User:HistoryofIran/Mithridates VI Eupator

Mithridates VI
King of Kings
A Roman sculpture of Mithridates VI, 1st-century
King of Pontus
Reign	120–63 BC
Predecessor	Mithridates V
Successor	Pharnaces II
Born	133 BC Sinope, Pontus
Died	63 BC Crimea
Burial	Sinope
Dynasty	Mithridatic
Father	Mithridates V
Mother	Laodice VI

Mithridates VI (Greek: Μιθραδάτης; Persian: Mihrdāt; 135 – 63 BC), was the last king of Pontus in northern Asia Minor from 120 BC to 63 BC. He is remembered as one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and successful enemies, who engaged three of the prominent generals from the late Roman Republic in the Mithridatic Wars: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus.

Etymology

Mithridates is the Greek attestation of the Persian name Mihrdāt, meaning "given by Mithra", the name of the ancient Iranian sun god. The name itself is derived from Old Iranian Miθra-dāta-.

Background

From his father's side, Mithridates I was descended from an Iranian aristocratic family which was an offshoot of the Achaemenid royal family. He traced his descent back to the Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and Darius the Great, who ruled the empire at its peak, and had sometime during his reign given Mithridates' family land in Pontus. From his maternal line, he was descended from the Alexander the Great's Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, who established the Seleucid Empire.

Sources

• McGing, Brian (2004). "Pontus". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• McGing, Brian (2009). "Mithridates VI". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Schmitt, Rüdiger (2005). "Personal names, Iranian iii. Achaemenid Period". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
• Mayor, Adrienne (2009). The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy. Princeton University Press. pp. 1–448. ISBN 9780691150260.