Mithridates of Mithradates (d.i. Geschenk van Mithras) was de naam van een aantal koningen van Pontus. Zij waren van Perzische afkomst en bouwden in de diadochentijd een krachtige staat op.
Het toppunt van macht bereikte het koninkrijk Pontus onder Mithridates VI (132 v.Chr.- 63 v.Chr.), bijgenaamd Eupator (d.i. zoon van een goede vader), die in 119 v.Chr. koning werd, en uitgroeide tot een van Rome's meest succesvolle tegenstanders. Hij wordt ook wel Mithridates de Grote genoemd, maar deze naam wordt ook gebruikt voor zijn tijdgenoot Mithridates II de Grote van Parthië.
Mithridates was lange tijd een vluchteling en nam meermaals zijn toevlucht tot broedermoord om de troon van Pontus te bestijgen. Hij verwierf aanvankelijk vruchtbare en voor de handel gewichtige gebieden in (het huidige) Zuid-Rusland en richtte daarna zijn politiek op de verovering van Klein-Azië. Daarbij kwam hij onvermijdelijk in conflict met de zelf op expansie beluste Romeinen.
Gedekt door een bondgenootschap met Armenia en gesteund door de ontevreden bevolking van de Romeinse provincie Asia, die veel te lijden had onder de corruptie en het inhalige beleid van de Romeinse stadhouders, opende hij in 89 v.Chr. de strijd. Mithridates werd wijd en zijd als bevrijder ingehaald en bevredigde de wraakzucht van de plaatselijke bevolking door een georganiseerd bloedbad: vanuit Ephesus gaf hij het sein om in het hele land op één dag alle uit Italië afkomstige Romeinse onderdanen (minstens 80.000) te vermoorden. Na deze slachting (de zogenaamde "Vesper van Ephesus") stak hij over naar Griekenland, waar men hem eveneens op gejuich onthaalde. De terugslag kwam toen Sulla in Griekenland verscheen: hij nam Athene in en versloeg Mithridates' troepen bij Chaeronea. In 85 kwam Klein-Azië weer onder Romeinse controle en moest zwaar boeten voor zijn revolte onder andere door buitensporig hoge belastingen.
In 74 hervatte Mithridates zijn pogingen, maar werd door het optreden van de bekwame veldheer Lucullus gedwongen naar Armenia te vluchten. Ook dit land werd door Lucullus veroverd, maar moest tijdelijk prijsgegeven worden, toen hij van zijn commando werd ontheven. Dit bood Mithridates de gelegenheid zich te herstellen, totdat Pompeius in 66 v.Chr. voorgoed met hem afrekende. Mithridates vluchtte naar de Krim, naar de zee van Azov, waar zijn zoon een rijkje had. Zijn plannen om van daaruit de Romeinen opnieuw te bestoken mislukten, doordat de revolterende bevolking weigerde de zware lasten voor de oorlogvoering op te brengen.
Mithridates besloot toen een einde aan zijn leven te maken: naar verluidt zou hij aanvankelijk een gif hebben ingenomen (dat echter niet werkte!), waarna hij zich, geholpen door een trouwe dienaar, op zijn zwaard stortte.
Enkele legendes hebben de mythevorming rond Mithridates versterkt. Zo zou hij beschikt hebben over een fenomenaal geheugen en in staat zijn geweest een ieder van zijn manschappen bij voornaam en in zijn moedertaal - een van de 25 talen die hij sprak - aan te spreken. Ook werd hij geacht regelmatig verdund gif tot zich te nemen, om zo dodelijke doses te kunnen weerstaan, een praktijk die mithridatisme genoemd wordt.
Trivia
De opera Mitridate, Rè di Ponto van Mozart is gebaseerd op het verhaal van Mithridates.
Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI (Greek: ????ad?t??),[1] from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great (Megas) and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia (now Turkey) from about 120 BC to 63 BC. Mithridates is remembered as one of the Roman Republics most formidable and successful enemies, who engaged three of the prominent generals from the late Roman Republic in the Mithridatic Wars: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucullus and Pompey. He was also the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.[
Ancestry, family and early life
Mithridates was a prince of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. He claimed descent from King Darius I of Persia and was descended from the generals of Alexander the Great and later kings: Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Seleucus I Nicator and Regent, Antipater. Mithridates was born in the Pontic city of Sinope,[3] and was raised in the Kingdom of Pontus. He was the first son and among the children born to Laodice VI and Mithridates V of Pontus (reigned 150120 BC). His parents were distant relatives and had lineage from the Seleucid Dynasty. His father, Mithridates V, was a prince and the son of the former Pontic Monarchs Pharnaces I of Pontus and his wife-cousin Nysa. His mother, Laodice VI, was a Seleucid Princess and the daughter of the Seleucid Monarchs Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his wife-sister Laodice IV.
Mithridates V was assassinated in about 120 BC in Sinope, poisoned by unknown persons at a lavish banquet which he held.[4] In the will of Mithridates V, he left the Kingdom to the joint rule of Laodice VI, Mithridates and his younger brother, Mithridates Chrestus. Mithridates and his younger brother were both under aged to rule and their mother retained all power as regent.[5] Laodice VIs regency over Pontus was from 120 BC to 116 BC (even perhaps up to 113 BC) and favored Mithridates Chrestus over Mithridates. During his mothers regency, he had escaped from the plotting of his mother and had gone into hiding.
Mithridates between 116 BC and 113 BC returned to Pontus from hiding and was hailed King. He was able to remove his mother and his brother from the Pontic throne, thus becoming the sole ruler of Pontus. Mithridates showed clemency towards his mother and brother, imprisoning them both.[6] Laodice VI died in prison of natural causes. However, Mithridates Chrestus could have died in prison from natural causes or was tried for treason and was executed on his orders.[6] When they died, Mithridates gave his mother and brother a royal funeral.[7] Mithridates married his first young sister Laodice.[8] Laodice was 16 years old and was her brothers first wife. Mithridates married Laodice to preserve the purity of their blood-line, as a wife to rule with him as a sovereign over Pontus, to ensure the succession to his legitimate children, and to claim his right as a ruling monarch.
Mithridates entertained ambitions of making his state the dominant power in the Black Sea and Anatolia. After he subjugated Colchis, the king of Pontus clashed for supremacy in the Pontic steppe with the Scythian King Palacus. The most important centres of Crimea, Tauric Chersonesus and the Bosporan Kingdom readily surrendered their independence in return for Mithridates' promises to protect them against the Scythians, their ancient enemies. After several abortive attempts to invade the Crimea, the Scythians and the allied Rhoxolanoi suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Pontic general Diophantus and accepted Mithridates as their overlord. The young king then turned his attention to Anatolia, where Roman power was on the rise. He contrived to partition Paphlagonia and Galatia with King Nicomedes III of Bithynia. It soon became clear to Mithridates that Nicomedes was steering his country into an anti-Pontic alliance with the expanding Roman Republic. When Mithridates fell out with Nicomedes over control of Cappadocia, and defeated him in a series of battles, the latter was constrained to openly enlist the assistance of Rome. The Romans twice interfered in the conflict on behalf of Nicomedes (9295 BC), leaving Mithridates, should he wish to continue the expansion of his kingdom, with little choice other than to engage in a future Roman-Pontic war.
Mithridatic Wars
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Mithridatic Wars
The next ruler of Bithynia, Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, was a figurehead manipulated by the Romans. Mithridates plotted to overthrow him, but his attempts failed and Nicomedes IV, instigated by his Roman advisors, declared war on Pontus. Rome itself was involved in the Social War, a civil war with its Italian allies. Thus, in all of Roman Asia Province there were only two legions present in Macedonia. These legions combined with Nicomedes IV's army to invade Mithridates' kingdom of Pontus in 89 BC. Mithridates, however, won a decisive victory, scattering the Roman-led forces. His victorious forces were welcomed throughout Anatolia. The following year, 88 BC, Mithridates orchestrated a massacre of Roman and Italian settlers remaining in several Anatolian cities, essentially wiping out the Roman presence in the region.[9] The Kingdom of Pontus comprised a mixed population in its Ionian Greek and Anatolian cities. The royal family moved the capital from Amasya to the Greek city of Sinope. Its rulers tried to fully assimilate the potential of their subjects by showing a Greek face to the Greek world and an Iranian/Anatolian face to the Eastern world. Whenever the gap between the rulers and their Anatolian subjects became greater, they would put emphasis on their Persian origins. In this manner, the royal propaganda claimed heritage both from Persian and Greek rulers, including Cyrus the Great, Darius I of Persia, Alexander the Great and Seleucus I Nicator.[10] Mithridates too posed as the champion of Hellenism, but this was mainly to further his political ambitions; it is no proof that he felt a mission to promote its extension within his domains.[11] Whatever his true intentions, the Greek cities (including Athens) defected to the side of Mithridates and welcomed his armies in mainland Greece, while his fleet besieged the Romans at Rhodes. Neighboring King of Armenia Tigranes the Great, established an alliance with Mithridates and married one of Mithridates daughters, Cleopatra of Pontus. They would support each other in the coming conflict with Rome.[12]
After conquering western Anatolia in 88 BC, Mithridates' turned to combating increasing Roman power in Anatolia. Tapping into local discontent with the Romans and their taxes he orchestrated the murder of 80,000 Roman, Italian and other foreigners in Asia Minor in an incident known as the Asiatic Vespers.[13][14] The Romans responded by organising a large invasion force to defeat him and remove him from power.
