CHAPTER THREE

Rise of Pontus

When Pharnaces I became king of Pontus in 185 B.C., he inherited a powerful kingdom that had been strengthened by his predecessors. The first thing that came to his attention was the fact that one independent city existed within the precincts of his domain. Sinop had previously repulsed his grandfather’s attack, while other cities like Amisus had already been incorporated into the kingdom. He saw that attacking Sinop’s colonies of Cerasus and Cotyora would prepare the city for battle, so he planned to surprise the city under pretenses of friendship. With the use of intrigue and surprise, Pharnaces I was suddenly in possession of Sinop in 183 B.C. The annexation of the colonies followed. Rhodes immediately was aroused to the fact that her friend Sinop had lost its independence. Rhodes’ leading citizen, Eumenes, made stirring protests to the Roman senate. Not too interested in the East at this time Rome passed over the protests with promises of investigation. One of the senators however made a speech before the senate condemning Pharnaces I and praising Eumenes and Rhodes for their faithful friendship with Sinop. Sinop, however, remained a possession of Pontus. Pharnaces I continued his war against Pergamum by seizing Paphlagonia and several other kingdoms. Rome soon intervened and warned the Pontic king that if he did not cease his aggression, they would take action. In 178 B.C., he made peace with Rome, giving up all his conquests Sinop, the only exception again, remained part of Pontus.

Sinop became more important in the eyes of its new king. It soon became his favorite city and he began to conduct his administration of his kingdom from there. Sinop had the best harbor in Pontus, and Pharnaces depended a great deal on this advantage. Since he was hindered by treaty from further aggression in Asian Turkey, he turned his eyes across the Black Sea to Crimea. His greatest commercial relations were with this region. Before Pharnaces I died, he moved his capitol from Amaseia (12) to Sinop. Sinop itself had already grown affection for the king who had shown it so much attention. Now he made it the capitol of his kingdom. His son, Mithridates V, came to the throne and built his palace in Sinop. He also fortified the walls and constructed a harbor of which the jetty may still be seen today. Mithridates V ignored the former treaties that his father had made with Rome and began his conquest of Phrygia, Paphlagonia, Cappadocia, and Galatia, and even annexed the island of Crete. His queen, Laudice, looking for an excuse to take the power for herself, had her husband assassinated in 120 B.C. To secure the friendship of Rome, she withdrew the Pontic forces from their conquests and began to reduce the army. She then began a rich courtlife in the royal palace at Sinop.

