The Pontus Kingdom #300

 FunFact # 300

The Pontus Kingdom

When it comes to discussions about Ancient Turkey in the early days of the Romans, there is one kingdom which rises above the rest: The Kingdom of Pontus.

Located on the southern coast between The Black Sea and The Pontic Mountains, the Kingdom was home to some of the most fertile lands in Turkey. This is in large part thanks to the Rain shadow created by the local mountains, which also made for a natural defense from outsiders leading to the mountains being named after a local sea God called Pontic. Soon The Kingdom began to expand their sea power creating an empire in shape similar to that of the Romans - just on The Black Sea instead of the Mediterranean - with their conquests including the regions as far north as The Donbass, and Ukraine. And only being stopped in the west by the combined efforts of many of the Greek states. Their land power was also impressive, taking lands as far south as Galatia, Phrygia but finally went too far when they took Constantinople cutting Roman trade off from The Black Sea.

Suffice it to say Rome was upset leading to The Mithridatic Wars. Once in these wars Rome came to respect The Kingdom of Pontus as their naval power was comparable to their own, although it was hampered by being confined to The Black sea. The Thing Rome came to fear however were not the boats but rather the soldiers who Legends wrote about how a single thrust from their spears was fatal with some men dying days after contact with the enemy. The Pontic Soldiers were known for their distinctive Serrated Shields and oddly shaped spears. Eventually The Kingdom fell to Rome after Julius Caesar and Pompey won the war, with Cesar famously saying “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (“I came, I saw, I Conquered”) after the victory at Zela. Yet this was not the end as afterwards Governors in the provinces of eastern Rome took on the title of “Pontus” in respect to the kingdom –the most notable of which was Pontus Pilate from 26AD-36AD. 

As for their legendary spears, it would take until 1823 for it to be rediscovered why they were so effective. They were triangular in shape, making far harder for the body to heal from these wounds resulting in soldiers slowly bleeding out. The Technique was then used for Bayonets until it was abandoned after WW1 with one notable exception: the Nation of Israel which is still using Triangular Bayonets for their honor guard today.

Bronze Serrated Pontic Shield (Above)

The Kingdom of Pontus at its height before the first Mithridatic War