Prusias I of Bithynia

Who was Prusias I of Bithynia?

Prusias I Cholus was a king of Bithynia. The son of Ziaelas of Bithynia, he formed a marriage alliance with Demetrius II of Macedon, receiving the latter's daughter, Apama III, as his wife.

Prusias fought a war against Byzantium, then defeated the Galatians that Nicomedes I had invited across the Bosphorus. He expanded the territories of Bithynia in a series of wars against Attalus I of Pergamum and Heraclea Pontica on the Black Sea. Philip V of Macedon granted him the ports of Keios and Myrleia in 202, which he renamed Prusias and Apameia respectively. Although he granted sanctuary to Hannibal, who fought against the Attalids for him, he remained neutral during the Roman Republic's war with Antiochus III the Great. Apama III bore Prusias I a son called Prusias II, who succeeded him.