MITHRIDATES THE GREAT

Mithridates the Great was born in the Pontic palace of Sinop in 132 B.C. Not long after his father was assassinated, he feared that he too would be murdered and fled to live in the interior of Pontus. In Pontus proper were the great Persian fief a, and their lords recognized Mithridates for his royal Persian blood of the Achaemenid line. Mithridates preferred the Greek language and culture, but retained many Persian customs, as if to accentuate his ancestral blood. But in 111 B.C., Mithridates led a force against his mother and without much resistance took his rightful throne. To end the intriguing of his mother Laodice and his brother Chrestus, he was forced to execute them. Mithridates also continued to beautify the city of Sinop by building for it a gymnasium, theatre, library, and many fine temples. Almost immediately he began his plans for aggression. Sinop was only affected in that it was to become the seat of an empire now, instead of just the capitol of Pontus. Mithridates took control of Crimea. (13) He occupied Cappadocia, Paphlagonia and Galatia until 95 B.C., when L. Cornelius Sulla, the famous Roman general, came as an envoy and demanded that Mithridates and his ally Nicomedes of Bithynia withdraw their occupation. Mithridates broke his alliance with Bithynia for one with Armenia, and again he overran Cappadocia and included Bithynia this time. With the protest of Rome again, he withdrew. Shortly thereafter, the Romans, under Manius Aquilius and Nicomedes in Bithynia, Cassius from Galatia, and Oppius from Cilicia and Cappadocia planned to invade Pontus. However, they were decisively defeated by Mithridates and his invincible corps of chariots with wheels having razor-sharp projecting blades. Together with his massive army, phalanx, and Armenian cavalry, he pursued his invaders until they were out of Asian Turkey. Mytilene, Pergamum, and many other cities and Greek islands were now his subjects. Cassius fled to Rhodes, where he helped to fortify its great walls. During this time, Mithridates set up his base of war operations from Pergamum, but Sinop always remained on the receiving end for all of his treasures and booty of his victories. In 88 B.C., Mithridates in his hatred for Roman imperialism, slaughtered eighty thousand Roman colonists, men, women, and children, and was to incur the wrath of Rome for the remainder of his life. When Mithridates sent the treasures of the shrine of Apollo on the island of Delos to Athens, Athens, Sparta, and Thebes allied themselves with Mithridates. By 87 B.C., Sinop was capitol of an empire conquered by Mithridates from the Euphrates River to the Gulf of Corinth. Little wonder then, that Rome refers to Mithridates, rather than Hannibal, as the most formidable enemy it ever faced.
However, Sulla sailed from Rome with an army of five legions, and after retaking Athens, began to defeat the Pontic forces and put them into retreat. Since troubles were brewing at home for both Sulla and Mithridates, the war was concluded with an armistice in 83 B.C., and Mithridates returned to Sinop. There he was to pass his time by quelling a rebellion in Crimea and the Colchis area of his kingdom.

SINOP IN WAR

Murena, the Roman legate in Asian Turkey, desiring to enrich himself, ignored Sulla’s armistice and invaded Pontus. He was defeated by Mithridates at the Halys River, and Murena was replaced by Rome for breaking the treaty. Nicomedes of l3ithynia died in 76 B.C., and bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Mithridates, fearing Roman power near his borders, and the revenge of his slaughter of 88 B.C., invaded Bithynia in 75 B.C.
Lucullus, (14) at the head of a large Roman force, pushed Mithridates back into Pontus. While LAicullus was waiting to receive orders from Rome to invade Pontus, Mithridates equipped a gigantic fleet of ships and intended to invade the western shores of the Black Sea and join other anti-Roman forces and invade Italy. However, his fleet was shipwrecked and his navy, for the most part, destroyed. Lucullus now began his invasion of Pontus. He began by laying siege to Heracles, Amisus, and Sinop. Mithridates retired to Cabira, (15) where he gathered his defense army. However, through treachery, his camp was revealed to the Romans and his entire army scattered. Mithridates himself fled to Armenia where he was given refuge by his son-in-law, King Tigranes. In the year 70 B.C., while Mithridates remained in exile, Heraclea surrendered, but Sinop and Amisus remained steadfast. Food was supplied to the besieged Sinop from Crimea, and its fleet assured it safe delivery. Mithridates’ pirate friends, Leonippus, Cleochares, and Seleucus had been left in control of Sinop. Leonippus, however, entered into secret negotiations with Lucullus and admiral Censorinus. He had heard that Lucullus was a great lover of Greek culture and was particularly favorable toward Sinop since it had been an Athenian colony. Besides, Lucullus believed himself to he a liberator and was superstitious about a dream of Autolycus, the founder of Sinop, that he had. Unfortunately, Leonippus’ plot to hand over the city was discovered, and he was quietly assassinated. The Sinop navy then defeated the Roman navy. Machares, the son of Mithridates, who was regent of Crimea, decided to break his trust with Sinop and his father and send Sinop’s food to Lucullus instead, to acquire the friendship of Lucullus and Rome. Cleochares and Seleucus, despairing of further resistance, decided to abandon Sinop. They sacked the city, set it on fire and killed the resisting inhabitants. They then set sail for the open sea. Lucullus, seeing the city in flames, gave orders for immediate attack. Entering the city without resistance, he ordered that the flames be extinguished and that no plunder and killing of the citizens be made. He managed to kill many of the fleeing soldiers, however, before they escaped in their ships. Afterwards, he granted Sinop the status of a free and independent city. The surrender of Amisus and Amaseis soon followed, and all of Pontus was in Roman hands. As long as Lucullus remained in Pontus, the Greek cities suffered no harm. In return, he was lavished with many gifts from both the country of Pontus and from Machares of Crimea. Oddly enough, when he returned to Rome to retire in 66 B.C., he was one of the wealthiest Roman generals, and had the reputation of never obtaining it by plunder. Lucullus, after straightening up affairs in Pontus, turned to invade Armenia. He met with some victories, but his army mutinied; and lacking further orders, he withdrew.

