Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/675

 PONTUS. under the dominion of Persia (Herod, iii. 94, vii. 77, &c.), and was governed by hereditary satraps belon^inp; to the royal family of Persia. In the time of Xennphon, the tribes of Pontus governed by native chiefs seem to have still enjoyed a high degree of independence. But in b. c. 363, in the reign of Ar- taxerses II., Ariobarzanes subdued several of the Pontian tribes, and thereby laid tlie foundation of an independent kingdom in those parts. (Diod. xv. 90.) He was succeeded in b. c. 337 by llithri- dates II., who reigned till b. c. 302, and who, by skilfully availing himself of the circumstances of tiie times during the struggles among the successors of Alexander, considerably enlarged his kingdom. After lum the throne was occupied by Mithridates III., from B. c. 302 to 266; Ariobarzanes III., from B. c. 266 probably till 240. The chronology of this and the following kings, Mithridates IV., Pharna- ces I., and Mithridates V., is very uncertain. Under Mithridates VI., from b. c. 120 to 63, the kingdom of Pontus attained the height of its extent and power, but his wars with the Romans led to its sub- jugation and dismemberment. Pompey, the con- queror of Mithridates, in B. c. 65 annexed the western part of Pontus as far as Ischicopolis and the frontiers of Cappadocia to Bithynia (Dion Cass, xlii. 45 ; Strab. xii. pp. 541, 543 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 38: Liv. Epit. 102), and gave away the remain- ing parts to some of the chiefs or princes in the ad- joining countries. A portion of the country between the Iris and Halys was given to the Galatian Deio- tarus, which was henceforth called Pontus Galaticus (Strab. xii. p. 547 ; Dion Cass. xli. 63, xlii. 45 ; Ptol. V. 6. §§ 3, 9.) The Colchians and other tribes in the south-east of the Euxine received a king of their own in the person of Aristarclms. (Appian, Mithrid. 114; Eutrop. vi. 14.) Phar- naces II., the treacherous son of Mithridates, re- ceived the Crimea and some adjoining districts as an independent kingdom under the name of Bosporus (Appian, Mithrid. 110, &c.); and the central part, from the Iris to Phavnacia, was subsequently given by M. Antonius to Polemon, the son of Pharnaces, and was henceforth designated by the name of Pon- tus Polemoniacus (Ptol. v. 6. §§4, 10 ; Eutrop. vii. 9; Aurel. Vict, de Caes. 15), which it retained afterwards, even when it had become incorporated with the Roman empire. The eastern part, which had likewise been ceded to Polemon, was transferred by his widow Pythodoris to king Archelaus of Cap- padocia, who married her, and ^^■as thenceforth called Pontus Cappadocius. In Pontus Polemoniacus, Pythodoris was succeeded by her son Polemon II., who resigned his kingdom into the hands of tiie emperor Nero (Suet. AVr. 18; Eutrop. vii. 14). Pon- tus was then made a Roman province, A. d. 63, under the name of Pontus Polemoniacus, the administration of which was sometimes combined with that of Ga- latia. In the new arrangements under Constantine, the province was again divided into two parts ; the south-western one, which had home the name of Pontus Galaticus, was called Helenopontus, in ho- nour of the emperor's mother Helena ; and the east- ern portion, to which Pontus Cappadocius was added, retained the name of Pontus Polemoniacus. {Novell. xxviii. 1 ; Hierocl. p. 702.) Besides these provin- cial divisions, there also exist a number of names of smaller separate di.stricts, such as Gazelonitis, Sakamese, Themiscyra, Sidene; and in the in- terior PHAZEMONITIS, PiMOLISENE, DiACOPENE, Chiliocome, Daximonitis, Zeletis, Ximene, and POPULONIUM. 659 Megalopolitis. These, as well as the most im- portant towns, AmISUS, POI^EMONIUM, COTYORA, Piiarnacia, Cerasus, Trapezus, Apsaru.s, Ca- BiRA, Gaziura, Zei^^, Comana Pontica, Neo- CAESAREIA, SebASTIA, ThEMISCYRA, PhaZEMON &c., are described in separate articles. [L. S.] PONTUS EUXINUS. [Euxinus Pontus.] POPULI or POPOLI, a small place in the west of Pannonia, on tlie road from Jovia to Aquaviva, south of the river DravuF. {It. Hieros. p. 561 ; Geogr. Rav. iv. 19; Tab. Peutinr/.) [L. S.] POPULO'NIUM or POPULO'NIA (Uowd,;^wu : Eth. Populoniensis: Populonia), an ancient city of Etruria, situated on the sea-coast, nearly opposite the island of Ilva {Elba), and about 5 miles N. of the modern city of Piomblno. It stood on a lofty hill, rising abiiiptly from the sea, and forming the northern extremity of the detached and almost in- sulated promontory, the southern end of which is occupied by the modern town of Piombino. This promontory (the HonKwviov &Kpov of Ptolemy) is separated from the hills in the interior by a strip of flat marshy ground, about 5 miles in width, which in ancient times was occupied in great measure by lagunes or paduU; so that its position is nearly analogous to that of the still more striking Monte Argentaro. The Maritime Itinerary places it 30 miles S. of the Vada Volaterrana, which is just about the truth {Itin. Marit. p. 501). Strabo says it was the only one of the ancient Etruscan cities which was .situated on the sea-shore (Strab. V. p. 223), and the remark is repeated by Pliny; thus apparently excluding Cosa as well as Pyrgi and other smaller places from that designation. It is probable at least that Popuhjnium was the most considerable of the maritime cities of Etruria; but there are no grounds for regarding it as one of the Twelve Cities of the League, or as ever rivalling in importance the great cities of the interior. Virgil indeed represents it as one of the Etruscan cities which sent forces to the assistance of Aeneas {Aen. x. 172), a statement that seems to prove his belief in its antiquity; but other accounts represented it as a colony of Volaterrae, and therefore of com- paratively recent date. Servius tells us that it was first founded by the Corsicans, from whom it was afterwards wrested by the Volaterrans ; and distinctly represents it as of later date than the twelve chief cities of Etruria. (Serv. ad Aen. I. c.) It pro- bably derived its chief prospeiity from its connection with the neighbouring island of Ilva, the iron pro- duced in the latter being all conveyed to Populonium to be smelted, and thence exported to other regions. (Strab. I. c. ; Pseud. Arist. de Mirab. 95; Varr. ap Serv. ad Aen. x. 174) Hence, in B. c. 205, when Scipio was fitting out his fleet for Africa, and the Etruscan cities came forward vrith their voluntary contributions, the Populonians undertook to supply him with iron. (Liv. xxviii. 45.) This is the first occasion on which the name is mentioned in history; a few years later (b. c. 202) we are told tiuit the consul Claudius Nero, on his voyage to Sardinia, took refuge with his fleet in the port of Populonium from the violence of a storm. (Id. xxx. 39). No further mention of it occurs in history; but we learn from Strabo that it sustained a siege from the forces of Sulla at the same time with Volaterrae, and it appears to have never recovered the blow it tlien received; for in the time of that geographer the city itself was almost desolate, only the temples and a few houses remaining. The port, however, was still U u 2