"... Mithridates, king of Pontus, a man who cannot be passed over in silence or talked about without attention, sophisticated in war, glorious in valor, and sometimes in military happiness, always great in spirit, a leader in plans, a warrior in battle, in hatred of the Romans Hannibal..." - this is what the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus wrote about Mithridates. Indeed, Mithridates VI Eupator (132 - 63 BC), one of the outstanding Hellenistic rulers. In the era under review, he was able to create the last territorial state, the initial size of which was significantly smaller than that which he annexed. This puts him on a par with such kings as Seleucus I, Ptolemy I and Antiochus III.
Born as a new god under the light of a comet, miraculously escaping death from lightning in infancy and from the machinations of enemies in childhood, he, according to a beautiful legend, grew to manhood in the mountains, fighting wild animals.
Having shown extraordinary qualities as a leader, Mithridates returned in 120 BC. the throne stolen from him. During the first decade of his reign, Mithridates VI Eupator increased the kingdom several times, making the Black Sea the internal sea of his power. Having annexed Colchis, Bosporus, Lesser Armenia, and subsequently Paphlagonia and Cappadocia to his possessions, Mithridates VI Eupator became the most powerful ruler in the world. In the entire Ecumene (universe) there was no more powerful state at that time except Rome. War became inevitable. Throughout their centuries-old history, the Romans fought three wars with the same people a few times (with the Samnites, Punes, Macedonians), and in all cases the enemy leaders changed. The only exception is Mithridates VI Eupator, who personally led three wars against the Romans. The historian Florus noted this very subtly: “After all, four years were enough for the war with Pyrrhus, thirteen with Hannibal, but Mithridates resisted for forty years until he was broken in three greatest wars by the happiness of Sulla, the courage of Lucullus, and the greatness of Pompey.”
Mithridates VI Eupator went down in history as a cruel tyrant, a typical oriental despot, endowed, however, with a number of unique abilities. From the sources it follows that he killed his mother, brother, wife, sister and three of his sons, who in one way or another prevented him from pursuing his policy. He was just as merciless towards his enemies. By his order, in one day all the Romans living in Asia he captured were exterminated - almost 150 thousand people.
They also note his truly tyrant hobby - ophidiotoxinology (the study and use of poisons). It is known that Mithridates himself regularly took poisons, in small quantities, in order to accustom his body to their action and become invulnerable in this regard. The last circumstance let him down in the most unexpected way. Betrayed by his son and afraid of falling into the hands of the Romans, Mithridates took poison, but it did not work and he had to ask his bodyguard to kill himself.
In fairness, it should be noted that some of the talents of Mithridates VI were reflected in ancient writings. So, for example, we know that Mithridates, in order to speak with each of his subjects in his native language, learned 22 languages! In addition, Mithridates spent his incalculable wealth not only on feasts, but also on geographical exploration.
The rise of the Pontic kingdom under Mithridates was brilliant, but short. Mithridates only had enough strength and luck to defeat the barbarian tribes and the Hellenistic countries neighboring his power, which were experiencing a crisis; long wars with Rome, despite all his persistence, led Mithridates to defeat, the loss of all lands and death.
Links
Return to the section table of contents: All about the Bosporan Kingdom
The first thing that visitors try to see in Kerch is Mithridates! The legendary mountain that rises above the city, like Mecca, attracts people. At first glance, it is practically no different from the other hills surrounding the city and somewhat loftily called “mountains”. But at the same time, there is something about Mithridates that gives him uniqueness. In my opinion, this is the presence of certain secrets that are enclosed by time in this limestone hill, abundantly strewn with the remains of thousands of years of human activity. And one of the secrets: the fate of the person whose name the mountain is named. The name of this man is the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. Unfortunately, many, many people do not know the story of his life, but - oh the paradox! - the story of his death is unusually widely known. And yet, Mithridates deserves to be remembered not only because his life ended in the capital of the Bosporan kingdom - Panticapaeum. For most of our contemporaries, King Mithridates is a name from a legend, and nothing more. But it turns out that there are people for whom this name is not just a fairy-tale fantasy. For them, Mithridates is a symbol of unbending will and pride of the national spirit. To some extent, I belong to them. I am impressed by the personality of Mithridates, as a person and as a statesman. Although, for the famous Kerch poet, the personality of Mithridates is odious and causes only hostility. But I did not give this example in order to enter into a debate about the merits or demerits of this historical figure. I just think that other people should form an opinion about the person whose name is associated with the history of the city of Kerch.
So, who is the famous king or, as he was called in ancient times, the king of kings 
Mithridates VI Eupator? My friends, historians and archaeologists, helped me collect interesting information about him. One of them is Doctor of Historical Sciences E.A. Molev, who wrote a book dedicated to the history of the life and death of Mithridates. It is called "Lord of Pontus". According to the author, Mithridates was a kind of hero of the struggle for the freedom of the Hellenic states from Roman rule. But, according to generally accepted opinion, the image of the Pontic king is far from positive. A cruel, bloodthirsty, treacherous despot who killed his own mother, relatives and children, not to mention the many people around him who were executed. What could be worse than such a characteristic? But how easy it is for us, people with modern views on life, politics and morality, to talk about the lives of those who were born, lived and died thousands of years ago. Perhaps, in order to better understand the situation of those distant years, one should look into the childhood of Mithridates. And the ancient authors who left us the biography of the Pontic king Mithridates VI will help us do this.
