Ariarathes VIII Epiphanes: King of Cappadocia and the Ariarathid Dynasty

Introduction

Ariarathes VIII Epiphanes was a king of Cappadocia of the Ariarathid dynasty, the second son of Ariarathes VI and Laodice and brother of Ariarathes VII and Nysa. He held the Cappadocian throne c. 101–c. 96 BC and briefly in 95. He was elevated by Cappadocian nobles in a rebellion against the influence of his maternal uncle, Mithridates VI of Pontus, and against the Pontic-backed child ruler Ariarathes IX.

Mithridates VI swiftly expelled Ariarathes VIII and installed his own young son as king; Mithridates and Nicomedes III of Bithynia subsequently pressed rival claims over Cappadocia before the Roman Senate. The Senate declined to award the kingdom to either claimant, declared Cappadocia free, and ordered the removal of Mithridates’ nominee. After a short period of direct Pontic rule and a brief restoration of Ariarathes VIII in 95, Ariarathes VIII died shortly thereafter, and with his death the Ariarathid royal line ended. Rome then allowed the Cappadocians to choose a monarch, and they selected Ariobarzanes I.