Pompeiopolis

Pompeiopolis () was a Roman city in ancient Paphlagonia, identified in the early 19th century with the ruins of Zımbıllı Tepe, located near Taşköprü, Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. The exact location is 40 km north-east of Kastamonu and a short distance across the river from modern Taşköprü, in the valley of the Gökırmak or Gök River (, Amnías). The borders of Pompeiopolis reached the Küre mountains to the north, Ilgaz mountains to the south, Halys river to the east and Pınarbaşı valley to the west.

Pompeiopolis was one of the seven cities founded by the Roman general Pompey the Great along the fluvial plains of Iris, Halys and Amnias in 64/63 BC, when he conquered the Pontic Kingdom in Northern Anatolia and incorporated the region into the new Roman double province of Bithynia-Pontus. It was later assigned by Mark Antony to the vassal princes of Paphlagonia, and in 6/5 BC was re-integrated into the Roman Empire and placed under the governor of the province of Galatia. During its peak in the 2nd Century AD the city was capital of the Roman Province Paphlagonia as some inscriptions on stone and coins bear the title "Metropolis of Paphlagonia". During the imperial era, several families from Pompeiopolis rose to the imperial aristocracy, such as those of Gaius Claudius Severus (consul suffectus in AD 112), Gnaeus Claudius Severus Arabianus (consul in AD 146) and Gnaeus Claudius Severus (consul in AD 173) and possibly Tiberius Claudius Subatianus Aquila (praefectus of Egypt in AD 206–211) and Tiberius Claudius Subatianus Proculus (governor of Numidia in AD 208–210). Being a bishopric since the early 4th century at latest, Pompeiopolis received the title of autocephalous archdiocese at some time during the reign of Justinian I. Within the church province of Paphlagonia, Pompeiopolis always ranked immediately after Gangra, and above the other bishoprics. This region was conquered by the invading Turks in the early 13th century. In the 10th/11th century, Pompeiopolis was a metropolitan see until the 14th century, when this diocese was suppressed. Among the fourteen known titular holders of the Christian diocese are Philadelphus at the First Council of Nicaea, Severus of Constantinople and Theodore of Constantinople. The bishopric of Pompeiopolis in Paphlagonia is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. In the early 13th century, Pompeiopolis fell under the Seljuk rule and its name changed to Taşköprü (Stone Bridge).