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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BER-BLA |
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BITHYNIA (BtOvpta) , an ancient district
Minor , adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine. According to Strabo it was bounded on the E. by the river Sangarius; but the more commonly received division extended it to the Parthenius, which separated it from Paphlagonia, thus comprising the district
great
great
Olympus
East
Minor . The country between them and the coast, covered with forests and traversed by few lines of route, is still imperfectly known. But the broad tract
The principal rivers are the Sangarius (mod. Sakaria), which traverses the province from south to north; the Rhyndacus, which separated it from Mysia; and the Billaeus (Filiyas), which rises in the Ala-Dagh, about 5o in. from the sea, and after flowing by Boll (anc. Claudiopolis) falls into the Euxine, close to the ruins of the ancient Tium, about 40 M. north- east
The natural resources of B i thynia are still imperf ectly developed. Its vast forests would furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of timber, if rendered accessible by roads. Coal also is known to exist near Eregli (Heraclea). The valleys towards the Black Sea,abound in fruit trees of all kinds, while the valley of the Sangarius and the plains near Brusa and Isnik (Nicaea) are fertile and well cultivated. Extensive plantations of mulberry trees supply the silk for which Brusa has long been celebrated, and which is manufactured there on a large scale.According to ancient authors (Herodotus, Xenophon, Strabo, &c.), the Bithynians were an immigrant Thracian tribe. The existence of a tribe called Thyni in Thrace is well attested, and the two cognate tribes of the Thyni and Bithyni appear to have settled simultaneously in the adjoining parts of Asia, where they expelled or subdued the Mysians, Caucones, and other petty tribes, the Mariandyni alone maintaining themselves in the north-east. Herodotus mentions the Thyni and Bithyni as existing side by side; but ultimately the latter must have become the more important, as they gave their name to the country. They were incorporated by Croesus with the Lydian monarchy, with which they fell under the dominion of Persia (546 B.C.), and were included in the satrapy of Phrygia, which comprised all the countries up to the Hellespont and Bosporus. But even before the conquest by Alexander the Bithynians appear to have asserted their independence, and successfully maintained it under two native princes, Bas and Zipoetes, the last of whom transmitted his power to his son Nicomedes I., the first to assume the title of king. This monarch founded Nicomedia, which soon rose to great prosperity, and during his long reign (278250 B.C.), as well as those of his successors, Prusias I., Prusias H. and Nicomedes II. (14991 B.C.), the kingdom of Bithynia held a considerable place among the minor monarchies of Asia. But the last king, Nicomedes III., was unable to maintain himself against Mithradates of Pontus, and, after being restored to his throne by the Roman senate, he bequeathed his kingdom by will to the Romans (74 B.C.). Bithynia now became a Roman province. Its limits were frequently varied, and it was commonly united for administrative purposes with the province of Pontus. This was the state of things in the time of Trajan, when . the younger Pliny was appointed governor of the combined provinces (ro3r05 A.D.), a circumstance to which we are indebted for valuable information concerning the Roman provincial administration. Under the Byzantine empire Bithynia was again divided into two provinces, separated by the Sangarius, to the west of which the name of Bithynia was restricted.The most important cities were Nicomedia and Nicaea, which disputed with one another the rank of capital . Both of these were founded after Alexander the Great; but at a much earlier period the Greeks had established on the coast the colonies of Cius (afterwards Prusias, mod. Gemlik); Chalcedon, at the entrance of the'Bosporus, nearly opposite Constantinople; and Heraclea Pontica, on the Euxine, about 120 M. east of the Bosporus. All these rose to be flourishing places of trade, as also Prusa at the foot of M. Olympus
See C. Texier, Asie Mineure (Paris, 1839) ; G. Perrot, Galatie et Bithynie (Paris, 1862) ; W. von Diest in Petermanns Mittheilungen, Erganzungsheft, 116 (Gotha, 1895). (E. H. B.; F. W. HA.) End of Article: BITHYNIA (BtOvpta) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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