Paphlagonia: Map & History
Paphlagonia was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus.
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Paphlagonia was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. According to Strabo, the region was bounded by the river Parthenius to the west and the Halys River to the east. Paphlagonia was said to be named after Paphlagon, a son of the mythical Phineus.
Modern Countries Once Part of Paphlagonia
At its mapped extent, Paphlagonia covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Paphlagonia's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Paphlagonia in Depth
History
In the time of the Hittites, Paphlagonia was inhabited by the Kashka people, whose exact ethnic relation to the Paphlagonians is uncertain. It seems perhaps that they were related to the people of the adjoining country, Cappadocia, who were speakers of one of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages. Their language would appear, from Strabo's testimony, to have been distinctive.
The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient nations of Anatolia and were listed among the allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC or 1250 BC), where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished (Iliad, ii. 851–857). According to Homer and Livy, a group of Paphlagonians, called the Enetoi in Greek, were expelled from their homeland during a revolution.
Location
The greater part of Paphlagonia is a rugged mountainous country, but it contains fertile valleys and produces a great abundance of hazelnuts and fruit – particularly plums, cherries and pears. The mountains are clothed with dense forests, notable for the quantity of boxwood that they furnish. Hence, its coasts were occupied by Greeks from an early period. Among these, the flourishing city of Sinope, founded by colonists from Miletus in ca. 630 BC, stood pre-eminent. Amastris, a few miles east of the Parthenius river, became important under the rule of the Macedonian monarchs; while Amisus, a colony of Sinope situated a short distance east of the Halys river (and therefore not strictly in Paphlagonia as defined by Strabo), grew to become almost a rival of its parent city.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Paphlagonia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Paphlagonia Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Paphlagonia appears, with the other states of the time.
Paphlagonia Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 22,923 km² in 136 BCE.
Paphlagonia: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Paphlagonia exist?
Paphlagonia is dated to 279 BCE – 127 BCE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Paphlagonia at its peak?
At its peak in 136 BC Paphlagonia covered about 22,923 km².