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Ariarathes I of Cappadocia

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For other people named Ariarathes, seeAriarathes (disambiguation).

Ariarathes
Coin of Ariarathes I, minted inGaziura,dated 333–322 BC
Satrapof NorthernCappadocia
In office
340s BC – 331 BC
Preceded byAriamnes I
Succeeded byHimself (as King of Cappadocia)
King of Cappadocia
In office
331 BC – 322 BC
Preceded byHimself (as Satrap of Northern Cappadocia)
Succeeded byVacant (title next held byAriarathes II
Personal details
Born405/4 BC
Died322 BC
RelativesAriamnes I(father)
Orophernes/Holophernes (brother)
DynastyAriarathid
Military service
AllegianceAchaemenid Empire(until 331 BC)
Kingdom of Cappadocia(until 322 BC)
Battles/warsBattle of Gaugamela

Ariarathes I(Old Iranian:Aryaraθa,Aramaic:AriorathorAriourat;Ancient Greek:Ἀριαράθης,romanized:Ariaráthēs;405/4 BC – 322 BC) was the lastAchaemenidPersiangovernor (satrap) of theprovince (satrapy) of Northern Cappadocia,serving from the 340s BC to 331 BC. He led defensive efforts against theMacedonianinvasion, commanded byAlexander the Great,and later fought at theBattle of GaugamelaunderDarius III,the lastKing of Kingsof the Achaemenid Empire. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Ariarathes continued his resistance against the Macedonians, ruling concomitantly as an Achaemenid remnant and a precursor to theKingdom of Cappadocia.He is regarded as the founder of theIranianAriarathid dynasty.

Ariarathes was eventually captured and executed in 322 BC by the MacedonianPerdiccas.His territory was seized, whereafter it was contested between several of Alexander'ssuccessors and former generals.However, Ariarathes's dynastic successors regained control over Cappadocia in 301 BC and ruled over the kingdom until 96 BC when they were deposed by theRoman Republic.

Name[edit]

"Ariarathes" is theHellenizedform of anOld Iranianname, perhaps*Arya-wratha( "havingAryanjoy ").[1]The name is attested inAramaicasAriorathorAriourat,and in later Latin sources asAriaratus.[2]

Biography[edit]

Map depicting the Achaemenid Empire inc. 500BC, byWilliam Robert Shepherd(1923)
Anachronistic painting of theBattle of GaugamelabyJan Brueghel the Elder(1602)

Although details of Ariarathes I's life are scant,[3]it is known that he was born in 405/4 BC toAriamnesand had a brother named Orophernes (Holophernes).[4]He founded the eponymousAriarathid dynasty,anIranianfamily that claimed descent fromCyrus the Great,the first King of thePersian Achaemenid Empire,andAnaphas,one of the sevenPersianconspirators who killed thePseudo-Smerdis.[5]During the reign ofArtaxerxes II(r. 404–358 BC),King of Kingsof the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Ariarathes and his family served as minor officials in thesatrapy of Cappadocia,which was governed byDatamesat the time.[6]Sometime after the assassination of Datames inc. 362BC, possibly after the ascension ofArtaxerxes III(r. 358–338 BC), Cappadocia was divided into a northern and southern satrapy.[7][a]This change was implemented in response to the excessive power that Datames had amassed during his governorship as well as to improve the efficacy of the administration.[9]By the 340s BC, Ariarathes had become satrap in Northern Cappadocia, having succeeded his father Ariamnes, overseeing territory that would later become theKingdom of Pontus.[10]The stability of Ariarathes's territory enabled him to send provincial troops with Artaxerxes III on theAchaemenid campaign to pacify Egypt.[11]

During the reign of KingDarius III(r. 336–330 BC),Macedonian forcesled byAlexander the Great(r. 336–323 BC) invaded Persian territory.[12]Cappadocia and the neighbouring satrapy ofPhrygiabecame rallying points for the Achaemenid resistance.[13]Defensive efforts were hampered by losses such as the death ofMithrobuzanes,governor of the southern Cappadocian satrapy, who was killed at theBattle of Granicusin 334 BC.[14]However, the Macedonian-appointed replacement,Abistamenes,failed to establish his authority over this newly conquered territory and he later vanished into obscurity.[15]Cappadocia continued to be an important focal point of Achaemenid resistance and was also used as a staging area for a campaign to retake westernAnatolia.[16]Fortunately for Ariarathes, his territory was largely unaffected by the invasion and he was able to establish himself as a key figure leading the resistance,[17]and subsequently commanded troops at theBattle of Gaugamelain 331 BC.[18]After the Persian defeat at Gaugamela, the end of the Achaemenid Empire and its replacement by Alexander'sMacedonian Empire,Ariarathes continued to resist the Macedonians from his base atGaziura (Gazioura)as an independent monarch until his death.[19]