Mithridates was born in 132 BC. e. in the capital of the Pontic kingdom, Sinope. This city still survives under this name and is located on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in Turkey. Despite the fact that Mithridates was a descendant of the Persian dynasty, he received training in the best Hellenic traditions. Tsarevich Mithridates was a very gifted child and, in addition to physical perfection, had a talent for speaking and the ability to study languages (already as an adult, Mithridates could speak twenty-two languages). But the years of training for the young prince quickly ended. At the age of eleven, the prince was orphaned. As a result of a palace conspiracy, his father, King Everget, was killed. According to some reports, this 
Mithridates' mother, Queen Laodice, was involved. Therefore, Mithridates’ hatred of his own mother is understandable. But Laodice was not at all burning with love for her son. Between them lay power and, having tasted all the delights and its advantages, the queen-mother was not going to give it up. Mithridates, as the heir to the throne, could take it only after coming of age. But he would still have to live to reach this age. Mithridates was in mortal danger. Shortly before the events described, in the neighboring kingdom of Cappadocia, under similar circumstances, the mother queen killed her five sons one after another in order to prolong her reign. Mithridates, despite his young years, understood this and was on his guard. He had to survive several attempts on his life, and in the end the prince was forced to flee from Sinope. He spent seven years in wanderings, but they only strengthened his spirit and body, and the constant change of places to sleep, the fear of a possible murder from around the corner, made his soul untrustworthy. At the age of 19, Mithridates returned home, but not as a fugitive, but as a legitimate king. And the first thing he did was imprison his mother, where she soon died. The same sad fate befell his brother, who was executed for his participation in the conspiracy. But the enemies were not asleep either. The younger sister Laodice, who, according to Persian custom, became his wife, put poison in his drink. But Mithridates was saved by a maid, who managed to warn the young king. From then on, Mithridates regularly accustomed his body to poisons, which subsequently played a cruel joke on him. But then the young energetic king was just beginning his 
oi reform affairs, uniting and expanding the Pontic possessions.
Quite often, Mithridates’ gaze was directed to the north, where, on the other side of the Black Sea, and in those days the Pontic Sea, the lands of the Bosporus Kingdom were located. Among modern historians, there is an assumption that Mithridates spent years of exile in the Bosporus. This, by the way, can explain the voluntary transfer of power in the Bosporus to the Pontic king by the Bosporan king Perisad V. But before this event, Mithridates carried out a series of brilliant military operations in Taurica (Crimea) against the Scythians. The Scythians declared war and besieged the ancient Greek colony city of Chersonesos. The Chersonesites turned to the powerful king of Pontus for help. Mithridates ordered the most combat-ready units of his army, led by the strategist-voivode Diophantus, to immediately move against the Scythians. The troops of Mithridates not only lifted the siege of Chersonesus, but also completely defeated the Scythian army, which was previously considered invincible. Later, the Scythians gathered an even larger army and again attacked Chersonesos. But, despite the autumn storms, the Pontic troops again helped the Chersonesites. And, although the Scythian-Roxolanian army outnumbered the Pontic-Chersonese army, Diophantus again won a “glorious and memorable victory for all times,” as was said in the inscription found during the excavations of Chersonese. After this, the commander of Mithridates went to the Bosporus and agreed with Perisad V to transfer power over the Bosporan kingdom to Mithridates VI Eupator. But the Bosporan Scythians, led by Savmak, rebelled and, having killed Perisad, seized power.
In the spring of 108 BC. Mithridates' troops suppressed the rebels, and Mithridates reigned in the Bosporus. During the excavations of Nymphaeum, near Kerch, a pedestal with a tattoo of Mithridates was found, where he was first called the “king of kings.”
