Amasya province, north Turkey
Classical Amaseia; capital of the kingdom of Pontus and of the late Roman province of Helenopontus (formerly Diospontos)
The castle of Amasya was the political starting point for the dynasty of Pontic kings that began with Mithradates I in the third century BC and culminated in the seesaw career of Mithradates VI, ROME’S most intransigent enemy, in the first century BC. It is situated on top of a cliff that overlooks the river known in classical times as the Iris, and at the present time as the Yeşil Irmak, or ‘Green River’. Strabo the geographer was born here c. 60 BC and describes the triangle of walls that had the castle at its apex and the river at its base, creating ‘both a city and a fortress’. Calling it a city is overdoing it a bit: the space at the foot of the cliff is very limited, and it is unlikely that the ‘lower town’ ever covered more than twelve hectares or that the lower town and acropolis together ever held more than 2,000 people.
After his capture of Sinope in 183 BC, Pharnaces II of Pontus moved his court there, but Amasya maintained its royal connections. It was the birthplace of Mithradates VI. In the Roman period it was looked on with favour and eventually became a capital again, this time of the late Roman province of Helenopontus. This dignity it retained until the provincial system disintegrated in the eighth century.
Amasya has been surveyed but not excavated. There are no classical remains to be seen apart from some rock-cut tombs, generally and not unreasonably assumed to be the burial places of the kings of Pontus, and a fine set of defensive walls. The walls are essentially as Strabo described them, although clearly remodelled on many occasions since. The existing castle is entirely medieval.