Athenais Philostorgos II From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article uses bare URLs for citations, which may be threatened by link rot. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the reFill tool are available to assist in formatting. (reFill documentation) (February 2015) Athenais Philostorgos II [1] her surname can be spelt as Philostorgus, she is sometimes known as Athenais of Pontus (Greek: η Άθηναἷς Φιλόστοργος Β' , meaning Athenais the loving one, flourished 51 BCE) was a Princess from the Kingdom of Pontus and through marriage was a Roman Client Queen of Cappadocia.

Athenais was a Princess of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. She was the child of King Mithridates VI of Pontus from his second marriage to the Anatolian Greek Macedonian noblewoman and Pontian Queen Monime.[2] When Athenais was born, her parents gave her a traditional ancient Greek name. She was born and raised in the Kingdom of Pontus.

Athenais married the Cappadocian Prince and later King Ariobarzanes II Philopator,[3] who was of Persian and Greek descent. Ariobarzanes II succeeded his father as King in 63 BC-62 BC, when his father Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios abdicated his throne.[4] When Ariobarzanes II became King, Athenais became Cappadocian Queen and she also inherited the honorific title of Philostorgos, which was the honorific surname of the mother Ariobarzanes II, Athenais Philostorgos I.[5]

Athenais was related to the previous Kings and monarchs of Cappadocia, as her paternal aunt Laodice of Cappadocia was a Queen; her paternal cousins: Ariarathes VI, Ariarathes VII, Ariarathes VIII and her paternal half-brother Ariarathes IX served as previous Kings of Cappadocia. Through her Seleucid and paternal lineage, Athenais was related to the ancestors of Ariarathes VI.

Ariobarzanes II reigned as King of Cappadocian from 63 BC-62 BC until his assassination in c. 51 BC.[6] There are various surviving honorific inscriptions dedicated to Athenais.[7] During their marriage Athenais bore Ariobarzanes II two sons: Ariobarzanes III Eusebes Philoromaios and Ariarathes X Eusebes Philadelphos. Her sons would serve as among the last Kings of Cappadocia.

The name 'Ariobarzanes' was not just a name that was from her husband’s family, it was a name from her family. Athenais had three paternal political ancestors of that name: Ariobarzanes of Phrygia (flourished 5th century BC); Ariobarzanes II of Cius (flourished 4th century BC) and the previous Pontian King Ariobarzanes of Pontus.

After the death of her husband, her first son succeeded his father as King and she became a widow who never married again. Athenais became known as the ‘Queen-Mother’ of Cappadocia.[8]

During the rule of Ariobarzanes III, Roman Governor of Cilicia Marcus Tullius Cicero warned the King that Athenais could be a potential enemy to him.[9] Cicero’s warning was based on Athenais’ jealousy, about two nobles called Methras and Athenaeus. They were ministers and favorites of her first son and they were through Athenais’ jealousy were driven out from the Cappadocian Royal Court. However Methras and Athenaeus were later recalled by Cicero.

Athenais’ jealousy was a part of her failed plot to depose her first son from his throne and put her second son in his place. Cicero and Ariobarzanes III caught Athenais out and Ariobarzanes III was very saddened about his mother’s actions. Ariabarzanes III removed his mother from power and her fate afterwards is unknown.

References[edit] Jump up ^ http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=cappadocia Jump up ^ Mayor, The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy p.405 Jump up ^ http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0412.html Jump up ^ http://www.livius.org./ap-ark/ariobarzanes/ariobarzanes_ii_philopat... Jump up ^ http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0412.html Jump up ^ http://www.livius.org./ap-ark/ariobarzanes/ariobarzanes_ii_philopat... Jump up ^ Syme, Anatolica: studies in Strabo p.144 Jump up ^ Syme, Anatolica: studies in Strabo p.144 Jump up ^ Hornblower, The Oxford Classical Dictionary References & Sources[edit] http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0412.html http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=cappadocia http://www.livius.org./ap-ark/ariobarzanes/ariobarzanes_ii_philopat... Letters of Cicero Syme, R., Birley, A.R., Anatolica: studies in Strabo, Oxford University Press, 1995 Hornblower, S., Spawforth A., The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1996 Mayor, A. The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome’s deadliest enemy, Princeton University Press, 2009 Muirhead, J.H, Cicero M.T, Letters of Cicero, READ BOOKS, 2010

Athenais Philostorgos I

Athenais Philostorgos I, her surname can be spelt as Philostorgus (Greek: η Άθηναἷς Φιλόστοργος Α', meaning Athenais the loving one, flourished 1st century BC) was a Queen of Cappadocia.

Athenais was a Greek noblewoman of obscure origins. She was the wife of the Cappadocian Persian nobleman and King Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios and through her marriage became a Queen of Cappadocia. Ariobarzanes I reigned as King of Cappadocia from 95 to 63/62 BC.

It appears when Ariobarzanes I reigned as King he married Athenais as his Queen. Little is known on how she reigned as Queen and her relationship with her family. Athenais bore Ariobarzanes I two children: a son Ariobarzanes II Philopator who later succeeded his father as King and a daughter, Isias Philostorgos who later married the King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.

Athenais is also known through a surviving honorific inscription dedicated to her son in Athens, Greece dating from the mid 1st century BC.

King Ariobarzanes Philopator, son of King
Ariobarzanes Philoromaios and of Queen Athenais Philostorgos, (is honored by) those who had been commissioned by him for the construction of the Odeion, Gaius and Marcus Stallius, sons of Gaius, and Menalippos, as their benefactor.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenais_Philostorgos_I