Mithridates VI Eupator. Biography. Mithridates VI (King of Pontus) King Mithridates

MITRIDATES VI EUPATOR

(born 132 BC – died 63 BC)

The King of Pontus, who subjugated the entire Black Sea coast, was a consistent opponent of the Roman Empire, who fought three wars with it.

“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…” wrote the Roman historian Velleius Paterculus. It is difficult to add anything to these words. When describing the life path of Mithridates, the association with Hannibal arises by itself. Despite all the differences in place, time and circumstances, the similarity in fundamental positions is surprising. Both - for different reasons - received a Spartan upbringing and became warriors, warriors with high goals. It was these ambitions, and not a pathological hatred of Rome, as Roman historians liked to write, that guided them both in choosing a worthy opponent, and only Rome could be that. Both Hannibal and Mithridates, having achieved victories over Rome and received recognition of their valor from the Romans themselves, did not stop. Despite the fact that Rome secretly turned a blind eye to their defeats and did not prevent them from expanding their interests in other directions - Hannibal in Africa, Mithridates to the south and east of Pontus - both were defeated and fled to Armenia.

Hannibal and Eupator had good health - both mental and physical. Both lived full lives into old age, both of their own free will passed away at the turn of their 70th birthday.

The Mithridatic Wars provide ideal material for the study of war as a social phenomenon and as a philosophical concept. They fully present all the factors of war - political, social, material, geographical and personal - new tactics and grandiose betrayal, revolution in weapons and personal courage, colossal sacrifices and commercialism. And each of these factors at a certain stage became decisive and led to victory or defeat.

Mithridates VI Eupator was born in 132 BC. e. in Sinop. His father was Mithridates V Euergetes, a direct descendant of Ariobarzanes, the satrap of Helleospontian Phrygia, an associate of Darius I. His mother was Laodice, the daughter of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes from the Seleucid dynasty. Everget was killed in his palace by the conspirators, obviously not without the participation of his wife. Laodice strove for power and wanted to place her youngest son, nicknamed Khrest - the Good, on the throne. These circumstances forced young Mithridates to hide in the Pariadra Mountains, where he trained his spirit and body for 7 years. According to various sources, Mithridates came to power in the period from 120 to 111 BC. e. The most likely is 113. Apparently, he did not get the throne easily and not immediately. As is customary among tyrants, Mithridates first stabbed and poisoned some of his closest relatives, including his mother and brother, and later sent half of the Pontic aristocracy to a better world. All these events showed the surviving elite who really deserved to be the king of Pontus.

Having established himself in power, Mithridates married his sister Laodice (later he would poison her too) and took up state affairs. He annexed Colchis to Pontus, after which Lesser Armenia was captured, and the turn came to Crimea. Roman historians note the annexation of the Bosporan kingdom to Pontus in passing, as a prelude to the main events, and this was the main thing for Mithridates. Back in 179 BC. e. Chersonesos and the king of Pontus Pharnaces I entered into an agreement containing Pharnaces’ obligations to help the Chersonesos in defense against the Scythians. New Scythian pressure on Chersonesos at the end of the 2nd century. BC e. prompted the Greeks to seek help from Mithridates VI, the grandson of Pharnaces. Mithridates sent in 110 BC. e. in Chersonesus troops under the command of Diophantus. As a result of two expeditions of the commander, the Scythian king Palak was dealt a crushing blow and the capital Naples was captured. At the end of the campaign, Diophantus headed to the Bosporus and arranged “the affairs there beautifully and beneficially for King Mithridates.” He suppressed the slave uprising, led by Savmak, and entered into alliances with the free tribes of the Scythians, Bastarnae and Thracians. The Bosporan king, the last of the Spartokid dynasty, renounced power in favor of Mithridates. In 107 BC. e. Eupator became the ruler of Chersonese, Feodosia, Panticapaeum and was called “king of the Cimmerian Bosporus and defender of Chersonese.” Tauris became a springboard for Mithridates in the Northern Black Sea region. Gradually, using all levers - economic, political, power, he extended his influence to the entire Black Sea coast. This gave him everything: money, food, equipment, fleet, weapons, army and specialists.

