CAPPADOCIA, an ancient kingdom of Asia, comprehending all the country which lies between Mount Taurus and the Euxine Sea. It was divided by the Persians into two satrapies or governments; by the Macedonians into two kingdoms, the one called Cappadocia ad Taurum ; the other Cappadocia ad Pontum, and commonly Pontus ; for the description and history of which last, see the article Pontus. Cappadocia Magna, or Cappadocia properly so called, was bounded by Pontus on the north, Lycaonia and part of Armenia Major on the south, Galatia on the west, and by the Euphrates and part of Armenia Minor on the east. The first king of Cappadocia we read of in history was Pharnaces, who was preferred to the crown by Cyrus, king of Persia, who gave him his sister Atossa in marriage. This is all we find recorded of him, except that he was killed in a war with the Hyrcanians. After him came a succession of eight kings, of whom we know scarce any thing except that they continued faithful to the Persian interest. In the time of Alexander the Great, Cappadocia was governed by Ariarathes II. who, notwithstanding the vast conquests and fame of the Macedonian monarchy, continued unshaken in his fidelity to the Persians. Alexander was prevented by death from invading his dominions; but Perdiccas, marching against him with a powerful and well-disciplined army, dispersed his forces, and having taken Ariarathes himself prisoner, crucified him, with all those of the royal blood whom he could get into his power. Diodorus tells us that he was killed in the battle. He is said to have reigned eighty-two years. His son Ariarathes III. having escaped the general slaughter of the royal family, fled into Armenia, where he lay concealed till the civil dissensions which rose among the Macedonians gave him a fair opportunity of recovering his paternal kingdom. Amyntas, at that time the governor of Cappadocia, opposed him; but being defeated in a pitched battle, the Macedonians were obliged to abandon all the strongholds. Ariarathes, after a long and peaceable reign, left his kingdom to his son Ariaramnes II. He applied himself more to the arts of peace than war, in consequence of which Cappadocia flourished greatly during his reign. He was succeeded by his son Ariarathes IV. who proved a very warlike prince, and having overcome Arsaces, founder of the Parthian monarchy, considerably enlarged his own dominions.

He was succeeded by Ariarathes V. who, marrying the daughter of Antiochus the Great, entered into an alliance with that prince against the Romans; but Antiochus being defeated, the king of Cappadocia was obliged to sue for peace, which he obtained, after having paid two hundred talents by way of fine, for taking up arms against the people of Rome. He afterwards assisted the republic with men and money against Perseus king of Macedon, on which account he was by the senate honoured with the title of the friend and ally of the Roman people. He left the kingdom in a very flourishing condition to his son Mithridates, who, on his accession, took the name of Ariarathes VI.

This prince, surnamed Philopater, from the filial respect and love he showed his father from his very infancy, immediately renewed the alliance with Rome. Out of mere good nature, he restored Mithrobarzanes, son to Ladria-des, king of the Lesser Armenia, to his father’s kingdom, though he foresaw that the Armenians would lay hold of that opportunity to join Artaxias, who was then on the point of invading Cappadocia. These differences, however, were settled before they came to an open rupture, by the Roman legates; and Ariarathes seeing himself thus delivered from an impending war by the mediation of the republic, presented the senate with a golden crown, and offered his service in whatever way they might think proper to employ him. The senate in return sent him a staff and chair of ivory; which were presents usually bestowed on those only whom they looked upon as attached to their interest. Not long before this, Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, had offered Ariarathes in marriage, his sister, the widow of Perseus king of Macedon; but this offer the king of Cappadocia was obliged to decline for fear of offending the Romans; and his so doing proved in the highest degree acceptable to the republic, who reckoned him among the chief of her allies. Demetrius, however, being greatly incensed at the slight put upon his sister, set up a pretender to the throne, one Orophernes, a supposititious, or, as others call him, a natural son of the deceased king. The Romans ordered Eumenes, king of Pergamus, to assist Ariarathes with all his forces; which he accordingly did, but to no purpose; for the confederates were overthrown by Demetrius, and Ariarathes was obliged to abandon the kingdom Lq his rival. This happened about 159 years before Christ, and the usurper immediately dispatched ambassadors to Rome with a golden crown. The senate declined accepting the present till they heard his pretensions to the kingdom; and these Orophernes, by suborned witnesses, made to appear so plain, that the senate decreed that Ariarathes and he should reign as partners; but next year Orophernes was driven out by Attalus, brother to Eumenes, and his successor to the kingdom of Pergamus.

