Bible Dictionary: Pontus

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Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Pontus

the sea

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pontus

a large district in the north of Asia Minor, extending along the coast of the Pontus Euxinus Sea (Pontus), from which circumstance the name was derived. It corresponds nearly to the modern Trebizond. It is three times mentioned in the New Testament -- (Acts 2:9; 18:2; 1 Peter 1:1) All these passages agree in showing that there were many Jewish residents in the district. As to the annals of Pontus, the one brilliant passage of its history is the life of the great Mithridates. Under Nero the whole region was made of Roman province, bearing the name of Pontus. It was conquered by the Turks in A.D. 1461, and is still under their dominion.

ATS Bible Dictionary

Pontus

The sea, the northeastern province of Asia Minor, bounded north by the Euxine Sea, west by Galatia and Paphlagonia, south by Cappadocia and part of Armenia, and east by Colchis. It was originally governed by kings, and was in its most flourishing state under Mithridates the Great, who waged a long and celebrated war with the Romans; but was at length subdued by Pompey; after which Pontus became a province of the Roman empire. The geographer Strabo was born in Amasia, its capital; and one of its principal towns, Trapezus, still flourishes under the name of Trebizond. Many Jews resided there, and from time to time "went up to Jerusalem unto the feast," Acts 2:9. The devoted Aquila was a native of Pontus, Acts 18:2; and the gospel was planted there at an early period, 1 Peter 1:1.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A province of Asia Minor, stretching along the southern coast of the Euxine Sea, corresponding nearly to the modern province of Trebizond. In the time of the apostles it was a Roman province. Strangers from this province were at Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and to "strangers scattered throughout Pontus," among others, Peter addresses his first epistle (1 Peter 1:1). It was evidently the resort of many Jews of the Dispersion. Aquila was a native of Pontus (Acts 18:2).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

PONTUS

pon'-tus (Pontos): Was an important province in the northeastern part of Asia Minor, lying along the south shore of the Black Sea. The name was geographical, not ethnical, in origin, and was first used to designate that part of Cappadocia which bordered on the "Pontus," as the Euxine was often termed. Pontus proper extended from the Halys River on the West to the borders of Colchis on the East, its interior boundaries meeting those of Galatia, Cappadocia and Armenia. The chief rivers besides the Halys were the Iris, Lycus and Thermodon. The configuration of the country included a beautiful but narrow, riparian margin, backed by a noble range of mountains parallel to the coast, while these in turn were broken by the streams that forced their way from the interior plains down to the sea; the valleys, narrower or wider, were fertile and productive, as were the wide plains of the interior such as the Chiliokomon and Phanaroea. The mountain slopes were originally clothed with heavy forests of beech, pine and oak of different species, and when the country was well afforested, the rainfall must have been better adequate than now to the needs of a luxuriant vegetation.

The first points in the earliest history of Pontus emerge from obscurity, much as the mountain peaks of its own noble ranges lift their heads above a fog bank. Thus, we catch glimpses of Assyrian culture at Sinope and Amisus, probably as far back as the 3rd millennium B.C. The period of Hittite domination in Asia Minor followed hard after, and there is increasing reason to suppose that the Hittites occupied certain leading city sites in Pontus, constructed the artificial mounds or tumuli that frequently meet the eyes of modern travelers, hewed out the rock tombs, and stamped their character upon the early conditions. The home of the Amazons, those warrior priestesses of the Hittites, was located on the banks of the Thermodon, and the mountains rising behind Terme are still called the "Amazon Range"; and the old legends live still in stories about the superior prowess of the modern women living there.

See ASIA MINOR, ARCHAEOLOGY OF.

As the Hittite power shrunk in extent and force, by the year 1000 B.C. bands of hardy Greek adventurers appeared from the West sailing along the Euxine main in quest of lands to exploit and conquer and colonize. Cape Jason, which divides the modern mission fields of Trebizond and Marsovan, preserves the memory of the Argonants and the Golden Fleece. Miletus, "greatest of the Ionic towns," sent out its colonists, swarm after swarm, up through the Bosphorus, and along the southern shore of the Black Sea. They occupied Sinope, the northern-most point of the peninsula with the best harbor and the most commanding situation. Sinope was in Paphlagonia, but politically as well as commercially enjoyed intimate relations with the Pontic cities. Settlers from Sinope, reinforced by others from Athens direct, pressed on and founded Amisus, the modern Samsoun, always an important commercial city. Another colony from Sinope founded Trebizond, near which Xenophon and the Ten Thousand reached the sea again after they had sounded the power of Persia and found it hollow at Cunaxa. Among the cities of the interior, picturesque Amasia in the gorge of the Iris River witnessed the birth of Strabo in the 1st century B.C., and to the geographer Strabo, more than to any other man, is due our knowledge of Pontus in its early days. Zille, "built upon the mound of Semiramis," contained the sanctuary of Anaitis, where sacrifices were performed with more pomp than in any other place. Comana, near the modern Tokat, was a city famous for the worship of the great god Ma. Greek culture by degrees took root along the coast; it mixed with, and in turn was modified by, the character of the older native inhabitants.