The First Mithridatic War, fought between 88 BC and 84 BC, saw Lucius Cornelius Sulla force Mithridates VI out of Greece proper. After victory in several battles, Sulla received news of trouble back in Rome posed by his enemy Gaius Marius and hurriedly concluded peace talks with Mithridates. As Sulla returned to Italy Lucius Licinius Murena was left in charge of Roman forces in Anatolia. The lenient peace treaty, which was never ratified by the Senate, allowed Mithridates VI to recoup his forces. Murena attacked Mithridates in 83 BC, provoking the Second Mithridatic War from 83 BC to 81 BC. Mithridates scored a victory over Murena's green forces before peace was again declared by treaty.
When Rome attempted to annex Bithynia (bequested to Rome by its last king) nearly a decade later, Mithridates VI attacked with an even larger army, leading to the Third Mithridatic War from 73 BC to 63 BC. First Lucullus and then Pompey were sent against Mithridates VI, who surged back to retake his kingdom of Pontus, but was at last defeated by Pompey. After his defeat by Pompey in 63 BC, Mithridates VI fled with a small army from Colchis (modern Georgia) over the Caucasus Mountains to Crimea and made plans to raise yet another army to take on the Romans. His eldest living son, Machares, viceroy of Cimmerian Bosporus, was unwilling to aid his father. Mithridates had Machares killed, and Mithridates took the throne of the Bosporan Kingdom. Mithridates then ordered the conscriptions and preparations for war. In 63 BC, Pharnaces II of Pontus, one of his sons, led a rebellion against his father, joined by Roman exiles in the core of Mithridates' Pontic army. Mithridates withdrew to the citadel in Panticapaeum, where he committed suicide. Pompey buried Mithridates in the rock-cut tombs of his ancestors in Amasya, the old capital of Pontus.
Assassination conspiracy
During the time of the First Mithridatic War, a group of Mithridates' friends plotted to kill him. These intimates were Mynnio and Philotimus of Smyrna, Clisthenes and Asclepiodotus of Lesbos. Asclepiodotus changed his mind and became an informant. He arranged to have Mithridates hide under a couch to hear the plot against him. The other conspirators were tortured and executed.[15]
Propaganda
Where his ancestors pursued philhellenism as a means of attaining respectability and prestige among the Hellenistic kingdoms, Mithridates VI made use of Hellenism as a political tool. As protector of Greek cities on the Black Sea and in Asia against barbarism, Mithridates VI logically became protector of Greece and Greek culture, and would use this stance in his clashes with Rome.[16] Strabo mentions that Chersonesus buckled under the pressure of the barbarians and asked Mithridates VI to become its protector (7.4.3. c.308). The most impressive symbol of Mithridates VI's approbation with Greece (Athens in particular) appears at Delos: a heroon dedicated to the Pontic king in 102/1 by the Athenian Helianax, a priest of Poseidon Aisios.[16] A dedication at Delos, by Dicaeus, a priest of Sarapis, was made in 94/93 BC on behalf of the Athenians, Romans, and "King Mithridates Eupator Dionysus."[16] Greek styles mixed with Persian elements also abound on official Pontic coins Perseus was favored as an intermediary between both worlds, East and West.[16] Certainly influenced by Alexander the Great, Mithridates VI extended his propaganda from "defender" of Greece to the "great liberator" of the Greek world as war with Roman Republic became inevitable. The Romans were easily translated into "barbarians", in the same sense as the Persian Empire during the war with Persia in the first half of the 5th century BC and during Alexander's campaign. How many Greeks genuinely bought into this claim will never be known. It served its purpose, however. At least partially because of it, Mithridates VI was able to fight the First War with Rome on Greek soil, and maintain the allegiance of Greece.[16] His campaign for the allegiance of the Greeks was aided in no small part by his enemy Sulla, who allowed his troops to sack the city of Delphi and plunder many of the city's most famous treasures to help finance his military expenses.
