CAPPADOCIA

CAPPADOCIA - A large district in the mid-eastern part of Asia Minor, formed into a Roman province in AD 17. See MAP (1600 x 929. 609kb) . It was administered by a procurator sent out by the reigning emperor, being regarded as an unimportant district. In AD 70 Vespasian united it with Armenia Minor, and made the two together a large and important frontier province, to be governed by an ex-consul, under the title of legatus Augusti pro praetore, on the emperor's behalf. The territory to the N. and W. of Cilicia, the kingdom of the client-king Antiochus of Commagene, was incorporated in it at the time, and it afterwards received various accessions of territory. Jews from Cappadocia are mentioned in Ac.2.9. That such were already settled there (c 139 BC) is implied in 1 Mac.15.22 where a letter in their favour is addressed by the Roman Senate to king Ariarathes (q.v.). Cappadocia was not visited by St. Paul, probably as insufficiently Hellenized, but it was one of the provinces to which 1 Peter was addressed. [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - A.So. - E.G.K.]