Difference between revisions of "Bithynia"

<p> [[Bithynia]] (Βιθυνία) was a fertile and highly civilized country in the N.W. of Asia Minor, bounded en the W. by the Propontis and the Bosporus, on the N. by the Euxine, on the S. by the range of Mysian Olympus, and on the E. by a doubtful line, some distance to the right of the river Sangarios (Strabo, xii. iv. 1; Pliny, v. 43). One of the kings of Bithynia changed the history of Asia Minor by inviting the marauding Galatians to cross the Bosporus (278 b.c.). [[Nicomedes]] iii., the last king, made the Romans his heirs (73 b.c.), and after the expulsion of [[Mithridates]] of [[Pontus]] (64 b.c.), Pompey formed the dual province of <i> Bithynia et Pontus </i> , which was governed by a proconsul, residing at Nicomedeia. On the division of the provinces by [[Augustus]] in 27 b.c. it remained senatorial. </p> <p> The presence of [[Jews]] in Bithynia is indicated by [[Philo]] ( <i> Leg. ad Gaium </i> , 36). In his second missionary journey, St. Paul, always drawn to the great centres of Graeco-Roman civilization, attempted with Silas to enter Bithynia (ἐπείραζον εἰς τὴν Βιθυνίαν πορευθῆναι), intending probably to evangelize Nicaea and Nicomedeia, but the Spirit of Jesus, who was leading them on westward, did not permit them (&nbsp;Acts 16:7). The province which so nearly became an apostolic mission-field had not, however, to wait long for the gospel. &nbsp;1 Peter 1:1 affords evidence of the early introduction and rapid progress of [[Christianity]] in the province of Bithynia. Details, however, are wanting. </p> <p> ‘For Bithynia, like Cappadocia, we have no primitive [[Christian]] record: but it could hardly remain long unaffected by the neighbourhood at Christian communities to the South-West, the South, and probably the East; even if no friend or disciple took up before long the purpose which St. Paul had been constrained to abandon, when a [[Divine]] intimation drew him onward into Europe’ [[(F. J. A]]  Hort, <i> First Ep. of St. Peter: [[I. 1-Ii;]]  17 </i> , 1898, p. 17). </p> <p> In a.d. 112 the younger Pliny was sent to govern the province of Bithynia, which had become disorganized under senatorial administration. His correspondence with [[Trajan]] bears striking testimony to the expansion of the Christian religion, which seemed to him a <i> superstitio prava immodica </i> ( <i> Epp </i> . x. 96, 97). Not only in the cities but in the rural villages the temples were almost deserted and the sacrificial ritual interrupted. While the letters describe a state of things which was true of the province as a whole, there are some indications that Amisos in the Far East was the first city on the Black Sea to which Christianity spread (Ramsay, <i> The Church in the Roman [[Empire]] </i> , 1893, p. 224f.). </p> <p> Literature.-W. Smith, <i> DGRG </i> [Note: GRG Dict. of Greek and Roman Geography.]i. [1856] 404; Carl Ritter, <i> Kleinasien </i> , i. [1858] 650ff.; [[E. G]]  Hardy, <i> Plinii Epistulae ad Trajanum </i> , 1889; [[W. M]]  Ramsay. <i> Hist. Geog. of Asia Minor </i> , 1890; Conybeare-Howson, <i> Life and [[Epistles]] of St. Paul </i> , new ed., 1877. </p> <p> James Strahan. </p>

<p> &nbsp;1 Peter 1:1 , a providence in the northern part of Asia Minor, on the shore of the Black sea, having Paphlagonia on the east, [[Phrygia]] and Galatia on the south, and Mysia on the southwest. It was directly opposite to Constantinople. It is famous as being one of the provinces to which the apostle Peter addressed his first epistle; also as having been under the government of Pliny, who, in a letter to the emperor Trajan, makes honorable mention of the number, character, and customs of the persecuted Christians there, about [[A. D]]  106; also for the holding of the most celebrated council of the Christian church in the city of Nice, its metropolis, about [[A. D]]  325. It may be, with some justice, considered as a province taught by Peter; and we read that when Paul attempted to go into Bithynia, the Spirit suffered him not, &nbsp;Acts 16:7 . </p>

