Antiochus I (Commagene)

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Head of Antiochus I at the Hierothesion on Nemrud Dağı
Antiochus (left) with Hercules (right). To be seen on a Dexiosis relief in the British Museum

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.

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personal data
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.