Ariarathes, being thus restored, immediately demanded of the Priennians four hundred talents of gold which Oro-phcrncs had deposited with them. They honestly replied, that as they had been trusted with the money by Orophernes, they could deliver it to none but himself, or such as came in his name. Upon this the king entered their territories with an army, destroying all with fire and sword. The Priennians, however, still persevered in their integrity, and, though their city was besieged by the united forces of Ariarathes and Attalus, not only made an obstinate defence, but found means to restore the sum to Orophernes. At last they applied for assistance to the Romans, who enjoined the two kings to raise the siege, under pain of being declared enemies to the republic. Ariarathes immediately obeyed; and marching his army into Assyria, joined Alexander Epiphanes against Demetrius Soter, by whom he had been formerly driven out of hi⅛ kingdom. In the very first engagement Demetrius was slain, and his army entirely dispersed, Ariarathes having on that occasion given uncommon proofs of his courage and conduct. Some years afterwards, a war breaking out between the Romans and Aristonicus, who claimed the kingdom of Pergamus in right of his father, Ariarathes joined the former, and was slain In the same battle in which Crassus, proconsul of Asia, was taken, and the Roman army cut in pieces. He left six sons by his wife Laodice, on whom the Romans bestowed Lycaonia and Cilicia. But Laodice, fearing lest her children, when they came of age, should take the government[7:6:126] out of her hands, poisoned five of them, the youngest only having escaped her cruelty by being conveyed out of the kingdom. The queen herself was soon afterwards put to death by her subjects, who could not bear her cruel and tyrannical government.

Laodice was succeeded by Ariarathes VIL, who, soon after his accession, married another Laodice, daughter to Mithridates the Great, hoping to find in that prince a powerful friend to support him against Nicocdes, king of Bithynia, who laid claim to part of Cappadocia. But Mithridates, instead of assisting, procured one Gordius to poison his unhappy son-in-law, and on his death seized the kingdom, under pretence of maintaining the rights of the Cappadocians against Nicoedes, till the children of Ariarathes were in a condition to govern the kingdom. The Cappadocians at first fancied themselves obliged to their new protector; but finding him unwilling to resign the kingdom to the lawful heir, thcy rose up in arms, and driving out all the garrisons established by Mithridates, placed on the throne Ariarathes VIII. eldest son of their deceased king.

