Sinop…..Part Five…..

Mithridates I was impressed enough by Sinop to switch his capital from Amisus. Thus Sinop became the central city of the Pontic Empire. Greek was made the official language and a new monetary system was established.

Mithridates II, Pharnaces' son, constructed huge walls completely encircling the city. Before this time Sinop had maintained walls only on the north and west sides. In doing this he made Sinop the strongest and best fortified city along the Black Sea. Using Sinop as an impregnable base of operations, Mithridates II began to expand the Pontic Empire.

He conquered all the coastal cities and the Black Sea area, extending his authority in the Mediterranean. The island of Cyprus was annexed into the Pontic Empire.

Mithridates III sent a delegation to Crete for mercenary forces; and while there they aided the Gnosanst against the Cortynianum; thus the Pontic kingdom became a force to be recognized; and a growing empire named Rome turned a cautious eye to Mithridates III.

Mithridates III participated in the third Punic War, sending ships to assist the Roman fleet. For his aid he was given Phurigia, but because of both empires' desire for expansion Mithridates and Rome were unable to maintain friendly relationships. His wife, fearing he would overreach himself, urged Mithridates to make friends with Rome, unify his present conquests, and attempt no more. When he refused, she assassinated him, and after concluding a treaty of peace with the Romans, began leading a life of leisure.

Mithridates III left two sons behind him upon his death, the oldest of whom, Mithridates IV, Eupatro, was destined to become known as Mithridates the Great. When still quite young, Mithridates the Great, fearing that his ambitious mother would assassinate him, left the capital city and fled into exile. Later, at the age of 20, he returned to Sinop and after a brief fierce struggle, regained his rightful throne. To prevent any more misadventures, he ordered the execution of his mother and brother.

The career of this strange and typical combination of Oriental savagery and despotism with Greek culture and comprehensiveness is difficult to follow. The mists of time obscure his history and no two historians seem to agree on many points. The magnificence of his character whispers of Sinope Helenism while his barbarities and quick cruel decisions may be charged to the Persian blood mixed with that of barbarians that he claimed ran in his veins. He was legendary for his powerful build and stamina, and in addition, considered a man of intellect reputed to possess a working knowledge of 22 different languages. The peak and climax of the Pontic Empire occurred during the reign of this king, whose military genius baffled the powers of Rome for nearly half a century.

Mithridates the Great began to rebuild the small Pontic kingdom, which had been deteriorating under his mother's rule. The capital city of Sinop was remodeled and another gymnasium, a theater, library, and many new temples were built. He began to enlarge the empire, extending his rule southward in Asia Minor. Colonies at the east end of the Black Sea, the kingdom of the Bosporus in the Crimean Sea, and Cappadocia were absorbed. At the same time, he gave his daughter in marriage to Tigranes I, king of Greater Armenia. Expansion was destined to bring him into conflict with the Romans as it had with his father.

Overrunning the province of Bithynia in northwestern Asia Minor, he defeated Snicomedes of Bithynia who was supported by the Romans. He is reputed to have ordered 80,000 Romans put to death in a single day. These were probably Italian traders that had settled along the harbors of Bithynia. Upon closer scrutiny this does not seem the act of blind frenzy it appears at first, but rather an efficient way of eliminating a dangerous threat too numerous to deport. Whatever the reason, this act served to alienate him completely with the Italians.
In 87-84 B.C., Sulla marched around the Aegean into Asia Minor, where Mithridates was forced to conclude peace on the following terms: evacuation of all his conquests, surrender of 80 warships, and an indemnity of 3,000 talents.

In 76-74 B.C., Mithridates the Great, encouraged by Rome's troubles at home, Supported his son-in-law, Tigranes I, in the annexation of Cappadecia and Syria. Then he set sail to Italy, having built the largest fleet of ships the world had seen at that time, intending to destroy Rome herself. Had he succeeded in this daring venture, history would in no way be written as it is today. There would be no record of a great Roman Empire, and possibly the Middle and Dark Ages might have occurred. But Fate took a hand in the events of time, ensuring civilization of its march westward. Running into a powerful storm, all of Mithridates' ships were destroyed. The Romans took advantage of this misfortune to forget their civil war and united their armies under Lucullus.

Lucullus slowly forced Mithridates back into Greater Armenia where he was given refuge by Tigranes I. Defeating Tigranes at Tigranecerta, Lucullus started to push on into the mountains of Armenia after Mithridates, but the troops of Rome, having faced the hardships of the mountains of Armenia before, revolted and forced Lucullus to return to Asia. Thus Mithridates escaped; and though the Romans had destroyed his army, he made plans to raise another one, determined to be avenged.

Mithridates returned with his new army of mercenaries in 70 B.C. to find pirates in full possession of Sinop. Pirates led by their chieftains, Leenippus, Cleochares and Seleucus, had managed to take Sinop while Mithridates and the Romans were engaged in battle. Dissentions existed among them and this was to be the reason their temporary rule expired. Leenippus undertook to negotiate with the Romans of the city; but he was discovered and executed. Shortly after his execution, the Roman fleet attempted to take Sinop, but the pirates managed to withstand their assault.

Sinop…..Part Sux…..( this is literally what the printout said; can't tell if it's an error or if the author was a bit burned out and having some fun )

After their victory over the Romans the pirates should have felt confident in their rule. But the insecurity of their leadership caused Seleucus to propose to Cleochares the delivery of Sinop to the Romans for a price. Cleochares objected; however, the two pirate chieftains made plans to flee the city. They shipped their accumulated wealth to Macharis at Colchis, intending to follow shortly. Machares, seeing his chance to gain favor with Rome and keep the treasure for himself, entered into friendly communications with Lucullus.