Death
When Mithridates VI was at last defeated by Pompey and in danger of capture by Rome, he is alleged to have attempted suicide by poison; this attempt failed, however, because of his immunity to the poison.[17] According to Appian's Roman History, he then requested his Gaul bodyguard and friend, Bituitus, to kill him by the sword:
Mithridates then took out some poison that he always carried next to his sword, and mixed it. There two of his daughters, who were still girls growing up together, named Mithridates and Nysa, who had been betrothed to the kings of [Ptolemaic] Egypt and of Cyprus, asked him to let them have some of the poison first, and insisted strenuously and prevented him from drinking it until they had taken some and swallowed it. The drug took effect on them at once; but upon Mithridates, although he walked around rapidly to hasten its action, it had no effect, because he had accustomed himself to other drugs by continually trying them as a means of protection against poisoners. These are still called the Mithridatic drugs.
Seeing a certain Bituitus there, an officer of the Gauls, he said to him, "I have profited much from your right arm against my enemies. I shall profit from it most of all if you will kill me, and save from the danger of being led in a Roman triumph one who has been an autocrat so many years, and the ruler of so great a kingdom, but who is now unable to die by poison because, like a fool, he has fortified himself against the poison of others. Although I have kept watch and ward against all the poisons that one takes with his food, I have not provided against that domestic poison, always the most dangerous to kings, the treachery of army, children, and friends." Bituitus, thus appealed to, rendered the king the service that he desired.[18] (XVI, §111)
Cassius Dio Roman History, on the other hand, records his death as murder:
Mithridates had tried to make away with himself, and after first removing his wives and remaining children by poison, he had swallowed all that was left; yet neither by that means nor by the sword was he able to perish by his own hands. For the poison, although deadly, did not prevail over him, since he had inured his constitution to it, taking precautionary antidotes in large doses every day; and the force of the sword blow was lessened on account of the weakness of his hand, caused by his age and present misfortunes, and as a result of taking the poison, whatever it was. When, therefore, he failed to take his life through his own efforts and seemed to linger beyond the proper time, those whom he had sent against his son fell upon him and hastened his end with their swords and spears. Thus Mithridates, who had experienced the most varied and remarkable fortune, had not even an ordinary end to his life. For he desired to die, albeit unwillingly, and though eager to kill himself was unable to do so; but partly by poison and partly by the sword he was at once self-slain and murdered by his foes.[19] (Book 37, chapter 13)
At the behest of Pompey, Mithridates' body was later buried alongside his ancestors (in Sinope, Book 37, chapter 14). Mount Mithridat in the central Kerch and the town of Yevpatoria in Crimea commemorate his name.
Mithridates' antidote
Main article: Mithridate
In his youth, after the assassination of his father Mithridates V in 120 BC, Mithridates is said to have lived in the wilderness for seven years, inuring himself to hardship. While there, and after his accession, he cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses of the same.[16] He invented a complex 'universal antidote' against poisoning; several versions are described in the literature. Aulus Cornelius Celsus gives one in his De Medicina and names it Antidotum Mithridaticum, whence English mithridate. [20] Pliny the Elder's version comprised 54 ingredients to be placed in a flask and matured for at least two months. After Mithridates' death in 63 BC, many imperial Roman physicians claimed to possess and improve on the original formula, which they touted as Mithradatium. In keeping with most medical practices of his era, Mithridates' anti-poison routines included a religious component; they were supervised by the Agari, a group of Scythian shamans who never left him. Mithridates was reportedly guarded in his sleep by a horse, a bull, and a stag, which would whinny, bellow, and bleat whenever anyone approached the royal bed.[21]
Mithridates as polyglot
In Pliny the Elder's account of famous polyglots, Mithridates could speak the languages of all the twenty-two nations he governed.[22] This reputation led to the use of Mithridates' name as title in some later works on comparative linguistics, such as Conrad Gessner's Mithridates de differentis linguis, (1555), and Adelung and Vater's Mithridates oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde (18061817).[23]
Wives, mistresses and children
Mithridates VI had wives and mistresses, by whom he had various children. The names he gave his children are a representation of his Persian, Greek heritage and of his ancestry.
