Commagenian Glocalization and the Matter of Perception – An Innovative Royal Portrait from Samosata

Resumo

The Late-Hellenistic kingdom of Commagene between the Euphrates river and the Taurus mountains and its archaeological remains are often dealt with as being dominated by ›Greek‹ and ›Persian‹ infl uences. However, this view marginalizes local agency, which becomes apparent in the stylistic elements appropriated from a Hellenistic koine in order to visualize royal ambitions as well as political realities.

Through the lens of approaches from globalization theory the paper illuminates how the detailed investigation of a Late Hellenistic royal portrait from Samosata can open up prevailing ways of thinking and lead to a better understanding of local adaptation- and transformation-processes in Commagene. The portrait is to be identified as a posthumous image of Antiochos I which was part of an ancestral gallery in the royal palace at Samosata. This is especially instructive because it differs from the known images of Antiochos I, which show him wearing the Armenian tiara, and instead presents the ruler as an independent king following traditions of Hellenistic royal portraiture slightly infl uenced by the portraits of Octavian. The difference of the portrait from Samosata compared to previous depictions of Commagenian rulers must be explained by the changed political situation after the battle of Actium. In this context, Antiochos I is on the one hand presented as an independent Hellenistic ruler, whereas the stylistic detail of his hair – obviously inspired by Octavian’s portrait – aims at the benevolent reception of viewers familiar with Roman iconography. Similar reactions due to the increasing importance of Octavian / Augustus in the whole Mediterranean can be observed in the portraiture of other Hellenistic rulers but the reference to Octavianic instead of Augustan portraiture point to a very conscious process of adaptation and appropriation in the case of Commagene. Thus, the posthumous portrait of Antiochos I must be regarded as a visual expression of the Commagenian dynasty’s conscious agency in positioning themselves in a changing local and global environment.