Under these circumstances, Cleochares despaired of success. He and his followers seized what valuables they could. Giving their soldiers liberty to plunder the town, they fled in their lightest ships by night to the eastern end of the Black Sea. Before starting, to prevent pursuit, Cleochares and his followers set fire to the remaining ships.

Sight of the flames apprised Lucullus of the situation. He ordered his fleet to scale the sea walls. Taking the city, he put 8,000 of the pirates and their adherents to the sword, then by a sudden change of plan stayed the slaughter, restored the people's possessions, and gave the city it's freedom, championing it's cause.

The reason for the change is said to have been a statue which Lucullus saw either lying upon the shores or being carried along by the citizens. It was wrapped in linen and bound with ropes. When uncovered at the command of Lucullus, it proved to be the statue of Aytolycus which the pirates had been unable to carry away in their haste. In a dream the night before a voice had spoken to Lucullus saying, "Go on a little further, Lucullus; for Aytolycus is coming to see thee." The coincidence seemed to him a divine call to take of the city whose deity had so favorably appeared to him. Thus Sinop passed into the power of the Romans; and the story of its passing reveals one more phase of its strange, eventful and colorful history.

Mithridates, having been unable to take Sinop from the pirates, had retreated to southern Russia where he had established a new kingdom. Upon hearing of Sinop's capture by the Roman fleet and soldiers, he set out to Rome by way of Central Europe. He planned once more to seek to destroy the capital of the Roman Empire reasoning that with Rome destroyed, the empire would disintegrate. This attempt was also doomed to failure.

Pompey routed Mithridates' army and drove him to the east end of the Black Sea in 66 B.C. Pompey then defeated Tigrates I at Artaxata and deprived him of all territories save Armenia. Mithridates was forced to flee to the Crimean where, while attempting to reorganize his army, the troops mutinied under the leadership of his son, Pharnaces, in 63 B.C. Upon hearing of the revolt, Mithridates committed suicide after ordering the death of his sisters and wives by his chief eunuch.

To win the favor of the Romans, Pharnaces sent the mutilated and virtually unrecognizable body of his father as a peace offering across the sea to Sinop. Pompey had replaced Lucullus, who had been recalled to Rome from Sinop. Pompey, whose own body was to lie upon the Egyptian shore, dishonored and unburied, gave, at his own expense, a magnificent internment to Rome's barbarian enemy. Mithridates body, accompanied with marching and flute music, was buried in a royal tomb at Sinop. The body was later moved to the mausoleum at the large mosque in the center of modern Sinop. Mithridates the Great is said, by the Romans, to have been Rome's most formidable enemy. Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca of Carthage, and Spartacus the rebel slave are ranked below Mithridates the Great.

The Roman period of domination of Sinop now begins. Pompey reorganized the entire troublesome Black Sea area into four principal kingdoms and several lesser provinces. By friendly embassies to Pompey, Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, managed to gain Pompey's favor. For going over to Rome, he received as his reward a kingdom on the northern shore of the Black Sea. But it was too minute for his ambitions. While Pompey and Caesar struggled, engaging Rome in civil war, Pharnaces crossed the Black Sea and took Sinop from Calvinus.

For a time he was successful in his endeavors to form an empire, capturing Colchis and Armenia, but Caesar met him in battle near Zela.

In 47 B.C. Caesar, after conquering Pompey at Pharsalus and pursuing him into Egypt, marched against Pharnaces and quickly overthrew him in battle at Zela. Caesar advanced into Syria, meeting Pharnaces near Zela on August 2, 47 B.C. Pharnaces was defeated and the victory of the Romans was announced by Caesar in his famous dispatch: "Vini, vidi, vici", or "I came, I saw, I conquered".

Pharnaces fled to Sinop by way of Amisus. Making an ignoble agreement with Calvinus, Roman power at Sinop, that if allowed to depart in safety, he would remain upon the northern shore, he fled to his former kingdom. There he was to die mortally wounded by his son-in-law, Asander.

After reestablishing control of the Black Sea area, Caesar returned to Rome, leaving a strong Roman government in control of Sinop. The city was renovated; and all inhabitants lived a Roman way of life. The people became Roman citizens, coined their own money, owned their own land, and elected their government officials.

Sinop became a showplace of the Roman way of life. In 17 B.C. Sinop was honored by a visit from Germanicus, the Roman emperor, who was visiting the eastern section of the Roman Empire. In 14 B.C. King Herod of Judea, while touring the Black Sea, visited Sinop. While travelling through Asia Minor in 35 A.D. Saint Andrew stopped in Sinop. In doing so he brought Christianity to the city, and the new religion spread quickly among the inhabitants. Christianity, however, was but another in a long series of religions that has touched upon the shores of Sinop.

The worship of the heavenly bodies was probably one of the earliest forms of worship at Sinop. As mentioned previously, the name Sinop may have been a compounded name from the Assyrian god, Sin. No doubt the early Assyrians would bring their gods with them. There has been no major inscription specifically mentioning Sin, or Selene as the Greeks called the moon god, as a god worshipped in Sinop. But a table uncovered in excavation during the first part of the 20th century contained the name of six deities among whom is found the name of Selene. Three of the other names also belonged to the heavenly bodies: Helios, Sirius and Hydrachos.

The iconoclasm of the Christians and Mohammedans have destroyed the large altars and statues dedicated to the gods. But a few small ones may still be discerned today. All have the same general form: projecting bases and tips with inscriptions occupying the smooth space in between. The inscriptions are only on one side and have the same general wording, conveying the name of the dedicator, the god to whom dedicated, and a promise of devotion.