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

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

colony of Sinope on the southern shore of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

(modern day

Sinop, Turkey Sinop, historically known as Sinope (, ), is a city on the isthmus of İnce Burun, Gökçeada, İnce Burun (İnceburun, Cape Ince) and on the Boztepe Peninsula, near Cape Sinope (Sinop Burnu, Boztepe Cape, Boztepe Burnu) which is situated on 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

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, 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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

gives him the title of king, which is in fact more accurately descriptive than tyrant.

Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pt ...

sent ambassadors to visit the shrine of Pythian

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

. 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 ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, 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 monarchs 4th-century BC births 3rd-century BC deaths