Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia
Ariarathes VII Philometor(" mother- loving")
( Ariaráth ēs Philomḗtōr; reigned in 116–101 BC or 111–100 BC), King of Cappadocia, was the first son of King Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and his wife Laodice of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes VII had an older sister called Nysa and a younger brother called Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia.
In his first years he reigned under the regency of his mother Laodice, the eldest sister of the King Mithridates VI of Pontus.
During this period the kingdom was seized by King Nicomedes III of Bithynia, who married Nysa.
Nicomedes III was soon expelled by Mithridates VI, who restored upon the throne Ariarathes VII.
However, Ariarathes VII objected to his father's assassin, and ally of Mithridates VI, Gordius, having a role in the government of Cappadocia.
So Mithridates VI had Ariarathes VII killed in 101 BC.
Mithridates VI then put onto the Cappadocian throne his own 9 year old son, Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia, with Gordius as the regent for the young king.
Nysa (wife of Nicomedes III of Bithynia)
Nysa or Nyssa( flourished second half of 2nd century BC) was a Princess from the Kingdom of Cappadocia in Anatolia.
Nysa was a monarch of Greek Macedonian and Persian ancestry.
She was the daughter and first- born child of the monarchs Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and Laodice of Cappadocia.
Her parents were cousins and her younger brothers were the Kings Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia and Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia.
She was the namesake of her paternal grandmother Nysa of Cappadocia a previous Queen, wife of the previous King Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and mother of Ariarathes VI.
She was born and raised in Cappadocia.
At an unknown date, Nysa became the first wife Greek King Nicomedes III of Bithynia, who reigned between from c. 127 BC to c. 94 BC.
Nysa and Nicomedes III were distantly related as they held lineage from the Seleucid dynasty, the Antipatrid dynasty and the Antigonid dynasty.
Through marriage, she became Queen of Bithynia.
Nysa bore Nicomedes III two sons and a daughter:
Nicomedes IV of Bithynia who reigned as king from c. 94 BC to about 74 BC; Socrates Chrestus and Nysa.
Not much is known about her life.
Nicomedes III married her mother.
It is not known weather Nysa died prior to this or whether Nicomedes divorced her.
Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia
Ariarathes IX Eusebes Philopator( Ariaráth ēs Euseb ḗs Philopátōr; reigned c. 101–89 BC or 96 BC – 95 BC), was made king of Cappadocia by his father King Mithridates VI of Pontus after the assassination of Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia.
Since he was only eight years old, he was put under the regency of the Cappadocian Gordius.
Early in his reign, he was overthrown by a rebellion by the Cappadocian nobility, who replaced him with Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia, whom Mithridates promptly expelled, restoring Ariarathes IX.
In 95 BC the Roman Senate ordered his deposition, and, after a short period of direct Pontic rule, a brief restoration of Ariarathes VIII and an attempt of creation of a republic, put in his place a man chosen by the Cappadocians, who rejected the idea of a republic:
Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios.
He was later expelled by Mithridates's ally Tigranes the Great, bringing another brief restoration of Ariarathes IX, who was deposed once again by the Romans in 89 BC.
Two years later, in 87 BC, Ariarathes IX died fighting for his father in Thessaly.
Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia
Ariobarzanes I, named" Philoromaios"( Ariobarzán ēs Philorōmaíos," friend of Rome"), was the king of Cappadocia from 95 BC to c. 63 BC – 62 BC.
Ariobarzanes I was a Cappadocian nobleman of obscure origins who was of Persian descent.
Ariobarzanes I was originally put in place by the citizens vote of Cappadocia after the Roman Senate rejected the claims of Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia and was supported by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
He was in control on- and- off of a kingdom that was considered a Roman protectorate and he was removed three separate times by King Mithridates before not only securing but actually increasing his lands under general Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War.
He eventually abdicated, making way for the rule of his son Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia in c. 63 BC – 62 BC.
Ariobarzanes' queen was a Greek noblewoman, Athenais Philostorgos I. Athenais bore Ariobarzanes I two children: a son, Ariobarzanes II, who succeeded him, and a daughter, Isias Philostorgos, who married the King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.