<p> [[Bithynia]] ( ''Bî'Thĭn'I-Ah'' ). A rich Roman province of Asia Minor, on the Black Sea; named only twice in scripture. &nbsp;Acts 16:7; &nbsp;1 Peter 1:1. </p>

<p> ''''' bi ''''' - ''''' thin´i ''''' - ''''' a ''''' ( Βιθυνία , <i> ''''' Bithunı́a ''''' </i> ): A coast province in northwestern Asia Minor on the Propontis and the Euxine. Its narrowest compass included the districts on both sides of the Sangarius, its one large river, but in prosperous times its boundaries reached from the Rhyndacus on the west to and beyond the [[Parthenius]] on the east. The Mysian Olympus rose in grandeur to a height of 6,400 ft. in the southwest, and in general the face of Nature was wrinkled with rugged mountains and seamed with fertile valleys sloping toward the Black Sea. </p> <p> [[Hittites]] may have occupied Bithynia in the remote past, for [[Priam]] of [[Troy]] found some of his stoutest enemies among the [[Amazons]] on the upper [[Sangarius]] in Phrygia, and these may have been Hittite, and may easily have settled along the river to its mouth. The earliest discernible Bithynians, however, were Thracian immigrants from the European side of the Reliespont. The country was overcome by Croesus, and passed with [[Lydia]] under [[Persian]] control, 546 bc. After [[Alexander]] the Great, Bithynia became independent, and Nicomedes I, Prusias I and II, and Nicomedes Ii and III, ruled from 278 to 74 bc. The last king, weary of the incessant strife among the peoples of Asia Minor, especially as provoked by the aggressive Mithridates, bequeathed his country to Rome. Nicomedia and Prusa, or Brousa, were founded by kings whose names they bear; the other chief cities, Nicea and Chalcedon, had been built by Greek enterprise earlier. There were highways leading from Nicomedia and Nicea to Dorylaeum and to Angora (see Ramsay, <i> [[Historical]] [[Geography]] of Asia Minor </i> , and <i> The Church in the Roman Empire before ad 170 </i> ). Under Rome the Black Sea littoral as far as Amisus was more or less closely joined with Bithynia in administration. </p> <p> Paul and Silas essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not (&nbsp;Acts 16:7 ). Other evangelists, however, must have labored there early and with marked success. Bithynia is one of the provinces addressed in &nbsp;1 Peter 1:1 . </p> <p> Internal difficulties and disorders led to the sending of Pliny, the lawyer and literary man, as governor, 111 to 113 ad. He found Christians under his jurisdiction in such numbers that the heathen temples were almost deserted, and the trade in sacrificial animals languished. A memorable correspondence followed between the Roman governor and the emperor Trajan, in which the moral character of the Christians was completely vindicated, and the repressive measures required of officials were interpreted with leniency (see [[E. G]]  Hardy, <i> Pliny's Correspondence with Trajan </i> , and <i> Christianity and the Roman [[Government]] </i> ). Under this Roman policy Christianity was confirmed in strength and in public position. Subsequently the first Ecumenical Council of the church was held in Nicea, and two later councils convened in Chalcedon, a suburb of what is now Constantinople. The emperor [[Diocletian]] had fixed his residence and the seat of government for the eastern Roman Empire in Nicomedia. </p> <p> Bithynia was for a thousand years part of the Byzantine Empire, and shared the fortunes and misfortunes of that state. On the advent of the Turks its territory was quickly overrun, and Orchan, sultan in 1326, selected Brousa as his capital, since which time this has been one .of the chief Ottoman cities. </p>