Ariaramnes (

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶𐎴 ''Ariyāramna'',

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Ἀριάμνης), was the Ariarathid king of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

from 280 BC to 230 BC. He was the son and successor of

Ariarathes II Ariarathes II ( grc, Ἀριαράθης, Ariaráthēs; ruled 301–280 BC), satrap and king of Cappadocia, son of Holophernes, fled into Armenia after the death of his uncle and adopted father Ariarathes I, ruler of Cappadocia. After the death ...

. Ariaramnes' name is the Greek attestation of an

Old Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian plateau, Iranian Pl ...

name, ''Aryārāman'' ("he who brings peace to the

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

s"). His name is sometimes is confused with an akin name, Ariamnes. Ariaramnes minted coins during his reign. On the obverse of his coins, he is portrayed wearing the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

al ''

tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

'', whilst the reverse shows him holding a lance whilst riding a horse. Although Cappadocia had throughout its history been hardly subjected to Hellenism, it slowly began to affect the region now with order and stability under the Ariarathid dynasty. This can be seen on the engravings of Ariaramnes' coins, who is the first king of his dynasty to mint coins with Greek engravings instead of the traditional

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

. On some of these coins the name

Tyana Tyana ( grc, Τύανα), earlier known as Tuwana (Hieroglyphic Luwian: ; Akkadian: ) and Tuwanuwa ( Hittite: ) was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was ...

is engraved, which indicates that Ariaramnes had conquered the city. Originally a vassal of the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

, Ariaramnes rebelled and obtained independence. However, he sustained friendly relations with his former suzerains, with one of his daughters marrying prince

Antiochus Hierax Antiochus (; el, Ἀντίoχoς; killed c. 226 BC), called Hierax (, Ἱέραξ, "Hawk") for his grasping and ambitious character, was the younger son of Antiochus II Theos, Antiochus II and Laodice I and separatist leader in the Hellenistic civ ...

, and the latter's sister Stratonice marrying Ariaramnes' son Ariarathes ( Ariarathes III). Consequently, the Seleucid king

Antiochus II Theos Antiochus II Theos ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Θεός, ; 286 – July 246 BC) was a Greek king of the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Seleucid Empire who reigned from 261 to 246 BC. He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of ...

() bestowed Ariarathes with the title of "king", who ruled together with Ariaramnes from 255 BC. In 230 BC, Ariaramnes received Antiochus Hierax after the latter had fled from his ruling brother

Seleucus II Callinicus Seleucus II Callinicus Pogon ( el, ; ''Kallinikos'' means "beautifully triumphant"; ''Pogon'' means "the Beard"; July/August 265 BC – December 225 BC),, . was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 BC to 225 BC. Faced ...

(). Ariaramnes died around the same period, with Ariarathes becoming the sole ruler of the kingdom.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariaramnes of Cappadocia Kings of Cappadocia 3rd-century BC rulers 3rd-century BC Iranian people Ariarathid dynasty