Antiochus IV Epiphanes & Iotape 38-72 AD (Kov 237-259)

Gaius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philocaesar BNP [18] ruled jointly with his wife Iotape after the emperor Caligula reinstated the Roman province of Commagene (AD 17-38) as a kingdom. Although the volatile Caligula deposed Antiochus around AD 40 Claudius reinstated him the following year.

Antiochus was a faithful ally of Rome, aiding Rome in the Parthian wars and founding several cities in honor of the emperors he served (Braund 108); Claudius: Ninica Claudiopolis (Cilicia); Caligula: Germanicopolis (Cietis); Nero: Neronias (Lacanatis). Despite his service to the emperor, Antiochus was denounced for plotting with Parthia by the governor of Syria, L. Caesennius Paetus, and reluctantly arrested by Vespasian. Vespasian was not convinced by the charges and allowed Antiochus to live out his years in Rome and Sparta in the style of a king.

The coinage of Antiochus and Iotape is a radical departure from the traditional Orontid issues. The king and queen (and their sons) are depicted as Hellenistic monarchs whose headdress is the diadem. The coinage itself now parallels the Roman system at Antioch on the Orontes, where most coins of this reign were minted." The coins are still denominated in chalkoi, although there has been a tendency to equate them with their Roman counterparts; dupondii, asses, etc. (RPC 1, 623), as struck at Antioch.

The most notable types are astrological: scorpion for Antiochus and Iotape; Capricorn for Epiphanes and Callinicus. The Armenian tiara is retained as the reverse type on two of the smaller denominations, perhaps as a reminder of the Orontid tradition.

The coins of Antiochus's Cilician holdings are of sufficiently different style and character to suggest that they were minted locally in the cities indicated, sometimes alongside "autonomous" coins (Kov-269). The Chian silver drachms (Kov-283-284) issued by Antiochus are not strictly related to the coins of Commagene but are included below for their historical interest. (Braund 1984, 79; Borgia 2013, 92 and no. 79)

Kovacs, Frank L. “Armenian Coinage in the Classical Period” CNS 10, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, 2016, pp. 42-43.