58 roman expansion Bithynia (Roman province)

Bithynia and Pontus

Bithynia and Pontus (Latin: Provincia Bithynia et Pontus) was the name of a province of the Roman Empire on theBlack Sea coast of Anatolia (Turkey). It was formed by the amalgamation of the former kingdoms of Bithynia(annexed by Rome 74 BC) and Pontus (annexed 63 BC).

The Kingdom of Bithynia first achieved Independence from the larger Hellenistic kingdoms in 297 BC under its first king Zipoetes I of Bithynia. Under king Prusias I, Bithynia first came into contact with the Roman Republic. Bithynia remained neutral during Rome's war against the Seleucid Empire and its King Antiochus the Great from 192-188 BC, despite the Seleucid Empire being the long-time enemy of the kingdom.

Prusias I's son and successor, Prusias II of Bithynia, first opened relations with Rome. Following Prusias II's failed invasion of the Roman ally of the Kingdom of Pergamon in 154 BC, Bithynia was forced to pay heavy war reparations. Prusias II sent his son Nicomedes II of Bithynia to Rome to negotiate a reduction in the annual payments. Once in Rome, Nicomedes II gained the favor of the Roman Senate and, following a failed assassination attempt on Nicomedes II's life by his father Prusias II, the Senate supported Nicomedes II in his revolt against his father. Supported by Rome and Pergamon king Attalus II Philadelphus, Nicomedes II overthrew his father and became king in 149 BC and entered into an alliance with Rome.

Nicomedes II would be a loyal ally, actively supporting Rome's interests in the Aegean Sea and Black Sea. In 133 BC, King Attalus III of Pergamon died, bequeathing his kingdom to Rome. However, Eumenes III, claiming to be the illegitimate son of a former Pergamon king, claimed the throne and made war against the Romans. Though the Romans sent the Consul Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus to enforce their claims in 130 BC, Eumenes III defeated them and killed Crassus. Rome sent a second army in 129 BC under Marcus Perperna to face Pergamon pretender. Supported by forces under Nicomedes II, Perperna was able to defeat Eumenes III and secured Rome's claims in western Anatolia, allowing Rome to annex Pergamon directly as the province of Asia.

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