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Kingdom of Pontus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 281 BC–62 AD | |||||||||
 The Kingdom of Pontus at its height: before the reign of Mithridates VI (dark purple), after his early conquests (purple), and his conquests in the first Mithridatic Wars (pink) | |||||||||
| Status |
| ||||||||
| Capital | Amaseia, Sinope | ||||||||
| Common languages | Greek (official after 3rd century BC,[1] coastal cities) Persian, Armenian (after 115 BC) and Anatolian languages (regional and dynastic) | ||||||||
| Religion | Syncretic, incorporating Greek polytheism, Iranian religion, and local Anatolian religion. | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Basileus | |||||||||
• 281–266 BC | Mithridates I Ktistes | ||||||||
• 266–250 BC | Ariobarzanes | ||||||||
• c. 250–220 BC | Mithridates II | ||||||||
• c. 220–185 BC | Mithridates III | ||||||||
• c. 185 – c. 170 BC | Pharnaces I | ||||||||
• c. 170 – 150 BC | Mithridates IV and Laodice | ||||||||
• c. 150 – 120 BC | Mithridates V Euergetes | ||||||||
• 120–63 BC | Mithridates VI Eupator | ||||||||
• 63–47 BC | Pharnaces II | ||||||||
• 47–37 BC | Darius | ||||||||
• 37 BC | Arsaces | ||||||||
• 37–8 BC | Polemon I | ||||||||
• 8 BC – 38 AD | Pythodorida | ||||||||
• 38 AD – 62 AD | Polemon II | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Founded by Mithridates I | 281 BC | ||||||||
• Conquered by Pompey of the Roman Republic, remained as a client state (eastern part of the kingdom). | 63 BC | ||||||||
• Annexed by the Roman Empire under Emperor Nero. | 62 AD | ||||||||
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Pontus (‹See Tfd›Greek: Πόντος Pontos) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin,[2][3][4][5] which may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty.[6][5] The kingdom was proclaimed by Mithridates I in 281 BC[7] and lasted until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 63 BC.[8] The Kingdom of Pontus reached its largest extent under Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos, and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, Pontus was defeated.[9]
The kingdom had three cultural strands, which often fused together: Greek (mostly on the coast), Persian, and Anatolian,[10][5] with Greek becoming the official language in the 3rd century BC.[11]
- ^ Brian McGing, “PONTUS,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2004, available at https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/pontus
- ^ The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, by B. C. McGing, p. 11
- ^ Children of Achilles: The Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy, by John Freely, p. 69–70
- ^ Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome, by Daniela Dueck, p. 3.
- ^ a b c McGing, Brian (2004). "Pontus". Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
- ^ Bosworth, A. B.; Wheatley, P. V. (November 1998). "The origins of the Pontic house". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 118: 155–164. doi:10.2307/632236. ISSN 2041-4099. JSTOR 632236. S2CID 162855144.
- ^ Strabo Geography 12.3
- ^ Östenberg, Ida (December 2013). "Veni Vidi Vici and Caesar's Triumph". Classical Quarterly. 63 (2): 819. doi:10.1017/S0009838813000281. ISSN 0009-8388. S2CID 170291549.
- ^ Kantor, Georgy (2012), "Mithradatic wars", The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Blackwell Publishing, doi:10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah09172, ISBN 9781444338386
- ^ Children of Achilles: The Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy, by John Freely, p. 69–70
- ^ The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, by B. C. McGing, p. 11