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Cappadocia
 
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 Cappadocia,
ancient country in eastern Asia Minor, extending from the Pontus
Euxinus (now the Black Sea) to the Taurus Mountains in present-day
Turkey. As early as 1900 BC, merchants from Assyria
established a colony in Cappadocia. From about 1750 BC
to the formation of the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid dynasty in
the 7th century
BC, this region was the center of power of the Hittites.
Later, the Persians controlled the area and divided it into two
satrapies, or provinces. The northern province became known as
Cappadocia near the Pontus, or merely Pontus; the southern area
retained the name Cappadocia, by which it was known in classical times. After the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great early in
the 4th century BC, Cappadocia became independent. The
first king of the Cappadocian dynasty, Ariarathes I (reigned 330-322
BC), paid tribute to Alexander, but Alexander's
successors were unable to conquer the country. Later, the kings of
Cappadocia sided with Rome, then a rising power, against the Seleucids
and against Pontus. Cappadocia changed sides often in its support of
the various factions during the Roman civil wars of the 1st century
BC. The independence of the country ended when the
Romans supplanted the Cappadocian dynasty with a puppet king about 40
BC. In AD17 the Roman emperor Tiberius
made Cappadocia a province of the Roman Empire. Thereafter, the
importance of Cappadocia as a separate political unit declined. Among
the important towns of Cappadocia were the capital of the kingdom,
Mazaca (now Kayseri), known in Roman times as Caesarea Mazaca; Tyana;
and Melitene (now Malatya). The modern town of Bogazkale is on the
site of the Cappadocian town of Pteria, which was built on the site of
the city of Hattusas, capital of the Hittite Empire.
"Cappadocia," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
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