Kingdom of Commagene

Kingdom of Commagene
Βασίλειον τῆς Kομμαγηνῆς
163 BC – 72 AD
Map showing Commagene (at left in light pink) in 50 AD; nearby are Armenia, Sophene, Osrhoene, and the Roman and Parthian Empires
Capital		Samosata
Languages		Greek (official), Armenian, Syriac, Persian
Government		Monarchy
King
•	163–130 BC	Ptolemaeus
•	38–72 AD	Antiochus IV
Historical era		Hellenistic Age
•	Established	163 BC
•	Disestablished	72 AD
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Sophene Roman Empire

The Kingdom of Commagene (Ancient Greek: Βασίλειον τῆς Kομμαγηνῆς, Armenian: Կոմմագենեի թագավորություն) was an ancient Armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic period, located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which served as its capital. The Iron Age name of Samosata, Kummuh, probably gives its name to Commagene. Commagene has been characterized as a "buffer state" between Armenia, Parthia, Syria, and Rome; culturally, it seems to have been correspondingly mixed. The kings of the Kingdom of Commagene claimed descent from Orontes with Darius I of Persia as their ancestor, by his marriage to Rodogoune, daughter of Artaxerxes II who had a family descent from king Darius I. The territory of Commagene corresponds roughly to the modern Turkish provinces of Adıyaman and northern Antep.

Little is known of the region of Commagene prior to the beginning of the 2nd century BC. However, it seems that, from what little evidence remains, Commagene formed part of a larger state that also included the Kingdom of Sophene. This control lasted until c. 163 BC, when the local satrap, Ptolemaeus of Commagene, established himself as independent ruler following the death of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Kingdom of Commagene maintained its independence until 17 AD, when it was made a Roman province by Emperor Tiberius. It reemerged as an independent kingdom when Antiochus IV of Commagene was reinstated to the throne by order of Caligula, then deprived of it by that same emperor, then restored to it a couple of years later by his successor, Claudius. The reemergent state lasted until 72 AD, when the Emperor Vespasian finally and definitively made it part of the Roman Empire.