List of rulers of Bithynia

Template:Short description This is a list of kings of Bithynia, an ancient kingdom in northwestern Anatolia.

Before Zipoetes I of Bithynia assumed the Greek title of Basileus ("king") in 297 BCE,Template:Sfn the positions of him and his predecessors are variously described as "prince",<ref name="Penny">The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Bassantin - Bloemaart, Volume 4 Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Knight, 1835 p. 470</ref> "chieftain",Template:Sfn "ruler",Template:Sfn and "king".Template:Sfn One of the primary sources for the monarchs of Bithynia is About Hericlea (Template:Langx) of Memnon of Heraclea.Template:Sfn

List

• Doedalsus (Template:Langx). Memnon of Heraclea wrote about him: "[Astacus] achieved great glory and strength, when Dudalsos had the dominion of the Bithynians." (Template:Langx). Andrew Smith (2004) translated this as "when Doedalsus was the ruler of the Bithynians."Template:Sfn The only other mention of this person is found in Strabo's Geographica 12.4.2,<ref name="Slavova">Template:Cite journal</ref> where his name is spelt as ̇Δοιδαλσοῦ, but he is not identified with the Bithynians, only with the city of Astacus.<ref name="Slavova"/> Slavova (2015) called him a "Bithynian king".<ref name="Slavova"/> According to Olmstead (2022), he was "the first-known semi-independent king of Bithynia".Template:Sfn
• Boteiras d. Template:Circa 376 BCE. He is mentioned only by Memnon as a successor of Dudalsos.Template:Sfn
• Bas Template:Circa 376–326 BCE. Memnon wrote: "The life of this [Bas] became 71 years, of which he reigned as kingTemplate:Efn 50." (Template:Langx. Smith (2004) translated this passage as: "He lived for 71 years, and was king for 50 years."Template:Sfn
• Zipoetes I Template:Circa 326–278 BCE. Memnon of Heraclea called him "Zipoites the eparch of the Bithynians" (Template:Langx). Andrew Smith (2004) translated this as "Zipoetes, the ruler of the Bithynians".Template:Sfn According to Williams (1990), Zipoetes was a "chieftain" before he assumed the Greek title of basileus ("king") in 297 BCE.Template:Sfn Memnon of Heraclea appeared not to make such a distinction when he described Zipoetes' entire reign: "The life of this one [Zipoites] was 76 years, and he ruled the dominionTemplate:Efn 48." (Template:Langx). Smith (2004) translated the passage as "Zipoetes lived for 76 years and ruled the kingdom for 48 years."Template:Sfn Slavova (2015) called him a "Bithynian king".<ref name="Slavova"/>
• Zipoetes II 278–276 BC
• Nicomedes I 278–255 BC. Memnon described him as "...the Bithynians, whose basileus Nicomedes..." (Template:Langx) and "the basileus of Bithynia Nicomedes" (Template:Langx); Smith (2004) rendered basileus as "king".Template:Sfn
• Etazeta (regent) 255–254 BC
• Ziaelas 254–228 BC
• Prusias I Cholus 228–182 BC
• Prusias II Cynegus 182–149 BC
• Nicomedes II Epiphanes 149–127 BC
• Nicomedes III Euergetes 127–94 BC
• Nicomedes IV Philopator 94–74 BC
• Socrates Chrestus who ruled briefly in about 90 BC

The coinage of these kings shows their regal portraits, which tend to be engraved in an extremely accomplished Hellenistic style.<ref>Asia Minor Coins - regal Bithynian coins</ref>

See also

• Bithynian coinage

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
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