Zipoetes I of Bithynia

Zipoetes I, also Zipoites I or Ziboetes I, possibly Tiboetes I (Greek: Zιπoίτης or Zιβoίτης (three syllables, oe is a diphthong); lived c. 354 BC – 278 BC, ruled c. 326 BC – 278 BC) was the second independent ruler of Bithynia.

Life

He succeeded his father Bas on the throne in about 326 BC and reigned for forty-eight years, waging successful wars with Lysimachus and Antiochus, the son of Seleucus I Nicator.^[1] In 315 BC he waged war against Astacus and Chalcedon, which failed in the face of a relief army sent by Antigonus I Monophthalmus.^[2] In 301, after Antigonus' death, he attacked again, and was victorious, but Astacus was destroyed in the war. He founded a city which was called Zipoetium (after himself) at the foot of Mount Lypedron; the exact locations of both the city and the mountain are unknown.

He lived to around the age of seventy-six, and left behind him four children, the eldest of whom, Nicomedes, succeeded him.^[3] He was the first ruler of Bithyinia to assume the title of basileus (king), assuming this title in the year 297 BC.

Notes

References

• Cohen, Getzel M.; The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands and Asia Minor (1996), "Zipoition"
• Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Ziboetes", Boston, (1867)
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Ziboetes or Zipoetes". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 3. p. 1329.