First wife, his sister Laodice. They were married from 115/113 BC till about 90 BC. Mithridates with Laodice had various children:
Sons: Mithridates, Arcathius, Machares and Pharnaces II of Pontus
Daughters: Cleopatra of Pontus (sometimes called Cleopatra the Elder to distinguish her from her sister of the same name) and Drypetina (a diminutive form of "Drypetis"). Drypetina was Mithridates VIs most devoted daughter. Her baby teeth never fell out, so she had a double set of teeth[24].
Second wife, the Greek Macedonian Noblewoman, Monime. They were married from about 89/88 BC till 72/71 BC. By whom, he had:
Daughter: Athenais, who married King Ariobarzanes II of Cappadocia
Third wife, Greek woman Berenice of Chios, married from 86 BC 72/71 BC
Fourth wife, Greek woman Stratonice of Pontus, married from after 86 BC 63 BC
Son: Xiphares
Fifth wife, unknown
Sixth wife, Caucasian woman Hypsicratea, married from an unknown date to 63 BC
One of his mistresses was the Galatian Celtic Princess Adobogiona. By Adobogiona, Mithridates had two children: a son called Mithridates I of the Bosporus and a daughter called Adobogiona.
His sons born from his concubine were Cyrus, Xerxes, Darius, Ariarathes IX of Cappadocia, Artaphernes, Oxathres, Phoenix (Mithridates son by a mistress of Syrian descent) and Exipodras. His daughters born from his concubine were Nysa, Eupatra, Cleopatra the Younger, Mithridates and Orsabaris. Nysa and Mithridates, were engaged to the Egyptian Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy XII Auletes and his brother Ptolemy of Cyprus.
In 63 BC, when the Kingdom of Pontus was annexed by the Roman general Pompey the remaining sisters, wives, mistresses and children of Mithridates VI in Pontus were put to death. Plutarch writing in his lives (Pompey v.45) states that Mithridates' sister and five of his children took part in Pompey's triumphal procession on this return to Rome in 61 BC.
The Cappadocian Greek nobleman and high priest of the temple-state of Comana, Cappadocia Archelaus had descended from Mithridates VI.[25] He claimed to be a son of Mithridates VI,[26] however chronologically Archelaus may have been a maternal grandson of the Pontic King, who his father was Mithridates VIs favorite general may have married one of the daughters of Mithridates VI.[
Pontus (Grieks: ???t??; Pontos, "zee") is de naam van een landstreek en kustregio die gevormd wordt door het centrale en oostelijke deel van de Zwarte Zeekust van Klein-Azië. De streek ligt tegenwoordig in Turkije en grenst aan Cappadocië en Armenië. Het Pontisch Gebergte is bepalend voor de zuidgrens van het gebied. De huidige benaming is in Turkije Karadeniz. Het is een etnisch divers gebied, met van west naar oost onder andere nederzettingen van Turken, Circassiërs, Chepni, Romeyka, Hamshenis, Lazen en Georgiërs. De lingua-franca is Turks.
Naam
De naam komt van de Griekse kolonisten die de zuidkust van de Zwarte Zee (???t?? ???e???? / Pontos Euxeinos "Herbergzame Zee") vanaf de 8e eeuw voor christus bevolkten. Het gebied ten oosten van de "rode rivier", de Kizil Irmak (Halys / ????), werd toen aangeduid als "aan de zee (pontos)". Het reikte in het oosten tot in aan de Colchis en ook een groot deel van het achterland viel onder Grieks bestuur.
