Pontus
Pontus
Primary culture
Capital territory
Government
State religion
| Military traditions |
Pontic heritage
+3% Unintegrated culture group happiness
+0.05 Monthly ruler popularity gain
+15% Civic Provincial Investment Cost
Pontus is a medium sized regional power located along the Euxine (Black) Sea, a Persianized tribal kingdom straddling the eastern parts of Bithynia and Cappadocia rising from the fall of the 
Achaemenid Empire. One of several moderately sized states in northern Anatolia and the Caucasus, Pontus is squeezed between its fellow Anatolian kingdoms of 
Paphlagonia and 
Armenia to the east and west and the Greek city states of the coast with the large Diadochi kingdoms of the 
Antigonid Kingdom and 
Seleukid Empire not far away, almost all of whom are larger and stronger than Pontus at start. Historically, Pontus would rise to greatness under the Mithridatid dynasty (ruling in 
Kios in 450 AUC), who founded a syncretic Helleno-Persian kingdom that rose to become a significant regional power, dominating the whole Euxine Sea region and briefly contending with the might of 
Rome itself for control over all of Anatolia during the Mithridatic Wars before its defeat and eventual annexation.
Events[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Mithridates events
There is a small event chain that starts a few years after the beginning of the game by which the Mithridatid dynasty, ruling Kios at the start, can come to power in Pontus. If the original ruler of Kios dies his heir will get an event to try to flee to Kimiata in Paphlagonia. Alternatively, if the Antigonid Kingdom collapses through the Antigonid Cause Wavers event, the King of Kios will be murdered triggering the same event. Kios will ask Paphlagonia (or whatever country owns the territory) for control of Kimiata and the nearby coast and take control of the area as the 
Mithridatic Kingdom and while abandoning Kios to a new ruler, either peacefully if Paphlagonia accepts or starting a war if they do not (one that they can typically easily win, given that the Mithridatic Kingdom will shift to the Paphlagonian culture around Kimiata and get a temporary 
+10% levy size bonus).
Eventually, provided that both 
Pontus and the Mithridatic Kingdom exist, are bordering each other, and not at war, an event will fire that will allow Pontus to accept Mithridates as their new king, which will typically annex Pontus into the Mithridatic Kingdom followed by the Mithridatic Kingdom forming Pontus. If Pontus is controlled by a human player, however, it will be able to instead annex the Mithridatic Kingdom, gain Mithridates as the ruler, get the Mithridatic heritage, and reform into an 
Autocratic Monarchy without having to go through the normal tribal reformation process, allowing for the formation of Mithridatic Pontus while starting as the Pontic tag as well. Starting as Pontus, however, will not give access to the unique Pontic flavor decisions as forming Pontus as Kios does.
Formation requirements[edit | edit source]
Decision[edit | edit source]
If it is destroyed, Pontus can be reformed by any nation that has Cappadocian primary culture or the Mithridatid dynasty in power. This primarily refers to Kios, which the Mithridatids rule at the start of the game, but any nation can potentially form Pontus if they recruit a Mithridatid scion and manage to raise him/her to become the 
ruler.
Form Pontus
Once a proud kingdom of its own Pontus was reduced to a Satrapy under the Achaemenids and later devolved into a no mans land under the Successors. We must restore the great state that once was and create a new Pontic Kingdom.
Potential requirements
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Allow
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Effects
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Event[edit | edit source]
Pontus can also be formed by the Mithridatic Kingdom (itself formed by Kios) as part of the Mithridates events if the two kingdoms are neighbouring, as part of an agreement where the exiled Mithridatic dynasty can assume the kingship of Pontus. The event will allow the Mithridatic Kingdom to peacefully annex and take on the trappings of Pontus, effectively merging the two states together. Note that forming Pontus by event will also give the same claims as forming by decision, though it does not have the same requirements to control certain territories.
Throne of Pontus
The below description is one of several available for this event.
Our envoys have returned from the back-rooms of Amaseia, where they have been laying down our proposal to the Pontic nobility. As it happens, they have seen the usefulness of a dynamic and prestigious ruler and agreed to put Pontus into the hands of Mithridates in a bloodless coup...
Trigger conditions
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Is triggered only by
the Mithridatic Solution event |
 Pontus shall be our new home.
The hard way, then.
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Enabled if:
Decisions[edit | edit source]
Pontus has a couple of country-specific decisions revolving around moving its capital and religious syncretism, if the country chose to embrace greater Hellenistic influences in its country-specific events. These decisions are only available, however, if Pontus was formed by Kios by decision, not if the nation started as Pontus (even if the Mithridatic dynasty was embraced) or if Pontus was formed by the event. They can be found in /ImperatorRome/game/decisions/pontic_decisions.txt.
Pontic Capital of Sinope
It is time to leave our old capital behind, and move our administration to Sinope. Settled at a defensive position of the northern Anatolian coastline, it is the perfect location from which to rule our nation.
Potential requirements
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Allow
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Effects
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Embrace Greco-Pontic Omens
Our people look to many different deities, be it Zoroastrian, Cybelene or Hellenic. It is time for us to start celebrating and worshipping these gods and goddesses as well, rather than limiting ourselves to only those of our ancient past.