Mithridates planned a “northern” campaign against Rome in alliance with the Scythians and Thracians. In the chronicles of Sallust, a contemporary of Mithridates and a citizen of Rome, one can clearly read the anxiety of the Romans caused by the strengthening of Mithridates’ position in the Northern Black Sea region. This became the reason for the replacement of Lucullus with Pompey, when the 3rd war seemed to have already been won completely. Lucullus clung so closely to his consulate that he was unable to rise above the routine of the war and see the problem as a whole. Pompey, with his undoubtedly superior intelligence, could. History has confirmed the validity of the expectation of a threat to Rome from the northeast: Tauris turned out to be the main and best acquisition of Mithridates in his entire life.

Having established affairs in Pontus, Eupator turned his attention to the Roman provinces in Asia Minor. Secretly, with a small escort, Mithridates visited them for educational purposes. In 108 BC. BC, uniting with the king of Bithynia Nicomedes III, he captured Galatia and Paphlagonia, and then Cappadocia. The king of Cappadocia was the nephew of Mithridates, which did not prevent the winner from stabbing him with a dagger with his own hands. The Roman Senate twice demanded that Mithridates release the captured territories, and he complied, since the balance of power was in favor of Rome. But he continued to establish relations with rulers in Middle Asia and the Caucasus, conducted deep reconnaissance and agitation in the Roman provinces, and built up the army and navy. “King of kings” Tigran the Armenian became his son-in-law. The preparation led to the result: in 89 BC. e. The 1st Mithridatic War began, which lasted until 84 BC. e. Evpator did not forget to fill the war with ideological content - the liberation of Hellenic civilization from Roman despotism.

Asia Minor went to Mithridates easily. His army, well prepared for expansion, defeated the armies of 4 opponents, who consisted mostly of militia. The population, exhausted by extortions, surrendered the cities easily and willingly. Only in the Mediterranean did Mithridates' fleet suffer minor losses from Licinius Lucullus.

In 88 BC. e. Mithridates, having captured Asia Minor, ordered the destruction of all Italians, including women and children, within 30 days. 80 thousand people died. In Greece, Mithridates' victory in Asia Minor was perceived as a signal for liberation. Athens, with the support of Pontus, declared its independence from Rome. Following Athens, most of Greece and Macedonia found themselves in the sphere of influence of Mithridates. Rome, busy with civil wars, nevertheless found it possible to send in 87 BC. e. army under the command of consul Cornelius Sulla. The Romans landed in Greece and besieged Athens. The siege lasted until spring, and, despite the famine, the city was taken only thanks to betrayal: Sulla was shown the place most vulnerable to attack. During the siege, Sulla plundered all the temples of Olympus and Parnassus, and cut down the sacred groves of the Academy. And all this time, the fleet of Mithridates stood not far away under the command of the best commander Archelaus - did not leave and did not attack, but simply stood. Mithridates, suspecting something was wrong, sent an army from Thrace and Macedonia under the command of Taxilas. Archelaus explained that he was waiting for Sulla to run out of supplies. In two subsequent major battles at Chaeronea and Orchomenus, Archelaus, who had three times the army, was defeated and himself captured. Plutarch, having given exaggerated praise to the Romans, could not yet sin against the truth and wrote that there were rumors in Rome about the betrayal of Archelaus. Sulla, wanting to ensure himself a worthy triumph, refuted them in every possible way. Nevertheless, the enemy commander was with him as a guest. The position of honorary hostage is not new, but Sulla released Archelaus to Mithridates to negotiate peace. But the most interesting thing is that Archelaus returned from Eupator alive. These are already the secrets of big politics. Archelaus openly sided with Sulla and was an adviser to Lucullus in the 3rd war.

In August 85 BC. e. in Dardan, Mithridates and Sulla negotiated the terms for ending the war. Eupator left Europe and Asia Minor, paid 2 thousand talents and transferred 70 warships to Rome, the parties returned all prisoners. The fleet was the price of peace: the Romans needed it. Sulla imposed a fine of 20 thousand talents on Asia Minor, and this was the end of hostilities.

