Kingdom of Cappadocia
Iranian kingdom in Asia Minor (331 BC-17 AD)
Cappadocia (Greek: Καππαδοκία) was a Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom centered in the historical region of Cappadocia in Asia Minor (present-day central Turkey).
It developed from the former Achaemenid satrapy of Cappadocia, and it was founded by its last satrap, Ariarathes (later Ariarathes I). Throughout its history, it was ruled by three families in succession: the House of Ariarathes (331–96 BC), the House of Ariobarzanes (96–36 BC), and lastly that of Archelaus (36 BC–17 AD). The Cappadocian kings Hellenized various aspects of the kingdom on purpose. In 17 AD, following the death of Archelaus, during the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD), the kingdom was incorporated as a Roman province.
Origins and history
Under the Achaemenids, the "Iranization" of Asia Minor had been significant, and a large Iranian presence had been established in western Asia Minor, Pontus and Cappadocia. Ariarathes had been satrap of Cappadocia for 19 years and a loyal supporter of the Achaemenid kings. By blood, he was related to the ruling Achaemenid house ("Cyrus and Darius’ Seven") as well as other satraps. When Alexander the Great invaded Cappadocia as part of his conquest of the Persian Empire, he appointed two temporary governors. For the Iranians in Asia Minor, "as perhaps everywhere", the fall of the Achaemenids "meant crisis".
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This entry incorporates text from “Kingdom of Cappadocia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.