Gradually, Mithridates united all the Black Sea cities and states under his rule. Their prosperity during the early years of his reign was in sharp contrast to the situation of the Greek cities subject to Rome. Residents of the cities of the Northern Black Sea region revered Mithridates as a deity. Seven years of continuous victories made Mithridates the most powerful of the rulers of the East. But that didn't make his heart any softer. Having experienced the treachery of his enemies, Mithridates himself sometimes did not disdain insidious methods in achieving his goals. So, one day the army of Mithridates met with the army of the young Cappadocian king Ariarat for a decisive battle. Mithridates invited Ariarat to negotiations, but came to them with a dagger hidden under his clothes. Having called the Cappadocian king aside, Mithridates killed him in front of both troops. The death of the king forced the Cappadocians to lay down their arms. But it was not so easy for Mithridates with the Romans. Rome looked with jealousy at the successes of the Pontic king and at the expansion of his power. War was brewing. It was the twenty-third year of the reign of Mithridates Eupator. And the war broke out. Mithridates defeats the troops of the Roman generals one by one. He captured one of them, Mania Aquilius, alive. As punishment for the fact that he most of all called for war with Pontus, Mithridates ordered his mouth to be filled with molten gold. The huge amount of wealth captured from the Romans significantly replenished the treasury of Mithridates, which allowed him to maintain a huge army. This added to his fame and veneration. According to one of the inscriptions found in the city of Ephesus, it is said that the Pontic king led a movement “against the rule of the Romans for universal freedom.” His hatred of the Romans was such that he ordered the complete destruction of all Romans in Asia. But soon the cup of victory tilted in the other direction. The Romans defeated one of his troops after another. Greece, allied with Mithridates, was captured, after fierce resistance. The Pontic armies retreated, leaving the previously captured territories to the Romans. Accustomed to luxury and pampered, the king's courtiers were active supporters of Mithridates during his victorious march, but as soon as they felt difficulties and danger, they began to think about a coup. Embittered by numerous betrayals and betrayals, Mithridates, having uncovered another conspiracy, killed 1,600 people through denunciations. But conspiracies and betrayals continued. One of these conspiracies was led by his son Mahar, left by his father as governor in the Bosporus. Instead of sending another supply train to the Pontic troops, Machar sent it to the Romans, along with an offer of alliance and friendship. Having learned about this, Mithridates arrived in the Bosporus, but Mahar fled from Panticapaeum and later committed suicide. Fearing new betrayals, Mithridates became even more cautious. His special passion was the study of poisons. Ancient authors claim that Mithridates wrote entire treatises on this topic. Pliny the Elder reports one of the antidote recipes compiled by Mithridates: “You need to take two dry nuts, two figs, twenty rue leaves, grind and sprinkle with salt...”. According to the Roman writer Claudius Aelian, in the room in front of Mithridates’ bedroom there were always three animals - a horse, a deer and a bull, which supposedly could warn the king about the approaching danger. But it was the mule who truly saved the king from danger. This happened after one of the battles Mithridates lost. Fleeing from the Roman horsemen pursuing him, Mithridates, abandoned by his servants, tried to elude pursuit. Between him and his pursuers was a mule with heavy luggage. One of the warriors struck the luggage with his sword while galloping. Golden things fell from there. While the warriors were collecting treasures, Mithridates managed to escape. Aged, exhausted by failures and betrayals, the king eventually ended up in the Bosporus. There was nowhere to retreat further. The Roman Emperor Pompeii offered him complete surrender, but Mithridates proudly declared that this would never happen! In desperation, the king began to gather a new army, including not only free Bosporites, but also slaves. Tribes of surrounding barbarians were invited to the Bosporus as allies. All this could not but cause indignation and discontent among the population and the army. We can also add here the difficult economic situation of the kingdom caused by the Roman blockade and exorbitant taxes. The situation became increasingly explosive. First, the inhabitants of the city of Phanagoria, which was located on the territory of modern Taman Bay, rebelled. They captured four sons and a daughter of Mithridates. While Mithridates was pondering how to punish the rebellious city, new uprisings broke out. Chersonesos, Theodosius and Nymphaeum fell away from Mithridates. Betrayals follow one after another. Mithridates tries to reconcile with the Scythians and sends an embassy and two daughters to them as wives for the Scythian kings. But the warriors sent by Mithridates to guard the girls betray him and send Mithridates’ daughters to Pompey. It seems that not only people, but even gods are against the Pontic king. In the spring of 63 BC. On the holiday of the fertility goddess Demeter, a powerful earthquake occurs in the Bosporus. Not only cities, but even fields were destroyed. The people were in despair. The most favorable moment for a rebellion had arisen in Panticapaeum itself. But Mithridates managed to prevent the conspiracy. One of the participants in the conspiracy was his beloved son Pharnaces. At first, Mithridates wanted to put him to a brutal death, but later he forgave him. Pharnaces was his last hope. There were no more sons next to him. Someone needed to inherit the throne. But Pharnaces, who escaped death, decided not to wait for his father to voluntarily give up power. The first to join him were Roman deserter soldiers. Then the rest of the troops joined, already tired of constant wars and failures.
Early in the morning, columns of troops moved to the Acropolis of Panticapaeum, where the palace of Mithridates was located. Mithridates, awakened by the noise, sent servants to find out what was the matter? Having learned everything, he gathered a small detachment of personal guards and galloped towards the rebels. But he was not allowed to talk to the troops, and a fight ensued. Some of Mithridates' bodyguards went over to the side of the rebels, and one of them struck with a sword, aiming at the king. But the royal horse retreated, and the blow hit the animal in the side. Mithridates managed to jump off the falling horse and, drawing his sword, made his way back to the Acropolis with his faithful people (and this at the age of 70!). Here, on the top of the mountain that would bear his name, Mithridates gathered loyal warriors, friends, relatives and sent them to Pharnaces, admonishing them to serve their son as faithfully as him. He himself entered the palace and, filling a cup with wine, poured poison into it. His two daughters Mithridatisse and Nysa saw this and demanded that he first give them the poison to drink. My father refused, but they insisted. In the end, the girls achieved their goal and, after drinking poison, died immediately. Their courageous act proves that Mithridates was human enough, otherwise there would simply be nothing for them to love him for. To die after your father is a real feat, but, unfortunately, it remains undeservedly forgotten. But Mithridates himself, who took the poison, could not die from it. The king’s body, accustomed to poisons, resisted the poison. The exhausted but alive king was found by his bodyguard Bitoit. Mithridates called him to him and asked him to provide him with the last service - to pierce him with a sword. When he began to refuse, Mithridates said: “...I cannot die from poison due to my stupid precautionary measures. But the most terrible and so common poison in the life of kings - the infidelity of the army, children, and friends - I did not foresee, I, who foresaw all the poisons... and managed to protect himself from them." Bitoit fulfilled the king's last request and then killed himself. This is how the greatest of the kings of the ancient world, Mithridates VI Eupator, died.
