Mithridates VI Eupator was a man of great ambition and cunning, with a thirst for power that knew no bounds. Raised in a world filled with political intrigue and betrayal, he learned early on the importance of seizing opportunities and eliminating his enemies. As king of Pontus and ruler of vast territories stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, Mithridates VI Eupator waged wars against Rome and other powers, determined to establish himself as the dominant force in the region. His military campaigns were marked by both brilliant victories and crushing defeats, but his determination never wavered. Even in his final days, as he faced defeat at the hands of Pompey's legions, he remained defiant and proud - unwilling to compromise or surrender. For all his flaws and excesses, Mithridates VI Eupator remains a figure of mythic proportions in history – a true dramatic classic that teaches us about both triumphs and failures.
His birth and upbringing
Mithridates VI was born in 135 BC, in Sinop ( Northern Anatolia in Turkey ) the kingdom of Pontus, his father is Mithridates V of Pontus and his mother is Laodice VI.
His father was assassinated in 120 BC poisoned at a banquet by unknown assailants.
He left the kingdom under his wife and retained most of the power as their sons Mithridates VI and Mithridates Chrestus were minors.
During the regency Laodice VI preferred her youngest son to Mithridates VI to eventually become governor of Pontus.
The queen conspired against her eldest son and when the young prince felt betrayed he decided to run away from the kingdom.
Return of Mithridates VI
Mithridates Chrestus and his mother were not loved in the kingdom until 113 BC that Mithridates VI returned from hiding and immediately gained confidence and support in the kingdom as a new king.
Mithridates VI possessed great leadership qualities along with a sharp political mind who deposed his mother, imprisoned her with his younger brother and married his sister.
His Enmity With Rome
He was one of the fiercest opponents of the Roman Republic especially after they poisoned his father.
And because he was so terrified that he would meet the fate of his father, Mithridates VI decided to take poison doses in a regular way for several years until his body built a strong immunity against poisons.
He was an effective, ambitious and ruthless ruler who sought to control Asia Minor and the Black Sea region He pursued his father's policy of expansion and succeeded in controlling the northern shore of the Black Sea Which guaranteed him huge financial and human returns.
Annexation of part of the state of Armenia and some provinces of East Asia Minor.
But soon Rome intervened to save its dominance over the region and stood in the face of Mithridates VI
It prevented him from interfering in the affairs of a number of states of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands, and spoiled his plans.
The Roman commander Sula in the war called the "War of Mithridates" forced him to evacuate all his possessions outside Bontus and forced him to accept harsh conditions in the Treaty of Dardanus in 84 BC.
Mithridates sent the trusted general Diophtus to successfully end the Scythian tyranny and defeated the Scythians and bring the Scythians under Mithridates.
Mithridates had a conflict with King Nicomedes III when he realized that the Bithynian king was leaning toward the Roman Republic and forming an alliance against Mithridates.
The two kingdoms engaged in many battles in which the Romans tried to intervene as an ally of the Bithynian king Nicomedes, and this aroused Mithridates and increased his hatred and enmity towards the Roman Empire.
Despite facing civil war in their homeland, the Roman Republic waged war on Pontus.
Nicomedes IV received help from the Romans and the allied army attacked Pontus in 89 BC and eventually lost to the army of Pontus.
After the attack on Pontus, Mithridates VI decided to take revenge and went on a killing spree in the cities of Anatolia and killed a large number of the Roman and Italian population who had been eliminated by Mithridates.
It is said that Mithridates ordered the killing of approximately 80,000 Romans and Italians living in the cities of Anatolia.
The Roman Republic organized a larger military force in 88 BC and attacked Mithridates, starting the First Mithridatic War.
The Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated the army of Pontus.
The loss forced Mithridates out of Greece and the general Sulla was forced to return to Rome due to the imminent threat posed by his enemy, the Roman statesman Gaius Marius.
When Sulla left for Rome, Lucius Licinius Morena seized the Roman army, which Mithridates VI could not defeat Then the King of Pontus led an attack on the Roman force which led to the beginning of the Second Mithridatic War in 83 BC.
Rome attempted to reconquer Bithynia in 73 BC, and in response Mithridates VI assembled a large and powerful army, more powerful than those in previous wars.
The Third Mithridatic War was fought between the two empires for nearly a decade. It began with the defeat of Pontus at the Battle of Capira.
The war was back and forth for both sides with Mithridates' forces killing over 7,000 Roman soldiers at the Battle of Zela only to be defeated a year later at the Battle of Lycus.
The ongoing war began to break the King of Pontus and he even killed his son Machares when the latter did not come to his father's aid.
His other son Pharnaces II rebelled against him and Mithridates was eventually defeated by the Roman military leader Pompey.
The death of Mithridates VI
Mithridates also had many other wives and mistresses. He had at least six legitimate as well as illegitimate children with his other wives and mistresses.
After losing against Pompey, Mithridates fled to the north of the Black Sea trying to build another army to fight back but he failed to convince the people to follow him because he was useless to them.
Mithridates was afraid that he would meet the fate of his father by dying poisoned at the hands of the Romans, so he killed his entire family with poison, then he drank the poison himself, but he did not die because, as we said earlier, his body gained immunity to include poisons because he was regularly taking poison doses. He tried to commit suicide several times, but he He failed, so he asked his bodyguard to kill him, so he stabbed him with a dagger and died.
Pompey ordered Mithridates' body to be brought to Amasya, where he was buried alongside his ancestors.
