Pythodoris of Pontus: Roman Client Queen and Regional Ruler

Introduction

Pythodoris of Pontus (born 30 or 29 BC, died 38 AD) was a Roman client queen who ruled parts of the Black Sea region and Anatolia in the early first century. Born and raised in Smyrna, she was the only child of the wealthy Ionian Pythodoros of Tralles and a woman named Antonia. An Athenian honorific records her royal style as Queen Pythodoris Philometor, a title linking her to Hellenistic dynastic fashion.

Her political standing derived from marriage. In 13 or 12 BC she married King Polemon I of Pontus, becoming queen of Pontus and of the Bosporan realm by that alliance. They had three children: Zenon (later Artaxias III), Marcus Antonius Polemon Pythodoros (Polemon II), and Antonia Tryphaena. Polemon I died in 8 BC; Pythodoris retained control of Pontus and parts of the former realm, including Colchis and Cilicia, while the Bosporan Kingdom was awarded to Polemon’s stepson Aspurgus. Following her first husband’s death she married King Archelaus of Cappadocia and became queen there until Archelaus’s death in 17 AD, after which Cappadocia was converted into a Roman province and she returned to Pontus with her family.

During her long rule Pythodoris involved her surviving son Polemon II in administration; he later succeeded her after her death in 38. Her offspring also forged regional ties: Zenon became King of Armenia in 18 AD and reigned until 35 AD, and Antonia Tryphaena married the Thracian king Cotys VIII. The geographer Strabo, a near contemporary, recorded that she showed notable administrative ability and that Pontus prospered under her governance.