In 323 BC, following the death of Alexander, Cappadociawas grantedtoEumenes,[20]but he was unable to dislodge Ariarathes and consolidate his hold, as Cappadocia had not been properly subjugated by Alexander. This situation was exacerbated by Eumenes' failure to obtain support from the other Macedonian satraps.[21]He then turned toPerdiccas,regent of the incumbent Macedonian rulerPhilip III Arrhidaeus(r. 323–317 BC), who, needing to bring more loyal governors to his side, agreed to assist Eumenes in capturing Ariarathes's domain.[22]In the summer of 322 BC, Perdiccas, the royal court, and the battle-hardened royal Macedonian army entered Cappadocia.[23]Ariarathes, who was reputed to be quite wealthy, apparently managed to muster a force composed of locals and mercenaries to face Perdiccas,[24]but was defeated and captured. He and most of his family members were crucified that same year.[25]

Coinage[edit]

Coin of Ariarathes I, minted inSinope,dated 333–322 BC

Ariarathes I minted campaign coinage atSinopeand Gaziura inscribed with legends inAramaic,the imperial language of the Achaemenids.[26]On the reverse of one of Ariarathes's Gaziura coins, agriffinis depicted attacking a kneeling stag with Ariarathes's name is inscribed as 'rywrt.[27]The obverse of the same coin depicts aZeus-like impression of the GodBaalwith wreath and sceptre in his left hand.[28]In his right hand, on which an eagle is perched, the seated figure holds ears of corn and a vine-branch with grapes.[29]The obverse features the inscriptionb'lgzyr( "Ba'al Gazir", i.e. "Lord of Gaziura" ).[30]Stylistically, this particular issue of coinage by Ariarathes resembles the coins issued by Achaemenid satrapMazaeusatTarsosinCilicia.[31]The IranologistMary Boyceand the historian Frantz Grenet note that the Zeus-like depiction of a seated Baal could actually be portraying theZoroastrianAhura MazdaorMithra.[32]

Coins of Ariarathes minted at Sinope stylistically resemble Greek issues from the same city, but feature Ariarathes's name in Aramaic.[33]On the obverse of the Sinope issues, the head of the localnymphSinopeis depicted wearing asphendonewithin a border of dots.[34]On the reverse, an eagle with wings aloft a dolphin is depicted, under which is inscribed Ariarathes's name.[35]

Successors[edit]

A few years after the death of Ariarathes I,Antigonus I Monophthalmus,a former general of Alexander, executed Eumenes and seized control of Cappadocia.[36]Control of the region then passed toLysimachus(r. 306–281 BC), King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon, but was captured thereafter bySeleucus I Nicator(r. 305–281),Basileusof theSeleucid Empire,[37]both of whom wereDiadochi( "successors" ) of Alexander. Southern Cappadocia, deemed more strategically important to the Seleucids than its northern counterpart, spent a brief period under Seleucid control.[38]Then, in about 301 BC, around the time of theBattle of Ipsus,Ariarathes I's nephew Ariarathes II managed to restore Ariarathid control over Southern Cappadocia withArmenianmilitary assistance.[39]Ariarathes II subsequently ruled Southern Cappadocia under Seleucid suzerainty.[40]

