Ptolemaeus ( el, ) (201 BC - 130 BC) was initially the satrap of

Commagene Commagene ( grc-gre, Κομμαγηνή) was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty that had ruled over Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which ser ...

, later becoming its first king in 163 BC. He belonged to the

Orontid Dynasty The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after th ...

, founded by

Orontes I Orontes I (Old Persian: ''*Arvanta-''; died 344 BC) was a Bactrian nobleman, who served as a military officer of the Achaemenid Empire in the first half of the 4th-century BC. He first appears in 401 BC as the satrap of the satrapy of Armenia. The ...

. Ptolemaeus' father was King

Orontes IV Orontes IV ( Old Persian: ''*Arvanta-'') was the son of King Arsames and is recorded as ruling Armenia from inscriptions found at the historic capital of the Orontid dynasty, Armavir. He was the founder of the city of Yervandashat. In his reign ...

of Armenia, son of

Arsames I Arsames I (Greek: ; peo, 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶) seems to have taken control of Commagene, Sophene and Armenia in the year 260 BC after the death of his grandfather Orontes III, king of Armenia, and his father Sames, king of Commagene. Name "Ars ...

. Ptolemaeus was the last

Satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

(Governor) of the state of

, a province in the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

. He served under the

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 ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Kings

Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the re ...

Seleucus IV Philopator Seleucus IV Philopator (Greek: Σέλευκος Φιλοπάτωρ; c. 218 – 3 September 175 BC), ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria (now including Cilicia and Judea), Mesop ...

Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...

and

Antiochus V Eupator Antiochus V Eupator (Greek: ''Αντίοχος Ε' Ευπάτωρ''), whose epithet means "of a good father" (c. 172 BC – 161 BC) was a ruler of the Greek Seleucid Empire who reigned from late 164 to 161 BC (based on dates from 1 Maccabees 6:1 ...

. Ptolemaeus served as Satrap of Commagene until 163 BC. When the

began to disintegrate, in 163 BC Ptolemaeus decided to revolt and make Commagene an independent kingdom. Ptolemaeus also declared

Samosata Samsat ( ku, Samîsad), formerly Samosata ( grc, Σαμόσατα) is a small town in the Adıyaman Province of Turkey, situated on the upper Euphrates river. It is the seat of Samsat District.Mithridates I of Parthia Mithridates I (also spelled Mithradates I or Mihrdad I; xpr, 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕 ''Mihrdāt''), also known as Mithridates I the Great, was king of the Parthian Empire from 165 BC to 132 BC. During his reign, Parthia was transformed from a small ...

. Also, according to fragments of inscribed reliefs found at

Mount Nemrut Mount Nemrut or Nemrud ( tr, Nemrut Dağı; ku, Çiyayê Nemrûdê; hy, Նեմրութ լեռ; Greek: Όρος Νεμρούτ) is a mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what ...

, archaeologists have discovered that Ptolemaeus was a descendant of King

Darius I of Persia Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...

. Ptolemaeus died in 130 BC and his wife is unknown. His son and successor was

Sames II Theosebes Dikaios Sames or Samos II Theosebes Dikaios ( el, Σάμος Θεοσεβής Δίκαιος – died 109 BC) was the second king of Commagene. He was the son and successor of Ptolemaeus of Commagene. Sames reigned as king between 130–109 BC. During hi ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * Kings of Commagene 130 BC deaths 2nd-century BC rulers Seleucid satraps Year of birth unknown {{MEast-royal-stub