Mithridates II Antiochus Epiphanes Philorhomaeus Philhellen Monocrites ( el, , died 20 BC), also known as Mithridates II of Commagene, was a king of
Commagene in the 1st century BC.
Of
Iranian[; ; ; ; ; ; ] and Greek descent, he was one of the sons of King
Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. When his father died in , he succeeded his father and reigned until his death.
Biography
According to
Plutarch, Mithridates was an ally of the
Roman triumvir
Mark Antony. In 31 BC, Mithridates personally led his forces to
Actium in
Greece in support of Antony in the war against Caesar Octavian, the future Roman emperor
Augustus.
After the
defeat of Antony, however, Mithridates became a loyal ally to Augustus. Nevertheless, Augustus forced Mithridates to hand over a village in Commagene called
Zeugma, which was a major crossing point of the
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
River, to the Roman province of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. To show his support for Augustus, Mithridates dropped the title ''
Philhellen'' ("friend of the Greeks") from his
Aulic titulature
Aulic titulature is a term, derived from the Greek ''aulè'' and Latin wikt:aula#Latin, aula (in the meaning ''palace'') for hierarchic systems of titles specifically in use for court protocol. Aulic titulature is the name for a system of official ...
and adopted the title ''Philorhomaeus'' ("friend of the Romans") instead. Both titles were derived from the Commagenean royal cult that Mithridates' father had founded, and in which Mithridates played an important role. His other title ''Monocrites'' is an otherwise unattested title and was most likely a judicial function within the royal administration and a sign of his high social standing.
Mithridates had a brother,
Antiochus II of Commagene, who was also a prince of the kingdom.
In 29 BC, Antiochus was summoned to
Rome and executed by Roman emperor Augustus, because Antiochus had caused the assassination of an ambassador whom Mithridates had sent to Rome.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mithridates 02 of Commagene
Kings of Commagene
20 BC deaths
1st-century BC rulers in Asia
Year of birth unknown