Ariarathia or Ariaratheia () was a town of

ancient Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir Province, Nevşehir, Kayseri Province, Kayseri, Aksaray Province, Aksaray, Kırşehir Province, Kırşehir, Sivas Prov ...

, in the Sargarausene region, inhabited during

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

times.

History

It was founded by

Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia Ariarathes IV, surnamed ''Eusebes'', "the Pious", (, Ariaráthēs Eusebḗs), was the king of Cappadocia in 220–163 BC. Early life Ariarathes IV was the son of the king of Cappadocia Ariarathes III and his Macedonian Greek wife Stratonice ...

(r. 220–163 BCE). It was detached from Cappadocia and assigned to the province of

Armenia Minor Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western sid ...

when that province was established. The town had city rights. The town belonged to the so-called Armenian Hexapolis and remained under Byzantine control in the seventh century. In lack of archaeological findings, it seems that the city vanished during the eighth or ninth century when the Muslim onslaught rendered the area between Caeserea and Melitene a no man's land. Its site is located near Pınarbaşı, Asiatic Turkey. While

Ramsay Ramsay may refer to: People * Ramsay (surname), people named Ramsay * Clan Ramsay, a Scottish clan * Ramsay brothers, Indian film makers * Richard Sorge (1895–1944), Soviet spy codenamed "Ramsay" Places Australia * Ramsay, Queensland, a lo ...

identified it with the town of

Tzamandos Tzamandos () was a medieval fortress in Anatolia and is today situated in a neighbourhood of Pınarbaşı, Kayseri. It was constructed in 908 by the Byzantine-Armenian general Melias and was a Byzantine and continued as a minor settlement until th ...

, this is incorrect as Tzamandos is 15 km west of Ariarathia.

Diocese

It became the seat of a bishop and a certain Acacius of Ariarathia is known to have defended the view of

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek language, Greek name (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various variant forms of t ...

against

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

and the eastern Bishops in the time of the

Council of Ephesus, 449 The Second Council of Ephesus was a Christological church synod in 449 convened by Emperor Theodosius II under the presidency of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria. It was intended to be an ecumenical council, and it is accepted by the miaphysit ...

. A No longer a residential bishopric, it remains a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

.Catholic Hierarchy
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References

Sources

* Populated places in ancient Cappadocia Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Roman towns and cities in Turkey Hellenistic colonies in Anatolia History of Kayseri Province Populated places established in the 2nd century BC Kingdom of Cappadocia {{Kayseri-geo-stub

History

Diocese

See also

References

Sources