kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Kingdom of Commagene

163 BCE – 72 CE · capital Samosata

Commagene, a small kingdom on the upper Euphrates whose king Antiochus I built the colossal god-statues on the summit of Nemrut Dağı.

Origins

Commagene, the former Kummuh, lay between the Taurus mountains and the Euphrates. Its governor Ptolemaeus broke away from the Seleucid Empire c. 163 BCE. His successor Mithridates I Callinicus married a Seleucid princess, uniting Persian and Macedonian royal lines.

Rule and society

Antiochus I Theos ruled from Samosata and devised a royal cult in which Greek and Persian gods were merged. On Nemrut Dağı he built a burial mound flanked by giant statues of himself with Zeus-Oromasdes, Apollo-Mithras and Heracles-Artagnes. Commagene grew rich from its fertile valleys and river crossings.

Decline and legacy

Rome annexed Commagene in 17 CE, restored it to Antiochus IV in 38 CE, and finally absorbed it into the province of Syria in 72 CE under Vespasian.

Lineage

Seleucid Empire 312 BCE – 63 BCEKingdom of CommageneRoman Empire 27 BCE – 476 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Commagene. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-commagene
MLA
“Kingdom of Commagene.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-commagene. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Commagene.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-commagene.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Commagene’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-commagene (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