Prusias I of Bithynia

Tetradrachm of Prusias I (young). British Museum.

Tetradrachm of Prusias I (older and bearded). British Museum.

Prusias I Cholus (Greek: Προυσίας ὁ Χωλός "the Lame") (lived c. 243 BC – 182 BC, reigned c. 228 BC – 182 BC) was a king of Bithynia, the son of Ziaelas of Bithynia.

Life

He formed a marriage alliance with Demetrius II of Macedon, receiving the latter's daughter, Apama III, as his wife.

Prusias fought a war against Byzantium (220 BC), then defeated the Galatians that Nicomedes I had invited across the Bosphorus. He expanded the territories of Bithynia in a series of wars against Attalus I of Pergamum and Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea. Philip V of Macedon granted him the ports of Keios and Myrleia in 202, which he renamed Prusias and Apameia respectively. Although he granted sanctuary to Hannibal, who fought against the Attalids for him, he remained neutral during the Roman Republic's war with Antiochus III the Great. Apama III bore Prusias I a son called Prusias II, who succeeded him.

Prusias is the namesake of the city of Prusa (now Bursa in Turkey), which he rebuilt.

Source

• Habicht, Christian, s.v. Prusias I., RE. Bd. ХХШ, 1. 1957

Preceded by Ziaelas

King of Bithynia 228 BC – 182 BC

Succeeded by Prusias II