Gordius a Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...

n by birth, was the instrument of Mithridates Eupator

Mithridates VI of Pontus

Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI Mithradates , from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC – 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 BC to 63 BC...

 (120

120 BC

Year 120 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Manilius and Carbo...

–63 BC

63 BC

Year 63 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cicero and Hibrida...

), king of Pontus

Pontus

Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...

, in his attempts to annex Cappadocia to Pontus. Gordius was employed by him, in 116 BC

116 BC

Year 116 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geta and Eburnus...

, to murder Ariarathes VI

Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia

Ariarathes VI Epiphanes Philopator , King of Cappadocia, was the youngest son of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and Nysa of Cappadocia.He reigned about 14 years . He was a child at his succession, and for this reason the power was kept by his mother who acted as his regent...

, king of Cappadocia. Gordius was afterwards tutor of a son of Mithridates, whom, after the murder of Ariarathes VII

Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia

Ariarathes VII Philometor , King of Cappadocia, was the first son of King Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and his wife Laodice of Cappadocia. Ariarathes VII had an older sister called Nysa and a younger brother called Ariarathes VIII of Cappadocia....

 he made king of Cappadocia as Ariarathes IX

Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia

Ariarathes IX Eusebes Philopator , was made king of Cappadocia by his father King Mithridates VI of Pontus after the assassination of Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia. Since he was only eight years old, he was put under the regency of the Cappadocian Gordius...

. Gordius was sent as the envoy of Mithridates to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, and afterwards employed by him to engage Tigranes

Tigranes the Great

Tigranes the Great was emperor of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House...

, king of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, to attack Cappadocia, and expel Ariobarzanes I

Ariobarzanes I Philoromaios of Cappadocia

Ariobarzanes I, named Philoromaios , 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....

, whom the Romans

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 made king of that country in 93 BC

93 BC

Year 93 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flaccus and Herennius...

. Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...

 restored Ariobarzanes in the following year, and drove Gordius out of Cappadocia. Gordius was opposed to Murena

Murena

Murena is a name used by a Roman plebeian family from Lanuvium belonging to the gens Licinia. It is supposed to be derived from the fondness of a family member for lampreys ....

 on the banks of the Halys

Halys

Halys may refer to:* The Halys River in Anatolia , Turkish Kızılırmak .* In the Aeneid, Halys is a Trojan who defends Aeneas' camp from a Rutulian attack. He is killed by Turnus....

, 83

83 BC

Year 83 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asiaticus and Norbanus...

 or 82 BC

82 BC

Year 82 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Carbo...

.