Valentin Kovalenko
The mystery of the fate of Cleopatra, daughter of MithridatesVIEvpator. Everyone knows that when Rome in the 1st century BC. e. tried to spread his influence (democracy) to the East, he encountered a strong rival - the Pontic kingdom. It was headed by Mithridates Eupator VI.
Mithridates VI Eupator
Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysus was born in 132 BC. e. He traced his ancestry through his father from the Achaemenids, and through his mother from the Seleucids. The fate of the famous Pontic sovereign-commander was not easy. Born in 132 BC. e. Mithridates Eupator traced his ancestry through his father from the Achaemenids, and through his mother from the Seleucids. He was an energetic and capable man with enormous physical strength. He did not receive a systematic education, but nevertheless, according to his contemporaries, he knew 22 languages, was familiar with the best representatives of the Hellenistic culture of his time, wrote a number of works on natural history and was considered a patron of the sciences and art. However, along with this, he was distinguished by superstition, treachery and cruelty. He was a typical Asian despot.
The fate of the Pontic sovereign-commander, famous in the history of the Ancient World, was not easy. He could not immediately inherit his father's royal throne, which legally belonged to him, because due to the machinations of his mother and guardians, he had to hide, fearing for his own life. The hardships of his youth largely predetermined the firmness and determination of character, and the belligerence of Mithridates VI Eupator.
https://pandia.ru/text/79/012/images/image002_23.gif" width="155" height="196 src=">Lord" href="/text/category/vladika/" rel="bookmark ">lords. She may have received her name after the death of the latter, already as an adult. If this is so, then Mithridates was preparing her for marriage with one of the “Strong” kings, giving her more weight by replacing her name with a more significant one.
She was strongly influenced by the royal court in Sinop and what happened there during the war. Naturally, at court there were people who were for the king and against him. The threat of war was constantly hanging over the yard. In addition to the rumors and gossip with which the court was full, Cleopatra was strongly influenced by scenes of military life. The children of Mithridates were in the castle. It can be assumed that during the first time of the war, while Mithridates’ military actions were successful, his children were in the palace. However, after the beginning of his defeats, and especially after the king ordered his wives to poison themselves, the children followed him everywhere along with the army..
https://pandia.ru/text/79/012/images/image005_4.jpg" width="508" height="303">
Sculpture of Dionysus
who speak of the cult of Dionysus. As is known, Mithridates bore another Greek name, Dionysus, so it is possible to assume that it was his children and the detachment that arrived with them who were followers of the cult of Dionysus.
The uprising in Phanagoria was a result of the sending of an additional garrison. The Phanagorian Castor had personal scores with the centurion Tryphon, so he rebelled.
Life after the death of my father.
As is known, Mithridates VI poisoned himself in the tower of the Panticapaean acropolis, unwilling because of the betrayal of Pharnaces (Pharnaces I (Greek Φαρνάκης) - King of Pontus, who ruled c. 190 BC - c. 159 BC.
Pharnaces was the son of King Mithridates III. Around 183 BC e. Pharnaces was able to capture the city of Sinope and decided to strengthen the influence of the Pontic Kingdom in Asia Minor, but a coalition was formed against him, which included; the island of Rhodes, Ariarathes IV - king of Cappadocia, Prusias II - king of Bithynia, and Eumenes II - king of Pergamon. In 181 BC e. The Pontic army invaded Galatia, but hostilities were soon suspended with the arrival of Roman delegates. However, Pharnaces' initial demands were rejected by the Roman Senate, after which he decided to resume hostilities. However, the Pontians were unable to overcome the combined forces of their opponents, and in 179 BC. e. Pharnaces decided to open peace negotiations. According to the peace treaty, the Pontic kingdom lost its conquests in Galatia and Paphlagonia, but retained Sinope. Pharnaces continued to rule until the middle of the 2nd century, and after his death the throne passed to his brother, Mithridates IV.)
fall into the hands of the Romans. Together with him, his two daughters were poisoned for the same reason. Judging by the absence of the name Cleopatra in the lists of those children of Mithridates who were part of Pompey's triumph, she did not fall into the hands of the Romans. Therefore, we can only speculate about her future fate.
We can guess what happened to Cleopatra after the death of her father.
Version 1. Goryacheva Angelina: She could not go among the people, because they would immediately recognize her. She could not marry Pharnaces, her father’s traitor. Either she married a Persian friend, or she committed suicide.
Version 2. Sokolova Anastasia: She died a natural death, because Before her father’s death she was with him all her life, and after his death she left. Where??
Version 3. Elena Vasilchenko: Was with my father before his death. Then she married some simple man, retiring from politics.
Version 4. Maria of the Epiphany: She was poisoned after learning about her father’s death.
Image of Cleopatra
Cleopatra was a girl of strong physique (we can learn about this from the works of Appian). We can assume that Cleopatra had dark thick hair and a large, wide nose, we can draw this conclusion by looking at her father, Mithridates, and other relatives. Most likely, Cleopatra dyed her hair and skin pale, because the ideal of beauty in the 1st century BC. e. there was a blue-eyed blonde.