The new prince found himself immediately engaged in a war with Nicoedes; but, being assisted by Mithridates, not only drove him out of Cappadocia, but stripped him of a great part of his hereditary dominions. On the conclusion of the peace, Mithridates, seeking for some pretence to quarrel with Ariarathes, insisted upon his recalling Gordius, who had murdered his father, which being rejected with abhorrence, a war ensued. Mithridates took the field first, in hopes of overrunning Cappadocia before Ariarathes could be in a condition to make head against him; but, contrary to his expectation, he was met on the frontiers by the king of Cappadocia, with an army no way inferior to his own. Hereupon he invited Ariarathes to a conference, and, in sight of both armies, stabbed him with a dagger which he had concealed under his garment. This struck such terror into the Cappadocians, that they immediately dispersed, and gave Mithridates an opportunity of possessing himself of the kingdom without the least opposition. The Cappadocians, however, unable to endure the tyranny of his prefects, soon shook off the yoke, and recalling the king’s brother, who had fled into the province of Asia, proclaimed him king. He was scarcely seated on the throne, however, before Mithridates invaded the kingdom at the head of a very numerous army; and having drawn Ariarathes to a battle, defeated his army with great slaughter, and obliged him to abandon the kingdom. The unhappy prince soon after died of grief, and Mithridates bestowed the kingdom on his son, who was then but eight years old, giving him also the name of Ariarathes. But Nicoedes Philopater, king of Bithynia, fearing lest Mithridates, having now got possession of the whole kingdom of Cappadocia, should invade his territories, suborned a youth to pass himself for the third son of Ariarathes, and to present to him, the king, a petition, praying for aid, in order that the petitioner might be restored to his father’s kingdom. With him Nicoedes sent to Rome Laodice, sister of Mithridates, whom he had married after the death of her former husband Ariarathes. Laodice declared before the senate that she had three sons by Ariarathes, and that the petitioner was one of them; but that she had been obliged to keep him concealed, lest he should undergo the same fate with his brothers. The senate assured him that they would at all events reinstate him in his kingdom. But in the mean time, Mithridates, receiving notice of these transactions, dispatched Gordius to Rome to undeceive the senate, and to persuadc them that the youth to whom he had resigned the kingdom of Cappadocia was the lawful son of the late king, and grandson to Ariarathes, who had lost his life in the service of the Romans against Aristonicus. This unexpected embassy put the senate upon inquiring more narrowly into the matter; the whole plot was discovered; Mithridates was ordered to resign Cappadocia, and the kingdom was declared free. The Cappadocians, however, in a short time sent ambassadors to Rome, acquainting the senate that they could not live without a king. This greatly surprised the Romans, who had,such an aversion to royal authority; but leave was given them to elect a king of their own nation. As the family of Pharnaces was now extinct, the Cappadocians chose Ariobarzanes, and their choice was approved by the senate, he having on all occasions shown himself a steady friend to the Romans.

Ariobarzanes had scarcely taken possession of his kingdom when he was driven out by Tigranes, king of Armenia, who resigned Cappadocia to the son of Mithridates, in pursuance of an alliance previously concluded between the two parties. Ariobarzanes fled to Rome, and having engaged the senate in his cause, he returned into Asia with Sylla, who was enjoined to restore him to his kingdom. This was easily performed by Sylla, who, with a body of troops, routed Gordius, who came to meet him on the borders of Cappadocia at the head of a numerous army. Sylla, however, had scarcely turned his back, when Ariobarzanes was again driven out by Ariarathes, the son of Mithridates, on whom Tigranes had bestowed the kingdom of Cappadocia. This obliged Sylla to return into Asia, where he was attended with his usual success; and Ariobarzanes was again placed on the throne. After the death of Sylla, he was a third time forced by Mithridates to abandon his kingdom; but Pompey, having entirely defeated Mithridates near Mount Stella, restored Ariobarzanes to his throne, and rewarded him for his services during the war with the provinces of Sophene, Gordiene, and great part of Cilicia. The king, however, being now advanced in years, and desirous of spending the remainder of his life in ease, resigned the crown to his son Ariobarzanes, in presence of Pompey, and never afterwards troubled himself with affairs of state.

Ariobarzanes II. proved no less faithful to the Romans than his father had been. On the breaking out of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, he sided with the latter; but, after the death of Pompey, he was received into favour by Caesar, who even bestowed upon him great part of Armenia. While Caesar was'·engaged in a war with the Egyptians, Pharnaces, king of Pontus, invaded Cappadocia, and stripped Ariobarzanes of all his dominions; but Caesar, having defeated Pharnaces, restored the king of Cappadocia, and honoured him with new titles of friendship. After the murder of Caesar, Ariobarzanes, having refused to join Brutus and Cassius, was by them declared an enemy to the republic, and soon afterwards taken prisoner and put to death. He was succeeded by his brother Ariobarzanes III. whom Mark Antony deprived both of his kingdom and his life; and in him ended the family of Ariobarzanes.