The 2nd Mithridatic War was needed by one person - the proconsul Licinius Murena, since Rome did not hold positions unnecessarily, and during the war it had both power and money. In 83 BC. e. Murena moved troops to Pontus. The war lasted until 81 BC. e. and was significant only in that Mithridates personally commanded the troops. As a result, Murena was defeated and returned ingloriously to Rome, and Mithridates captured Cappadocia, but then returned it at the request of Sulla.

Eupator demonstrated his peacefulness in every possible way during this period, but they were unlikely to believe him: Roman intelligence in Pontus worked perfectly. During the years of peace, Mithridates created a powerful coalition consisting of Scythians, Sarmatians, Thracians, and Germans. He was supported by Sertorius from Spain, Tigran the Armenian, and the pirates of Cilicia. At this time, Evpator was developing a plan for a “northern” invasion of Italy. Rome remained silent for the time being, partly because Pontus and Armenia were a “buffer” between the Persians and Roman Asia Minor. But the unstable peace ended in 74 BC. e., when the king of Bithynia Nicomedes IV died. He bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. Mithridates declared support for Sertorius' claim to the throne and invaded Bithynia. The 3rd Mithridatic War began.

Eupator's army was armed, equipped and trained according to the Roman model and numbered 120 thousand soldiers. The situation of the 1st war was repeated. Mithridates easily captured Bithynia and began military operations in Cappadocia and Paphlagonia. In Asia Minor, unrest began all because of the same exorbitant taxes. Rome sent Lucullus and Cotta to the war with Mithridates. Cotta arrived with the fleet earlier and, wanting to secure the laurels of the winner, did not wait for Lucullus to approach. At Chalcedon he entered into a great battle with the army of Pontus. The Roman fleet was stationed in the harbor of Chalcedon. In this battle, the army and fleet of Mithridates completely defeated the Romans. Cotta himself locked himself in Chalcedon and waited for help from Lucullus. The warriors of Lucullus asked him to abandon Cotta for his mediocrity and go to Pontus, but he went to Chalcedon. Seeing the army of Mithridates and its weapons, Lucullus did not dare to fight. Mithridates, realizing that there would be no battle, went to besiege Kizil. Lucullus, deciding to win the war by hunger and exhaustion, attacked individual detachments of Eupator. The elements made their contribution: the hurricane scattered the siege weapons at Kizil, and the storm destroyed the fleet of Mithridates. Eupator's army, without fighting, lost people; famine began, followed by riot, panic and flight. Mithridates himself was able to escape on a light pirate ship.

Gradually, hostilities moved to the territory of Pontus, and then to Armenia. Tigran acted together with Mithridates. Lucullus' exhausting tactics turned against him: the legionnaires grumbled, and then completely stopped obeying. They did not want to go to the Caucasus, but Mithridates very quickly recovered and in fact still ruled Pontus. But this war revealed the complete failure of Tigran and his large army. For the Romans, it seems, this was not news: they were the first to attack, even with a tenfold superiority of the enemy, and the Armenians fled in panic. Rome was dissatisfied with the prolongation of the war; Lucullus was removed from command and recalled to Rome, and with him some of his commanders. Pompey took command.

With selected legions he sought a meeting with Mithridates. After Eupator set up his camp on the banks of the Euphrates, Pompey decided to attack him at night. But when he approached the camp and saw the battle formations of Mithridates, ready for battle, he decided to abandon the battle. The military leaders began to persuade them not to do this: the defective moon gave enough light and was behind them. The battle has begun. In the incorrect light of the moon, the Pontians saw a distorted picture of the battle, and panic began. When the victory of the Romans became obvious, Eupator with a detachment of horsemen, among whom was his concubine Hypsicratia, dressed in men's Persian clothing, broke through the ranks of the Romans and went to the fortress of Sinora.

