Alexander and Cappadocia

Abstract

According to the opinio communis Cappadocia, on the eve of Alexander’s expedition, was divided into two satrapies. The southern part went to Sabictas, the satrap chosen by Alexander, while the northern part remained with Ariarathes, who later took control over all of Cappadocia. Moreover, in this common view, Cappadocia came under Macedonian control only in 322 B.C., when Perdiccas defeated and killed Ariarathes. In this paper, however, I formulate the hypothesis that Sabictas kept the all of Cappadocia for a short time, but after that the satrapy did not escape the Macedonian control. Cappadocia remained under Macedonian control during Alexander’s expedition, since Antigonus Monophtalmus, at the time of the Persian counteroffensive following Issus (333 B.C.), assigned it to Ariarathes in exchange for his neutrality.