Geschiedenis
De zuid- en oostkust van de Zwarte Zee kent een zeer lange geschiedenis van menselijke bewoning. In Azerbeidzjan zijn muurtekeningen gevonden van enkele tienduizenden jaren oud. Toch zijn langs de kust weinig tot geen resten gevonden van bewoning die zo ver terug reiken. Tijdens het laatste glaciaal maximum was de waterstand in de Zwarte zee zo laag dat de kust tientallen kilometers verder de zee in reikte dan nu. Toen het gletsjerwater ging smelten overstroomde de Middellandse zee door de Bosporus richting de Zwarte Zee en steeg het waterpeil er snel. Gespeculeerd wordt dat deze overstroming van de vermoedelijk drukbewoonde kuststrook via overlevering terecht zijn gekomen in verschillende culturen van Eurazië als zondvloed, ed. Zie hiervoor het artikel: Zwarte Zee, overstroming na de ijstijd.
Vroege bewoners waarvan vast staat dat ze delen van dit gebied hebben gekoloniseerd zijn onder andere Anatolische volkeren zoals de Hettiten en Kaukasische volkeren zoals Lazen en Armeniërs. Vanaf de 8e eeuw voor christus arriveren er grote aantallen Griekse kolonisten uit Ionië, met name uit de stad Milete. Zij stichtten er langs de kust een reeks handelssteden zoals Sinope, Sampsunta, Kerasunta, Trapezounta en Rizounta. De steden maakten deel uit van een uitgebreid handelsnetwerk dat exotische producten beschikbaar stelde voor Griekse staten in de Egeïsche zee. Exportproducten waren in deze tijd voornamelijk olie, vruchten, noten en metalen.
Pontisch koninkrijk
Veel van deze vroege Griekse koloniën stonden bloot aan continue invallen van Perzische volkeren. Alexander de Grote maakte hier een eind aan door het Perzische Rijk te veroveren. Toch bleven veel Perzische dynastieën bestaan zoals die Mithridatische dynastie van Kios, die het koninkrijk Pontus oprichtte in 281 v.Chr. vanuit de westelijke stad Sinope. Van dan af breidde Pontus zich territoriaal uit tot het volledige oostelijke deel van de kust.
Uit de bloeitijd van het koninkrijk Pontus zijn munten bewaard gebleven met prachtig gekarakteriseerde portretkoppen van enkele koningen. De beeltenissen van Mithridates III en Pharnaces I (grootvader van Mithridates VI) zijn hoogtepunten in de hellenistische muntkunst. Op deze munten komt men ook geïdealiseerde koppen tegen.
Na de overwinning van de Romein Pompejus in de Derde Mithridatische Oorlog deelde deze vrijwel geheel Pontus op onder de heersers van de omliggende rijken, terwijl hij veel steden zelfstandig maakte. Op den duur werd de streek echter samen met Bithynia in het Romeinse provinciale stelsel geïncorporeerd en werd het in 63 v.Chr. omgevormd tot de provincia Pontus et Bithynia.
Byzantijns thema Chaldië
Na de val van het Romeinse Rijk ging het gebied op in het Byzantijnse Rijk, als het thema Chaldië. Gedurende de middeleeuwen blijft het grootste deel van de bevolking Griekstalig. Vanaf de 11e eeuw arriveren met name in het centrale deel van Pontus grote aantallen Turkse volkeren zoals de Turkmeense Danishmenden, die er hun machtsbasis vestigen. Na de slag bij Manzikert in 1051 hebben de Seltsjoekse Turken vrij spel in Anatolië, de meeste Griekse steden in het binnenland vallen in hun handen. De kuststeden bleven grotendeels buiten schot en onder Byzantijns bestuur. Pas enkele eeuwen later, als de Seltsjoeken en andere Turkmeense stammen zijn verslagen door de Ottomanen zouden zij in gevaar komen. De Ottomanen deelden het Byzantijnse Rijk in tweeën met de verovering van Sinope en scheidde zo Pontus van de rest van het rijk.
Nadat de Vierde Kruistocht Constantinopel hadden geruïneerd verhuisde de Byzantijnse Keizerlijke familie naar Trabzon. In april 1204 veroverden Alexius en David Comnenus, kleinzonen van Andronicus I, met hulp van koningin Thamar van Georgië aan wier hof zij in ballingschap waren, de stad. Zij stichtten zo het Keizerrijk Trebizonde dat nog tot 1461 door de Comnenen geregeerd zou worden. Hiermee werd de stad in feite de derde en laatste, hoewel in omvang zeer bescheiden, incarnatie van Rome.
