Pontus (Greek: Πόντος, "Sea") is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The name is first found in Xenophon's Anabasis (c. 370 BC). The extent of the region varied through the ages but generally extended from the borders of Colchis until well into Paphlagonia in the west, with varying amounts of hinterland. Several states and provinces bearing the name of Pontus or variants thereof were established in the region in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. Arguably the most famous is the Kingdom of Pontus or Pontic Empire (281-063 BC), whose final and best known ruler was Mithridates VI Eupator.
Pontus is sometimes considered to be the original home of the mythical Amazons. Herodotus and Strabo were among the ancient historians who endorsed this view.