Antiochus I (Commagene)
Antiochus I Theos Epiphanes Dikaios Philorhomaios Philhellen ( ancient Greek Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην ;.. Reign of 69 - about 36 BC) was the most important king of the Anatolian kingdom of Commagene and one of the most colorful figures of the late Hellenistic period .
Life
Antiochus I was the son of Mithridates I Kallinikos and the Seleucid princess Laodike , daughter of the Syrian king Antiochus VIII. Grypus . This marriage had been an arrangement to ensure peace between Kommagene and the Seleucids .
Antiochus I had to protect his empire and his interests against the powerful Romans . However, he could not prevent his empire from becoming a de facto Roman vassal in the end.
As king Antiochus I took his religion, which was a Hellenized form of Zoroastrianism , very seriously. The ruler's cult , which he set up for himself, combined Greek and Oriental elements. He left behind a large number of Greek inscriptions that reveal a lot about this cult, in which the living king, unusually, allowed himself to be worshiped as god ( theos ). The kings of Kommagene traced their descent to both the Persian and the Macedonian Seleucid royal family. Accordingly, the pantheon was a mixture of Greek and Persian gods (e.g. Zeus - Ahura Mazda ).
Antiochus' most important and famous heritage is the sanctuary on the top of Nemrut Dağı , over 2000 meters above sea level. The remains of Antiochus I are probably buried in the Hierothesion there , a burial area for members of the royal house. In Arsameia on Nymphaios he also established a hierothesion for his father Mithridates. Another sanctuary of his royal cult was at Ancoz .
The marriage to Isias had four children. Two of them ( Mithridates II and Antiochus II) later ruled as kings. His daughter Laodike married the Parthian king Orodes II.
literature
- Heinrich Dörrie : The royal cult of Antiochus von Kommagene in the light of new inscriptions finds (= treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, number 60). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964.
- Helmut Waldmann: The commagenic cult reforms under King Mithradates 1. Kallinikos and his son Antiochus 1 (= Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans L'empire romain. Volume 34). Leiden 1973.
- Jörg Wagner (ed.): God kings on the Euphrates. New excavations and research from Kommagene. 2nd edition, Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4218-6 .
- Ulrich Wilcken : Antiochus 37 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Sp. 2487-2489.
Web links
- Antiochus I (Commagene) . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Antiochus I. |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Antiochus I. Theos Dikaios Epiphanes Philorhomaios Philhellen |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of the Anatolian Empire Commagene |
DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr. |
DATE OF DEATH | 1st century BC Chr. |