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Heraclea Pontica (; gr, Ἡράκλεια Ποντική, Hērakleia Pontikē), known in
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and later times as Pontoheraclea ( gr, Ποντοηράκλεια, Pontohērakleia), was an ancient city on the coast 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 southwe ...
in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, at the mouth of the river
Lycus. It was
founded by the Greek city-state of
Megara
Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being take ...
in approximately 560–558 BC and was named after
Heracles
Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...
who the Greeks believed entered the underworld at a cave on the adjoining Archerusian promontory (Cape Baba). The site is now the location of the modern city
Karadeniz Ereğli
Karadeniz Ereğli (or Ereğli) is a city and district in Zonguldak Province of Turkey on the Black Sea shore. Population of the city proper is 121,237 as of 2020. The mayor of the city is Halil Posbıyık. Mehmet Yapıcı is the District Governor ...
, in the
Zonguldak Province of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
.
The colonists soon subjugated the native
Mariandyni
The Mariandyni (Μαριανδυνοί or Μαρυανδυνοί) were an ancient tribe in the north-east of Bithynia. Their country was called ''Mariandynia'' (Μαριανδυνία, Stephanus of Byzantium s. v.) and Pliny speaks of a ''Sinus Ma ...
ans but agreed to terms that none of the latter, now
helot
The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their ...
-like serfs, be sold into slavery outside their homeland. Prospering from the rich, fertile adjacent lands and the sea-fisheries of its natural harbor, Heraclea soon extended its control along the coast as far east as Cytorus (Gideros, near
Cide), eventually establishing Black Sea colonies of its own (
Cytorus,
Callatis
Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Norther ...
and
Chersonesus). It was the birthplace of the philosopher
Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός ''Herakleides''; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC) was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who was born in Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey, and migrated to Athens. ...
.
The prosperity of the city, rudely shaken by the
Galatia
Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...
ns and the
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 southwe ...
ns, was utterly destroyed in the
Mithridatic Wars.
The Greek historical author
Memnon of Heraclea Memnon of Heraclea (; grc-gre, Mέμνων, ''gen''.: Μέμνονος; fl. c. 1st century) was a Greek historical writer, probably a native of Heraclea Pontica. He described the history of that city in a large work, known only through the ''Exce ...
(fl. 1st century AD) wrote a local history of Heraclea Pontica in at least sixteen books. The work has perished, but
Photius
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
's ''Bibliotheca'' preserves a compressed account of books 9–16, seemingly the only ones extant in his day. These books run from the rule of the tyrant
Clearchus The name Clearchus or Clearch may refer to:
*Clearchus of Athens, Greek comic poet
*Clearchus of Heraclea (c. 401 BCE – 353 BCE), Greek tyrant of Heraclea Pontica
*Clearchus of Rhegium, Greek sculptor, pupil of Eucheirus, teacher of Pythagoras th ...
(c. 364–353 BC) to the later years of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
(c. 40 BC) and contain many colorful accounts including the Bithynian introduction of the barbarian
Gauls
The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They sp ...
into Asia where they first allied themselves with the Heracleans and later turned violently against them.
Then, Heraclea Pontica was part of the (Eastern) Roman Empire for more than 1000 years. The Turks ravaged the area after the
Battle of Mantzikert in 1071.
David Komnenos, brother of the ruler of Trebizond
Alexios I of Trebizond
Alexios I Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Κομνηνός; c. 1182 – 1 February 1222) or Alexius I Megas Comnenus was, with his brother David, the founder of the Empire of Trebizond and its ruler from 1204 until his death in 1222. The two ...
, took Heraclea Pontica in 1205 and made it capital of his domain, called Paphlagonia; he lost it in 1214 to Theodore I Laskaris, who made it a major frontier bulwark. The Genoese had a colony there after 1261. When the Turks conquered Paphlagonia in 1360, Genoa bought the city from the weakening Byzantine Empire. Heraclea developed as a trading centre of the Genoese, who settled there in large numbers. A ruined citadel on a height overlooking the town is a remnant of this period. The Italian name of the city was Pontarachia. The Genoese held the city until the Ottomans captured it after 1453.
Notable people
*
Herodorus,
mythographer, born in Heraclea.
*
Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus ( grc-gre, Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός ''Herakleides''; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC) was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who was born in Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey, and migrated to Athens. ...
, philosopher and astronomer, born in Heraclea
*
Xenagoras (historian) Xenagoras ( grc, Ξεναγόρας) was a Greek historian from Heraclea Pontica quoted by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, from whom we learn that Xenagoras wrote that Odysseus and Circe had three sons, Rhomos, Anteias, and Ardeas, who founded the th ...
, historian
*
Memnon of Heraclea Memnon of Heraclea (; grc-gre, Mέμνων, ''gen''.: Μέμνονος; fl. c. 1st century) was a Greek historical writer, probably a native of Heraclea Pontica. He described the history of that city in a large work, known only through the ''Exce ...
, historian
*
Bryson of Heraclea, mathematician and sophist
*
Clearchus of Heraclea Clearchus ( el, Kλέαρχoς, ''Klearkhos''; c. 401 BC – 353 BC; also spelled Cleärchus or Cleärch) was a citizen of Heraclea on the Euxine (Black Sea) who was recalled from exile by the oligarchy of that city to aid them in quelling the g ...
, tyrant of Heraclea
*
Timotheus of Heraclea Timotheus (in Greek Tιμoθεoς, ''Timotheos''; died 338 BC) was son of Clearchus, the tyrant of Heraclea on the Euxine ( Black Sea). After the death of his father in 353 BC, he succeeded to the sovereignty, under the guardianship, at first, of ...
, son of Clearchus and succeeded him after his death
*
Chion of Heraclea, a disciple of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
who helped in the assassination of the tyrant Clearchus
*
Oxyathres of Heraclea, tyrant of Heraclea
*
Chamaeleon, philosopher
*
Promathidas of Heraclea, historian
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, §7.2957
/ref>
* Marcian of Heraclea, geographer
* Nicetas of Heraclea
Nicetas () was an 11th-century Greek clergyman. A deacon of St. Sophia, Constantinople, he was a nephew of the bishop of Serres or Serrae in Macedonia. Eventually he became Metropolitan of Heraclea (Pontus), at the end of the eleventh centur ...
, Metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of Heraclea
* Dionysius of Heraclea
Dionysius (, ''Dionysios'') was a tyrant of Heraclea Pontica on the Euxine (the Black Sea). He was a son of Clearchus, who had assumed the tyranny in his place of birth.
When Clearchus died (353/352 BC), he was first succeeded by his brother S ...
, tyrant of Heraclea
* Amastris, tyrant of Heraclea, niece to Persian King
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
Darius III
Darius III ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Dariu ...
* Diogenianus Diogenianus ( el, Διογενειανός, Διογενιανός) was a Greek grammarian from Heraclea in Pontus (or in Caria) who flourished during the reign of Hadrian. He was the author of an alphabetical lexicon, chiefly of poetical words, ...
, a Greek grammarian
See also
* List of ancient Greek cities
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
Notes
References
*
*"Outpost of Hellenism: The Emergence of Heraclea on the Black Sea", Stanley Mayer Burstein, University of California Publications: Classical Studies, 14 (Berkeley, 1976).
External links
Coin minted in Heraclea Pontica 3rd–2nd century BC.
{{Authority control
History of Karadeniz Ereğli
Greek colonies in Bithynia
Populated places in Bithynia
Megarian colonies
Populated places established in the 6th century BC
Members of the Delian League
Populated places of the Byzantine Empire