Pythodoris of Pontus

Pythodoris
Pythodoris
Queen regnant of Pontus
Reign	8 BC – 38 AD
Predecessor	Polemon I as King
Successor	Polemon II as King
Queen consort of Pontus, Bosporus and Cilicia
Tenure	13/12 BC – 8 BC
Queen consort of Cappadocia
Tenure	8 BC – 17 AD
Born	30 BC or 29 BC; Smyrna; (modern-day İzmir, Turkey)
Died	AD 38 (aged 67 or 68); Pontus; (modern-day Anatolia, Turkey)
Spouse	King Polemon I of Pontus; King Archelaus of Cappadocia
Issue	Artaxias III of Armenia; Polemon II of Pontus; Antonia Tryphaena, Queen of Thrace
Father	Pythodoros of Tralles
Mother	Antonia

Pythodoris of Pontus (Ancient Greek: Πυθοδωρίς, 30 BC or 29 BC – 38), also spelled Pythodorida (Πυθοδωρίδα),^[1] was a Roman client queen of Pontus, the Bosporan Kingdom, Cilicia, and Cappadocia.

Origins and early life

According to an honorific inscription dedicated to her in Athens in the late 1st century BC, her royal title was Queen Pythodoris Philometor (Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑ ΠΥΘΟΔΩΡΙΣ ΦΙΛΟΜΗΤΩΡ).^[2] Philometor means "mother-loving" and this title is associated with the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.

Pythodoris was born and raised in Smyrna (modern İzmir, Turkey). She was the daughter and only child of wealthy Anatolian Greeks and friend to the late triumvir Pompey, Pythodoros of Tralles and Antonia.^{[citation needed]}

Her maternal grandparents were the Roman triumvir Mark Antony and Antonia Hybrida Minor.^{[citation needed]}

Queen

The successive marriages of Pythodoris illustrate how elite women, like Rome's client states, were shuffled around in the game of power politics. 13 or 12 BC,^[3] Pythodoris married King Polemon Pythodoros of Pontus as his second wife. By this marriage she became Queen of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom.

Pythodoris and Polemon had two sons and one daughter, who were:

Zenon, also known as Zeno-Artaxias or Artaxias III, who became King of Armenia in 18 AD and reigned until his death in 35 AD
Marcus Antonius Polemon Pythodoros, also known as Polemon II of Pontus
Antonia Tryphaena who married King of Thrace, Cotys VIII

Polemon I died in 8 BC, and Pythodoris continued as Queen of Pontus until her death. Pythodoris was able to retain Colchis and Cilicia but not the Bosporan Kingdom which was granted to her first husband's stepson, Aspurgus. She then married King Archelaus of Cappadocia. Archelaus and Pythodoris had no children. Through her second marriage, she became Queen of Cappadocia. Pythodoris had moved with her children from Pontus to Cappadocia to live with Archelaus. When Archelaus died in 17, Cappadocia became a Roman province and she returned with her family back to Pontus.

In later years, Polemon II assisted his mother in the administration of the kingdom. Following her death, Polemon II succeeded to the throne. Pythodoris was remembered by a friend and contemporary, the Greek geographer Strabo, who is said to have described Pythodoris as a woman of virtuous character. Strabo considered her to have a great capacity for business and that under Pythodoris' rule Pontus had flourished.^[4]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Pythodoris of Pontus

