Prusias II. and Nicomedes II. (149–91 B.C.), the kingdom of Bithynia held a considerable place among the minor monarchies of Asia. But the last king, Nicomedes III., was unable to maintain himself against Mithradates of Pontus, and, after being restored to his throne by the Roman senate, he bequeathed his kingdom by will to the Romans (74 B.C.). Bithynia now became a Roman province. Its limits were frequently varied, and it was commonly united for administrative purposes with the province of Pontus. This was the state of things in the time of Trajan, when the younger Pliny was appointed governor of the combined provinces (103–105 A.D.), a circumstance to which we are indebted for valuable information concerning the Roman provincial administration. Under the Byzantine empire Bithynia was again divided into two provinces, separated by the Sangarius, to the west of which the name of Bithynia was restricted.
The most important cities were Nicomedia and Nicaea, which disputed with one another the rank of capital. Both of these were founded after Alexander the Great; but at a much earlier period the Greeks had established on the coast the colonies of Cius (afterwards Prusias, mod. Gemlik); Chalcedon, at the entrance of the Bosporus, nearly opposite Constantinople; and Heraclea Pontica, on the Euxine, about 120 m. east of the Bosporus. All these rose to be flourishing places of trade, as also Prusa at the foot of M. Olympus (see Brusa). The only other places of importance at the present day are Ismid (Nicomedia) and Scutari.
See C. Texier, Ásie Mineure (Paris, 1839); G. Perrot, Galatie et Bithynie (Paris, 1862); W. von Diest in Petermanns Mittheilungen, Erganzungsheft, 116 (Gotha, 1895). (E. H. B.; F. W. Ha)
BITLIS, or Betlis (Arm. Paghesh), the chief town of a vilayet
of the same name in Asiatic Turkey, situated at an altitude of
4700 ft. in the deep, narrow valley of the Bitlis Chai, a tributary
of the Tigris. The main part of the town and the bazaars are
crowded alongside the stream, while suburbs with scattered
houses among orchards and gardens extend up two tributary
streams. The houses are massive and well built of a soft volcanic
tufa, and with their courtyards and gardens climbing up the
hillsides afford a striking picture. At the junction of two
streams in the centre of the town is a fine old castle, partly
ruined, which, according to local tradition, occupies the site
of a fortress built by Alexander the Great. It is apparently
an Arab building, as Arabic inscriptions appear on the walls, but
as the town stands on the principal highway between the Van
plateau and the Mesopotamian plain it must always have been
of strategic importance. The bazaars are crowded, covered
across with branches in summer, and typical of a Kurdish town.
The population numbers 35,000, of whom about 12,000 are
Armenians and the remainder are Kurds or of Kurdish descent.
Kurdish beys and sheiks have much influence in the town and wild mountain districts adjoining, while the Sasun mountains, the scene of successive Armenian revolutions of late years, are not far off to the west. The town was ruled by a semi-independent Kurdish bey as late as 1836. There are some fine old mosques and medresses (colleges), and the Armenians have a large monastery and churches. There are British, French and Russian consuls in the town, and a branch of the American Mission with schools is established also. The climate is healthy and the thermometer rarely falls below 0° Fahr., but there is a heavy snowfall and the narrow streets are blocked for some five months in the year.
A good road runs southward down the pass, passing after a few miles some large chalybeate and sulphur springs. Roads also lead north to Mush and Erzerum and along the lake to Van. Postal communication is through Erzerum with Trebizond. Tobacco of an inferior quality is largely grown, and the chief industry is the weaving of a coarse red cloth. Manna and gum tragacanth are also collected. Fruit is also plentiful, and there are many vineyards close by.
The Bitlis vilayet comprises a very varied section of Asiatic Turkey, as it includes the Mush plain and the plateau country west of Lake Van, as well as a large extent of wild mountain districts inhabited by turbulent Kurds and Armenians on either side of the central town of Bitlis, also some of the lower country about Sairt along the left bank of the main stream of the Tigris. The mountains have been little explored, but are believed to be rich in minerals, iron, lead, copper, traces of gold and many mineral springs are known to exist. (F. R. M.)