Osmaans Vilajet Trebizonde
Het Trabzon Vilayet in 1900
In 1461 valt Trabzon, de belangrijkste Pontische stad, in handen van de Turkse Ottomanen. Het zou nog tot 1470 duren voordat de volledige Pontus in bezit was van de Turken, met de inname van Rize. Vanaf dit moment gaan moslims een groot deel van de bevolking uitmaken. Gedurende de 15e en 16e eeuw gaat vervolgens een groot deel van de bevolking over op de Islam. In de 18e en 19e eeuw openden veel Griekse scholen en kloosters waar in het Nieuwgrieks werd onderwezen. Ook arriveren in deze periode veel Islamitische vluchtelingen uit de Krim en de Kaukasus in het gebied, zij zijn uit hun woongebied gejaagd door de Russen.
Tijdens de 1e wereldoorlog waren er enkele opstanden van Christelijke Grieken in de Pontus, zoals in 1917 in Trabzon, geleid door de lokale bisschop Chrysanthus. Vanuit Samsun bestond tussen 1917 en 1921 een klein regionaal bestuur, onder de naam Dimokratía tou Pontou (Republiek van Pontus). In feite heeft deze organisatie nooit het volledig bestuur gehad over de regio, en de onafhankelijkheid werd ook niet uitgeroepen. Met name de Griekse bevolking van Trabzon en Giresun bood verzet tegen de onafhangkelijkheidsbeweging in het westelijke deel van de Pontus. Tijdens de Vredesconferentie van Parijs (1919) werd een onafhankelijke Pontische staat voorgesteld, maar geen van de deelnemers, inclusief Griekenland, steunde het voorstel.
Na de Turkse onafhangkelijkheidsoorlog werden de Griekse Christenen met Griekenland uitgewisseld tegen Turkse moslims uit Griekenland. Het betrof met name inwoners van de omgeving van Samsun. Rond Trabzon bleef nog een grote Griekse Islamitische bevolkingsgroep aanwezig, sprekers van het Romeyka. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog werd er voor het eerst thee verbouwd in de oostelijke regio (rond Rize) van de Pontus. Deze plant was uit de Kaukasus geïmporteerd en het gebied zou de belangrijkste producent van het land worden.
Tijdens de 2e helft van de twintigste eeuw vond er nog een volksverhuizing plaats in het gebied. Veel jonge mannen verlieten hun gezin om elders in Turkije of Europa geld te gaan verdienen. In enkele decennia stroomden de bergdorpjes vrijwel geheel leeg. Tegelijkertijd kwamen er in de havensteden veel economische en politieke vluchtelingen uit de Sovjet-Unie te wonen, die er hun eigen markten en buurtwinkels begonnen.
Sinds de jaren 80 is het gebied economisch versterkt, met enkele grote nieuwe universiteiten, vliegvelden, fabrieken en betere infrastructuur. Sindsdien is de bevolkingskrimp ook weer langzaam omgebogen in een groei.
Let op: Hij heeft dezelfde ouders als zijn echtgenote (Laodice van Pontes).
(1) Hij is getrouwd met Laodice van Pontes.
Zij zijn getrouwdBron 4
Kind(eren):
Het echtpaar is gescheiden.Bron 2
(2) Hij is getrouwd met Monime.
Zij zijn getrouwdBron 2
Kind(eren):
Het echtpaar is gescheiden.Bron 2
(3) Hij is getrouwd met (Niet openbaar).
Zij zijn getrouwdBron 2
(4) Hij is getrouwd met (Niet openbaar).
Zij zijn getrouwdBron 2
Kind(eren):
(5) Hij is getrouwd met (Niet openbaar).
Zij zijn getrouwdBron 2
(6) Hij had een relatie met (Niet openbaar).
Het echtpaar is gescheiden.Bron 2
(7) Hij had een relatie met (Niet openbaar).
De relatie startte
Kind(eren):
(8) Hij had een relatie met (Niet openbaar).
De relatie startte
Kind(eren):
Kind(eren):
Mithridates VI van Pontes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monime | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(8) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Onbekend | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||