NOTES OF SIGEBERT HAVERCAMP

He presided over Pompey's interests; for he adhered to his faction, following his father’s judgment in supporting Cnaeus against Caesar. He captured the countenance of Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus, in which, according to Lucan, Book VIII, verse 679, is recognized:

——— those locks to be revered
by Kings, that shaggy hair, and the noble
hair-growth on the generous brow.
Or the upward growth of the hair original Greek: κόμης ἀνατολὴ (kome anatole), a specific hairstyle associated with Alexander the Great and later adopted by Pompey to suggest a "lion-like" appearance, as the Greeks used to call it. A trident before the face and a dolphin at the bottom denote command of the sea, thereby equating Cnaeus Pompey to King Neptune The Roman god of the sea; Pompey was famous for clearing the Mediterranean of pirates.

Numbers 17 and 18. Tarentum was a very celebrated city of Ancient Greece (or Italy), where Josephus notes that Antipater, the son of Herod the Great, received letters from Judea announcing the death of Pheroras—a bad omen for himself. Antiquities, Book XVII, Chapter v, Section 1, page 836. Many coins exist of this noble city, which was once a colony of the Lacedaemonians Spartans; in almost all of them, its founders and restorers, Taras and Phalanthus, are displayed. These two coins from our Museum are of that kind, though they differ in certain small details from those published until now, but we shall refrain from discussing those details at present.

Frequent mention of the Kingdom of Commagene An ancient Greco-Syrian kingdom in south-central Turkey occurs in Josephus, but especially memorable is the destruction of the royal title there. The Romans, eager for their own treasury, unjustly took this away under its expander Vespasian from Antiochus the last king. This king, if anyone ever did, had deserved very well from those masters of the world and from the Emperor himself, along with his offspring. The historian describes the fate of this pitiable King—who fell from the greatest wealth in his old age, through no fault of his own, back to a private fortune—at length in The Jewish War, Book VII, Chapter XXVII, page 420. Since I found the remaining engraved coins of this Antiochus, as well as of his sons and other Kings of Commagene, in Volume I of the British Treasury, page 108 and following, I judged it would be no unpleasant sight for my reader if I set them each down; they are ten in number.

Number 19. KING GREAT ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES original Greek: ΒΑΣΙ. ΜΕΓ. ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ. ΕΠΙ.. The head of King Antiochus wearing a diadem A royal headband. On the other side is a Capricorn A mythical creature, half-goat, half-fish; the zodiac sign of Augustus, under which the mark of the Seleucids, an Anchor, is seen, with the inscription OF THE COMMAGENIANS original Greek: ΚΟΜΜΑΓΗΝΩΝ. They believe this coin belongs to Antiochus I.

Number 20. KING GREAT ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES original Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΜΕΓ. ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ ΕΠΙΦΑ.. The head of King Antiochus with a diadem, such that the end of the second knot flows down the neck. On the other side, a Scorpion is seen enclosed in a laurel wreath with the usual inscription, OF THE COMMAGENIANS. This coin differs a little from Haym’s, because I have provided it from my own Museum, so beautiful and intact that I have scarcely ever seen its like. However, John Masson thinks it should be assigned to Antiochus III, who died under Tiberius.

Number 21. KING ANTIOCHUS original Greek: ΒΑΣΙ. ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ.. The head of the king with a diadem. On the other side, two cornucopias Horns of plenty, symbolizing prosperity placed crosswise, and the inscription OF THE COMMAGENIANS.

Number 22. KING GREAT ANTIOCHUS original Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ.. The diadem-wearing head of King Antiochus; on the other side, a Scorpion enclosed in laurel with the inscription OF THE LACANATIANS original Greek: ΛΑΚΑΝΑΤΩΝ, referring to a district in Commagene.

Number 23. KING GREAT ANTIOCHUS. The head of the King bound with a diadem; on the other side, a Scorpion enclosed in laurel, with the letters OF THE COMMAGENIANS.

Number 24. KING GREAT ANTIOCHUS original Greek: BACIAEYC. ΜΕΓ. ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟC.. The aged head of the wretched last king, Antiochus, with the last part of the diadem flowing onto the neck. On the other side, the image of a Scorpion and the usual inscription.

