Aka of Commagene, II - Historicity

Many family trees have Aka of Commagene as the wife of Tiberius Claudius Balbillus

The reason for her identity is from an engraving left by Julia Balbilla a Roman poet on the legs of the Colossi of Memnon. This a beautiful example of ancient graffiti.

The relevant passage:
"For pious were my parents and grandfathers:
Balbillus the Wise and King Antiochus;
Balbillus, the father of my mother of royal blood and King Antiochus, the father of my father. From their line I too draw my noble blood,
and these verses are mine, pious Balbilla."

Notice that there is no mention of Aka anywhere here. What happened was a transcription error. Various scholars have read different things at the end of verse 15. Some scholars read it as AKA or a variation of it and decided that it must be a reference to her grandmother's name. Andre and Etienne Bernand argue in Les inscriptions grecques et latines du colosse de Memnon (1960) that if you look at the photograph of the inscription they are using it clearly says αμμας, which simply means mother in Latin, which makes a lot more sense in the context of the verse.

The point is that Aka of Commagene, wife of Balbillus, never existed.

I have severed her connections to the parents currently attached to her: Mithridates III, king of Commagene and Iotapa

I have also moved the profile that used to be Aka to be the wife of Balbillus, as she seemed to be mistakenly attached to Balbillus' possible father, Thrassylus.

Sincerely,
Tamas Caldwell-Gilbert