Bithynium orBithynion (Ancient Greek:Βιθύνιον) was an ancient city inBithynia. Its site is occupied by the modern town ofBolu,Asiatic Turkey.[1][2]
Strabo describes Bithynium as lying aboveTius[3] and it possessed the country around Salone or Salon, which was a good feeding country for cattle, and noted for its cheese.[4] It was the capital of Salone district. Bithynium was the birthplace ofAntinous, the favourite ofHadrian, asPausanias tells us,[5] who adds that Bithynium is beyond, by which he probably means east of, the riverSangarius; and he adds that the remotest ancestors of the Bithynians areArcadians andMantineans. In this case a Greek colony settled here. Bithynium was afterwards calledClaudiopolis (Greek: Κλαυδιόπολις), a name which it is conjectured it first had in the time ofTiberius; but it is strange that Pausanias does not mention this name.Dio Cassius speaks of it under the name of Bithynium and Claudiopolis also.[6] It later bore the nameHadriana after the emperor.[1] The names of Claudiopolis and Hadriana appear on coins minted here.
The town was Christianised early and became anarchbishopric. An archbishop suffered martyrdom underDiocletian. No longer a residential see, it remains atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church under the nameClaudiopolis in Honoriade.[7] A former titular see under the name ofClaudiopolis in Bithynia was suppressed.[8]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Bithynium".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
40°44′22″N31°36′42″E / 40.739479°N 31.611561°E /40.739479; 31.611561
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