| Antiochus IV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Coin depicting Antiochus IV | |||||
| King ofCommagene | |||||
| Reign | AD 38 – AD 72 (34 years) | ||||
| Predecessor | Antiochus III | ||||
| Successor | None (Kingdom abolished) | ||||
| Born | before AD 17 | ||||
| Died | after AD 72 Rome,Roman Empire | ||||
| Spouse | Princess Iotapa of Commagene | ||||
| Issue | Prince Gaius Prince Callinicus Iotapa, Queen of Cetis | ||||
| |||||
| House | Orontid dynasty | ||||
| Father | King Antiochus III of Commagene | ||||
| Mother | Princess Iotapa of Commagene | ||||
Gaius Julius Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Ancient Greek:Γάιος Ἰούλιος Ἀντίοχος ὀ Ἐπιφανής, before 17 AD – after 72 AD), the last king ofCommagene, reigned between 38 and 72 as a client king to theRoman Empire. The epithet "Epiphanes" means "the Glorious".
Antiochus was born a prince of the royal family of Commagene. His parents KingAntiochus III of Commagene and QueenIotapa were full-blooded siblings who had married each other. The younger Antiochus himself would marry his full-blooded sisterIotapa. Antiochus was ofArmenian[1] descent. Through his ancestor from Commagene, QueenLaodice VII Thea, who was the mother of KingAntiochus I of Commagene, he was a direct descendant of the GreekSeleucid kings.
Antiochus appears to have been very young when his father died in 17. TheRoman emperorTiberius agreed with the citizens of Commagene to make their kingdom a part of theRoman province ofSyria. Between 17 and 38, Antiochus seems to have gainedRoman citizenship. He lived and was raised inRome, along with his sister. While he and his sister were growing up in Rome, they were part of the remarkable court ofAntonia Minor, a niece of the first Roman emperorAugustus and the youngest daughter of the triumvirMark Antony. Antonia Minor was a very influential woman and supervised her circle of various princes and princesses. Her circle assisted in the political preservation of the Roman Empire's borders and affairs of the client states.
In 38, Antiochus received his paternal dominion from Antonia's grandson, the Roman emperorCaligula. In addition, the emperor enlarged Antiochus' territory with a part ofCilicia bordering on the seacoast. Caligula also gave him the whole amount of the revenues of Commagene during the twenty years that it had been a Roman province.[2][3] The reasons for providing a client king with such vast resources remain unclear; it was perhaps a stroke of Caligula's well-attested eccentricity. Antiochus was on most intimate terms with Caligula, and he and KingAgrippa I are spoken of as the instructors of the emperor in the art of tyranny.[4] This friendship, however, did not last very long, for he was subsequently deposed by Caligula.
Antiochus did not regain his kingdom till the accession of Roman EmperorClaudius in 41.[5] In 43 his first son,C. Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes, was betrothed toDrusilla, a daughter ofAgrippa I.[6] Apart from Epiphanes, Antiochus had another two children with Iotapa:Callinicus and a youngerIotapa. In 53, Antiochus put down an insurrection of some barbarous tribes in Cilicia, called Clitae.[7] In 55 he received orders from the Roman emperorNero to levy troops to makewar against theParthians, and in the year 59 he served under GeneralCn. Domitius Corbulo against KingTiridates I of Armenia, brother of the Parthian KingVologases I of Parthia.[8] In consequence of his services in this war, in the year 61 he obtained parts ofArmenia.[9]
He took the side ofVespasian when the latter was proclaimed Roman emperor in 70; and he is then spoken of as the richest of the tributary kings.[10] In the same year he sent forces, commanded by his son Epiphanes, to assist princeTitus in the siege ofJerusalem.[11][12] During his reign as king, he founded the following cities:Germanicopolis,Iotapa and Neronias.[13]
Antiochus' downfall came only two years afterwards, in 72, when he was accused byL. Caesennius Paetus, the governor ofSyria, of conspiring with the Parthians against the Romans. He was therefore deprived of his kingdom, after a reign of thirty-four years from his first appointment by Caligula. Antiochus' sons, the princes Epiphanes and Callinicus, fled toParthia after a brief encounter with Roman troops. Antiochus himself retired first toSparta and then toRome, where he passed the remainder of his life with his sons Epiphanes and Callinicus and was treated with great respect.[14] Among the grandchildren of Antiochus and Iotapa was the prominent Athenian citizenPhilopappos who lived inGreece between the 1st and 2nd centuries.
There are several coins of this king extant, and their die-marks prove he did rule large parts ofCappadocia andCilicia as well as Commagene proper. In one of those coins he is called ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ ("Great King Antiochus"), a testament to his political ambitions. On the reverse of that coin a scorpion is represented, surrounded with the foliage of the laurel, and inscribed ΚΟΜΜΑΓΗΝΩΝ ("of the Commagenians"). From his coins we also learn the name of his wife,Iotapa.[15][16]