The king's treasures were kept here. Mithridates, having distributed jewelry and poison to his companions, moved to Armenia, but Tigran refused him asylum. Then Eupator went to Colchis, and from there crossed over to Panticapaeum. Pompey, pursuing Mithridates, captured his concubines, treasures and the king's personal records. Next, he made an attempt to pass through the Caucasus, but met fierce resistance from the Albans and Iberians, allies of Mithridates. After two fierce battles, Pompey decided not to destroy the army; he returned to Asia and organized a naval blockade of Taurida and the Northern Black Sea region. Trade with the Bosporus was prohibited on pain of death.

By reading Eupator's notes, Pompey learned a lot about him as a person. Perhaps this helped him make the right decision. Evpator had no equal in personal qualities. He was very brave, physically strong and at an advanced age, he knew 22 languages ​​and dialects of his subjects. For practical purposes, he was interested in geography and the science of poisons and antidotes. Mithridates was known as a great expert on women: his concubines and wives were the daughters of many kings, with the exception of Stratovica, the daughter of a Greek harpist. It was clear from the notes that Evpator poisoned his son Ariarat. The eldest son Mahar, the ruler of Bosporus, hastened to recognize the power of Lucullus at the beginning of the war, and when Mithridates directed his flight to Panticapaeum, he did not wait for his father’s arrival and poisoned himself. Influenced by information about Eupator, Pompey told those close to him that Mithridates was much more dangerous when he ran than in open battle, and let hunger defeat him. But it happened differently. Mithridates' favorite son Pharnaces, who more than once led his father's troops into battle against Rome, entered into an agreement with Pompey and became king of Pontus. Mithridates was 69 years old when he gave the poisoned wine to his remaining daughters Nissa and Mithridatis and drank it himself. But since he, fearing to be poisoned, had long been taking poisons in microscopic doses, the poison had no effect on him. “I cannot die from poison due to my stupid precautions. 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 myself from them,” the king admitted to his bodyguard and ordered him to stab him with a sword.

Mithridates Eupator was the king of a Hellenistic state called Pontus or the Kingdom of Pontus (Pontus in Greek means sea, usually this name meant Pontus Euxine, the Black Sea). This state occupied part of what is now Turkey, part of the Caucasus and a number of islands in the Mediterranean Sea; The Hellenistic states of Taurica - Crimea (Chersonese, Bosporus Kingdom) were strongly influenced. By the time Mithridates VI Eupator appeared on the scene, the interests of the Pontic kings collided with the interests of Rome. A military clash, a war for influence in the Eastern Mediterranean between the Roman Republic and the Pontic Kingdom was inevitable. The war took place (not just one, but three) – soon after Evpator’s accession to the throne.

In his origin, two great dynasties of the ancient world were mixed: according to his father, Mithridates Everget, he belonged to the dynasty of the Persian kings - the Achaemenids, according to his mother Laodice - he was a descendant of Alexander the Great. At the age of twelve, Mithridates Eupator lost his father - according to the unanimous opinion of historians, King Mithridates V Evergetes was killed as a result of a palace conspiracy, in which Queen Laodice was also suspected of involvement. It should be noted that at this time two parties fought at the Pontic court: pro and anti-Roman. The anti-Roman one was headed by the tsar himself, while the queen was in pro-Roman positions. Euergetes was killed by supporters of rapprochement with Rome. His death was supposed to put an end to the military preparations of the Pontians - and many facts indicate that such existed. For example, it was at this time that one of the best commanders of that time, the Pontic military leader of Greek origin Dorilaus Tacticus, actively recruited mercenaries into the army of Mithridates Euergetes, without hiding that the future war aimed to put an end to the Roman claims to the states of Asia Minor.

After the murder of Everget, a twelve-year-old prince was crowned. Almost immediately, attempts on his life began: it seems that, despite his young age, the new king was already fully formed politically and took a clear anti-Roman position, even tougher than his father - perhaps due to the circumstances of the latter’s death. Appian and Plutarch give some details: for example, Mithridates was given an unbroken horse, which, however, the boy managed to cope with; they tried to poison him, but that also failed. Everyone was convinced that the same supporters of Rome were behind all these assassination attempts. Their activity was explained not only by the desire to change the political course, but also to avoid revenge from the new king.

