Prusias I of Bithynia
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| Prusias I Cholas | |
|---|---|
| Basileus | |
 Tetradrachm of Prusias I (young) | |
| King of Bithynia | |
| Reign | 228–182 BC |
| Predecessor | Ziaelas |
| Successor | Prusias II |
| Born | c. 243 BC Bithynia (modern-day Northern Anatolia, Turkey) |
| Died | 182 BC (aged 61) Bithynia |
| Consort | Apama |
| Issue | Prusias II |
| Greek | Λευκών |
| Father | Ziaelas |
| Mother | Unknown |
| Religion | Greek Polytheism |
Prusias I Cholus (Ancient Greek: Προυσίας ὁ Χωλός, romanized: Prousías ho Chōlós, lit. 'the Lame'; c. 243 – 182 BC) was a King of Bithynia that reigned from c. 228 to 182 BC.
Life and reign
[edit]Prusias was the son of King Ziaelas of Bithynia and an unknown woman. He was crowned king in c. 228 BC, succeeding his father. A vigorous and energetic leader; he fought a war against Byzantium in 220 BC, seizing its Asiatic territory.[1] Then, Prusias defeated the Galatians, whom Nicomedes I had previously invited across the Bosphorus to a territory called Arisba, and putting to death all of their women and children and letting his men plunder their baggage.[2]
At some point during his reign, Prusias formed a marriage alliance with King Demetrius II of Macedon, receiving the latter's daughter, Apama, as his wife.
Prusias expanded the territories of Bithynia in a series of wars against King Attalus I of Pergamon and Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea, taking various cities formerly owned by the Heracleans and renaming one of them, Cierus, to Prusias after himself.[3] While besieging Heraclea Pontica, Prusias was hit with a stone while climbing a ladder and broke his leg; the siege was lifted due to his injury, even though the besieged city was close to being captured. This is likely how he was given the title "the lame".[3] He was brother-in-law of King Philip V of Macedon.[4] Philip V granted him the cities of Kios and Myrleia in 202 BC. Prusias renamed these cities as Prusias (present-day Bursa, Turkey) and Apameia respectively.[5] Although he granted sanctuary to Hannibal, who successfully employed an odd stratagem against the Pergamene for him at sea,[6] he remained neutral during the war between the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire, refusing an alliance with the Seleucid King Antiochus III.[7] He agreed on peace terms with presumably Eumenes II of Pergamon in 183 BC, in the city of Cyzicus.[8] Apama bore him a son with the same name, who later succeeded him.
See also
[edit]- Prusias ad Hypium, ancient city in Düzce Province, Turkey
Sources
[edit]- Habicht, Christian, s.v. Prusias I., RE. Bd. ХХШ, 1. 1957
References
[edit]- ↑ Polybius. Histories.
He had also seized their Asiatic territory, a part of Mysia which had long been in their possession.
- ↑ Polybius. Histories.
Prusias, therefore, led an army against them, and after destroying all the men in a pitched battle, put to death nearly all the women and children in their camp and allowed his soldiers who had taken part in the battle to plunder the baggage.
- 1 2 Memnon. "Chapter 19". History of Heraclea Pontica.
- ↑ Polybius XV.22.1.
- ↑ Strabo. Geography.
And Prusias restored them from their ruins and named the city Cius "Prusias" after himself and Myrleia "Apameia" after his wife.
- ↑ Justinus. Philippic Histories.
- ↑ Polybius. Histories.
- ↑ Polybius. Histories.
This all happened in Cyzicus after the peace with King Prusias.
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