Etazeta (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Εταζέτα; fl. 255 BC – 254 BC) was the second wife of

Nicomedes I Nicomedes I ( grc, Νικομήδης; lived c. 300 BC – c. 255 BC, ruled 278 BC – c. 255 BC), second king of Bithynia, was the eldest son of Zipoetes I, whom he succeeded on the throne in 278 BC. Life He commenced his reign by putting t ...

, king of

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...

and a ruler of Bithynia.

Life

An ambitious woman, she was able to persuade her husband to exclude his sons by his former marriage from the throne; instead, the throne would go to Etazeta's children. Since Nicomedes and Etazeta's children were still very young, the king sought to strengthen his family's hold on the Bithynian throne by offering the guardianship of the infants to the sovereigns

Ptolemy II of Egypt ; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208 , predecessor = Ptolemy I , successor = Ptolemy III , horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth , nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength , gold ...

and

Antigonus II of Macedon Antigonus II Gonatas ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Γονατᾶς, ; – 239 BC) was a Macedonian ruler who solidified the position of the Antigonid dynasty in Macedon after a long period defined by anarchy and chaos and acquired fame for ...

ia; also the city-states of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

, Heraclea and

Cius Cius (; grc-gre, Kίος or Κῖος ''Kios''), later renamed Prusias on the Sea (; la, Prusias ad Mare) after king Prusias I of Bithynia, was an ancient Greek city bordering the Propontis (now known as the Sea of Marmara), in Bithynia and in ...

were added to the guardianship. On the death of Nicomedes I in around 255 BC, Etazeta ruled on behalf of her infant sons. However, Nicomedes' first-born,

Ziaelas Ziaelas ( grc-gre, Ζιαήλας; lived c. 265 BC – 228 BC, reigned c. 254 BC – 228 BC), List of Kings of Bithynia, third king of Bithynia, was a son of Nicomedes I of Bithynia, Nicomedes I and Ditizele. Life Following the death of Nicom ...

, refused to accept his father's decision and started a war against his stepmother to conquer the kingdom. Etazeta tried to resist and married the former king's brother, but around 254 BC she was removed by Ziaelas and forced to flee to

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

with her sons.

References

Memnon In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων means 'resolute') was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army t ...

''History of Heracleia''
3rd-century BC births People from Bithynia 3rd-century BC Greek people 3rd-century BC Kings of Bithynia 3rd-century BC women rulers Ancient Greek women rulers Year of death unknown Queens of Bithynia Rulers of Bithynia {{Ancient-Greek-bio-stub