Bithynia

Bithynia, an ancient division of Asia Minor, separated from Europe by the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) and the Bosporus, and bounded N. by the Euxine. It contained the famous Greek cities or colonies of Chalcidon and Heraclea; and at later periods, Nicomedia, Nicæa, and Prusa were flourishing cities of Bithynia. The Bithynians were supposed to be of Thracian origin. The country was subdued by the Lydians, and afterwards became a part of the Persian dominion under Cyrus. But during the decline of the Persian empire, it became an independent kingdom under a dynasty of native princes, who made Nicomedia their capital. The last king, Nicomedes III., made the Romans his heirs, and with a large addition from the Pontic kingdom, Bithynia became a province of the empire (74 B.C.). Under Trajan, Bithynia was governed by Pliny the Younger. The Emperor Diocletian made Nicomedia his habitual residence. In 1298 Osman the Turk broke into the country; and in 1326 Prusa, or Brusa, then the chief town of Bithynia, became the capital of the kingdom of the Osmanli.