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(Pontos). The most northeasterly district of Asia Minor, along the coast of the Euxine, east of the river Halys, having originally no specific name, was spoken of as the country en Pontoi, "on the Pontus" (Euxinus), and hence acquired the name of Pontus, which is first found in Xenophon's Anabasis. The name first acquired a political importance through the foundation of a new kingdom in it, about the beginning of the fourth century B.C., by Ariobarzanes I. This kingdom reached its greatest height under Mithridates VI., who for many years carried on war with the Romans. In A.D. 62 the country was constituted by Nero a Roman province. It was divided into the three districts of Pontus Galaticus in the west, bordering on Galatia; P. Polemoniacus in the centre, so called from its capital Polemonium; and P. Cappadocius in the east, bordering on Cappadocia (Armenia Minor). Pontus was a mountainous country--wild and barren in the east, where the great chains approach the Euxine; but in the west watered by the great rivers Halys and Iris, and their tributaries, the valleys of which, [p. 1301] as well as the land along the coast, are extremely fertile. The eastern part was rich in minerals, and contained the celebrated iron mines of the Chalybes. The inhabitants of Pontus were called generically Leucosyri.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Pontus (Pontos), a large country in the northeast of Asia Minor,
which derived its name from its being on the coast of the Pontus Euxinus, extending
from the frontiers of Colchis in the east, to the river Halys in the west. In
the earlier times the country does not appear to have borne any general appellation,
but the various parts were designated by names derived from the different tribes
by which they were inhabited. Xenophon (Anab. v. 6. § 15) is the first ancient
author who uses Pontus as the name of the country. Pontus formed a long and narrow
tract of coast country from the river Phasis to the Halys, but in the western
part it extended somewhat further south or inland. When its limits were finally
fixed, it bordered in the west on Paphlagonia, where the Halys formed the boundary
; in the South on Galatia, Cappadocia, and Armenia Minor, the Antitaurus and Mount
Paryadres being the boundaries ; and in the east on Colchis and Armenia, from
which it was separated by the river Phasis. Pontus thus embraced the modern pashaliks
of Trebizond and Siwas. Although the country was surrounded by lofty mountains,
which also sent their ramifications into Pontus itself, the plains on the coast,
and especially the western parts, were extremely fertile (Strab. xii. p. 548),
and produced excellent fruit, such as cherries, apples, pears, various kinds of
grain, olives, timber, aconite, &c. (Strab. xii. p. 545, &c.; Theophrast. Hist.
Plant. iv. 5, viii. 4, &c., ix. 16, xix. 17; Plin. xiv. 19.) The country abounded
in game (Strab. xii. p. 548), and among the animals bees are especially mentioned,
and honey and wax formed important articles of commerce. (Xenoph. Anab. iv. 8.
§ § 16, 20; Dioscor. ii. 103; Plin. xxi. 45; Strab. iii. p. 163.) The mineral
wealth of the country consisted chiefly in iron (Xenoph. Anab. v. 4. § 1; Strab.
xii. p. 549; Steph. B. s. v. Chalubes; Pliny vii. 57) and salt. The chief mountains
of Pontus are the Paryadres and on the east of it the Scoedises, two ranges of
Antitaurus, which they connect with Mount Caucasus. The Paryadres sends two branches,
Lithrus and Ophlimus to the north, which form the eastern boundary of the plain
of Phanaroea. Another mountain which terminates in a promontory 100 stadia to
the west of Trapezus was called the Oros Hieron (Anonym. Peripl. p. 13 Apollon.
Rhod. ii. 1015, with Schol.), and Teches is a mountain mentioned in the south-east
of Trapezus. The promontories formed by these mountains, if we proceed from west
to east, are: the Heracleium, Iasonium, and Zephyrium. These projecting headlands
form the bays of Amisus and Cotyora. The mountains in the south contain the sources
of numerous streams and rivers, such as the Halys, Lycastus, Chadisius, Iris,
Scylax, Lycus, Thermodon, Beris, Thoaris, Oenius, Phigamus, Sidenus, Genethes,
Melanthius, Pharmathenus, Hyssus, Ophis, Ascurus, Adienus, Zagatis, - Prytanis,
Pyxites, Archabis, Apsarus, Acampis, Bathys, Acinasis, Isis, Mogrus, and the Phasis.
The only lake in Pontus noticed by the ancients is the Stiphane Palus, in the
west, north of the river Scylax.
