sign in sign up
<<
Home , Amasya, Comana Pontica

IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Μετάφραση : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Για παραπομπή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis , "Mithridates I Ktistes", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL:

Περίληψη : Mithridates I Ktistes, c. 350 B.C. probably in (Gemlik) - 266 B.C. probably in Amaseia (). King and founder of the so-called Kingdom of , ruled 302-266 B.C. Άλλα Ονόματα Mithradates I Ktistes Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης (probably) 350 B.C. – Cios (Gemlik) Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου 266 B.C. – (probably) Amaseia (Amasya) Κύρια Ιδιότητα King and founder of the

1. Birth-Family

Mithridates I Ktistes was born around 350 B.C., probably in Cius (Gemlik).1 His father's identity is a controversial point. A manuscript variant in Diodorus Siculus says that he was Mithridates (II of Cios), but Diodorus and other authors say that he was Ariobarzanes, brother of the former; the second possibility seems more plausible.2

The ancient sources consider that the Pontic dynasty was descendent either from Cyrus the Great, or from Darius I, or from one of the "Seven " which murdered Gaumata.3 Those three options are compatible, for Darius himself was one of the Seven and tried to appear as belonging to the same lineage with Cyrus. This genealogy was an aspect of the Pontic Kings' propaganda, although it may have had a real ground: Darius would have given to his son, Gobrias, the government of the region of Mariandinya, in . The daughter of Gobrias would have married with Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, another of the Seven. The dynasts of that region would have descented from this lineage.

2. Biography

Mithridates fought beside Eumenes I in Iran and was given to Antigonus I after the battle of Gabiene (316 B.C.).4 Admitted and honoured by the victorious Antigonus, Mithridates established a close friendship with his son, Demetrius Poliorcetes. About 314 B.C., Mithridates must have escaped, when Demetrius told him that his father wanted to kill him. The apparent reason was that Antigonos had dreamed that he sowed a field with gold and Mithridates harvested it. Afterwards, the King had listened a voice saying that Mithridates was fleeing to Pontus.5 After his runaway, Mithridates would probably be hidden in the mountains, until the death of Mithridates II of Cios, who was murdered in 302 B.C., under the suspicion to conspire with Cassander against Antigonus.6 Mithridates (I Ktistes) became the successor of Mithridates II of Cios and established himself in Cimista in Paphlagonia, in the slopes of Mount Olgassys (Ilglaz Daglari), near the modern Kayusuz or Kastamonu.7 From there, Mithridates began to extend his dominions, probably towards the plane of Amaseia.8 In 281 BC, Seleucus I made an attempt to subdue Mithridates, but the king prevailed with the assistance of , Byzantion and .9 Mithridates I was the King and founder of the so-called Kingdom of Pontus and ruled between 302-266 B.C. After Seleucus' death (281 B.C.), Mithridates' son Ariobarzanes conquered Amastris () and that was the first coastal territory of the new kingdom.10 It also seems that Mithridates had resisted an attack by Ptolemy II with the aid of Galatian mercenaries.11

Δημιουργήθηκε στις 29/9/2021 Σελίδα 1/3 IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Μετάφραση : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Για παραπομπή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis , "Mithridates I Ktistes", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL:

3. Death-Evaluation

Mithridates I died in 266 B.C., probably in Amaseia (Amasya).12 He was remembered by the royal Pontic house with the heroic attributes of the founder. His life shows the fight for independence of a local dynast which profits the confusion provoked by the rivalry between the Diadochs. For reasons of propaganda, the Mithridatids wanted to trace their genealogy to Darius; however, the tale of the dream may have been a falsification to highlight that the glorious destiny of the Pontic Kingdom was predestinated from the moment of its foundation.

1. Lucian.Macr.13. Diod. Sic.15.90.3.

2. Diod. Sic. 20.111.4 (Mithridates), 16.90.2. Plut. Dem. 4.1 (Ariobarzanes). There is a confusion in the manuscript of Diodorus between two homonymous persons.

