| Pythodoris | |
|---|---|
| Queen regnant of Pontus | |
| Reign | 8 BC – 38 AD |
| Predecessor | Polemon I as King |
| Successor | Polemon II as King |
| Queen consort ofPontus,Bosporus andCilicia | |
| Tenure | 13/12 BC – 8 BC |
| Queen consort ofCappadocia | |
| Tenure | 8 BC – 17 AD |
| Born | 30 BC or 29 BC Smyrna (modern-dayİzmir,Turkey) |
| Died | AD 38 (aged 67 or 68) Pontus (modern-dayAnatolia, Turkey) |
| Spouse | King Polemon I of Pontus King Archelaus of Cappadocia |
| Issue | Artaxias III of Armenia Polemon II of Pontus Antonia Tryphaena, Queen of Thrace |
| Father | Pythodoros of Tralles |
| Mother | Antonia |
Pythodoris of Pontus (Ancient Greek:Πυθοδωρίς, 30 BC or 29 BC – 38), also spelledPythodorida (Πυθοδωρίδα),[1] was a Roman client queen ofPontus, theBosporan Kingdom,Cilicia, andCappadocia.
According to an honorific inscription dedicated to her inAthens in the late 1st century BC, her royal title wasQueen Pythodoris Philometor (Greek:ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑ ΠΥΘΟΔΩΡΙΣ ΦΙΛΟΜΗΤΩΡ).[2]Philometor means "mother-loving" and this title is associated with thePtolemaic dynasty ofEgypt.
Pythodoris was born and raised inSmyrna (modernİzmir, Turkey). She was the daughter and only child of the wealthyIonian, and friend to the late triumvirPompey,Pythodoros of Tralles and a woman named Antonia. This Antonia was thought byTheodore Mommsen to be the daughter ofMark Antony, but recent scholarship has revealed the assertion to be problematic. Domitilla Campanile suggests it is more likely the father of this Antonia was the child ofGaius Antonius orLucius Antonius, brothers of the more famous Marcus.[3]
The successive marriages of Pythodoris illustrate how elite women, like Rome's client states, were shuffled around in the game of power politics. 13 or 12 BC,[4] Pythodoris married KingPolemon Pythodoros of Pontus as his second wife. By this marriage she became Queen of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom.
Pythodoris and Polemon had two sons and one daughter, who were:
Polemon I died in 8 BC, and Pythodoris continued as Queen of Pontus until her death. Pythodoris was able to retainColchis andCilicia but not theBosporan Kingdom which was granted to her first husband's stepson,Aspurgus. She then married KingArchelaus of Cappadocia. Archelaus and Pythodoris had no children. Through her second marriage, she became Queen ofCappadocia. Pythodoris had moved with her children from Pontus to Cappadocia to live with Archelaus. When Archelaus died in 17, Cappadocia became a Roman province and she returned with her family back to Pontus.
In later years, Polemon II assisted his mother in the administration of the kingdom. Following her death, Polemon II succeeded to the throne. Pythodoris was remembered by a friend and contemporary, the Greek geographerStrabo, who is said to have described Pythodoris as a woman of virtuous character. Strabo considered her to have a great capacity for business and that under Pythodoris' rule Pontus had flourished.[5]
Pythodoris, born about 33, married King Polemon B.C. 13 or 12,
The Tibareni, however, and Chaldæi, extending as far as Colchis, Pharnacia, and Trapezus, are under the government of Pythodoris, a prudent woman, and capable of presiding over the management of public affairs. She is the daughter of Pythodorus of Tralles. She was the wife of Polemo, and reigned conjointly with him for some time. She succeeded, after his death, to the throne. (...) Of the sons of Pythodoris, one as a private person, administers, together with his mother, the affairs of the kingdom, the other has been lately made king of the Greater Armenia. Pythodoris however married Archelaus, and remained with him till his death. At present she is a widow, and in possession of the countries before mentioned, and of others still more beautiful, of which we shall next speak.