Artaxias III, also known as Zeno-Artaxias, Artaxes or Artashes (d. 35) is a prince of the Bosporan, Pontus, Cilicia, Cappadocia and Roman Client King of Armenia.
Artaxias was born with the name Zenon.
He is the first son and child born to Roman client rulers Polemon Pythodoros and Pythodorida of Pontus.
His younger siblings are Polemon II of Pontus, who will succeed his mother and become the last ruler of Pontus, and Antonia Tryphaena, who is the Queen of Thrace.
He is of Anatolian Greek and Roman heritage.
His paternal grandmother is unknown, however his paternal grandmother could have been named Tryphaena, while his paternal grandfather is Zenon, a prominent orator and aristocrat, who was an ally to Roman Triumvir Mark Antony.
His maternal grandparents are the wealthy Greek and friend of the late Roman Triumvir Pompey Pythodoros of Tralles and Antonia.
Zenon is named after his paternal grandfather.
Through his maternal grandmother he is a direct descendant of Mark Antony and his second wife Antonia Hybrida Minor.
Antony and Antonia Hybrida are first paternal cousins.
He is Antony’s first born great grandson and great grandchild.
Through Antony, his great maternal aunt is Roman Client Queen Cleopatra Selene II of Mauretania.
Through Antony, he is a distant cousin to Roman Client King Ptolemy of Mauretania and the princesses named Drusilla of Mauretania.
Through Antony, he is a distant cousin to Roman Emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero and Roman Empresses Valeria Messalina, Agrippina the Younger and Claudia Octavia.
