Mithridates VI Eupator

Mithridates VI
King of Pontus[1]
Coin of Mithridates
Coin of Mithridates
King of Pontus
Reign120–63 BC
PredecessorMithridates V Euergetes
SuccessorPharnaces II of Pontus
Born135 BC
Sinope, Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-day Sinop, Turkey)
Died63 BC (aged 71–72)
Panticapaeum, Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-day Kerch, Crimea)
Burial
either Sinope or Amaseia, Kingdom of Pontus
(modern-day Sinop or Amasya, Turkey)
Spouse
Issue
Detail
Names
Mithradates Eupator Dionysus
DynastyMithridatic
FatherMithridates V Euergetes
MotherLaodice VI

Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (Greek: Μιθριδάτης;[2] 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious and ruthless ruler who sought to dominate Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars) to break Roman dominion over Asia and the Hellenic world.[3] He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.[4] He cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses; this practice, now called mithridatism, is named after him. After his death, he became known as Mithridates the Great.

  1. ^ McGing, Brian. "Pontus, Encyclopædia Iranica". Encyclopædia Iranica.
  2. ^ The spelling "Mithridates" was the Roman Latin version, but "Mithradates", the spelling used in Greek inscriptions and Mithridates' own coins, is regaining precedence, see e.g. Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3d ed.
  3. ^ "Mithradates VI Eupator", Encyclopædia Britannica
  4. ^ Hewsen, Robert H. (2009). "Armenians on the Black Sea: The Province of Trebizond". In Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.). Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc. pp. 41, 37–66. ISBN 978-1-56859-155-1.

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