Number 25. The head of Gaius Caesar Caligula, with the inscription GAIUS CAESAR GERMANICUS... original Greek: ΓΑΙΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΙΚ.. On the other side is the head of a certain king, whom Haym (page 242) correctly judges to be a certain Antiochus of Commagene, specifically the one who lived in the times of Caligula. He asserts that he does not understand those marks seen under the chin of the royal head. It is certainly a pity that the coin is not more intact around the edges, which seem to have

held letters indicating the name and rank of the depicted head. However, as writers testify, "a certain Antiochus was not only gifted [territory] by Gaius, but also given the maritime shores of Cilicia." Since this coin was struck by Antiochus in testimony of this fact and out of gratitude—featuring not only his own image but also that of the Roman Emperor—he could therefore call himself King of Commagene and Cilicia. Thus, the letters IA. which still survive may be the remnants of KIA. which would have designated Cilicia.

Number 26. ANTIOCHUS KING... original Greek: ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟ.. ΒΑΣΙ.... The head of the King with a diadem, which has two signs or marks stamped near the neck and chin (of the kind very frequent on Greek coins). These are stamped with a crossed Cornucopia—which we also saw on the Commagenian coin at Number 21—and the Anchor, the emblem of the Seleucids. On the other side, a Scorpion is enclosed in Laurel with the inscription OF THE COMMAGENIANS. This coin belongs to the same Antiochus just mentioned: namely, Antiochus IV, who was raised to honors by Gaius and Claudius.

Number 27. QUEEN JOTAPE PHILADELPHUS original Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑ ΙΟΤΑΠΗ ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΣ; 'Philadelphus' means brother-loving. An elegant head of Queen Jotape encircled by a diadem. The other side, with the inscription OF THE COMMAGENIANS, has the usual symbol of the Scorpion and Laurel.

Number 28. SONS OF THE KING original Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΥΙΟΙ. Royal youths sitting on horses. On the other side is a Capricorn in laurel; underneath is an Anchor, and above is a Star, with the inscription OF THE COMMAGENIANS. Those two youths are the sons of that most unhappy last King of Commagene, Antiochus: Epiphanes and Callinicus. Josephus describes their anger and spirit regarding their snatched hopes for the Kingdom in The Jewish War, Book VII, Chapter VII, page 420; he also mentions the "wonderful boldness" of the elder, Epiphanes, while he attempted to overcome the vast walls of Jerusalem by force with his Macedonian phalanx in Book V, Chapter XI, page 354.

Number 29. JOTAPE......... A female head. On the other side is the head of a youth with letters that are not sufficiently recognized.

Indeed, I would undertake a longer discourse on all these matters, if the diligence of the most learned man John Masson had not relieved me of that burden. For his Short Dissertation on these very Coins and the Kings of Commagene, all called Antiochus, exists in the first volume of his British Treasury, page 113, inserted by Nicola Francesco Haym. But because that book is quite rare in these lands, and can only be obtained at great cost, I will subjoin the words of that most distinguished man exactly as they stand. They are as follows:

Since ancient writers mention many ANTIOCHUSES reigning in Commagene, it will not be useless for explaining the previous and other coins (which also seem to bear different faces) if we first provide a brief and more accurate account of the Princes who held power in that region from the time the vast Seleucid kingdom was reduced to these narrow boundaries, until it underwent the form of a Roman Province under the reign of Vespasian.

I. The first who occurs in this series, Antiochus by name and King of Commagene, is expressly mentioned by Dio in the records of the year 685 from the founding of Rome (a), as one who then—and indeed after Lucullus's victory over Tigranes (b) and the storming of the city which had been named Tigranocerta by this King of Armenia—was received into Roman protection. Appian, however, who does not mention this king of Commagene in the affairs of Lucullus, later narrating the deeds of Pompey against Mithridates, writes (c) that Pompey, having crossed the Taurus mountains (d), brought war against Antiochus of Commagene until he too was received into friendship. Then, recording the constitutions of Kingdoms and Provinces made by Pompey, he adds that with Antiochus...

(a) Book 35 at the start of the fragments. (b) Reported on the day before the nones of October, if Plutarch is to be believed in his life of Lucullus. (c) On the Mithridatic Wars page 244; see also page 251. (d) In the year 690 from the founding of Rome.