Mithridates II of Parthia

Mithridates II 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕
King of Kings
Drachm of Mithridates II wearing a bejeweled tiara of Median heritage. Minted at Rhages between 96-92 BC
King of the Parthian Empire
Reign	124 – 91 BC
Predecessor	Artabanus I
Successor	Gotarzes I
Died	91 BC
Issue	Gotarzes I Mithridates III
Dynasty	Arsacid dynasty
Father	Artabanus I or Priapatius
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Mithridates II (also spelled Mithradates II or Mihrdad II; Parthian: 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕 Mihrdāt) was king of the Parthian Empire from 124 to 91 BC. Considered one of the greatest of his dynasty to ever rule, he was known as Mithridates the Great in antiquity.

Mithridates II was crowned king after the abrupt death of his predecessor Artabanus I. Inheriting a declining empire that was reeling from military pressure in both the east and west, Mithridates II quickly stabilized the situation in Mesopotamia by gaining the allegiance of Characene, and subduing the insurgent Kingdom of Elymais and also the Arabs, who had continuously raided Babylonia. Mithridates II was the first Parthian king to extend Parthian rule into the Caucasus, where the kingdoms of Armenia, Iberia, and possibly Caucasian Albania became Parthian vassal states. To the east, he defeated and conquered the nomadic tribes in Bactria who had killed both of his predecessors. Sakastan was also reconquered, which was given as a fiefdom to the House of Suren. In 114/113 BC, he seized Dura-Europos in Syria from the Seleucids, and by 95 BC, the northern Mesopotamian kingdoms of Adiabene, Gordyene, and Osrhoene had acknowledged his authority. Under Mithridates II, the Parthian Empire at its zenith extended from Syria and the Caucasus to Central Asia and India. It was under Mithridates II that the Parthian Empire for the first time established diplomatic relations with Rome and Han China.

A champion of Achaemenid traditions, Mithridates II was determined to emphasize the association of the ruling Arsacid dynasty with the Iranian Achaemenid Empire. He was the first Parthian monarch to regularly use the title King of Kings, and portray himself with an Iranian tiara on the obverse of his coins, contrary to the Hellenistic diadem used by his earlier predecessors. He also replaced the omphalos on the reverse of his coins with a highbacked throne of Achaemenid origin.