses II | 530–522 | 8 | Cyrus II | Cassandane | Kabūjiya | کمبوجیه |
| Smerdis (Bardiya) | 522 | <1 | Cyrus II2 | Cassandane | Bardiya | بردیا |
| Darius I (the Great) | 522–486 | 36 | Hystaspes | Rhodogune or Irdabamauncertain3 | Dārayavauš | داریوش |
| Xerxes I | 486–465 | 21 | Darius I | Atossa | Xšayāršā | خشایارشا |
| Artabanus (regent) | 465–464 | 1 | non-royal4 | unknown | Artabānu | ارتبانو |
| Artaxerxes I | 464–424 | 40 | Xerxes I | Amestris | Artaxšaçā | اردشیر |
| Xerxes II | 424–423 | <1 | Artaxerxes I | Damaspia | Xšayāršā | خشایارشا |
| Sogdianus | 423 | <1 | Artaxerxes I | Alogyne of Babylon | Saugdiyāna | سغدیانوس |
| Darius II | 423–404 | 19 | Artaxerxes I | Cosmartidene of Babylon | Dārayavauš | داریوش |
| Artaxerxes II | 404–358 | 46 | Darius II | Parysatis5 | Artaxšaçā | اردشیر |
| Artaxerxes III | 358–338 | 20 | Artaxerxes II | Stateira | Artaxšaçā | اردشیر |
| Artaxerxes IV (Arses) | 338–336 | 2 | Artaxerxes III | Atossadau. of Artaxerxes II6 | Aršā | ارشه |
| Darius III | 336–330 | 6 | Arsamesgrandson of Darius II | Sisygambisparentage uncertain7 | Dārayavauš | داریوش |
1 Mandane, daughter of the Median king Astyages, comes from Herodotus, whose account of Cyrus' birth follows a well-worn Near Eastern foundling legend. Ctesias gives an entirely different version. No Persian source names her.
2 Darius I asserted in the Behistun inscription that the Bardiya he overthrew was an impostor, the Magus Gaumata. That claim comes from the man who benefited from it and remains contested.
3 Darius I's mother is not securely attested; later tradition gives Rhodogune, while some scholars propose Irdabama, a woman of great wealth in the Persepolis Fortification Tablets.
4 Artabanus was a Hyrcanian commander of the royal bodyguard, not an Achaemenid. He is included because he held power, not because he had a claim to it.
5 Parysatis was herself a daughter of Artaxerxes I and thus a half-sister of her husband Darius II.
6 This Atossa was a daughter of Artaxerxes II who married her brother Artaxerxes III. Some scholars treat the Greek reports of the marriage as hostile invention.
7 Sisygambis may have been a daughter of Artaxerxes II or of his brother Ostanes; her origins are genuinely obscure.
Nearly all maternal information derives from Greek writers — Herodotus, Ctesias, Plutarch — who wrote about the Persian court as outsiders and often as adversaries. Persian sources of the period (the Behistun inscription, royal titulature, the Persepolis tablets) record the male line and administrative roles, but say little about descent through women.