Ariarathes V of Cappadocia
Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator (Ariaráthēs Eusebḗs Philopátōr; reigned 163–130 BC) was a son of the preceding king Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and queen Antiochis.
He was distinguished by his contemporaries for his excellence of his character and his cultivation of philosophy and the liberal arts and is considered by some historians to have been the greatest of the kings of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia
Ariarathes VI Epiphanes Philopator (Ariaráthēs Epiphanḗs Philopátōr; reigned 130–116 or 126–111 BC), King of Cappadocia, was the youngest son of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and Nysa of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes reigned about 14 years.
He was a child at his succession, and for this reason the power was kept by his mother, who acted as his regent.
At some point his mother seems to have poisoned all of Ariarathes’ five brothers; but the infant king was saved by people loyal to the dynasty and had Nysa killed.
Using this as a pretext, his maternal uncle, King Mithridates V Euergetes of Pontus (150 BC–120 BC), tried to assert control over the country by marrying Ariarathes to Mithridates' first daughter, Laodice of Cappadocia, who was also Ariarathes' maternal cousin.
Laodice bore Ariarathes one daughter and two sons: Nysa who married King Nicomedes III Euergetes of Bithynia; Ariarathes VII Philometor and Ariarathes VIII Epiphanes.
Since this wasn't deemed enough to transform Cappadocia in a satellite of Pontus, Mithridates V Euergetes' son, Mithridates VI, murdered Ariarathes using Gordius, a Cappadocian nobleman.
On his death the kingdom was briefly ruled by Ariarathes' widow and then seized by King Nicomedes III of Bithynia, who married Laodice, the king's widow.
Nicomedes III was soon expelled by Mithridates VI, who placed upon the throne Ariarathes VII.
Ariarathes III of Cappadocia
Ariarathes III( Ariaráthēs; reigned 262 or 255 – 220 BC), son of Ariamnes, ruler of Cappadocia, and grandson of Ariarathes II, married Stratonice, a daughter of Antiochus II, king of Syria and wife Laodice I, and obtained a share in the government during the lifetime of his father.
About 250 BC he was the first ruler of Cappadocia to proclaim himself king(" basileus").
It is known that he sided with Antiochus Hierax in his war against Seleucus II Callinicus.
Ariarathes is also said to have expanded his kingdom adding Cataonia to his dominions.
By his marriage he was the father of Ariarathes IV.
Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia
Ariarathes VIII
Epiphanes( Ariaráth ēs Epiphanḗs; reigned c. 101 – c. 96 BC and in 95), King of Cappadocia, was the second son of Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and wife Laodice of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes VIII had an older sister called Nysa and an older brother called Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes ascended to the throne when the Cappadocian nobleman rebelled against his maternal uncle, King Mithridates VI of Pontus and his son, the puppet King Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia.
He was speedily driven out of the kingdom by Mithridates VI, and shortly afterwards died a natural death.
The death of both sons of Ariarathes VI meant that the Cappadocian royal family was extinct.
So Mithridates VI placed upon the Cappadocian throne his own son Ariarathes IX, who was only eight years old.
However, King Nicomedes III of Bithynia sent an embassy to Rome to lay claim to the Cappadocian throne for a youth, whom, he pretended, was a third son of Ariarathes VI and Laodice.
According to Justin, Mithridates VI also, with equal shamelessness, sent an embassy to Rome to assert that the youth, whom he had placed upon the throne, was a descendant of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, who fell in the war against King Eumenes III of Pergamon.
The Roman Senate, however, did not assign the kingdom to either but granted liberty to the Cappadocians and, in 95, ordered to depose Ariarathes IX.
After a short period of direct Pontic rule and a brief restoration of Ariarathes VIII, an attempt to restore a Cappadocian republic was made by the Roman Senate.
As the people wished for a king, the Romans allowed them to choose whom they pleased, and their choice fell upon Ariobarzanes I.