Cleopatra was dressed in fashion, in white linen clothes, painted in the most incredible way.
Literature:
Appian http://www. /istoriya/rim/appian/mitridat. html
Library (information about Mithridates' warriors)
There is no name more famous than Mithridates. His life and his death are a significant part of Roman history,” wrote the famous French playwright, probably still a little prone to exaggeration, Jean Racine. Meanwhile, Mithridates died in Kerch. This happened in the first century BC, and Kerch was then called not Kerch, but Panticapaeum, and this city was the capital of the Bosporan state.
The story that brought the Pontic king Mithridates from Asia Minor to Panticapaeum, as a last refuge, begins from afar. First, his military leader Diophantus appeared in Crimea, and repeatedly, with his troops. The name of Diophantus was preserved for us by a decree, the text of which in the form of an inscription on a stone was found at the end of the last century among the ruins of Chersonesos. In this decree, Diophantus is named as a friend and benefactor of Chersonese, who defeated the Scythian king Palak, son of Skilur. “When the Scythian king Palak suddenly attacked Diophantus with a large horde, he put the Scythians, who had hitherto been considered invincible, to flight, and thus arranged for King Mithridates Eupator to be the first to hoist a trophy over them,” says the decree. However, in Tauris Diophantus learned not only victories...
He, the envoy of the powerful Mithridates, some time after the victory over Palak, was forced to flee from Savmak, who led the uprising on the Kerch Peninsula, and he fled so that he barely managed to jump on the ship that was sent for him from Chersonesos. True, having reached this glorious, but nevertheless slave-owning city, the commander came to his senses and in the main city square, in a voice high with anger, he called on the wrath of the gods on the heads of those who refused to help him.
The Chersonesites, wrapped in their white robes, listened to Diophantus attentively. They nodded with their big noses - how to refuse? Didn't they themselves call him for help? Will we have to turn to him again and ask for protection from the Scythians? The Scythians scoured their very walls, burned fields, trampled vineyards, and tried to take advantage of the benefits from trade that so far had only been enjoyed by the Greek reseller cities.
In exactly the same way, the Scythians besieged the Bosporus, and there, too, the wives hurried their husbands: something needs to be decided about this! If you cannot defend the city, send messengers overseas to Pontus, call Mithridates' army for help!
Messengers were sent, and soon the first trireme from Pontus flew into the Chersonesus harbor, followed by the second, third, tenth - without number!
The Chersonesos poured out of their homes: Diophantus has come again! Oh, King of Pontus, Mithridates, how fast, how strong and glorious you are!
Diophantus, who led an entire army to the shores of the peninsula, this time, in addition to military victories, also won diplomatic victories: it was on his advice and insistence that the Bosporans decided to transfer their kingdom into the hands of Mithridates, king of Pontus, ruler of many, many lands. Truly, it is better to live under the arm of a strong man than to defend your own freedom at your own risk in the middle of an open field!..
“Mithridates will not let us be offended!” - this was the most popular phrase in those days among the residents of the Greek cities of Chersonesos, Panticapaeum, Myrmekia, Nymphaeum. True, the fishermen of Tiritaki asked each other: would Mithridates himself want to offend his new subjects? But their voices did not influence the course of events.
Diophantus brought cruel order to the peninsula. He finally managed to strangle the uprising of Savmak, drive away the Scythians, push back the Tauri, and intimidate everyone who encroached on the freedom of ancient cities. Still would! These cities would be useful to Mithridates himself in his long, almost half-century-long war with Rome! More precisely, in those wars in which, and not always successfully, the best commanders, the flower of Roman history, opposed Mithridates. Since the sixth grade we have known the names: Sulla, Lucullus, Pompey.
In the mountains of Macedonia, on the coast of Greece, soldiers born in Chersonesus and Panticapaeum died. There was not enough bread, meat, gold, new ships and hardy horses. For a long time now, both the Chersonesos and the Bosporans realized how wrong they were when they decided: it was better to live under the arm of a strong man than to die for freedom in an open field.
...Tsar Mithridates has long grown old, but has not calmed down; for a long time now the Bosporus has been ruled by his son, who is also no longer young, but peace is not visible in any distance. Meanwhile, the Bosporians are peering intently into this sun-bleached distance: will it bring something?
Now is the time: wait every hour - either the Roman fleet will enter the harbor, or Mithridates will burst into Panticapaeum, destroying his own subjects, some for sluggishness, some for treason...
But why does he need to go to Panticapaeum? Even his son had long ago, so as not to miscalculate, sold himself to the Romans, sending them grain and other supplies, which, having robbed the Bosporans, he had prepared for his father.
...However, Mithridates still enters Panticapaeum and gloomily looks at the remains of the burning fleet, which his son burned, fleeing from his father’s wrath. Well, Mithridates will still argue with fate! Now the Bosporus will become its stronghold, this piece of land, so clearly visible from the high mountain of the Acropolis.
Mithridates stood at its top, huge and old, but his twisted muscles still tensed under his dark skin, like under the skin of an animal ready to jump. And the nostrils flared, and dry, strong legs stepped on the trampled grass impatiently: the king was ready to go to the hated Rome for the fourth time.