Mithridates Eupator had to flee. He disappeared on purpose for seven years. All this time, Pontus was ruled by Queen Laodice. To this day, no one knows where the king was hiding. There were many versions. But about the versions - below. For now, let’s continue with the official biography of Mithridates Eupator.

Having returned (it is unknown from where), the king easily regains power, executes his mother and other perpetrators of the death of Everget, after which he begins an intensive policy of expansion - not yet fighting with Rome itself. He turns the Black Sea - Pont Euxine - essentially into the internal sea of ​​his power. Chersonesus recognizes the power of the Pontic king. True, not legal: Mithridates acts as an ally in relation to this city-state. His commander Diophantus completely defeats the Scythian army that threatened Chersonesus. After this, the last king of the Bosporan kingdom, Perisad V Spartokides, bequeaths his crown to Mithridates. The Bosporan king was childless; a representative of the local nobility, Savmak, was counting on the throne. There was a coup d'etat with the murder of the elderly monarch; Diophantus managed to defeat the conspirators. The Bosporus became part of Pontus and, as we will see later, the final resting place of Mithridates Eupator.

In less than 20 years, Pontus turned into a powerful power. Mithridates ruled over most of Asia Minor. In Europe, he annexed to his possessions, thanks to his power over the Bosporus, the territories of the Taman and Kerch peninsulas. His influence extended all the way to the Macedonian-Thracian border.

Rome could no longer tolerate such expansion. The war was inevitable, and it began...

This is the historical truth that Pontus suffered defeats in all three wars. Not immediately, but Mithridates lost the confrontation.

It all ended in Panticapaeum, the capital of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The support of his power, the army, rebelled against Mithridates. Led by his son and heir Pharnaces. The king decided to die, but... he couldn’t. The poison had no effect on him. This is how the legend described the scene of the death of the Pontic king, cited in various variations by all historians - both old and new. The king turned to the commander of the Gaul mercenary detachment, Bitoit, with the following words: “Your hand has given me great support and assistance in matters of war, but the greatest help will be for me if you now end my life. After all, I am in danger of being carried out in a solemn procession of triumph, I, who was the autocratic king of this country for such a long time, cannot die from poison due to my stupid protective measures with the help of other poisons. I did not foresee the most terrible and so common poison in the life of kings - the infidelity of the army, children and friends. , who foresaw all the poisons when eating food and managed to protect himself from them." Bitoit fulfilled the king's request and struck the exposed neck.

Pharnaces, the new king, reported the death of his father to the Roman commander Pompey, and he ordered the embalmed body of Mithridates Eupator to be buried in a luxurious tomb, along with all the royal treasures. This is how this extraordinary man ended his journey, who for decades waged a merciless struggle with the “rulers of the world” - the Romans.

I will add from myself that the glorious Panticapaeum is the modern city of Kerch, located in the east of Crimea. The city of two seas, a springboard to the Caucasus - that’s what the Kerch Strait was called.
This is my homeland, my favorite city! A city where thousand-year history is intertwined with modernity, where there are so many antiquities! By the way, the legend says that the mother of the famous Achilles bathed in the Bosporus-Kerch Strait.

King of the Kingdom of Pontus (ancient Greek. . ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΗΣ Στ’ Ευπάτωρ - Eupator - “born of a glorious father” Greek. Mithridates Eupator) was born in 134 BC e. in Sinop, in the Pontic kingdom.

Pontus (ancient Greek Πόντος, lat. Pontos) is a Greco-Persian state in Asia Minor (302 - 64 BC), on the southern coast of the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea).

During his lifetime he received the nickname Dionysus(ancient Greek Διόνυσος) and Great- during his reign in Panticapaeum, the Bosporan kingdom in 121 - 63 BC. e.