Archelaus, the grandson of the general of the same name who commanded against Sylla in the Mithridatic war, was placed by Mark Antony on the throne of Cappadocia, though nowise related either to the family of Pharnaces or Ariobarzanes. His preferment was entirely owing to his mother Glaphyra, a woman of great beauty, but of loose behaviour, who, in return for her compliance with the lascivious desires of Antony, obtained the kingdom of Cappadocia for her son. In the war between Augustus and Antony, he joined the latter; but, at the intercession of the Cappadocians, he was pardoned by the emperor. He afterwards received Armenia the Lesser and Cilicia Trachaea, as a reward for having assisted the Romans[7:6:127] in clearing the seas of pirates, who greatly infested the coasts of Asia. He contracted a strict friendship with Herod the Great, king of Judaea; and even married his daughter Glaphyra to Alexander, Herod’s son. In the reign of Tiberius, Archelaus was summoned to appear before the senate; for he had always been hated by that emperor, because in his retirement at Rhodes he had paid him no sort of respcct. This had proceeded from no aversion in him to Tiberius, but from the warning given by Archelaus to his friends at Rome. For Caius Caesar, the presumptive heir to the empire, being then alive, had been sent to compose the differences of the East; and hence the friendship of Tiberius was then looked upon as dangerous. But Tiberius, when he came to the empire, remembering the disrespect shown him by Archelaus, enticed the latter to Rome by means of letters from Livia, who promised him her son Tiberius’s pardon, provided he came in person to implore it. Archelaus obeyed the summons, and hastened to Rome, where he was received by the emperor with great wrath and contempt, and soon afterwards accused of certain crimes before the senate. The crimes of which he was accused were mere fictions; but his concern at seeing himself treated as a malefactor was so great, that he died soon afterwards of grief, or, as others state, laid violent hands on himself. He is said to have reigned fifty years.

On the death of Archelaus, the kingdom of Cappadocia was reduced to a Roman province, and governed by men of the equestrian order. It continued subject to the Romans till the invasion of the eastern empire by the Turks, to whom it is now subject, but has no distinguishing modern name. In what was anciently called Cappadocia, however, the Turks have four beglierbeylics, called Si was, Trebizond, Maraüch, and Cogm.

In the time of the Romans the inhabitants of Cappadocia bore so bad a character, and were reputed so vicious and lewd, that among the neighbouring nations a wicked man was emphatically called a Cappadocian. In after ages, however, their lewd disposition was so much corrected and restrained by the pure doctrines of Christianity, that no country whatever has produced greater champions of the Christian religion, or given to the church prelates of more unblemished characters.

We have now no system of the Cappadocian laws, and scarcely wherewithal to form any particular idea of Cappadocian jurisprudence. As to their commerce, they carried on a considerable trade in horses, great numbers of which were produced in their country; and we read of them in Scripture as frequenting the fairs of Tyre with this commodity. As Cappadocia abounded with mines of silver, brass, iron, and alum, and afforded great store of alabaster, crystal, and jasper, it is probable that they might supply the neighbouring countries with these commodities.

The religion of the ancient Cappadocians was much the same with that of the Persians. At Comana there was a rich and stately temple dedicated to Bellona, whose battles the priests and their attendants used to represent on stated days, cutting and wounding each other as if seized with an enthusiastic fury. No less famous and magnificent were the temples of Apollo Catanius and of Jupiter, the last of which had three thousand sacred servants, or religious votaries. The chief priest was next in rank to that of Comana, and, according to Strabo, had a yearly revenue of fifteen talents. Diana Persica was worshipped in a city called Castaballa, where women devoted to the worship of that goddess were reported to tread barefooted on burning coals without receiving any hurt. The temples of Diana at Diospolis, and of Anias at Zela, were likewise held in great veneration both by the Cappadocians and Armenians, who flocked to them from all parts. In the latter were tendered all oaths in matters of consequence; and the chief among the priests was no way inferior in dignity, power, and wealth, to any in the kingdom, having a royal attendance, and an unlimited authority over all the inferior servants and officers of the temple. The Romans, who willingly adopted all the superstitions and superstitious rites of the nations they conquered, greatly increased the revenues of this and other temples, conferring the priesthood on such as they thought most fit for carrying on their designs. We are told that human sacrifices were offered at Comana; and that this barbarous custom was brought by Orestes and his sister Iphigenia from Tauris Scythica, where men and women were immolated to Diana. But this custom, if ever it obtained in Cappadocia, was abolished in the times of the Romans.