Roman Near East. There is a possibility that the wife of Balbilus may have been royalty, possibly Commagenian. By his wife Balbilus had a daughter called Claudia Capitolina. The nomen Claudia she inherited from her father's family while the Cognomen Capitolina, she may have inherited from her mother's family. In 64, Capitolina married her cousin, Gaius Julius Archelaus Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus IV of Commagene, and his sister-wife, Queen Iotapa. Capitolina bore Epiphanes one son, called Gaius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappos and one daughter, called Julia Balbilla. Balbilus has two further namesakes the Emesene Priests of the cult of El-Gebal in Rome, Tiberius Julius Balbillus and his relative, Titus Julius Balbillus who lived in the second half of the 2nd century and the first half of the 3rd century. Like Balbilus, both were descendants of the King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, through Balbilus’ maternal uncle Iotapa who married into the Emesene dynasty. Posthumous honours In his later years Balbilus lived in Ephesus. Vespasian granted privileges to him and his city of Ephesus because of his proficiency as an astrologer. Balbilus died in 79, possibly in June of that year. As Vespasian thought very highly of him, he dedicated and allowed Ephesians to institute games held in his honour. These games became a sporting festival called the Balbillean Games. This festival was held at Ephesus from 79 well into the 3rd century. An inscription in Ephesus honours Balbilus and his daughter. Balbilus was honoured by his granddaughter Julia Balbilla in two epigrams in Aeolic Greek which are dated to 130. The two epigrams are a part of four epigrams recorded which are inscribed and are preserved on the lower sections of one of the Colossi of Memnon. These are two massive stone statues built by the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III (flourished 14th century BC), to stand guard at the entrance of Amenhotep's memorial temple. Balbilla had lived in Egypt and was an escort to the Roman emperor Hadrian and his wife, Vibia Sabina when they visited the country. The inscriptions that Balbilla commissioned commemorated their visit to Egypt. In the inscriptions on the Colossi of Memnon, Balbilla acknowledged and made reference to her royal and aristocratic descent. In the last two lines of the second epigram, she honours her family including Balbilus: The fourth and final epigram, Balbilla dedicates to her parents and grandfathers. This epigram is dedicated