Bible Locations

Pontus was a region in northern Asia Minor, along the southern shore of the Black Sea, in modern Turkey. It was a kingdom before Rome conquered it. Its most famous king, Mithridates VI, fought three wars against Rome in the first century BC. Then Rome joined western Pontus with Bithynia into one province. The coast had fertile land and forests, and the interior was mountainous. At Pentecost, Jews from Pontus heard the apostles in their own language (Acts 2:9). Aquila, the tentmaker who worked with Paul in Corinth, was "a native of Pontus" (Acts 18:2). First Peter is addressed to believers "scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia" (1:1). Around AD 112, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia and Pontus, wrote to Emperor Trajan asking how to deal with the many Christians in his province.