Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator (, Ariaráthēs Eusebḗs Philopátōr; reigned 163–130 BC or 126 BC) was son of the preceding king
Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and
Antiochis. Previously called Mithridates, he reigned 33 years, 163–130 BC, as king of
Cappadocia. He was distinguished by the excellence of his character and his cultivation of
philosophy and the
liberal arts. According to
Livy, he was educated at
Rome; but this account may perhaps refer to another Ariarathes, while Ariarathes Eusebes probably studied in his youth in
Athens, where he seems to have become a friend of the future king
Attalus II Philadelphus. In consequence of rejecting, at the wish of the
Romans, a marriage with
Laodice V the sister of
Demetrius I Soter, the latter made war upon him, and brought forward
Orophernes of Cappadocia, his brother and one of the supposititious sons of the late king, as a claimant of the throne. Ariarathes was deprived of his kingdom, and fled to Rome about 158 BC. He was restored by the Romans, who, however, allowed Orophernes to reign jointly with him, as is expressly stated by
Appian, and implied by
Polybius. The joint government, however, did not last long; for we find Ariarathes shortly afterwards named as sole king. In 154 BC, Ariarathes assisted the king of
Pergamum Attalus II in his war against
Prusias II of Bithynia, and sent his son Demetrius in command of his forces. He fell in 130 BC, in the war of the Romans against
Aristonicus of Pergamum. In return for...
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