3. Cyrus: Iust. 38.7.1. Dareius: Sall. Hist. fr.2.73, Iust. 38.7.1, Tac. Ann. 12.18. cf. App. Mith. 9, 112, 115, Polyb. 5.43.2, Sall. Hist. fr.2.85M, Diod. Sic. 19.40.2, Flor. Epit. 1.40.1, Auct. Vir.Ill. 76.1.

4. Diod. Sic. 19.40.2, 19.29.4.

5. Plut. Demet. 4, Mor. 183ª. cf. Polyaen. 29.2. Bosworth and Wheatley propose this date in spite of the traditional one in 302 B.C. The reasons alleged by them are that Demetrios makes his warning at the seashore, during the siege of Tyrus and that the age of 84 years given by Lucian, following Hieronymus of , may have been an exaggeration. Such view would have hidden an age not very different than that of Demetrius in those times; that would explain the friendship between both of them. However, it is hard to discredit Hieronymus. Bosworht, A.B., Wheatley, P.V., The Origins of the Royal Pontic House, JHS 118, 1998, pp. 155-164.

6. Diod. Sic. 16.90.2.

7. 12.3.41. App. Mith. 9. This is the transcription proposed for the toponym "Cimiata" given by Strabo. According to Appian's account, Mithridates was in prison and flew together with six horsemen. The number "seven" may have indicated a sort of new foundation, as that of Persia after the murder of Gaumata.

8. Pontica may have been conquered by one of the later Pontic Kings. It is very difficult to define the extent of those dominions, partially due to the confussion of the Cappadocian Comana.

9. Trog. Prol. 17. Memnon FGrHist F7.2.

10. Memnon FGrHist F 9.4.

11. Apollon. Aphr. FGrHist 740 F 14.

12. In Amaseia, the new capital of Pontus, there are five royal tombs, although we do not know what kings are buried inside.

Βιβλιογραφία : McGing B.C., The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus, Leiden 1986, Mnemosyne Supplement 89

Ballesteros-Pastor L., Mitrídates Eupátor, rey del Ponto, Granada 1996

Δημιουργήθηκε στις 29/9/2021 Σελίδα 2/3 IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Μετάφραση : Ballesteros Pastor Luis Για παραπομπή : Ballesteros Pastor Luis , "Mithridates I Ktistes", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία URL:

Reinach T., Mithridate Eupator, roi du Pont, Paris 1890

Billows R.A., Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State, Berkeley – Los Angeles – London 1990

Cumont F., Cumont E., Studia Pontica II. Voyage d΄exploration archéologique dans le pont et la petite Arménie, Bruxelles 1906

Hornblower S., Hieronymus of Cardia, Oxford 1981, Oxford Classical Monographs

Marek C., Stadt, Ära und Territorium in Pontus-Bithynia und Nord-, Tübingen 1993, Istanbuler Forschungen 39

Meyer Ε., Geschichte des Königreichs Pontos, Chicago 1968

Ballesteros-Pastor L., "El Santuario de Comana Póntica: Apuntes para su historia", Divinas Dependencias: Individuos, Santuarios, Comunidades. XXV Congreso del GIREA, Huelva 1998

Bosworth A.B., Wheatley P.V., "The Origins of the Royal Pontic House", JHS, 118, 1998, 155-164

Molev E.A., "Mithridates Ctistes, ruler of Pontus", The Littoral in Hellenistic Times. Materials of the 3rd All-Union Symposium on Black Sea Antiquities. Tsqaltubo 1982, Tbilisi 1985, 581-589, 724

Molev E.A., "On the Origin of the Mithridates Dynasty in Pontus", VDI, 1983, 131-139

McGing B.C., "The Kings of Pontus. Some Problems of Identity and Date", RhMus, 129, 1986, 248-259

Panitschek P., "Zu den genealogischen Konstruktionen der Dynastien von Pontos und Kappadokien", RSA, 17-18, 1987, 73-95

Saprykin S.J., "Die Propaganda von Mithridates Eupator und die Grenzfrage im Pontischen Reich", Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur historischen Geographie des Altertums, Amsterdam 1994, 83-94

Δημιουργήθηκε στις 29/9/2021 Σελίδα 3/3