The Aftermath of the Apamean Settlement: Early Challenges to the new Order in Asia Minor

Abstract Launching an offensive against Sinope and, shortly after, entering the war against Eumenes II, the Pontic king Pharnakes and his Gallatian allies challenged the newly established order in Asia Minor. The post Apamean territorial gains of Eumenes II were at stake, as in the previous war, in which Pharnakes had fought on the side of Prusias I. In the second campaign, Pharnakes besieged Tieion, the πολίχνιον under Eumenes’ control. It was the perfect opportunity for the Pergamene king to exercise his diplomatic abilities. At that moment, as can be deduced from scattered information, Eumenes transferred the possession of Tieion to his former enemy, Prusias II, who was eager, like Bithynian kings before him, to gain control over ports on the Black Sea shore. This maneuver brought the Bithynian king into the anti-pontic coalition.