Bithynia was an ancient region in northwestern Anatolia, near the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, home to Thracian-speaking Bithynians and to Greek colonies such as Chalcedon and Heraclea. After the death of Alexander the Great it became an independent kingdom, whose first ruler took the title of king, and its capital Nicomedia, founded by Nicomedes I, grew into a major Hellenistic city. The kings balanced between the successor states and Rome. The fugitive Hannibal found refuge at the court of Prusias I. In his will Nicomedes IV left the kingdom to Rome, and it became a Roman province, later joined with Pontus. Pliny the Younger served as governor there around 110 CE, and the First Council of Nicaea took place in the Bithynian city of Nicaea in 325.
Before and after
- 323 BCEFarnese Hercules
- from 323 BCE to 30 BCEHellenistic period
- 323 BCEConstruction of Temple of Ephesian Artemis
- 10 June 323 BCEDeath of Alexander the Great
- from 322 BCE to 74 BCEBithynia
- from 322 BCE to 185 BCEMaurya empire
- 322 BCEDeath of Aristotle
- c. 320 BCERise of pyrrhonism
- 313 BCEThe Appian Way and the first Roman aqueduct
More in Civilizations & archaeology
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- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- from 312 BCE to 63 BCESeleucid Empire
- from 279 BCE to 1480Construction of Lighthouse of Alexandria
- from 285 CE to 1453Byzantine Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 4th century BCE.