Kingdom of Cappadocia

The Kingdom of Cappadocia was a Hellenistic-era kingdom of Iranian origin in the uplands of central Anatolia, in what is now Turkey. It grew out of a Persian province after the conquests of Alexander the Great and was ruled by three royal houses in turn, from the late fourth century BCE until Rome annexed it in 17 CE. Its kings balanced between larger powers while blending Persian traditions with Greek culture.

Under the Achaemenid Empire, Cappadocia was a province with a sizeable Iranian aristocracy. Ariarathes, born around 405 or 404 BCE, governed northern Cappadocia from the 340s BCE and fought for Darius III at Gaugamela in 331 BCE. When Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire, the Iranian nobles east of the Halys River did not submit, and Ariarathes ruled on as an independent prince. In 322 BCE the Macedonian regent Perdiccas captured and executed him, and his lands were fought over during the Wars of the Diadochi.

Ariarathes' nephew, Ariarathes II, the son of his brother Orophernes, turned to the Armenian king Ardoates for help, and with Armenian support he retook Cappadocia in 301 BCE, killing the Macedonian governor, though he had to accept the overlordship of the Seleucid Empire. The Ariarathid kings strengthened their position through marriages with the Seleucid and Pontic royal families, and under Ariarathes III, who reigned from around 255 to 220 BCE, Cappadocia became fully independent.

In the second century BCE the kingdom drew closer to Rome. Ariarathes V, who ruled from 163 to 130 BCE and is often counted the greatest of the line, was briefly driven out by a rival claimant backed by the Seleucid king, fled to Rome and was restored. A keen admirer of Greek learning, he held Athenian citizenship and corresponded with the philosopher Carneades. He died in 130 BCE fighting for Rome against Aristonicus of Pergamon, and Rome rewarded his family with Lycaonia and Cilicia. Early in the first century BCE Mithridates VI of Pontus brought the Ariarathid line to an end. Rome then backed the election of another Iranian noble, Ariobarzanes I, whose house ruled from 96 to 36 BCE.

The kingdom was divided into ten, later eleven, districts called strategiai, each run by a leading noble. Power rested on royal estates, fortresses and large temple estates, whose priests ranked next to the king. The capital, Mazaca, later known as Caesarea, was a large and well-defended city. The geographer Strabo, writing under Augustus, called Cappadocia "almost a living part of Persia", and described fire temples where magi kept fires burning, along with sanctuaries of Anahita and Ahura Mazda. A Jewish community was established from the second century BCE.

Like their neighbours, the Cappadocian kings deliberately adopted Greek culture. Princes received a Greek education and used the Greek royal title basileus. Early coins followed Iranian models with Aramaic legends, but from Ariarathes III onwards Greek-style coins became the norm, and kings founded cities named after themselves, such as Ariaramneia and Archelais. Yet until the last king, every ruler bore an Iranian name.

After Rome's civil wars, Mark Antony placed a local noble, Archelaus, on the throne in 36 BCE. Archelaus reigned for half a century until the emperor Tiberius summoned him to Rome, where he died; in 17 CE Cappadocia became a province of the Roman Empire.

Our 323 BCE and 300 BCE maps draw the kingdom under the label "Cappadocia", covering the central Anatolian plateau. The 323 BCE outline reflects Ariarathes' independent principality just before its conquest, and by 300 BCE his heirs had just regained it, under Seleucid overlordship.