Etazeta was the second wife of Nicomedes I

Nicomedes I of Bithynia

Nicomedes I , second king of Bithynia, was the eldest son of Zipoetes I, whom he succeeded on the throne in 278 BC.-Overview:He commenced his reign by putting to death two of his brothers but the third, subsequently called Zipoetes II, raised an insurrection against him and succeeded in maintaining...

, king of Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...

 and a ruler of Bithynia.

An ambitious woman, she was able to persuade her husband to exclude his sons by his former marriage from the throne; instead it would go to Etazeta's children. Since these were still very young the king thought to strengthen the throne by offering the guardianship of the infants to the sovereigns Ptolemy II of Egypt and Antigonus II of Macedonia; also the city-states of Byzantium

Byzantium

Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...

, Heraclea

Heraclea Pontica

Heraclea Pontica , an ancient city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor, at the mouth of the river Lycus. It was founded by the Greek city-state of Megara c.560-558 and was named after Heracles who the Greeks believed entered the underworld at a cave on the adjoining Archerusian promontory .The...

 and Cius

Cius

Cius or Kios , later renamed Prusias ad Mare after king Prusias I of Bithynia, was an ancient Greek city bordering the Propontis , in Bithynia , and had a long history, being mentioned by Aristotle, and Strabo. It was colonized by the Milesians and became a place of much commercial importance...

 were added to the guardianship.

At the death of Nicomedes I around 255 BC, she ruled on behalf of her infant sons. However, Nicomedes' first-born, Ziaelas

Ziaelas of Bithynia

Ziaelas , third king of Bithynia, was a son of Nicomedes I and Ditizele.After Nicomedes I died, his second wife Etazeta became ruler on behalf of her infant sons. The grown-up Ziaelas, excluded from the throne, had previously fled to Armenia and taken refuge at the court of King Arsames I in Sophene...

, refused to accept his father's decision and started a war against the stepmother to conquer the kingdom. Etazeta tried to resist, also marrying herself with the former king's brother, but at the end, about 254 BC she was evicted by Ziaelas and forced to flee to Macedon

Macedon

Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

 with her sons.