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Darius of Pontus

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Darius of Pontus(reigned 37-37/36 BC) was a monarch ofIranianandGreek Macedonianancestry. He was the first[citation needed]child born to KingPharnaces II of Pontus[1]and hisSarmatianwife.[2]He had two younger siblings: a sister calledDynamis[2]and a brother calledArsaces.[3][4]His paternal grandparents wereMithridates VI,the king ofPontusand his first wife, his sisterLaodice.

Darius of Pontus
King of Pontus
King of Pontus
Reignc. 37 BC
SuccessorPolemon I
FatherPharnaces II of Pontus

Hardly anything is known about Darius. We only have a mention byAppianthat he was appointed king ofPontusbyMark Antony.[1]

According to Appian, Mark Antony established client kings in the eastern areas of the Roman empire which were under his control on condition that they paid a tribute. InAnatolia,Darius, the son of Pharnaces II and grandson of Mithridates VI, was appointed in Pontus,Polemonin a part ofCiliciaand Amyntas inPisidia.This was in 37 BC, before Antony's war withParthia,when he was making preparations for it and before he wintered in Athens in the winter of 37/36 BC.[1]The reign of Darius was short-lived.Strabowrote that Polemon andLycomedes of Comanaattacked Arsaces, one of the sons of Pharnaces II, inSagyliumbecause he “was playing the dynast and attempting a revolution without permission from any of the [Roman] prefects…” This stronghold was seized, but Arsaces fled to the mountains where he starved because he was without provisions and without water. Three decades earlierPompeyhad ordered the wells to be obstructed by rocks to prevent robbers from hiding on the mountains. Arsaces was captured and killed.[3]Cassius Diodescribed Polemon as "the king of that part of Pontus bordering on Cappadocia”[5]Presumably, Polemon was appointed as a king of Pontus as a reward for suppressing Arsaces' attempt to assume the throne of Pontus. Pontus, which had become aRoman province,must have been assigned to several client kings who administered its various regions. We do not know whether Darius died and Arsaces was trying to succeed him or whether Arsaces was a usurper. Darius' reign must have lasted less than a year because Cassius Dio referred to Polemon as a king of Pontus when he was involved in Mark Antony's war against the Parthians in 36 BC.[6]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^abcAppian, The Civil Wars, 5.74
  2. ^abMayor,The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithridates, Rome’s deadliest enemyp.362
  3. ^abStrabo, Geography, 12.3.38
  4. ^Gabelko. O.L., The Dynastic History of the Hellenistic Monarchies of Asia Minor. p. 48[1]Archived2011-03-16 at theWayback Machine
  5. ^Cassius Dio, Roman History, 54.24.4-8
  6. ^Cassius Dio, Rooma History, 49.25.3

References[edit]

Primary sources
  • Appian, The Civil Wars, Penguin Classics, 1996;ISBN978-0140445091
  • Cassius Dio, Roman History, vol. 5, Books 46-50 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989;ISBN978-0674990913
  • Cassius Dio, Roman History, vol. 6, Books 51-55 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989;ISBN978-0674990920
  • Strabo, Geography, vol. 5, Books 10-12 (Loeb Classical Library), Loeb, 1989;ISBN978-0674992337
Secondary sources
  • Gabelko. O.L., The Dynastic History of the Hellenistic Monarchies of Asia Minor According to Chronography of George Synkellos in Højte, J.M, (ed.), Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom, Black Sea Studies, Vol. 9, Aarhus University Press;ISBN978-8779344433[2]
  • Mayor, A The Poison King: the life and legend of Mithradates, Rome's deadliest enemy, Princeton University Press, 2009