And, who knows, maybe he would have gone, if not for a new betrayal: the second son, Pharnaces, also went over to the side of Rome. And down there, in the square near the harbor, where smoke still clouds the water, he is crowned king! The garrison of the fortress is on his side, and now high walls guard Mithridates himself, and there is no road out of the ring...
But the king does not want to surrender alive. The thought of shame is so scary that he even laughs, moving his short neck from side to side. The poison is always with him, and so he pours yellow hemlock balls onto his huge palm and hands them to his daughters. Brides of the kings of Egypt and Crete, they also prefer death to shame. But death does not take him, hemlock is powerless in front of a powerful body, an indomitable spirit. However, there is a very prosaic explanation for this. Even from childhood, the future ruler of Pontus knew: the Romans would try to kill him, most likely with hemlock poison, as they did to many who stood in their way. And only hemlock helps against hemlock: you just need to accustom yourself to it gradually. So, I didn’t take the hemlock, only the sword remained. According to legend, the king ordered himself to be stabbed. Others said differently: he threw himself on a sword stuck into the ground with the tip up.
...But there is no grave or tomb of Mithridates in Kerch. Just like the once living but defeated Scythian Savmak, the dead Mithridates was taken to Sinope, the capital of Pontus. There he was buried not only without desecration, but with the honors that Rome was generous with.
In Kerch, in memory of Mithridates, only the name of the mountain remained, from where the king last looked at the sea, at the green hills around, at the white cubes of the houses of Myrmekia and Tiritaki...
Nothing in the city today reminds us of Mithridates. The mountain that was once named after him has a different glory. Perhaps the remains of antique columns on its side, lying in the dust and in the golden blossoms of dandelions, someone out of ignorance will mistake for Mithridat’s tomb, as Pushkin once did when traveling through the Crimea with the family of General Raevsky. And, perhaps, a predatory trireme will flash in his imagination like a narrow glare of the sun, but in a moment it will melt away. Because just at this time, interrupting the mirage and puffing busily, a small tugboat with the loud name “Red Army” will pass into the harbor and bump into the pier...
E.G. Krishtof
Mithridates VI Eupator
With its annexation to the Pontic kingdom, Bosporus became the most important part of a huge state in the Black Sea region, which included, in addition to Pontus, Chersonesos and its choir *, Olbia, Colchis, Armenia Minor and some Asia Minor regions. During the long struggle of Mithridates with Rome, the Bosporus remained the base from which the Pontic king drew not only funds to equip and feed the army, but also soldiers for his troops. In the end, it became his last stronghold.
The wars of Mithridates with Rome shook the entire East. They turned out to be the final stage of resistance that the Eastern Greek world offered to the enslaver Rome. In this struggle, the personality of Mithridates most closely corresponded to the image of the leader of the defending East.
Mithridates VI Eupator was an extraordinary man in all respects1. Its origins are connected with the Achaemenidian dynasty and with the descendants of Alexander the Great and Seleucus. This gave Mithridates special significance in the eyes of his subjects and surrounded the king’s name with an aura of glory. Gigantic growth, enormous physical strength, indomitable energy and unyielding courage, deep and cunning mind, boundless cruelty - this is how he was preserved in the descriptions of ancient authors. On his orders, a mother, brother, sister, three sons and three daughters were killed or died in captivity.
Mithridates imposed a huge tax on the Bosporan population. Strabo reports that the king annually received from him about half a million poods of grain and large sums of money. All this was required for his wars with Rome. The situation in the Bosporus became especially difficult when Mithridates arrived here after a series of defeats inflicted on him by Rome. The ruler of Pontus was preparing for new wars and for the sake of them he took the most extreme measures in relation to the Bosporus and other subordinate regions.
The Roman historian Appian (2nd century AD) describes Mithridates’ preparations for the war with Rome: “He continued to recruit an army from freemen and slaves and prepared masses of weapons, arrows and military vehicles, sparing neither forest material nor working bulls for production bowstring, he imposed taxes on all his subjects, not excluding the poorest, and the collectors offended many of them.”2
This policy of Mithridates aroused discontent against him in different segments of the population. The Bosporan nobility was dissatisfied with the collapse of maritime trade due to the naval blockade by Rome. She was also alarmed by the fact that Mithridates was recruiting slaves into the army. Even among the troops there was no support for his fantastic plans to go through the Balkans and Italy in order to defeat Rome there. A denouement was brewing. A conspiracy arose in Panticapaeum led by the son of Mithridates Pharnaces.
According to Appian, events unfolded like this.
At night, Pharnaces went to the camp of the Roman deserters and persuaded them to desert their father. That same night he sent his agents to other military camps. At dawn, the Roman deserters raised a war cry, followed by gradually other troops. The sailors most inclined to change were the first to shout, followed by all the others. Mithridates, awakened by this cry, sent to find out what those shouting wanted. They replied that they wanted to have his young son as king, instead of the old man who had killed many of his sons, military leaders and friends. Mithridates went out to talk with them, but the garrison guarding the acropolis did not let him out, as they sided with the rebels. They killed the horse of Mithridates, who fled. Mithridates found himself locked up. Standing on the top of the mountain, he saw the troops below crowning the kingdom of Pharnaces. He sent envoys to him, demanding free passage, but not one of them returned. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, Mithridates took out the poison that he always carried with him with his sword. His two daughters who were with him, the brides of the Egyptian and Cypriot kings, did not allow him to drink until they received and drank the poison first. It had an immediate effect on them; it did not have any effect on Mithridates, since the king was accustomed to constantly taking poisons to protect himself from poisoning. Preferring death to captivity, he asked the chief of the Celts, Bithoit, to provide him with one last favor. And Bitoit, touched by the words addressed to him, stabbed the king, fulfilling his request.
