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Arsames was the son of Ariaramnes and the grandfather of Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been king of Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty, and to have given up the throne and declared loyalty to his relative Cyrus II of Persia before retiring to his family estate in the Persian heartland of Parsa, living there peacefully for the rest of his life, perhaps nominally exercising the duties of a "lesser king" under the authority of the "Great King". However, the claim that he or his son were ever kings is rejected by historians such as Pierre Briant. In an inscription allegedly found in Hamadan he is called "king of Persia", but the document is widely argued to be a fake, either modern or ancient. Another attestation of his reign is the Behistun Inscription, where his grandson Darius I lists him among his ancestors though omits him from the anonymous eight kings who he claims preceded him.

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Arses, also known by his regnal name Artaxerxes IV, was the twelfth Achaemenid King of Kings from 338 to 336 BC.

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Artaxerxes I was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I.

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Artaxerxes II Mnemon was the King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 404 BC until his death in 358 BC. He was a son of Darius II and Parysatis.

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Cambyses II was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great and his mother was Cassandane.

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Darius II, also called Darius II Nothus or Darius II Ochus, was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC.

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Darius III was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.

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Xerxes I, commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius the Great and his mother was Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid empire. Like his father, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex. He ruled from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC at the hands of Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard.

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Xerxes II was a Persian king who was very briefly a ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, as the son and successor of Artaxerxes I.