Heraclea Pontica in the context of "Evagrius Ponticus"

Chersonesus, contracted in medieval Greek to Cherson (Χερσών), was an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlers from Heraclea Pontica in Bithynia established the colony in the 6th century BC.

The ancient city was located on the shore of the Black Sea on the outskirts of present-day Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, where it is referred to as Khersones. The site is part of the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos. The name Chersonesos in Greek means "peninsula" and aptly describes the site on which the colony was established. It should not be confused with the Tauric Chersonese, a name often applied to the whole of the southern Crimea.

Heracles Peninsula (Ukrainian: Гераклійський півострів, romanized: Herakliiskyi pivostriv, Russian: Гераклейский полуостров, romanized: Gerakleyskiy poluostrov) is a triangular headland in Black Sea at the southwestern portion of Crimea. It is distinguished by its northern edge at the Bay of Sevastopol (continuing by Chorna River) and its eastern edge at the Balaklava Bay (including the Valley of Balaklava). Most of the peninsula is heavily urbanized and occupied by the city of Sevastopol.

The name reminiscent with a divine hero of the Ancient Greece has in fact derived from another ancient Greek city Heraclea Pontica (today Karadeniz Ereğli (Turkish variant)). The Greek colonists founded the ancient city of Chersonesus, the ruins of which to this day may be found in Sevastopol. Other names of the peninsula include Trachea or Irakli. The peninsula was an agricultural district of Chersonesus also known as Chora (Greek: χώρα).

Clearchus (Ancient Greek: Kλέαρχoς, romanized: Klearkhos; c. 401 BC – 353 BC; also spelled Cleärchus or Cleärch) was a citizen of Heraclea on the Euxine (Black Sea) who was recalled from exile by the oligarchy of that city to aid them in quelling the growing discontent and demands of the people. According to Justin, Clearchus reached an agreement with Mithridates of Cius to betray the city to him on the condition that Clearchus would hold the city for Mithridates as governor. But, Clearchus then came to the conclusion that he could make himself master of the city without the aid of Mithridates. So he not only broke his agreement with the Mithridates, but also captured him and compelled him to pay a large sum for his release.

Having deserted the side of the oligarchs, Clearchus put himself forward as the man of the people, and in around 365 BC obtained from the city's population the command of a body of mercenaries, and, having got rid of the oligarchs by murder and banishment, raised himself to the tyranny. He was said to have used his power as badly and with as much cruelty as he had gained it and, as a sign of his arrogance, assumed publicly the attributes of Zeus, and gave the name of Keraunos (i.e. "thunderer") to one of his sons.

The Herakleia head is the portrait of a probable Achaemenid Satrap of Asia Minor of the late 6th century, found in Heraclea, in Bithynia, modern Turkey. The head is now located in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.

Heraclides Ponticus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλείδης ὁ Ποντικός Herakleides; c. 390 BC – c. 310 BC) was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who was born in Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey, and migrated to Athens. He is best remembered for proposing that the Earth rotates on its axis, from west to east, once every 24 hours. He is also hailed as the originator of the heliocentric theory, although this is disputed.

Saint Theodore (Άγιος Θεοδώρος), distinguished as Theodore of Amasea, Theodore the Recruit (Θεοδώρος ό Τήρων), and by other names, is a Christian saint and Great Martyr, particularly revered in the Eastern Orthodox Churches but also honored in Roman Catholicism and Oriental Orthodoxy. According to legend, he was a legionary in the Roman army who suffered martyrdom by immolation at Amasea in Galatian Pontus (modern Amasya, Turkey) during the Great Persecution under Diocletian in the early 4th century. Venerated by the late 4th century, he became a prominent warrior saint during the Middle Ages, attracted a great deal of additional legends including accounts of battle against dragons, and was often confused with (or was the original source of) the similar Theodore Stratelates of Heraclea.

David Komnenos (Greek: Δαβίδ Κομνηνός, Georgian: დავით კომნენოსი) (c. 1184 – 1212) was one of the founders of the Empire of Trebizond and its joint ruler together with his brother Alexios until his death. At least two lead seals and an inscription found on a tower in Heraclea Pontica attest that he was the first of his family to use the style Megas Komnenos. Ηe was the son of Manuel Komnenos and grandson of the Emperor Andronikos I.