BITONTO (anc. Butunti), a town and episcopal see of Apulia,
Italy, in the province of Bari, 10 m. west by steam tramway
from Bari. Pop. (1901) 30,617. It was a place of no importance
in classical times. Its medieval walls are still preserved. Its
cathedral is one of the finest examples of the Romanesque architecture
of Apulia, and has escaped damage from later restorations.
The palazzo Sylos-Labini has a fine Renaissance court of 1502.
BITSCH (Fr. Bitche), a town of Germany, in Alsace-Lorraine,
on the Horn, at the foot of the northern slope of the Vosges
between Hagenau and Saargemund. Pop. (1905) 4000. There
are a Roman Catholic and a Protestant church, a classical school
and an academy of forestry. The industries include shoe-making
and watch-making, and there is some trade in grain and timber.
The town of Bitsch, which was formed out of the villages of
Rohr and Kaltenhausen in the 17th century, derives its name
from the old stronghold (mentioned in 1172 as Bytis Castrum)
standing on a rock some 250 ft. above the town. This had long
given its name to the countship of Bitsch, which was originally
in the possession of the dukes of Lorraine. In 1297 it passed by
marriage to Eberhard I. of Zweibrücken, whose line became
extinct in 1569, when the countship reverted to Lorraine. It
passed with that duchy to France in 1766. After that date the
town rapidly increased in population. The citadel, which had
been constructed by Vauban on the site of the old castle after
the capture of Bitsch by the French in 1624, had been destroyed
when it was restored to Lorraine in 1698. This was restored
and strengthened in 1740 into a fortress that proved impregnable
in all succeeding wars. The attack upon it by the Prussians
in 1793 was repulsed; in 1815 they had to be content with
blockading it; and in 1870, though it was closely invested by
the Germans after the battle of Wörth, it held out until the end
of the war. A large part of the fortification is excavated in the
red sandstone rock, and rendered bomb-proof; a supply of
water is secured to the garrison by a deep well in the interior.
BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– ), American
sculptor, was born in Vienna on the 6th of December 1867.
After studying art there, in 1889 he removed to the United
States, where he became naturalized. In America he gained
great popularity as a sculptor, and in 1906–1907 was president
of the National Sculpture Society, New York. Among
his principal works are: the Astor memorial gates, Trinity
church, New York; “Elements Controlled and Uncontrolled,”
on the Administration Building at the Chicago Exposition;
a large relief, “Triumph of Civilization,” in the waiting-room
of the Broad Street station of the Pennsylvania railway in
Philadelphia; decorations for the Dewey Naval Arch in New
York City; the “Standard Bearers,” at the Pan-American
Exposition grounds; a sitting statue and a bust of Dr Pepper,
provost of the University of Pennsylvania; and the Villard
and Hubbard memorials in the New York chamber of commerce.
BITTERFELD, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province
of Saxony, 26 m. N. from Leipzig by rail, on the river Mulde,
and an important junction of railways from Leipzig and Halle
to Berlin. Pop. (1900) 11,839. It manufactures drain-pipes,
paper-roofing and machinery, and has saw-mills. Several
coal-mines are in the vicinity. The town was built by a colony
of Flemish immigrants in 1153. It was captured by the landgrave
of Meissen in 1476, and belonged thenceforth to Saxony,
until it was ceded to Prussia in 1815. Owing to its pleasant
situation and accessibility, it has become a favourite residence
of business men of Leipzig and Halle.
BITTERLING (Rhodeus amarus), a little carp-like fish of
central Europe, belonging to the Cyprinid family. In it we
have a remarkable instance of symbiosis. The genital papilla
of the female acquires a great development during the breeding
season and becomes produced into a tube nearly as long as the