Pontus was inhabited by a considerable number of different tribes,
whose ethnological relations are either entirely unknown or extremely obscure.
The most important among them, if we proceed from west to east, are: the Leucosyri,
Tibareni, Chalybes, MosynoeciI, Heptacometae, Drilae, Bechires, Byzeres, Colchi,
Macrones, Mares, Taochi, and Phasiani. Some of these tribes were wild and savage
to the last degree, especially those of the interior; but on the coast Greek colonies
continued to be established ever since the middle of the 7th century B.C., and
rose to great power and prosperity, spreading Greek culture and civilisation around
them.
As to the history of the country, tradition stated that it had been
conquered by Ninus, the founder of the Assyrian empire (Diod. ii. 2); after the
time of Cyrus the Great it certainly was, at least nominally, [p. 659] under the
dominion of Persia (Herod. iii. 94, vii. 77, &c.), and was governed by hereditary
satraps belonging to the royal family of Persia. In the time of Xenophon, the
tribes of Pontus governed by native chiefs seem to have still enjoyed a high degree
of independence. But in B.C. 363, in the reign of Artaxerxes II., Ariobarzanes
subdued several of the Pontian tribes, and thereby laid the foundation of an independent
kingdom in those parts. (Diod. xv. 90.) He was succeeded in B.C. 337 by Mithridates
II., who reigned till B.C. 302, and who, by skilfully, availing himself of the
circumstances of the times during the struggles among the successors of Alexander,
considerably enlarged his kingdom. After him the throne was occupied by Mithridates
III., from B.C. 302 to 266; Ariobarzanes III., B.C. 266 probably till 240. The
chronology of this and the following kings, Mithridates IV., Pharnaces I., and
Mithridates V., is very uncertain. Under Mithridates VI., from B.C. 120 to 63,
the kingdom of Pontus attained the height of its extent and power, but his wars
with the Romans led to its subjugation and dismemberment. Pompey, the conqueror
of Mithridates, in B.C. 65 annexed the western part of Pontus as far as Ischicopolis
and the frontiers of Cappadocia to Bithynia (Dion Cass. xlii. 45; Strab. xii.
pp. 541, 543 ; Vell. Pat. ii. 38; Liv. Epit. 102), and gave away the remaining
parts to some of the chiefs or princes in the adjoining countries. A portion of
the country between the Iris and Halys was given to the Galatian Deiotarus, which
was henceforth called Pontus Galaticus (Strab. xii. p. 547; Dion Cass. xli. 63,
xlii. 45; Ptol. v. 6. § § 3, 9.) The Colchians tribes in the south-east of the
Euxine received a king of their own in the person of Aristarchus. (Appian, Mithrid.
114; Eutrop. vi. 14.) Pharnaces II., the treacherous son of Mithridates, received
the Crimea and some adjoining districts as an independent kingdom under the name
of Bosporus (Appian, Mithrid. 110, &c.); and the central part, from the Iris to
Pharnacia, was subsequently given by M. Antonius to Polemon, the son of Pharnaces,
and was henceforth designated by the name of Pontus Polemoniacus (Ptol. v. 6.
§ § 4, 10; Eutrop. vii. 9; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. 15), which it retained afterwards,
even when it had become incorporated with the Roman empire. The eastern part,
which had likewise been ceded to Polemon, was transferred by his widow Pythodoris
to king Archelaus of Cappadocia, who married her, and, was thenceforth called
Pontus Cappadocius. In Pontus Polemoniacus, Pythodoris was succeeded by her son
Polemon II., who resigned his kingdom into the hands of the emperor Nero (Suet.
Ner. 18; Eutrop. vii. 14). Pontus was then made a Roman province, A.D. 63, under
the name of Pontus Polemoniacus, the administration of which was sometimes combined
with that of Galatia. In the new arrangements under Constantine, the province
was again divided into two parts; the south-western one, which had borne the name
of Pontus Galaticus, was called Helenopontus, in honour of the emperor's mother
Helena; and the eastern portion, to which Pontus Cappadocius was added, retained
the name of Pontus Polemoniacus. (Novell. xxviii. 1; Hierocl. p. 702.) Besides
these provincial divisions, there also exist a number of names of smaller separate
districts, such as Gazelonitis, Saramene, Themiscyra, Sidene; and in the interior
Phazemonitis, Pimosene, Diacopene, Chiliocome, Daximonitis, Zeletis, Ximene, and
Megalopolitis.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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