The position of Commagene within the Achaemenid Empire, its political, administrative and social structure is far from being clear to us. This paper aims at present an overview of various aspects of the history of Commagene in the Achaemenid period. Evidence of the Persian rule over the region is confined to few literary references and to epigraphic sources of the Hellenistic period which say, however, very little. A valuable contribution is offered by the archaeological researches of the last 30 years, which have detected more significant traces of the Achaemenid presence in Commagene than assumed in the past. From this recent and less recent archaeological documentation a Persian influence on the local culture emerges.