Father Mithridates VI Eupator was King Mithridates V Euergetes (Greek: Mιθριδάτης Eυεργέτης) heir to King Pharnaces I of Pontus, son of Mithridates III. The founder of the dynasty of kings of Pontus and the first Pontic king was Mithridates I Ktist(Greek Mιθριδάτης Α’ Kτίστης - “founder”), who reigned in 302 -266 BC. e. , was related to the Persian king Darius III (Old Persian Darayavaush, which means “Good-natured”), who ruled in 336 - 330 BC. e. , from the family Achaemenids.

Mother of MithridatesVI Laodice VI was the daughter of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ancient Greek: Αντίοχος Δ’ Επιφανής; c. 215 - 164 BC), from the Greco-Macedonian dynasty Seleucid, pursued a policy of Hellenization of the population of Syria. Founder of the dynasty Seleucid, Seleucus I Nicator was the general of Alexander the Great.

Grandfather of Mithridates VI Eupator on his mother's side, Antiochus III the Great (ancient Greek: Αντίοχος Γ’ ο Μέγας; 241 - 187 BC) was an outstanding ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigned in Syria in 175-164 BC. e.

said that if he decides to consider himself nobility with the Roman kings, he will turn out to be more glorious than this crowd of vagabonds; that among his ancestors on his father’s side he can name Cyrus and Darius, the founders of the Persian state, and on his mother’s side he descends from Alexander the Great and Seleucus Nicator, the founders of the Macedonian state

Mithridates Eupator was one of seven children in the royal family. He had a younger brother, Mithridates Chrestos, and five sisters.

After the death of Mithridates V's father, Evergett, the throne Kingdom of Pontus passed to his mother Laodice VI, the children were still too young to reign. The life of Mithridates was under great threat, to save his life he hid for 7 whole years in the mountains, either in Greater Armenia at the court of his son-in-law, the Armenian king Tigran II, or in the Pontic kingdom, in the South-Eastern Black Sea region, in the eastern part of modern Turkey .

Mithridates VI Eupator spent the years of exile at the court of King Perisad V, in Panticopeia, the capital of the Bosporan kingdom, educated approximately 480 BC e. in the Northern Black Sea region, as a result of the unification of Greek policies on the Kerch Peninsula and Taman.

According to Appian and Plutarch, during the years of his wanderings, Mithridates VI Eupator mastered 22 languages ​​and spoke any dialect fluently, and was well acquainted with the culture and art of the ancient world, philosophers and poets. Years of exile strengthened his character, shaping his nature as an eastern tyrant.

Returning to Pontus from exile, Mithridates VI Eupator imprisoned his reigning mother Laodice and seized power in the kingdom of Pontus.

King Mithridates VI Eupator, one of the largest figures in the Hellenistic world of the Black Sea region, was fabulously rich. He was able to enormously expand his possessions through wars of conquest and skillful state trade and politics, in particular successfully in He married his daughter to the King of Armenia Tigran II.

In 107 BC e. Mithridates VI made his third military campaign for suppression of the Savmak uprising, broke out in the Bosporan kingdom. At the beginning of the Savmak uprising, the king of the Bosporan state Perisad V, the last of the Spartokid dynasty, was killed. Having suppressed the uprising of Savmak, Mithridates VI became rule the Bosporan state, subjugated almost all the Greek cities of the Black Sea region to his influence.

Mithridates VI Eupator expanded the borders by annexing the cities of the Northern Black Sea region, Colchis and Lesser Armenia to his kingdom.

Having a strong army, Mithridates VI Eupator twice sent his troops to the Crimea to help Chersonese Tauride, which was threatened by the Scythians.

The goal of Mithridates VI was to create a great kingdom in the East, and only the Roman Empire stood in his way.

Having secured the support of the King of Armenia Tigran II and entered into an alliance with the pirates of the Mediterranean Sea, Mithridates entered into a war with Rome and invaded the Roman Asia Minor possessions of Paphlagonia, Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia.

Mithridates VI Eupator fought three wars with Rome, the so-called Mithridatic Wars (89-84 BC, 83-81 BC, 74-63 BC .BC), he fought against the Roman legionnaires and their commanders Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gnaeus Pompey. The Mithridates Wars ended with the defeat of the troops of Mithridates VI Eupator.