Athenais Philostorgos II
Athenais Philostorgos
II( Greek:" η Άθηναἷς Φιλόστοργος Β"), also known as Athenais Philostorgus II or Athenais of Pontus, was a princess from the Kingdom of Pontus and, through marriage, a Roman Client Queen of Cappadocia.
Her name in Greek translates to" Athenais the loving one".
The child of King Mithridates VI of Pontus from his second marriage to the Anatolian Greek Macedonian noblewoman and Pontian Queen Monime, she was a princess of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry.
Born and raised in the Kingdom of Pontos, her parents gave her a traditional ancient Greek name.
Athenais married the Cappadocian Prince and later King Ariobarzanes II Philopator, who was of Persian and Greek descent.
Ariobarzanes II succeeded his father as King in 63 BC- 62 BC, when his father Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios abdicated his throne.
When Ariobarzanes II became king, Athenais became Cappadocian queen, inheriting the honorific title of" Philostorgos", which was the honorific surname of the mother of Ariobarzanes II, Athenais Philostorgos I. Athenais was related to the previous kings and monarchs of Cappadocia.
Her paternal aunt Laodice of Cappadocia was a queen, her paternal cousins, Ariarathes VI, Ariarathes VII, and Ariarathes VIII, and her paternal half- brother Ariarathes IX all served as previous kings of Cappadocia.
Through her Seleucid and paternal lineage, Athenais was related to the ancestors of Ariarathes VI.
Ariobarzanes II reigned as king of Cappadocia from c. 63 BC- 62 BC until his assassination in c. 51 BC.
There are various surviving honorific inscriptions dedicated to Athenais.
During their marriage, Athenais bore Ariobarzanes II two sons: Ariobarzanes III Eusebes Philoromaios and Ariarathes X Eusebes Philadelphos.
Her sons would serve as among the last kings of Cappadocia.
The name" Ariobarzanes" was not only a name from her husband's family, but also a name from her own family.
Athenais had three paternal political ancestors of that name: Ariobarzanes of Phrygia, who flourished 5th century BC, Ariobarzanes II of Cius, who flourished 4th century BC, and the previous Pontian King Ariobarzanes of Pontus.
After the death of her husband, her first son succeeded his father as King and she became a widow who never married again.
Athenais became known as the ‘ Queen- Mother ’ of Cappadocia.
During the rule of Ariobarzanes III, Roman Governor of Cilicia Marcus Tullius Cicero warned the King that Athenais could be a potential enemy to him.
Cicero's warning was based on Athenais ’ jealousy, about two nobles called Methras and Athenaeus.
They were ministers and favorites of her first son and they were through Athenais ’ jealousy were driven out from the Cappadocian Royal Court.
However, Methras and Athenaeus were later recalled by Cicero.
Athenais ’ jealousy was a part of her failed plot to depose her first son from his throne and put her second son in his place.
Cicero and Ariobarzanes III caught Athenais out and Ariobarzanes III was very saddened by his mother's actions.
Ariabarzanes III removed his mother from power and her fate afterward is unknown.
Gordius of Cappadocia
Gordius( in Greek Γoρδιoς), a Cappadocian by birth, was the instrument of Mithridates Eupator( 120 – 63 BC), king of Pontus, in his attempts to annex Cappadocia to Pontus.
Gordius was employed by him, in 116 BC, to murder Ariarathes VI, king of Cappadocia.
Gordius was afterwards tutor of a son of Mithridates, whom, after the murder of Ariarathes VII he made king of Cappadocia as Ariarathes IX.
Gordius was sent as the envoy of Mithridates to Rome, and afterwards employed by him to engage Tigranes, king of Armenia, to attack Cappadocia, and expel Ariobarzanes I, whom the Romans made king of that country in 93 BC.
Sulla restored Ariobarzanes in the following year, and drove Gordius out of Cappadocia.
Gordius opposed Lucius Licinius Murena in the Battle of Halys, 82 BC.

Question: Who is Ariarathes Vi Of Cappadocia's paternal grandfather?
Answer: Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia