Heraclea Pontican Empire



Heraclea Pontica (𐏃𐎡𐎼𐎣𐎾𐎡𐎠  𐎱𐎢𐎴𐎫𐎡𐎣), officially called Great Heraclea Pontican Empire (𐏃𐎡𐎼𐎣𐎾𐎡𐎠   𐎱𐎢𐎴𐎫𐎡𐎣  𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶) was an empire in ancient Anatolia from 306 BCE until its destruction by the Romans in 48 BCE the Fifth Achaemenid War.

Name
The Name of Heraclea Pontica comes from its early Megaran colonization from 560 BCE as the Megarans thought Hercules entered the Underworld near this place.

History
The region around the capital region of Heracleotis was populated by the Mariandyni, a probably Paphlagonian tribe that was in the region before the arrival of the Megarans

Megaran Colonization and Achaemenid Rule
around 558-560 BCE the Megarans colonized Heraclea Pontica, enslaving many of the Mariandyni, but the citystate was later integrated into the Achaemenid Empire in 546 BCE, it was part of the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia