Eupatoria () and Magnopolis (), or Eupatoria Magnopolis, was a

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

city in the

Kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin, which may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

. Eupatoria was the crossing-point of two great roads through the Pontus: the east-west from

Armenia Minor Lesser Armenia (; ; ), also known as Armenia Minor and Armenia Inferior, comprised the Armenian-populated regions primarily to the west and northwest of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia (also known as Kingdom of Greater Armenia), on the western sid ...

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

; and the north-south from

Amisus Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

Caesarea Mazaca Caesarea (Help:IPA/English, /ˌsɛzəˈriːə, ˌsɛsəˈriːə, ˌsiːzəˈriːə/; ), also known historically as Mazaca or Mazaka (, ), was an ancient city in what is now Kayseri, Turkey. In Hellenistic period, Hellenistic and Roman Empire, Rom ...

. The east-west road followed the valley of the Lycus from

to Phanaroea; it continued over the mountains into the Destek to

Laodicea Pontica Ladik is a municipality and district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, c ...

(modern Ladik), the Halys (Kızılırmak) and the Amnias (Gökırmak) through

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

; the north-south road went from

(modern Samsun) up the

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

to Amaseia (Amasya), Zela (Zile), up to the Anatolian Plateau and

(Kayseri).

History

Kingdom of Pontus

The city was founded by

Mithridates VI Eupator Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and ...

(r. 120-63 BCE) just south of where the

Lycus Lycus (Lykos, Lycos, ) may refer to: Mythology * Lycus (mythology), the name of numerous people in Greek mythology, including ** Lycus (brother of Nycteus), a ruler of the ancient city of Ancient Thebes ** Lycus (descendant of Lycus), son of Ly ...

flows into the

, the west end of the fertile valley of

Phanaroea The Phanaroea plain (Φανάροια), the modern Erbaa Plain (), is a plain lying mostly in the Erbaa district of Tokat Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It runs east-west for about , along the Kelkit River (ancient ''Lykos'') in a val ...

, probably in or near the village of Çevresu,

Erbaa Erbaa is a town in Tokat Province in the Black Sea Region, Turkey, Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Erbaa District.Tokat Province Tokat Province () is a province in northern Turkey. Its area is 10,042 km2, and its population is 596,454 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Amasya to the northwest, Yozgat to the southwest, Sivas to the southeast, and Ordu to the northeast. ...

.S. Lund Sørensen, the "Where East meets West" project, as reported in Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen, Marit Jensen, "Two Pontic Rivers", ''Cedrus: The Journal of MCRI'' 3:231-2142 (2015),

Roman period

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

refounded the city under the name Magnopolis and extended its territory to include the western

n plain.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

visited the city.

Notes

Bibliography

* Deniz Burcu Erciyas, ''Wealth, Aristocracy and Royal Propaganda Under the Hellenistic Kingdom of the Mithradatids in the Central Black Sea Region of Turkey'' (Colloquia Pontica), 2005. . p. 45''f''. * David Winfield, "The Northern Routes across Anatolia" ''Anatolian Studies'' 27:151-166 (1977
at JSTOR
* J. Arthur R. Munro, "Roads in Pontus, Royal and Roman" ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 21:52-66 (1901) *
at JSTOR
Populated places established in the 1st century BC Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Greek colonies in Pontus History of Tokat Province Mithridates VI Eupator {{Tokat-geo-stub