In 66 B.C., Lucullus was relieved of his command by Pompey. (16) Seizing the opportunity, Mithridates returned to Pontus with an Armenian force. He defeated Fabius and Triarius at Cabira, but he didn’t bother to retake Sinop and Amisus. The coastal cities were useless to him without a navy. Pompey then arrived in Pontus with a vast army and Mithridates was forced again to flee. He was refused refuge in Armenia, so he went to Crimea. Gathering friendly forces there, he marched against his son, Machares, who had broken faith with him. Machares took poison, and Mithridates executed the others who participated in the Treason. Meanwhile, Pompey marched into Armenia and received the surrender of King Tigaranes, whose kingdom he restored. Instead of following Mithridates to Crimea, Pompey turned to Judea and Arabia.

Mithridates made one last attempt against Rome by organizing a force to cross the Danube and invade Italy. However, the force mutinied and Mithridates was left without a following. His son, Pharnaces II, rose up as his successor and declared himself king. Mithridates commanded his personal bodyguard to accept his son as their king, and retired to a castle where he had himself killed. It was the year 63 B.C., and it ended the life of a man who for forty-eight years had been a constant thorn in the side of Rome. He had almost become a legend for his many wars and narrow escapes. Pharnaces sent the body of his dead father to Sinop, his home and place of birth. He also sent gifts and a message to Pompey that his father was dead and pledged his friendship in return for the rule of Crimea. Pompey quickly left his operations in Arabia for Sinop. There he saw the body of Mithridates and authenticated his death. Because Mithridates’ fine armor and crown had been stolen by a Roman souvenir seeker, Pompey paid for an honorable burial. Mithridates Eupator VI, called ‘the Great’, sixteenth in descent from Darius Hystaspes, the Great King and eighth in descent from the first king of independent Pontus, was laid away ceremoniously in the royal tombs of Sinop. (17) Pharnaces was confirmed as king of Crimea and friend of Rome. Pompey modified the government installed by Lucullus. In all the communities, including Sinop, of the newly organized province Bithynia-Pontus, all were citizens, and the communities were controlled by s council of elected magistrates who were responsible to Roman appointed censors. (18) Pompey then returned to Rome. In 50 B.C., civil war broke out between Pompey and Caesar. (19) Pharnaces II of Crimea, desiring his ancestral kingdom of Pontus, sailed across the Black Sea and was welcomed in Sinoph he defeated the Roman legion under Calvinus and become master of Pontus. He began to plunder the Roman settlers and the native Pontians alike. In Amisus, where the city held out against him over a long siege, he killed all the men of fighting age and mutilated the youths. His brutality and reign in Pontus was checked only by the arrival of Caesar from Egypt. In 47 B.C., at Zela, (20) Pharnaces’ army was completely destroyed. Pharnaces fled to Sloop where he tried to hold out against Domitius Calvinus whom Caesar had sent to pursue him. Finally, he agreed to depart with his safety guaranteed. When he returned to Crimea, however, he met a rebellion and was killed. Thus, a great dynasty had ended. Caesar’s victory over Pharnaces had been such an enormous one, that he sent back to Rome the famous message, "Veni, vidi, vici’".
Caesar then left Zela for Nicea in Bithynia.

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