Bithynia and Pontus
A Roman province on the south coast of the Black Sea. The First Letter of Peter is addressed to Christians there, and about AD 112 its governor Pliny reported to Trajan that they were found in its towns and countryside.
The province joined two former kingdoms along the southern shore of the Black Sea, from the Bosporus eastward. Its cities included Nicomedia and Nicaea in the west and Sinope and Amisus on the Pontic coast. Acts says that Paul tried to enter Bithynia and was prevented (Acts 16:7), and the First Letter of Peter is addressed to believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1). Early in the second century Pliny the Younger wrote that the Christian “superstition” had spread through its towns, villages and countryside (Pliny, Letters 10.96). The marker shows the middle of the province.
What happened here
- about AD 112, estimated datePliny Asks Trajan How to Treat Christians
The governor of Bithynia and Pontus reports to the emperor on his trials of Christians and on what they do when they meet. Trajan rules that they are not to be hunted out, but are to be punished if accused and convicted.
Primary sources
Scripture
Letters
- Pliny, Letters 10.96attalus.org