2. Pythodoros of Tralles

1. Pythodoris

24. Marcus Antonius Orator

12. Marcus Antonius Creticus

6. Mark Antony

26. Lucius Julius Caesar III

13. Julia

3. Antonia

28. (=24.)Marcus Antonius Orator

14. Gaius Antonius Hybrida

7. Antonia Hybrida Minor

References

^ Karolidēs, Paulos (1874). Kappodokika: ētoi, Pargmateia historikē kai archaeologikē peri Kappodokias (in Greek). typois E. Misaēlidou. p. 330.
^ An Athenian Honorific Inscription dedicated to Queen Pythodoris, which is displayed at the Epigraphical Museum (inventory no. EM 9573) in Athens, Greece
^ Ramsay, Sir William Mitchell (1893). The Church in the Roman Empire Before A.D. 170. G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 427. Pythodoris, born about 33, married King Polemon B.C. 13 or 12,
^ "Strabo, Geography, BOOK XII., CHAPTER III., section 29". perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2023. The Tibareni, however, and Chaldæi, extending as far as Colchis, Pharnacia, and Trapezus, are under the government of Pythodoris, a prudent woman, and capable of presiding over the management of public affairs. She is the daughter of Pythodorus of Tralles. She was the wife of Polemo, and reigned conjointly with him for some time. She succeeded, after his death, to the throne. (...) Of the sons of Pythodoris, one as a private person, administers, together with his mother, the affairs of the kingdom, the other has been lately made king of the Greater Armenia. Pythodoris however married Archelaus, and remained with him till his death. At present she is a widow, and in possession of the countries before mentioned, and of others still more beautiful, of which we shall next speak.

External links

An Athenian Honorific Inscription dedicated to Queen Pythodoris, which is displayed at the Epigraphical Museum (inventory no. EM 9573) in Athens, Greece

[1] Karolidēs, Paulos (1874). Kappodokika: ētoi, Pargmateia historikē kai archaeologikē peri Kappodokias (in Greek). typois E. Misaēlidou. p. 330.

[2] An Athenian Honorific Inscription dedicated to Queen Pythodoris, which is displayed at the Epigraphical Museum (inventory no. EM 9573) in Athens, Greece

[3] Ramsay, Sir William Mitchell (1893). The Church in the Roman Empire Before A.D. 170. G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 427. Pythodoris, born about 33, married King Polemon B.C. 13 or 12,

[4] "Strabo, Geography, BOOK XII., CHAPTER III., section 29". perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2023. The Tibareni, however, and Chaldæi, extending as far as Colchis, Pharnacia, and Trapezus, are under the government of Pythodoris, a prudent woman, and capable of presiding over the management of public affairs. She is the daughter of Pythodorus of Tralles. She was the wife of Polemo, and reigned conjointly with him for some time. She succeeded, after his death, to the throne. (...) Of the sons of Pythodoris, one as a private person, administers, together with his mother, the affairs of the kingdom, the other has been lately made king of the Greater Armenia. Pythodoris however married Archelaus, and remained with him till his death. At present she is a widow, and in possession of the countries before mentioned, and of others still more beautiful, of which we shall next speak.

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v t e Hellenistic rulers
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Indo-Greeks	Demetrius I Antimachus I Pantaleon Agathocles Apollodotus I Demetrius II Antimachus II Menander I Zoilos I Agathokleia Lysias Strato I Antialcidas Heliokles II Polyxenos Demetrius III Philoxenus Diomedes Amyntas Epander Theophilos Peukolaos Thraso Nicias Menander II Artemidoros Hermaeus Archebius Telephos Apollodotus II Hippostratos Dionysios Zoilos II Apollophanes Strato II Strato III
Monarchs of Bithynia	Boteiras Bas Zipoetes I Nicomedes I Zipoetes II Etazeta (regent) Ziaelas Prusias I Prusias II Nicomedes II Nicomedes III Nicomedes IV Socrates Chrestus
Monarchs of Pontus	Mithridates I Ctistes Ariobarzanes Mithridates II Mithridates III Pharnaces I Mithridates IV Philopator Philadephos with Laodice Mithridates V Euergetes Mithridates VI Eupator Pharnaces II Darius Arsaces Polemon I Pythodorida Polemon II
Monarchs of Commagene	Ptolemaeus Sames II Mithridates I Antiochus I Mithridates II Antiochus II Mithridates III Antiochus III Antiochus IV
Monarchs of Cappadocia	Ariarathes I Ariarathes II Ariamnes II Ariarathes III Ariarathes IV Ariarathes V Orophernes Ariarathes VI Ariarathes VII Ariarathes VIII Ariarathes IX Ariobarzanes I Ariobarzanes II Ariobarzanes III Ariarathes X Archelaus
Monarchs of the Cimmerian Bosporus	Paerisades I Satyros II Prytanis Eumelos Spartokos III Hygiainon (regent) Paerisades II Spartokos IV Leukon II Spartokos V [ru] Kamasarye Paerisades III Paerisades IV Paerisades V Mithridates I Pharnaces Asander with Dynamis Mithridates II Asander with Dynamis Scribonius's attempted rule with Dynamis Dynamis with Polemon Polemon Aspurgus Gepaepyris Mithridates III Cotys I
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Hellenistic rulers were preceded by Hellenistic satraps in most of their territories.