1. Family and private life

Prusias II Cynegus was the son of Prusias I Cholus, king of Bithynia. The precise date of his birth is unknown. He succeeded his father on the throne in 182 BC, in a period of intense territorial alterations in Asia Minor. In around 179-177 BC, aiming to strengthen the position of his kingdom vis-à-vis the political and diplomatic developments, he entered into a marriage alliance with Macedonia, marrying Apame, sister of Perseus of Macedonia.¹

2. Historical context and deeds

Prusias II ascended on the throne in the -critical for Asia Minor- period following the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC), which sealed the cessation of the wars of Antiochus III against Rome. The terms of this treaty drastically altered the spheres of influence in Asia Minor. A large territory in Asia Minor -apart from Cilicia- which up to then belonged to Antiochus III, was ceded to the kingdom of Pergamon, while Caria and Lycia came under the control of Rhodes. With these developments, Eumenes II of Pergamum, who received the larger territorial gains, became in fact the guarantor of the new status quo in the region, aiming firstly to safeguard Roman interests. The lands that came under his control bordered the kingdoms of Bithynia and Cappadocia and the tribes of Galatia.²

During the wars Bithynia -as well as Pontus- had maintained a neutral stance. Immediately after, during the reign of Prusias I Cholus, it clashed with Pergamon (187-183 BC). The king of Bithynia was finally forced to surrender, following Rome’s decisive intervention. In 182 BC a war broke out between Eumenes of Pergamon and Pharnaces I of Pontus. The Roman senate immediately dispatched an embassy to contain the situation. In the meantime Prusias II had succeeded his father on the throne of Bithynia. At this crucial time the new king allied himself with Eumenes, judging that this would be more advantageous to his kingdom under the current circumstances. Armenia, Cappadocia and some Galatian chieftains were the only allies Pharnaces managed to secure. Prusias exhibited far-sightedness in this case, as his choice proved correct. Notwithstanding his initial successes, Pharnaces was forced to capitulate following a forceful Roman intervention.

The next important event during Prusias' rule was the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC), which was incited by Eumenes II. The king of Pergamon allied himself to Rome against the Macedonians; their diplomacy, during the rule of Perseus, had begun to encroach on his and Roman interests. Their growing strength could possibly lead to an alliance between Macedonia, the Seleucids and Rhodes, a prospect that was odious to both Pergamon and Rome.³ The occasion for the war was an assassination attempt -or accident- against Eumenes at Delphi.⁴ Initially Prusias maintained equal distances, for he was related to the Macedonians by marriage.⁵ Very soon, however, the circumstances forced a change of policy and he sided with Rome;⁶ he undertook both and diplomatic action. In 169 BC five ships from Bithynia sailed to the Thermaic Gulf to aid the forces of Rome and Pergamon against Macedonia. Furthermore, following the end of the war, Prusias made a spectacular diplomatic move aiming at reaffirming his full support to the victors; he travelled to Italy and appeared before the Roman senate in 167/166 BC. The historian Polybius who describes this event,⁷ mentions that the king aimed at congratulating Rome for its victory in the war against Perseus. He had also earlier met with Roman authorities in Asia Minor, probably in 169 BC. When the Roman delegation had arrived in his palace, Prusias greeted them dressed as a freedman, head shaven and wearing a white hat, the toga and sandals. He had also announced to the ambassadors that he considered himself a freedman of Rome who wished to participate in everything Roman. In the same spirit, during his visit to Rome, Prusias stood at the entrance of the building and prostrated himself in front of the senators, hailing them ‘saviour gods’.⁸ These two diplomatic actions have been variously appraised by ancient and modern historians.⁹

The picture becomes more complicated when one takes into consideration the information provided by the later historian Livy,¹⁰ who gives a different account of the events. He reports that in 169 BC Rhodes and Rome reached a diplomatic understanding and he overtly stresses the contrast between the arrogance of the Rhodians and the humility of Prusias.¹¹We are unsure of the Roman response to these two forces that approached her during the same period. It has been argued that the ‘arrogance’ of the Rhodians, contrasted to the ‘humility’ of Prusias, is a later invention by a group of historians -starting with Livy- who wished to justify the Roman diplomatic manoeuvres in the East during this period.¹²

With respect to Prusias’ later visit to Rome, Livy does not describe Prusias as a humble supplicant, but as an avid diplomat, well-versed in the Roman ways. According to his account, Prusias made a triumphal visit to Rome, paid homage to its gods and congratulated the Romans for their victory against Perseus at Pydna.

This vagueness is compounded not just by the diverging versions offered by the two ancient sources, but also by the -unheard of for a king- initiative of Prusias to make such an appearance before the Roman authorities.¹³

If we are to follow Polybius’ account, Prusias’ appearance as a freedman and his humble stance exhibit an obvious symbolism: the king of Bithynia wished to make clear to the leading power that he had just been ‘freed’ of his up to that point allies, the Macedonians, and placed his country in the service of Rome. It is telling that soon after the senate refused to grant an audience to Eumenes II, on the pretext that it would no longer allow embassies by kings on Italian soil. This decision is indicative of the climate that prevailed after the Third Macedonian War, with the -albeit temporary- strengthening of Prusias II and the Galatians and the concomitant weakening of the Pergamon.¹⁴

In the years that followed, Rome withdrew its support from its old allies, Rhodes and Pergamon as well as Antiochus IV of Syria.

In 156 BC, a war broke out between Pontus and Pergamon. Following the victorious advance of the allied forces into the Pergamene territories, Pergamon was forced to pay war indemnities. Prusias II attempted to exempt himself from this obligation using his son, Nicomedes II, as an intercessor. When Nicomedes, however, was informed that the punishment in the event of failure would be death, and fearing that Prusias in reality favoured his son from his second marriage, he did not hesitate to defect and turn against his father. During this critical juncture Rome switched allegiance, supporting Nicomedes and Pergamon and provided military aid. Prusias, left without allies, sought refuge to Nicomedia, where he met a harsh end: the citizens, driven by blind hatred against him stoned him to death.

3. Assessment

The contradictory information provided by the sources hinder any attempt at assessing Prusias II’s personality and deeds. Prusias remains an enigmatic figure, a ruler who acted in order to protect Bithynian interests during a period of instability caused mainly by Roman diplomatic manoeuvres in the East. Seen in his perspective, his abandonment of Macedonia and alliance with Rome becomes understandable.