Hypsicratia had an excellent command of the art of war, accompanying her husband on military campaigns. She was good with a spear, ax and sword, and was also a good archer.

This wonderful love story began after the return of Mithridates VI Eupator from another campaign against the Sindians and Maeotians to his residence, which was located in Phanagoria. As the legend says, the king was depressed because the campaign did not end quite the way he wanted it. The only consolation was that a girl was captured by him - according to rumors, either one of the daughters, or one of the granddaughters of the famous Amazon queen Amagi.

It happened completely by accident. The girl, fighting along with the men, was forced to retreat, but not far from one of the tributaries of the Tanais (Don) river, a horse collapsed under her, struck by an arrow. Hearing the tramp of the overtaking pursuit, she took out a reed from behind her back and boldly entered the water, but water began to seep through the reed, which had cracked when it fell. Coughing, the girl emerged, and the Mithridates warriors, twisting the writhing beauty, dragged her to the chief. He, amazed at the extraordinary beauty of the steppe Amazon, reported to his superiors. This is exactly how the warlike Amazon finally appeared before the eyes of the great king and commander.

The next day, having bathed in sea baths with healing fragrant herbs and, having dressed appropriately, she crossed the threshold of the palace hall, where in the center, on a lush and luxurious Persian carpet, sat Mithridates VI Eupator, whose head was adorned with the menacing mouth of a leopard in an animal grin.

Excited exclamations rang through the hall. The Amazon was amazingly beautiful. Slightly above average height, flexible, movements smooth and majestic. Blue and wide-set eyes sparkled with amazing purity. But what surprised her most was the unusual color of her hair - it was not red, but rather a golden hue, lush and curly, giving her a truly royal look. For this rare beauty of hair, historians of the Middle Ages would later call the steppe beauties “Goldilocks.”

The love of Mithridates and the Amazon was passionate and lasted a long time. She loved her master devotedly and in her own way: her soul yearned for her family and friends, countless herds of horses, green meadows and rivers. Several times the beauty tried to escape, but she was caught and brought to the king. A typical eastern despot, Mithridates grabbed the whip, but, looking into her sky-blue eyes filled with tears, he broke the whip, and, hugging his love, laughed until he dropped. Contemporaries nicknamed her “Indomitable”... She gave birth to three daughters for the king.

The further fate of the Amazon is little known. Some claim that she, as part of the delegation sent by Mithridates to Spain, successfully helped the pirates of Quintus Sertorius in the fight against the Romans. Others said that they saw her in the camp of Spartacus, who served during the First Mithridatic War in his mercenary Thracian troops.

The ancient Greek historian Plutarch claims, from the words of eyewitnesses, that the indomitable Hypsicracy did not leave the great commander for a minute, sharing with him in military campaigns both the joy of victories and the bitterness of defeats. She was one of the few who did not leave him after the defeat by Pompey's troops. Plutarch even calls her name - Hypsicratia. The king himself called her “Hypsicrates” for her bravery and courage. “The concubine was dressed in Persian men's clothing and rode on horseback; she did not feel tired from the long journey and did not tire of caring for the king and his horse,” writes Plutarch in his biography of Pompey.

According to another version, the steppe beauty led a detachment of Amazons who fought against the Romans. “In this battle, as they say, the Amazons, who came from the mountains near the Thermodon River, also fought on the side of the barbarians [as the Greeks called all the peoples living to the northeast of them], notes Plutarch in his Comparative Lives.” - Indeed, after the battle, when the Romans began to plunder the bodies of the killed barbarians, they came across shields and buskins of the Amazons [“cothurns” - “two-faced”: shoes made of wild bull or aurochs leather, which could be worn on both the right and left feet] , however, not a single woman’s corpse was seen.” Apparently, in this battle with the Romans, the leader of the steppe Amazons died a brave death, after which her body was taken by order of King Mithridates to Phanagoria, where she was buried with great honors.

