Scydrothemis (r. 301-280 BC) was a ruler of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

colony of Sinope on the southern shore of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

(modern day

Sinop, Turkey Sinop, historically known as Sinope (; gr, Σινώπη, Sinōpē), is a city on the isthmus of İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince), near Cape Sinope (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on the northernmost edge of the ...

). Scydrothemis was a

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

. His name has a barbarian, perhaps a Paphlagonian, sound and

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

gives him the title of king, which is in fact more accurately descriptive than tyrant. Ptolemy I sent ambassadors to visit the shrine of Pythian

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracl ...

. They took with them gifts for Scydrothemis. The leader was afraid of this embassy, at the same time fearing divine will as well as the threats from his own people who opposed the transaction, although he found the gifts tempting. Years passed and Ptolemy continued his appeals to Scydrothemis, upgrading his gifts all the time. A terrible apparition confronted Scydrothemis in a dream, forbidding him to delay further the purposes of the god. When he still hesitated, he was plagued by all manner of disasters, by plague and by the manifestation of a divine wrath which became daily more grievous. Then he called his people together and explained to them the orders of the deity, his own vision and that of Ptolemy, and their ever-growing afflictions. The common folk, turning a deaf ear to their king and jealous of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

, staged a sit-down strike around the temple in self-defence.Tacitus, ''Histories'', 4.84

References

{{reflist * Cornelius Tacitus, ''Historiae'', tr. C.H. Moore, ''The Histories'', Loeb (London 1925-1937). * Robinson, D.M., "Ancient Sinope: Second Part", ''The American Journal of Philology'' 27.3 (1906) 245-279. Ancient Greek rulers 4th-century BC births 3rd-century BC deaths