Potential requirements
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Allow
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Effects
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Additionally, as a Anatolian culture group country, Pontus also has access to the decision to form 20px Persia if it integrates Persian culture.
Form Persia
The days of Cyrus and Darius are long gone, but the Persian people remember the great empires built by their own. It is time to throw off the shackles of our foreign oppressors, and unite our people once again!
| Potential requirements | Allow
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Effects
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Unique deities[edit | edit source]
- Main article: Hellenic#Pontic deities
These deities are available to Pontus, if the player started as Kios, and it has decided to adopt Hellenic traditions and the Embrace Graeco-Pontic Omens decision is taken (to retain access to them, Pontus must be Hellenic, Cybelene, Zoroastrian, or own the deity's holy site):
| Deity | Category | Passive effect | Omen effect | Apotheosis effect | Holy site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zeus Stratios | War |  +3% Morale of Armies
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 +8% Manpower Recovery Speed
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 +2.50 Religious Advances progress multiplied by the deity’s  Zeal, with a minimum of +5 and a maximum of +25
|
— |
| Selene | Culture |  +7.50% Civic Tech Investment
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 +8% Research Points
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Up to 5 pops in a random territory  convert to the deity’s faith
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— |
Strategy[edit | edit source]
When playing as Pontus, it is actually best to start as Kios, and follow the event chain which brings Mithridates to power in Pontus. If you choose to start as Pontus, instead of Kios you will not be able to gain access to the unique Pontic decisions and omens. Kios starts as Zoroastrian, and if you want to become Hellenic, it is best to convert while you still control the city of Kios, and if you want to become Cybelene, you will have ample opportunity when you control Pontus. When playing as Kios with the intent of moving to Pontus, it is imperative that the Antigonid Kingdom cause wavers (which usually happens with an AI Antigonid Kingdom) and that 
Thrace never makes a deal with Antigonid Kingdom for control of anatolia.
After that, Kios will get the event allowing Mithridates to seek refuge in Paphlagonia. It is advised to always ask (instead of immediately invading) because even if Paphlagonia refuses, you will get the option to invade anyways, with a nice 10% temporary levy bonus and a large chunk of Paphlagonia from which you can conquer the rest of of the country. Your country will become Mithridatic Kingdom with a new heritage and flag, and your primary culture will become Paphlagonian. Then after a few years provided your country and Pontus still exist, have a border, and neither are at war, you will get an event allowing you to try and assume control of Pontus, and your primary culture will become Cappadocian. Unfortunately you will lose Paphlagonia as an integrated culture as well as it getting a harsh happiness malus. This event is crucial because unlike the form Pontus decision (which tag switches to PTU), this event tag switches you to PON, which is what you need to activate the unique Pontic decisions. There is another event which you need to own 5 Hellenic territories and 5 Cybelene territories to fire, which allows you to adopt Greco-Pontic traditions. This event is only accessible to a Pontus that started as Kios.
The first decision will allow you to accept Pontic omens, which are a unique set of deities that can be worshipped if Pontus is Hellenic, Cybelene, or Zoroastrian, which makes it easier to switch religion without losing access to as many deities. The Zoroastrian religion passive bonus is -5% army maintenance, the Cybelene religion passive bonus is +5% wrong culture happiness (applies to cultures within Anatolian group that aren't integrated), and Hellenic religion passive bonus is +10 citizen happiness. Essentially the zoroastrian allows for a larger army, the Cybelene bonus combines with Pontic heritage to give +10% wrong culture happiness, which means that in a high tyranny build, non-pontic persian culture group pops are actually more productive than your primary culture pops and with no AE or tyranny those pops are just as productive as your primary culture pops, and the hellenic bonus give you a nice tech boost early to mid game when citizen happiness is not 100%, but does almost nothing late game when citizens are almost always at 100% happiness. These happiness bonuses should be seriously considered, since a 10% bonus to citizen happiness or wrong culture happiness is usually more than a 10% increase in output if pops aren't at 100% happiness.
The second decision allows you to move your capital to Sinope in the province of Paphlagonia inferior. You should always take this decision because Sinope being a coastal plains province is already a better capital than Amaseia, but the decision also adds the Euxine capital modifier which give +5 pop capacity, +10% commerce income, +0.1% pop growth and +5 civilization value, making this by far the best capital for Pontus. It also adds a lesser modifier for Amaseia, which means that both cities are better off after the decision fires.
At this point, the real game can begin. You should make use of that nice 10% levy bonus before it expires to conquer as much as you can of your desired expansion route. Conquering the rest of Paphlagonia (if it still exists) and consolidating the regions of Bithynia and Cappadocia Pontica should be your first goal. From there, the only important threats are likely to be Thrace, the Seleukid Empire, and Armenia which are usually in good positions to challenge your bid for hegemony of Anatolia. If you want to be historical, you can also conquer your way up to the Black Sea and unite the Pontus Euxinus under a single Pontic empire, though it would probably be more prudent to fight the Diadochi kingdoms first, because the more land they assimilate to Macedonian, the harder it will be to assimilate them back to the Anatolian culture group.
Achievements[edit | edit source]
