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<p>[QUOTE="zumbly, post: 4799861, member: 57495"]Zeus Stratios (<i>Zeus of the Armies</i>) was the chief patron of the Mithridatic dynasty. Here's a bit about him from <a href="https://antikmuseet.au.dk/fileadmin/www.antikmuseet.au.dk/Pontosfiler/BSS_9/BSS9_15_saprykin.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://antikmuseet.au.dk/fileadmin/www.antikmuseet.au.dk/Pontosfiler/BSS_9/BSS9_15_saprykin.pdf" rel="nofollow">this paper</a> about Pontic religion:</p><p><br /></p><p>"<i>It has long ago been suggested that in the Kingdom of Pontos Zeus Stratios was identified with Ahura-Mazda, a protector of the Achaemenids in ancient Iran, whom the Mithridatids regularly tried to imitate. In Persia this cult was also combined with the worship of Poseidon, as some scholars believe, basing their thinking on the abovementioned note of Appianos about the simultaneous sacrifices for Zeus Stratios and Poseidon.</i>"</p><p><br /></p><p>And here's a plate coin from Price & Trell's <i>Coins and Their Cities</i>, struck in Amasia under Severus Alexander, showing the city built amidst mountains, and above it, a temple, next to which stands the altar of Zeus Stratios. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1165676[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>They write: "<i>The sanctuary of Zeus Stratios was not at Amaseia itself, but to the East, behind the mountain, on the high plateau at Buyuk Evlia. In order to show the temple of the high plateau, the die-makers have added it to the design. Mithradates the Great is reported to have sacrificed at the altar of Zeus Stratios and the flames of the altar were said to be visible from the Black Sea. The altar on the coin has flames clearly visible.</i>" </p><p><br /></p><p>I also found this passage from Appian's account of the Mithridatic Wars at <a href="https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-mithridatic-wars/appian-the-mithridatic-wars-14#66" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-mithridatic-wars/appian-the-mithridatic-wars-14#66" rel="nofollow">Livius.org</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>"<i>[Mithridates] drove all of Murena's garrisons out of Cappadocia and offered sacrifice to Zeus Stratius on a lofty pile of wood on a high hill, according to the fashion of his country, which is as follows. First, the kings themselves carry wood to the heap. Then they make a smaller pile encircling the other one, on which they pour milk, honey, wine, oil, and various kinds of incense. A banquet is spread on the ground for those present (as at the sacrifices of the Persian kings at Pasargadae) and then they set fire to the wood. The height of the flame is such that it can be seen at a distance of 180 kilometers from the sea, and they say that nobody can come near it for several days on account of the heat. Mithridates performed a sacrifice of this kind according to the custom of his country.</i>"[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="zumbly, post: 4799861, member: 57495"]Zeus Stratios ([I]Zeus of the Armies[/I]) was the chief patron of the Mithridatic dynasty. Here's a bit about him from [URL='https://antikmuseet.au.dk/fileadmin/www.antikmuseet.au.dk/Pontosfiler/BSS_9/BSS9_15_saprykin.pdf']this paper[/URL] about Pontic religion: "[I]It has long ago been suggested that in the Kingdom of Pontos Zeus Stratios was identified with Ahura-Mazda, a protector of the Achaemenids in ancient Iran, whom the Mithridatids regularly tried to imitate. In Persia this cult was also combined with the worship of Poseidon, as some scholars believe, basing their thinking on the abovementioned note of Appianos about the simultaneous sacrifices for Zeus Stratios and Poseidon.[/I]" And here's a plate coin from Price & Trell's [I]Coins and Their Cities[/I], struck in Amasia under Severus Alexander, showing the city built amidst mountains, and above it, a temple, next to which stands the altar of Zeus Stratios. [ATTACH=full]1165676[/ATTACH] They write: "[I]The sanctuary of Zeus Stratios was not at Amaseia itself, but to the East, behind the mountain, on the high plateau at Buyuk Evlia. In order to show the temple of the high plateau, the die-makers have added it to the design. Mithradates the Great is reported to have sacrificed at the altar of Zeus Stratios and the flames of the altar were said to be visible from the Black Sea. The altar on the coin has flames clearly visible.[/I]" I also found this passage from Appian's account of the Mithridatic Wars at [URL='https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-mithridatic-wars/appian-the-mithridatic-wars-14#66']Livius.org[/URL]: "[I][Mithridates] drove all of Murena's garrisons out of Cappadocia and offered sacrifice to Zeus Stratius on a lofty pile of wood on a high hill, according to the fashion of his country, which is as follows. First, the kings themselves carry wood to the heap. Then they make a smaller pile encircling the other one, on which they pour milk, honey, wine, oil, and various kinds of incense. A banquet is spread on the ground for those present (as at the sacrifices of the Persian kings at Pasargadae) and then they set fire to the wood. The height of the flame is such that it can be seen at a distance of 180 kilometers from the sea, and they say that nobody can come near it for several days on account of the heat. Mithridates performed a sacrifice of this kind according to the custom of his country.[/I]"[/QUOTE]
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