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Greek Coin of Cappadocian Kingdom
Ariobarzanes I, Philoromaios – King: 95-63 B.C.
Silver Drachm 17mm (3.81 grams) Struck circa 85-63 B.C.
Reference: Sear 7301 var.
Certification: NGC Ancients VF 4681182-014
His middle-aged diademed head right.
Athena standing left, holding Nike right, spear and shield; on right, BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ; on left, APIOBAPZANOY; in exergue, ΦΙΛΟPΩΜAIOY; monogram in field to left.
The line of Ariarthes now being extinct the Cappadocians chose as their king a noble called Ariobarzanes. His long reign was much troubled by attacks from Tigranes of Armenia, and several times he was driven from his kingdom, though always restored by his allies the Romans. In 63 B.C. he abdicated in favor of his son.
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 Athena or Athene (Latin: Minerva), also referred to as Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill in Greek mythology. Minerva, Athena’s Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena’s cult as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis), many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias (“Athena of the city”). Athens and Athena bear etymologically connected names.
Ariobarzanes I, named Philoromaios (Ancient Greek: Ἀριοβαρζάνης Φιλορωμαίος, Ariobarzánēs Philorōmaíos, friend of Rome), was the king of Cappadocia from 95 BC to ca. 63 BC-62 BC. Ariobarzanes I was a Cappadocian nobleman of obscure origins who was of Persian descent.
Ariobarzanes I was originally put in place by the citizens vote of Cappadocia after the Roman Senate rejected the claims of Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia and was supported by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla. He was in control on and off of a kingdom that was considered a Roman protectorate and he was removed three separate times by King Mithridates before not only securing but actually increasing his lands under general Pompey in the Third Mithridatic War. He eventually abdicated, making way for the rule of his son Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia in ca. 63 BC-62 BC.
Ariobarzanes I married a Greek woman, whom he had as his queen a noblewoman called Athenais Philostorgos I. Athenais bore Ariobarzanes I two children, a son, Ariobarzanes II who succeeded him and a daughter, Isias Philostorgos who married the King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province, in Turkey.
In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates and the Armenian Highland, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia.
The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage.
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