The small kingdom of
Kommagene (lat
Commagene) in northern ancient
Syria (modern south-central
Turkey) bounded by
Cilicia on the west and
Cappadocia on the north arose in
162 BC, where the governor
Ptolemy broke free from the disintegrating
Seleucid Empire. His dynasty was related to the Parthian kings, but his descendant Mithradates Callinicus (
100 -
69 BC), embraced the hellenistic culture and married Laodice, a Seleucid princess, thus claiming dynastical ties with both
Alexander the Great and the Persian kings. Their son
Antiochus Theos (
69 -
40 BC) supported
Pompey against the Parthians, and in
64 BC was rewarded with additional territories. He was able to deflect Roman attacks from
Marcus Antonius, whom he eventually joined in the Roman civil war, but after Antony's defeat to
Augustus, Kommagene was made a Roman client-state. In AD
17 Tiberius deposed Antiochus III, but
Caligula reinstated his son
Antiochus IV Epiphanes who reigned until
72, when
Vespasian deposed the dynasty. Their descendants lived on prosperously in Greece, where local benefactor
Julius Antiochus Philopappus still has a monument in Athen.
Kommagene is famous for its sanctuary located in Nemrud Mountain (Nemrud Dagi[?]), an enormous complex on a mountain-top founded by Antiochus Theos featuring giant statues of the king (whose epithet means God), surrounded by gods. The location of Antiochus' tomb is one of the mysteries of archeology and recent research has revealed that on the peak of Nemrud Mountain close to the mausoleum there are some cavities that could hold the tomb of the king. Nemrud is a testament to hellenistic syncretism at its peak, each god being a synthesis of classical Greek and Persian gods (f.i. Apollo-Mithras-Helios) and was meant to be no less than the "home of the gods", making Kommagene and its kings a spiritual center for the Middle East. The statues were however destroyed by the Romans, and the sanctuary fell into oblivion, being rediscovered only in the 19th century and now a site of utmost interest for archaelogicans.
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