After the deaths of Lysimachus and Seleucus, Northern Cappadocia, once held by Ariarathes I, was incorporated into theKingdom of Pontus,founded byMithridates I.[41]Around the same time (c. 280 BC), in Southern Cappadocia, Ariarathes II was succeeded by his sonAriaramnes.[42]Inc. 255BC, Ariaramnes, or his son and successorAriarathes III of Cappadocia,declared independence from the Seleucids.[43]Ariarathes I's successors ruled the Kingdom of Cappadocia until 96 BC when they were replaced by theAriobarzanidsdue toRomanintervention.[44]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^These northern and southern parts were also respectively known as Pontic Cappadocia and Greater, or Tauric Cappadocia.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^Brunner 1986,p. 406.
  2. ^Sherwin-White 1984,p. 51;Erciyas 2006,p. 32;Brunner 1986,p. 406.
  3. ^McGing 2012,p. 151.
  4. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Schottky 2006.
  5. ^McGing 2012,p. 151;Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Shahbazi 1986,pp. 410–411;Boyce & Grenet 1991,pp. 266–267, 281;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  6. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Weiskopf 1987,pp. 757–764.
  7. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Schmitt 1994,pp. 115–117.
  8. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  9. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  10. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Dusinberre 2013,p. 37
  11. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  12. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  13. ^Weiskopf 1987,pp. 757–764.
  14. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  15. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  16. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  17. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Roisman 2012,p. 87
  18. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786.
  19. ^Yavuz 2010,p. 49;Weiskopf 1987,pp. 757–764.
  20. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  21. ^Roisman 2012,p. 87.
  22. ^Roisman 2012,p. 87.
  23. ^Roisman 2012,pp. 87–88.
  24. ^Roisman 2012,p. 88.
  25. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266;Yavuz 2010,p. 49.
  26. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Raditsa 1983,p. 111;Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  27. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  28. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  29. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  30. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  31. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  32. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,pp. 266, 578.
  33. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  34. ^Sherwin-White 1984,p. 51;Erciyas 2006,p. 32.
  35. ^Sherwin-White 1984,p. 51;Mørkholm 1991,p. 96.
  36. ^Yavuz 2010,p. 49;Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  37. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  38. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  39. ^Hazel 2001,p. 29;Yardley 2011,p. 137.
  40. ^Hazel 2001,p. 29.
  41. ^Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  42. ^Yavuz 2010,p. 49;Boyce & Grenet 1991,p. 266.
  43. ^McGing 2012,p. 151;Yavuz 2010,p. 49.
  44. ^Weiskopf 1990,pp. 780–786;Yavuz 2010,p. 50.

Sources[edit]

  • Boyce, Mary;Grenet, Frantz (1991). Beck, Roger (ed.).A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule.Leiden: Brill.ISBN978-9004293915.
  • Brunner, C. J. (1986)."Ariaratus".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume II/4: Architecture IV–Armenia and Iran IV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 406.ISBN978-0-71009-104-8.
  • Dusinberre, Elspeth R. M.(2013).Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1107577152.
  • Erciyas, Deniz Burcu (2006).Wealth, Aristocracy And Royal Propaganda Under the Hellenistic Kingdom of the Mithradatids in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey.Leiden: Brill.ISBN978-9004146099.
  • Hazel, John (2001).Who's Who in the Greek World(1 ed.). Routledge.ISBN978-0415260329.
  • McGing, Brian(2012)."Ariarathes".InHornblower, Simon;Spawforth, Antony;Eidinow, Esther(eds.).The Oxford Classical Dictionary(4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199545568.
  • Mørkholm, Otto (1991).Westermark, Ulla;Grierson, Philip(eds.).Early Hellenistic Coinage from the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamaea (336-188 B.C.).Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0521395045.
  • Raditsa, Leo (1983). "Iranians in Asia Minor". InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3 (1): The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1139054942.
  • Roisman, Joseph (2012).Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors.Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN978-0292742888.
  • Schmitt, Rüdiger(1994)."Datames".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume VII/2: Dastūr al-Afāżel–Dehqān I.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 115–117.ISBN978-1-56859-020-2.
  • Schottky, Martin (2006)."Ariarathes".In Salazar, Christine F.; Landfester, Manfred; Gentry, Francis G. (eds.).Brill's New Pauly.Brill Online.
  • Shahbazi, A. Sh.(1986)."Ariyāramna".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume II/4: Architecture IV–Armenia and Iran IV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 410–411.ISBN978-0-71009-104-8.
  • Sherwin-White, Susan M. (1984). "Asia Minor". In Ling, Roger (ed.).The Cambridge Ancient History: Plates to Volumes VII, part 1.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521243544.
  • Weiskopf, Michael (1987)."Asia Minor".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume II/7:ʿArūż–Aśoka IV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 757–764.ISBN978-0-71009-107-9.
  • Weiskopf, Michael (1990)."Cappadocia".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume IV: Bāyju–Carpets XIV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 780–786.ISBN978-0-71009-132-1.
  • Yardley, J. C. (2011). Wheatley, Pat;Heckel, Waldemar(eds.).Justin: Epitome of The Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus: Volume II: Books 13-15: The Successors to Alexander the Great.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199277599.
  • Yavuz, Mehmet Fatih (2010)."Cappadocia".In Gagarin, Michael (ed.).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome.Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0195170726.
Political offices
Preceded by Satrap of Cappadocia
340s – 331 BC 		Succeeded by
Himself
as King of Cappadocia
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Himself
as Satrap of Cappadocia 		King of Cappadocia
331 – 322 BC 		Vacant
Title next held by
Ariarathes II
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