Ariarathes I.

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Ariarathes I. ( ancient Greek: Ἀριαράθης; * 404 / .. 403 BC ; † .. 322 BC ) was a governor ( Satrap ) of Cappadocia in the Persian realm of Achaemenidae .

Ariarathes was the older son of his predecessor Ariamnes . According to Diodorus , his grandfather was the 362 BC. Datames were murdered in the 4th century BC , but this is considered rather unreliable. Based on the year he was born, Ariarathes, who was eighty-two when he died, was much more likely to have belonged to the Datames generation. Ariarathes younger brother was Holophernes (Orophernes) who lived in 342/341 BC. At the conquest of the great king Artaxerxes III. Ochos in Egypt took part.

Ariarathes inherited his father in the governorship of the Pontic Cappadocia , the northern part of the country bordering the Black Sea , while the part bordering on Cilicia to the south was ruled by Mithrobuzanes . When Ariarathes took over the office from his father is unclear, but he is likely to have been the contemporary of Alexander the Great's campaign in Asia . The Macedonian conqueror only crossed southern Cappadocia on his way to the east and installed his henchman Sabiktas as governor, possibly with the request to conquer northern Cappadocia as well. But after Alexander after the battle of Issus in 333 BC After moving on to Syria in the east of Asia Minor, Persian forces launched a counter-offensive, as a result of which Sabiktas came to an end and Ariarathes was now able to take control of southern Cappadocia. Possibly Ariarathes was identical to the Ariakes mentioned by Arrian , who served the Cappadocian cavalry contingent in the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. Against Alexander led. After the battle, Great King Darius III fled . to the Iranian east, but Ariarathes remained in Cappadocia as the last remaining Persian governor. Since he did not submit to Alexander, he now ruled de facto independently over his province.

Alexander himself did not return to Asia Minor. Ariarathes had to it in the following years against the governor resist, especially against Antigonus Monophthalmos that the west adjoining Phrygia ruled, and in Cilicia based Balacrus . Until the death of Alexander in 323 BC He was able to withstand every attempt at conquest, supported by an army of 30,000 infantrymen and 15,000 cavalrymen. He succeeded in conquering the landscape of Cataonia , which he added to his domain. In the imperial order of Babylon , the regent Perdiccas appointed the Greek secretary Eumenes as governor of Cappadocia with the request to conquer the country. After a series of complications, Perdiccas withdrew in 322 BC. BC himself with all the might of the Alexander army to Asia Minor to support Eumenes. This time Ariarathes could not counter this attack; In two battles he was beaten, captured and then crucified with several relatives . According to Diodorus , he fell in battle.

For several decades, Cappadocia fell under the rule of Macedonian rulers, who fought for control of the Alexander Empire in the Diadoch Wars. Ariarathes' nephew of the same name, Ariarathes II , whom he had also adopted, was able to flee to Armenia . In the following years the kingdom of Pontos was formed in northern Pontic Cappadocia . Ariarathes II could only after the death of Seleukos I in 281 BC. With the support of Orontes III. return to southern Cappadocia and lay the foundations there for the formation of the kingdom of his descendants.

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personal data
SURNAME Ariarathes I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀριαράθης
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ruler in Cappadocia
DATE OF BIRTH 404 BC BC or 403 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 322 BC Chr.