Mithridates II of the Bosporus, also known as Mithridates of Pergamon (), was a nobleman from

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Mithridates was one of the sons born to King Mithridates VI from his mistress, the

Galatia Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here ...

n Princess Adobogiona the Elder. He also had a full-blooded sister called Adobogiona the Younger. The Pontic prince was of Persian, Macedonian and Galatian ancestry.

Early life

His father sent Mithridates to

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

to be educated, where he became a leading citizen of that city. Mithridates was a tetrarch over the Trocmi tribe.

Caesar's civil war

In the winter of 48-47 BC,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

was under siege in Alexandria by the armies of Achillas, guardian and general for King

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (, ''Ptolemaĩos''; c. 62 BC – 13 January 47 BC) was Pharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 47 BC, and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC). He was the son of Ptolemy XII and the brother of and co ...

. Mithridates raised an army and came to Caesar's

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

. In the aftermath of the Second Battle of Zela, Caesar made him king of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

. Mithridates's niece Dynamis and her husband

Asander Asander or Asandros (; lived 4th century BC) was the son of Philotas (father of Parmenion), Philotas and brother of Parmenion and Agathon (son of Philotas), Agathon. He was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, a ...

were the ruling monarchs at the time, and were defeated by Mithridates's army.

King of the Bosporus

Mithridates reign was short-lived, as Asander defeated him in 47 or 46 BC. Apparently, Mithridates died shortly after that. Sometime between 27 and 17 BC,

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

formally recognised Asander as king of Bosporus.

References

Sources

* Mayor, Adrienne: "The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy" Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, {{DEFAULTSORT:Mithridates 01 of the Bosporus Monarchs of the Bosporan Kingdom People from Pergamon 1st-century BC monarchs in Europe Iranian people of Greek descent 1st-century BC Iranian people Mithridatic dynasty 1st-century BC births 46 BC deaths Children of Mithridates VI Eupator

Early life

Caesar's civil war

King of the Bosporus

See also

References

Sources