When the Persians established their supremacy in Asia Minor with the overthrow of Lydia, 546 B.C., Pontus was loosely joined to the great empire and was ruled by Persian satraps. Ariobarzanes, Mithradates and Pharnaces are the recurring names in this dynasty of satraps which acquired independence about 363 and maintained it during the Macedonian period. The man that first made Pontus famous in history was Mithradates VI, surnamed Eupator. Mithradates was a typical oriental despot, gifted, unscrupulous, commanding. Born at Sinope 136 B.C. and king at Amasia at the age of twelve, Mithradates was regarded by the Romans as "the most formidable enemy the Republic ever had to contend with." By conquest or alliance he widely extended his power, his chief ally being his son-in-law Dikran, or Tigranes, of Armenia, and then prepared for the impending struggle with Rome. The republic had acquired Pergamus in 133 B.C. and assumed control of Western Asia Minor. There were three Roman armies in different parts of the peninsula when war broke out, 88 B.C. Mithradates attacked them separately and over-threw them all. He then planned and executed a general massacre of all the Romans in Asia Minor, and 80,000 persons were cut down. Sulla by patient effort restored the fortunes of Rome, and the first war ended in a drawn game; each party had taken the measure of its antagonist, but neither had been able to oust the other. The second war began in the year 74, with Lucullus as the Roman general. Lucullus took Amisus by siege, chased Mithradates to Cabira, modern Niksar, scattered his army and drove the oriental sultan out of his country. Subsequently on his return to Rome, Lucullus carried from Kerasoun the first cherries known to the western world. In the third war the hero on the Roman side was the masterful Pompey, appointed in 66 B.C. As a result of this war, Mithradates was completely vanquished. His dominions were finally and permanently incorporated in the territories of the Roman republic. The aged king, breathing out wrath and forming impossible plans against his lifelong enemies, died in exile in the Crimea from poison administered by his own hand.

Most of Pontus was for administrative purposes united by the Romans with the province of Bithynia, though the eastern part subsisted as a separate kingdom under Polemon and his house, 36 B.C. to 63 A.D., and the southwestern portion was incorporated with the province of Galatia. It was during the Roman period that Christianity entered this province. There were Jews dwelling in Pontus, devout representatives of whom were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Paul's associates, Aquila and Priscilla, were originally from here (Acts 18:2). The sojourners of the Dispersion are included in the address of the first Epistle of Peter together with the people of four other provinces in Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). Local traditions connect the apostles Andrew and Thaddeus with evangelistic labors in this region. They are said to have followed the great artery of travel leading from Caesarea Mazaca to Sinope. Pliny, governor of Bithynia and Pontus 111-113 A.D., found Christians under his authority in great numbers (see BITHYNIA), and Professor Ramsay argues that Pliny's famous letters, Numbers 96 and 97, written to the emperor Traian on the subject of the treatment of Christians under his government (see PERSECUTION), were composed in view of conditions in Amisus (Church in Roman Empire, 224, 225).

The Roman empire in the East was gradually merged into the Byzantine, which is still known to the local inhabitants as the empire of "Roum," i.e. Rome. Pontus shared the vicissitudes of this rather unfortunate government until, in 1204, a branch of the Byzantine imperial family established in Pontus a separate small state with its capital at Trebizond. Here the house of the Grand Comneni, sheltered between the sea and the mountain ranges, maintained its tinsel sovereignty to and beyond the fall of Constantinople. In 1461 Trebizond was taken by Mohammed the Conqueror, since which date Pontus, with its conglomerate population of Turks, Armenians, Greeks and fragments of other races, has been a part of the Ottoman empire.

G. E. White

Greek

4193. Pontikos -- of Pontus
... of Pontus. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: Pontikos Phonetic Spelling:
(pon-tik-os') Short Definition: belonging to Pontus Definition: belonging to ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4193.htm - 6k

4195. Pontos -- "a sea," Pontus, a region of Asia Minor
... "a sea," Pontus, a region ... Word Origin a prim. word used as proper name Definition
"a sea," Pontus, a region of Asia Minor NASB Word Usage Pontus (2). Pontus. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4195.htm - 6k

1053. Galatia -- Galatia, a district in Asia Minor or a larger ...
... Short Definition: Galatia Definition: Galatia, a large Roman province in central
Asia Minor, comprising the districts of Paphlagonia, Pontus Galaticus, Galatia ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1053.htm - 6k

207. Akulas -- Aquila, a Christian
... the Greek way of writing the Latin Aquila, a male proper name; the husband of Priscilla
(Prisca), and a Jew, of a family belonging to (Sinope in ?) Pontus. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/207.htm - 6k

4899. suneklektos -- chosen together with
... 1 Pet 1:1,2: " 1 To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, , by the sanctifying work of the Spirit ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4899.htm - 7k