The Romans granted power over the Bosporus to Pharnaces (63-47 BC), proclaimed him a friend and ally of Rome, and in the coming years did not interfere in Bosporan affairs. Later, Pharnaces took advantage of the temporary weakening of Roman power in the Black Sea region and tried to regain his father’s possessions. He first of all besieged and took Phanagoria, to which Rome had granted autonomy as a reward for the uprising against Mithridates, and then with a large army went through the Caucasus to Asia Minor, where he reconquered part of his father’s possessions. But in the battle of the city of Zela he was defeated by the Roman commander Julius Caesar, who sent his famous message of victory to Rome: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Upon returning to the Bosporus, Pharnaces was soon defeated by Asander, whom he left in his place as ruler.
A new stage in the history of the state begins.
Second half of the 1st century. BC e. was a period of consolidation and restoration of economic and political forces for the Bosporus. Asander strengthened his rights to the throne by marrying Pharnaces' daughter Dynamia. He managed to stop attacks on power by the new king of Pontus, the Roman protege of Mithridates VII, and even achieved diplomatic recognition from Rome. Asander ruled for 30 years, and during this time the country's economy was restored. To strengthen the borders of the Bosporan state, he built a fortification system in the form of a rampart about 65 km long with powerful towers. The remains, apparently, of this shaft are still preserved behind the village of Mikhailovka, about 20 km from Kerch. The line of the Asandrov Shaft ran from Lake Uzunlar near Cimmeric to the Sea of Azov. The construction of such a defensive line could only be within the power of a sufficiently powerful state.
Participation in wars:
Conquest of the Bosporus. Wars with the Roman Republic.
Participation in battles:
At Chaeronea. Orchomen. Kabira
During the years of government Mithridates the small state of Pontus on the northern coast of Asia Minor became the paramount power in the Hellenistic east.
At the beginning of his reign, Mithridates captured Colchis, the coastal part of Transcaucasia, and then subjugated neighboring states - Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Armenia - to his influence. When in 110 BC. The Chersonese, pressed by the Scythians, turned to Mithridates for help, the king sent his troops to Chersonese under the command of the commander Diophantus, who, after several years of struggle, took possession of the Bosporan kingdom, which came under complete control Mithridates. By this time, the king managed to unite under his rule all the lands adjacent to the Black Sea.
This led to the inevitable clash between Pontus Euxine and Roman Republic.
In 85 BC. e. Fighting began between the troops of the Pontic king and the Roman legions. At first, success was favorable Mithridates. Pontic troops (about 250 thousand infantry, 40 thousand horsemen and about 400 warships) managed to expel the Roman legions from the province of Asia. The king announced to the population of the occupied territory the restoration of freedom and self-government in the cities, the introduction of democratic government, the abolition of tax arrears and tax exemption for the next five years. All these measures brought Mithridates wide popularity among the population of Asia Minor, with the help of which, by order of the king, on one of the appointed days, all the Romans and residents of Italy living in the occupied territory (from 80 to 150 thousand people) were exterminated.
After capturing Asia Minor, Mithridates moved his troops to conquer Balkan Greece and Macedonia and, using anti-Roman sentiments, soon captured most of Greece, making Athens and the port of Piraeus his main base. Mithridates assisted the tyrant Aristion, who seized power in Athens in 88 BC. e. and who set as his goal to achieve the restoration of the former independence of Athens from Rome.
But already in 87 BC. e. the situation changed not in favor of Mithridates. An army of thirty thousand under the command Lucius Cornelius Sulla landed in Epirus and launched an attack on Athens. The Pontic troops were defeated in Boeotia, and the Roman troops approached Athens and began to besiege the city. It lasted for several months, but then famine and disease began in Athens, and after a bloody assault the city itself and the port of Piraeus fell into the hands of Sulla. Athens was subjected to terrible plunder and forever lost its former power.
To help his troops in Balkan Greece Mithridates sent a new army (about 100 thousand infantry, 10 thousand horsemen), but it was defeated in 86 BC. e. in the battle of Chaeronea (Boeotia) by the troops of Sulla. In 86-85. BC e. Two Roman armies under the command of Sulla and Flaccus were already operating against the Pontic troops.
To recruit a new army, Mithridates had to cancel his previous decisions on tax breaks for the population of Asia Minor, introduce new taxes and resort to requisitions from many Greek cities.
By this time, internal contradictions within Pontus had intensified. Asia Minor slave owners and oligarchs were dissatisfied with the widespread distribution of civil rights, the provision of land to the poor, the emancipation of slaves, and Mithridates’ patronage of pirates.
