Şebinkarahisar is a town in and the administrative seat for Şebinkarahisar District, Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. Name The 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius writes that the Roman general Pompey captured the then ancient fortress and renamed it Colonia, in Greek Koloneia (Κολώνεια). A Greek inscription of the ninth or tenth century found in the fortress securely identifies Şebinkarahisar with Koloneia. Curiously, the Seljuk historian Ibn Bibi and 14th-century coins minted by the Eretnids record an Armenian variation of the name, Koğoniya. The historical Turkish form of this name was Kuğuniya. In the 11th century, a second name becomes associated with the place: the town retains the name Koloneia but the fortress above is called Mavrokastron, Greek for "Black Fortress". The Turkish toponym Karahisar (Greek: Γαράσαρη, actual Turkish name of the district: Gareysar), appearing first in the 14th century, is a translation of Mavrokastron. The town was later called Şapkarahisar ("Black Fortress of Alum") or Kara Hisar-ı Şarkî/Şarkî Kara Hisar ("Black Fortress of the East") to differentiate it from Afyonkarahisar farther to the west. The place has been known as Şebinkarahisar since the 19th century and both names were used. On 11 October 1924 Mustafa Kemal visited this town and proposed to be used the name Şebin Karahisar. The geographical historian Ramsay, indicated that the Armenians still call this city Nikopoli (Greek: Νικόπολη);, so do the Pontic Greeks till nowadays. It should not be confused with the nearby Koyulhisar, where the ruins of ancient Roman Nikopoli lie. History The recorded history of Şebinkarahisar begins with the Third Mithridatic War. After the defeat of Mithridates VI, Pompey strengthened the town's fortifications and founded a Roman colony (colonia). In the Byzantine period, the city was rebuilt by Justinian I (r. 527–565). In the 7th century, it became part of the Armeniac Theme, and later of Chaldia, before finally becoming the seat of a separate theme by 863. It was attacked by Arab raids in 778 and in 940. Şebinkarahisar fell to the Seljuk Turks soon after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. It remained in Turkish hands since, with the exception of a short-lived Byzantine recovery ca. 1106. Through the following centuries, the fortress occupied a strategic position on the frontier between the Turkish-controlled interior and the Empire of Trebizond. The Danishmends held the fortress until the 1170s, when it passed into the hands of the Saltukids