Mithridates I of Media Atropatene, sometimes known as Mithridates I and Mithridates of Media (100 BC-66 BC) was a King of Media

Atropatene Atropatene ( peo, Ātṛpātakāna; grc, Ἀτροπατηνή), also known as Media Atropatene, was an ancient Iranian kingdom established in by the Persian satrap Atropates. The kingdom, centered in present-day northern Iran, was ruled by A ...

. Although Mithridates I was a Median Prince, little is known on his lineage and his life. In or before 67 BC, Mithridates I married an unnamed Armenian Princess from the Artaxiad Dynasty who was a daughter of the Armenian King

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great ( hy, Տիգրան Մեծ, ''Tigran Mets''; grc, Τιγράνης ὁ Μέγας ''Tigránes ho Mégas''; la, Tigranes Magnus) (140 – 55 BC) was King of Armenia under whom the ...

and, possibly, his wife, Cleopatra of Pontus. Mithridates I ruled from 67 to c. 66 BC. Mithridates I is mentioned in the ancient sources, in the last campaign against the Roman General

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingd ...

in 67 BC. He was supporting Tigranes, when his father-in-law went to war against the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

to invade

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...

in 67 BC. There is a possibility that Mithridates I was present with Tigranes the Great and the King Mithridates VI of Pontus, when Tigranes and Mithridates VI were defeated by Lucullus at the Arsanias River in 66 BC. Mithridates I appeared to have died in c. 66 BC, as his relative Darius I was King of Media Atropatene in c. 65 BC. According to modern genealogies, Mithridates I and his Armenian wife are presented in being the parents of a child, a son called Ariobarzanes IToumanoff, ''Manual genealogy and chronology for the Christian Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania)'', p.p.81-82 which can explain the claims of Mithridates I's descendants to the Armenian Kingship in opposition to the lasting ruling monarchs of the Artaxiad Dynasty.

References

{{reflist, 2

Sources

* C. Toumanoff, Manual genealogy and chronology for the Christian Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania), ED. Aquila, Rome, 1976
Ancient Library article on Mithridates

Azerbaijan iii. Pre-Islamic History, Atropates, Persian satrap of Media, made himself independent in 321 B.C. Thereafter Greek and Latin writers named the territory as Media Atropatene or, less frequently, Media Minor: Parthian period
1st-century BC Iranian monarchs Rulers of Media Atropatene