Library

Of what Bishops were at this Time Distinguished in Asia and Pontus ...
... Book IV. Chapter XXVII."Of what bishops were at this time distinguished
in Asia and Pontus. Among the bishops were the two Gregorii ...
/.../the ecclesiastical history of theodoret/chapter xxvii of what bishops were.htm

Life.
... Under the persecution of the second Maximinus, [1] a Christian gentleman of good
position and fair estate in Pontus [2] and Macrina his wife, suffered severe ...
//christianbookshelf.org/basil/basil letters and select works/i life.htm

The Pupils of Origen.
... five years, they made such progress in divine things, that although they were still
young, both of them were honored with a bishopric in the churches of Pontus ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter xxx the pupils of origen.htm

Preface. Reason for a New Work
... Pontus Lends Its Rough Character to the Heretic Marcion, a Native. ... [2338] [I fancy
there is point in this singular, the sky of Pontus being always overcast. ...
/.../tertullian/the five books against marcion/chapter i preface reason for a.htm

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, and the Epistles which He Wrote.
... 6. And writing to the church that is in Amastris, [1254] together with those in
Pontus, he refers to Bacchylides [1255] and Elpistus, as having urged him to ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter xxiii dionysius bishop of corinth.htm

Introduction to Oration ii.
... He had been recalled by his father probably during the year ad361 from Pontus, where
he had spent several years in monastic seclusion with his friend S. Basil. ...
/.../cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/introduction to oration ii.htm

Of Gregory Thaumaturgus (The Wonder-Worker).
... and the title of the books attributed to Gregory, persons are liable to confound
very different parties, it is important to notice that Gregory of Pontus is a ...
/.../chapter xxvii of gregory thaumaturgus the.htm

Disputes Between Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea, and Basil the Great ...
... This dissension had been the cause of Basil's departing from Pontus, where he
lived conjointly with some monks who pursued the philosophy. ...
/.../chapter xv disputes between eusebius bishop.htm

Life at Cæsarea; Baptism; and Adoption of Monastic Life.
... description. [73] Gregory declined to do more than pay a visit to Pontus,
and so is said to have caused Basil much disappointment. [74 ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/iii life at caesarea baptism and.htm

A Sketch of the Life of S. Gregory of Nyssa.
... No province of the Roman Empire had in those early ages received more eminent Christian
bishops than Cappadocia and the adjoining district of Pontus. ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/chapter i a sketch of the.htm

Thesaurus

Pontus (3 Occurrences)
... Strangers from this province were at Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:9), and to
"strangers scattered throughout Pontus," among others, Peter addresses his first ...
/p/pontus.htm - 16k

Cappadocia (2 Occurrences)
... in eastern Asia Minor, bounded by the Taurus mountains on the South, the Anti-Taurus
and the Euphrates on the East, and, less definitely, by Pontus and Galatia ...
/c/cappadocia.htm - 10k

Aquila (7 Occurrences)
... Eagle, a native of Pontus, by occupation a tent-maker, whom Paul met on his first
visit to Corinth (Acts 18:2). Along with his wife Priscilla he had fled from ...
/a/aquila.htm - 13k

Galatia (6 Occurrences)
... in the north part of the central plateau of Asia Minor, touching Paphlagonia and
Bithynia North, Phrygia West and South, Cappadocia and Pontus Southeast and ...
/g/galatia.htm - 23k

Cappado'cia (2 Occurrences)
... Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and those dwelling in Mesopotamia,
in Judea also, and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, (See RSV). ...
/c/cappado'cia.htm - 6k

Hittites (39 Occurrences)
... to have been partly Semitic and partly Mongolic; and the same mixed race is represented
by the Hittite records recently discovered in Cappadocia and Pontus. ...
/h/hittites.htm - 55k

Parthians (1 Occurrence)
... In 66 BC when, after subduing Mithridates of Pontus, Pompey came into Syria, Phraates
III made an alliance with him against Armenia, but was offended by the ...
/p/parthians.htm - 16k

Minor (2 Occurrences)
... to distinguish it from the continent of Asia), or Anatolia, is the name given to
the peninsula which reaches out between the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) on the ...
/m/minor.htm - 62k

Asia (22 Occurrences)
... to distinguish it from the continent of Asia), or Anatolia, is the name given to
the peninsula which reaches out between the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) on the ...
/a/asia.htm - 71k

Dispersion (4 Occurrences)
... Coele-Syria, and into the more distant regions of Pamphylia, Cilicia, the greater
part of Asia Minor as far as Bithynia, and the remotest corners of Pontus. ...
/d/dispersion.htm - 44k

Bible Concordance

Pontus (3 Occurrences)

Acts 2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 18:2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Pontus

Pontus: A Province of Asia Minor

Pontus: Aquila Lived In

Related Terms

Cappadocia (2 Occurrences)

Aquila (7 Occurrences)

Galatia (6 Occurrences)

Cappado'cia (2 Occurrences)

Hittites (39 Occurrences)

Parthians (1 Occurrence)

Minor (2 Occurrences)