Aka II of Commagene

Aka II of Commagene[1] also known as Aka II or Aka[2] (Greek: Άκα) was a Princess from the Kingdom of Commagene[3] who lived in the second half of the 1st century BC & first half of the 1st century.

Life

She who was of Armenian, Greek and Median descent.

Aka II is one of the daughters born to the King of Commagene, Mithridates III who reigned from 20 BC until 12 BC from his cousin-wife Queen Iotapa, thus was a sister of Antiochus III of Commagene.[4] She was mostly probably born, raised and educated in Samosata, the capital of the Kingdom of Commagene.

At an unknown date in the late first century BC, Aka II married an Egyptian Greek called Thrasyllus of Mendes[5] and the circumstances that led Thrasyllus to marry Aka II are unknown. Aka II is known from a preserved incomplete poem, that mentions Aka II as the wife of Thrasyllus and mentions she was of royal origins.[6]

Thrasyllus was a Grammarian, Literary Commentator who served as the astrologer and became the personal friend of the Roman emperor Tiberius,[7] who reigned from 14 until 37. As Tiberius had held Thrasyllus in the highest honor, Tiberius rewarded Thrasyllus for his friendship by giving him, Roman citizenship[8] to him and his family. From given Roman citizenship, Aka II became known as Claudia Aka, as her husband became known as Tiberius Claudius Thrasyllus.[9] Aka II died at an unknown date in the first century.

Aka II and Thrasyllus had two known children:

• an unnamed daughter[10][11] who married the Eques Lucius Ennius.[12][13] She bore Ennius, a daughter called Ennia Thrasylla[14][15] and perhaps a son called Lucius Ennius who was the father of Lucius Ennius Ferox, a Roman Soldier who served during the reign of the Roman emperor Vespasian[16] from 69 until 79
• a son called Tiberius Claudius Balbilus,[17][18][19] through whom she had further descendants

References

1. Royal genealogy of Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb
2. Beck, Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays, p.43
3. Beck, Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays, p.42-3
4. Royal genealogy of Mithradates III of Commagene at rootsweb
5. Beck, Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays, p.42-3
6. see Conrad Cichorius (1927) p. 103 note and Gundel/S. Gundel (1966) 148f. and 14th note
7. Holden, A History of Horoscopic Astrology, p.26
8. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, p.7
9. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, p.137
10. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, p.p.137&230
11. Genealogy of daughter of Tiberius Claudius Thrasyllus & Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb
12. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, p.p.137&230
13. Genealogy of daughter of Tiberius Claudius Thrasyllus & Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb
14. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, p.p.137&230
15. Genealogy of daughter of Tiberius Claudius Thrasyllus & Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb
16. Coleman-Norton, Ancient Roman Statutes, p.151-2
17. Holden, A History of Horoscopic Astrology, p.29
18. Beck, Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays, p.42-3
19. Royal genealogy of Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb

Sources

• P. Robinson Coleman-Norton & F. Card Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, The Lawbook Exchange Limited, 1961
• B. Levick, Tiberius: The Politician, Routledge, 1999
• R. Beck, Beck on Mithraism: Collected Works With New Essays, Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2004
• J.H. Holden, A History of Horoscopic Astrology, American Federation of Astrology, 2006
• Royal genealogy of Mithradates III of Commagene at rootsweb
• Royal genealogy of Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb
• Genealogy of daughter of Tiberius Claudius Thrasyllus & Aka II of Commagene at rootsweb