414 



CAP PA DO CIA. 



Cappa- 

 docia. 



as the fruit of that victory, took possession of part of 

 his kingdom. At his death, Ariarathes V. assumed 

 the sceptre of his father ; married Antiochis, daugh- 



.Araramei ter O f Anticchus the Great ; joined that prince in a 

 Ant. C.I 90. war against the Romans; beheld the confederated 

 armies scattered by superior discipline and bravery ; 

 purchased the peace and friendship of the Romans 

 by promising them 200 talents, which were mitigated 

 to 100 at the intercession of the king of Pergamus ; 

 assisted his new allies against Perseus king or Mace- 

 don; and as the reward of his services, was stiled by 

 the senate the friend and ally of the Roman people. 

 His queen being at first barren, imposed upon his 

 credulity, by persuading him that she had two sons, 

 who were called Ariarathes and Holophernes ; but 

 afterwards, when she really became pregnant, she 

 confessed the imposture, and bore to her husband 

 two daughters, and a son who was called Mithridates. 

 When this son arrived at manhood, his dutiful con- 

 duct inspired his father with such affection, as to in 

 duce him to resign the sceptre into his hand ; but the 

 son proved that he was worthy of his father's virtue, 

 by declaring, that the only instance of disobedience 

 which he would ever exhibit, would be to refuse a 

 crown which his father wore with such honour to 

 himself, and such happiness to his people, and thus 

 merited the sirname of Philopater. 



Ariatathes This prince, at the death of his father, ascended 

 the throne by the name of Ariarathes VI., and sig- 



Aiit.C. 162. na ij zec j the beginning of his reign by an action.no 

 less glorious to his generosity than to his valour. 

 Artaxias, king of Armenia Major, after having rout- 

 ed the forces of Mythrobuzanus, king of Armenia 

 Minor, and forced him to seek an asylum at the 

 court of Cappadocia, stained the glory of his victory 

 by offering Ariarathes one half of the conquered 

 kingdom, as a reward for taking away the life of the 

 exiled monarch. The answer which the wounded 

 virtue of the Cappadocian returned to this insulting 

 proposal, was given on the field of battle, where he 

 routed the forces of Artaxias ; and, with a magna- 

 nimity bordering on rashness, restored My throb uza- 

 nus to his throne, though he had too great reason to 

 dread the ingratitude of. that prince, who soon joined 

 Artaxias against his benefactor. When the confe- 

 derates were aboufr to invade his dominions, the Ro- 

 mans interposed ; and in gratitude for the peace which 

 their authority procured, he presented to the senate 

 a crown of gold, who, in return, honoured him with 

 a rod and chair of ivory. The cultivation of the arts 

 and sciences in every part of his dominions dignified 

 this interval of peace, which was soon interrupted by 

 Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, whose sister Aria- 

 rathes had refused to marry, dreading the resent- 

 ment of the Romans. As the instrument of his re- 

 venge, Demetrius incited Holophernes, who pretend- 

 ed to be the eldest son of the late king, to claim the 

 crown of Cappadocia ; and assisting him with the 

 power of Syria, defeated Ariarathes and Eumenes, 

 king of Pergamus, who, at the command of the Ro- 

 mans, joined him with his army, and having driven 

 the former from his dominions, raised his rival to the 

 throne. An appeal was made"by both parties to the 

 Romans, who, with their usual policy, adjudged the 

 rivals to sha:e the kingdom between them, without 

 affording Ariarathes i the means of recovering any 

 part of his authority. Holophernes, however, soon 



Cappa- 

 docia. 



shook the foundations of his power, by exercising it 

 in acts of oppression, of cruelty, and of sacrilege ; 

 and Attalus, now king of Pergamus, espousing the 

 cause of the exiled monarch, dissipated the forces of 

 the usurper on the field of battle, forced him to aban- 

 don the country, and restored Ariarathes to the 

 throne. When his affairs became doubtful, Holo- 

 phernes had deposited 400 talents of gold with the 

 inhabitants of Priene, a city of Ionia ; and Ariarathes 

 sullied the fame, which his former conduct had so 

 justly merited, by employing his arms, and those of 

 Attalus, in ravaging the territories, and besieging 

 the walls of that city, -'because its inhabitants re- 

 fused to surrender the treasure of his rival. The 

 Priennians, however, not only conveyed the money 

 to its owner ; but defended the city till the ir- 

 resistible mandate of the Roman senate, which 

 they had solicited, arrived, and obliged the confede- 

 rates to abandon the siege. Remembering former 

 injuries, Ariarathes now entered into an alliance 

 with Alexander Epiphanes, who, pretending to be 

 the son of Antiochus, claimed the kingdom of Syria, 

 and joining his forces to that impostor, attacked and 

 defeated the army of Demetrius Soter, who was slain 

 in the contest. Some time after he joined the Ro- 

 mans, who claimed the kingdom of Pergamus, in vir- 

 tue of a will which Attalus had made in their favour ; 

 and along with P. Crassus, proconsul of Asia, attack- 

 ed the army of Aristomcus, who, assisted by the 

 Thracians and the Phocaeans, asserted his right to 

 that throne as the son of Lumenes. The avarice of 

 Grassus, which directed all his efforts to save his 

 booty, consummated the shame of his defeat, and de- 

 frauded his captivity of the pity of his country ; but 

 the death of Ariarathes, which was distinguished by 

 the most intrepid bravery, did not cloud his former 

 reputation in arms. The Romans, to repair the loss 

 of that day, added Cilicia and Lycaonia to the king- 

 dom of Cappadocia ; and appointed Laodice, the wi- 

 dow of Ariarathes, during the minority of her chil- 

 dren, to be regent. Intoxicated with the charms of 

 royalty, and dreading the loss of her authority, she 

 administered poison to five of the six children which 

 were placed under her protection. -The Cappado- 

 cians vindicated the honour of their country, by re- 

 sisting the tyranny of the regent, and inflicting upon 

 her that death which her crimes deserved. 



Ariarathes VII. recalled by the Cappadocians at . Ariarathes 

 the death of his mother, ascended the throne, and VII. 

 married Laodice, sister of Mithridates, king of Pon- Ant.C. 127. 

 tus. This prince formed the ambitious scheme of 

 annexing the kingdom of Cappadocia to his own ; and 

 employed a Cappadocian nobleman, named Gordius, 

 privately to murder Ariarathes, that he might seize the 

 country under the pretence of acting for his sister. But 

 his sister prevented him from reaping the fruits of his 

 fratricide ; for suddenly marrying Nicomedes, king 

 of Bithynia, who had long meditated the invasion of 

 Cappadocia, she instigated that monarch to accom- 

 plish his design, which he soon did by expelling the 

 son of the late king, and assuming the supreme au- 

 thority. Mithridates concealed his ambition by 

 espousing the cause of his sister's children ; and pre- 

 tending to restore his nephew, defeated the forces of 

 Nicomedes, and took possession of the kingdom. 

 The glory which he acquired by this action, was soon 

 converted into infamy; for refusing to resign the 