Urban circles of the Bosporus were dissatisfied with the strengthening role of barbarian tribes, primarily in the army Mithridates, in which the Scythians, Taurians, Sarmatians, Thracians, and Meotians fought. The king increasingly relied on them, and not on the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region. This, in turn, caused a change in the mood of Asia Minor slaveholding circles, which began to focus not on Mithridates, but on Rome. In 85 BC. e. Roman troops inflict new damage on the Pontic army defeat at Orkhomenes(Boeotia) and capture the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor. The Roman fleet pushed back the fleet of Mithridates, gaining dominance in the Aegean Sea. The king of Pontus now found himself in a critical situation as his reserves were exhausted. He asked Sulla for peace, and he put forward the condition for concluding peace that Mithridates would cleanse all the territories he had captured in Asia Minor, hand over prisoners and defectors, and provide Rome with 80 ships and 3,000 talents of indemnity. In 85 BC. e. was concluded Dardanian Peace.
Defeat Mithridates in the 1st war with Rome, the Kingdom of Pontus, which once claimed a unifying role in the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, weakened. However, Rome did not forget about the danger of Mithridates and, fearing his new strengthening, decided to provoke a new war with him.
In 83 BC. e. Roman governor Moray invaded the territory of Pontus, but this offensive was repelled by the troops of Mithridates in the process.
Taking advantage of Rome's external and internal political difficulties, Mithridates began preparations for a new war, concluding a military-political alliance with his son-in-law, the king of Armenia Tigran II. After the king of Armenia captured vast territories in Asia, Mithridates decided that the opportunity for a new attack on Rome was quite favorable. He previously agreed on joint actions with the ruler of Spain Sertorius who rebelled against Rome.
Before the start of his 3rd war with Rome (74-64 BC), Mithridates prepared a fairly large army (about 100 thousand infantry, 16 thousand cavalry, 100 war chariots and 400 ships). Rome was able to oppose this army with very limited forces (about 40 thousand infantry and 2 thousand horsemen).
The war began with the invasion of the Bosporus by Pontic troops under the command of Neoptolemus. Soon the Bosporus again passed to Mithridates, who appointed him governor of his son Mahrab.
Following this, Mithridates decided to take possession of the fortresses of Calchedona and Cyzicus (Prepontis) before the arrival of the Roman legions from Italy. However, their siege was unsuccessful, and in 74 BC. Roman legions under the command of the consul landed in Prepontis Licinia Luculla.
Roman troops defeated the troops of Mithridates, after which the Pontic people lifted the siege of Cyzicus and retreated to the territory of Pontus. Pursuing the Pontians, Roman troops moved the fighting to the territory of the kingdom itself Mithridates and in 72 BC. e. defeated his army near the city of Kabira. Mithridates was betrayed by his own son Mahrab, who foresaw the outcome of his father’s struggle with Rome. The Mahrab sent Lucullus a transport with food intended for the Pontic troops. By the end of 72 BC. e. the territory of the Pontic kingdom was occupied by Roman troops. Mithridates with a detachment of two thousand horsemen fled to Tigran II in Armenia. Lucullus demanded the extradition of Mithridates from the Armenian king, but was refused. Then the Roman consul declared war on Tigran II and invaded the territory of Armenia. At first, the consul was successful, but with the transfer of the war to mountainous Armenia, a streak of failures began for the Romans. In 87 BC. e. troops Mithridates managed to defeat the Romans at Enel.
The course of the war changed again when the command of the Roman troops took Gnaeus Pompey. The Roman commander managed to conclude an alliance with Parthia, which began military operations against Tigran II. Under these conditions, the Armenian king faced the prospect of a war on two fronts - against Rome and Parthia, which led to the severance of his allied relations with Mithridates.
After the defeat in 66 BC. e. under Nicopolis, Mithridates strengthened himself in the Bosporus, where he came up with a plan for a grandiose campaign against Rome through the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, through the Danube Roman provinces and through the Alps. Mithridates entered into an alliance with the leaders of many tribes, offering them his daughters as wives.
However, at the end of 63 BC. e. In one of the largest cities of the Bosporus, an uprising broke out against Mithridates, led by the Phanagorian Castor. The uprising quickly grew and engulfed other Bosporan cities - Nymphaeum, Feodosia, Chersonesus. In Phanagoria, the rebels besieged and set fire to the acropolis, in which the sons of Mithridates were located; they had to surrender. One of the sons of Mithridates Pharnaces openly went over to the side of the rebels and led the movement against his father already in the Pontic army.
Mithridates found himself surrounded in his own palace, in the acropolis of Panticapaeum, which stood on a mountain that has bore the name of Mithridates since ancient times. He was afraid of being captured by the Romans or ending up in the rebel camp.
The former king of Pontus Euxine tried to commit suicide with poison, but his body, hardened by antidotes, stubbornly resisted this. Mithridates tried to kill himself with a sword, but also failed to do so. And then he turned to his devoted ally with a request to help him die, and he stabbed his king. Pharnaces sent Pompey the body of his father.
At the suggestion of Cicero, the death of Mithridates was celebrated in Rome with ten days of festivities and games.
Mithridates VI Eupator went down in history as a man of irrepressible lust for power and enormous energy, as a skilled military leader and talented diplomat who spoke more than 20 languages. It combined Hellenistic education and barbaric despotism. But the main feature of the Pontic king was persistent progress towards his goal.
