Editing Colchis (section)

=== Under Pontus ===
[[Mithridates VI Eupator|Mithridates VI]], king of [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]], quelled an uprising in the region in 83&nbsp;BC and gave Colchis to his son [[Mithridates of Colchis|Mithridates]], who, soon being suspected in having plotted against his father, was executed. During the [[Third Mithridatic War]], Mithridates VI made another of his sons, [[Machares]], king of Bosporus and Colchis, who held his power, but only for a short period. On the defeat of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus]] in 65&nbsp;BC, Colchis was occupied by [[Pompey]],<ref>''Pompey'', Nic Fields p.&nbsp;29</ref> who captured one of the local chiefs (sceptuchus) Olthaces, and installed [[Aristarchus of Colchis|Aristarchus]] as a ''[[dynast]]'' (63–47 BC). On the fall of Pompey, [[Pharnaces II of Pontus|Pharnaces II]], son of Mithridates, took advantage of [[Julius Caesar]] being occupied in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], and reduced Colchis, [[Armenia]], and some part of [[Cappadocia]], defeating [[Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus]], whom Caesar subsequently sent against him. His triumph was, however, short-lived. Under [[Polemon I of Pontus|Polemon I]], the son and heir of Zenon, Colchis was part of the [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontus]] and the [[Bosporan Kingdom]]. After the death of Polemon (8&nbsp;BC), his second wife [[Pythodorida of Pontus]] retained possession of Colchis as well as of Pontus, although the kingdom of Bosporus was wrested from her power. Her son and successor, [[Polemon II of Pontus]], was induced by Emperor [[Nero]] to abdicate the throne, and both Pontus and Colchis were incorporated in the Province of [[Galatia]] (63) and later, in [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]] (81). [[Phasis (town)|Phasis]], [[Sukhumi|Dioscurias]] and other Greek settlements of the coast did not fully recover after the wars of 60-40 BC and Trebizond became the economical and political centre of the region.{{sfn|Rayfield|2012|p=28}}