Mithridates VI did not survive his love for long. Death of the King of Kings in 63 BC. was a consequence of the betrayal of his son-in-law Tigran II and son Pharnaces, as well as the infidelity of the mercenary army. In memory of the great king, who fought against Rome for many years, Mithridates Mountain now rises above Kerch, in one of the caves of which, according to legend, the faithful horse Arzhun, made of pure gold in full height, was buried, given to him by the Scythian Amazon Hypsicratia.

Many centuries have passed since then. Phanagoria in the 6th century AD suffered a terrible fate: the waves of the sea, arriving unexpectedly, covered the city like Atlantis. All this was accompanied by a powerful earthquake. The next day, in the place of blooming Phanagoria, the muddy waters of the Taman Bay calmly splashed...

Leafing through the pages of history

According to Appian, in 63 BC there was an uprising in Phanagoria. According to the doctor of historical sciences, the head of the Phanagorian expedition, Vladimir Dmitrievich Kuznetsov, the inhabitants of the city besieged the acropolis and set it on fire in order to capture the royal garrison and the children of Mithridates. Mithridates, while Pompey was still in Syria, sent part of the army to Phanagoria, but events took a different turn when the Phanagorian Castor, once offended by the royal eunuch Tryphon, attacked him as he entered the city and killed him, calling the people to freedom. Despite the fact that Artaphernes and other sons of Mithridates already owned the acropolis, the inhabitants surrounded it with wood and set it on fire. The children of Mithridates were forced to surrender, frightened by the fire. Of these, only Artaphernes was about forty years old, the rest were still youths... During the ensuing battle with the royal children, Hypsicratia was also present, who, saving the children of the person she loved, died in this battle...

As the archaeologist notes, during excavations on the acropolis of Phanagoria, the expedition discovered traces of this fire: coal, ash and burnt wood. But the most interesting thing was that during underwater excavations carried out in 1999 by a Voronezh team led by Vitaly Latartsev, general director of the underwater technical works enterprise "Peter", fragments of buildings, columns, sculptures, griffins and sphinxes, as well as fragments of amphorae and many other artifacts related to the life of ancient Phanagoria, among which a truly priceless gift of fate was the discovery of a stele made of grayish-blue marble with the inscription:

[Ύ]ψίκρατες γύναι

βασιλέως Μιθραδάτο[υ]

Εὐπάτορος Διονύσου,

χαῖρε

Translation: “Hypsicrates, wife of King Mithridates Eupator Dionysus, farewell.”

Thus, the words of Plutarch and Appian were confirmed word for word. It is worth noting here that in 2009, the American Archaeological Institute listed this discovery as one of the 10 outstanding discoveries made by archaeologists in the world.

FYI

The ancients believed that Phanagoria was founded on an island in the now defunct Corocondamite archipelago ca. 543 BC e. Theos (Τέος - an ancient Ionian city on the western coast of Asia Minor), forced out of their native places by the invasion of the Persian king Cyrus.

The city received its name after one of the leaders of the settlers - Phanagora. At the time of Pericles, the city occupied at least 75 hectares, with a third of this territory today being under water. The economic well-being of Phanagoria was based on trade (mainly grain) with the Scythians and Sindians.

At the beginning of the 4th century. BC e. the lands of the Sinds, not excluding Phanagoria, became part of the Bosporan kingdom. At first, Panticapaeum on the western shore of the Cimmerian Bosphorus (Kerchenko Strait) was chosen as the capital of the kingdom, but over time Phanagoria received the status of the second (“Asian”) capital of the kingdom, and by the beginning of our era it became the most significant city of the kingdom, both politically and economically. plan.

Mithridates VI Eupator, the great ruler of the Pontic kingdom and one of the most implacable enemies of Rome, left so many questions as a legacy to historians that their final solution is probably almost as far from completion today as it was when the study of his turbulent life began. One of these problems is determining the place of this king among other rulers of the Hellenistic east. After all, Mithridates VI is noticeably different both from the “classical” Hellenistic kings and from the Parthian or Armenian rulers. This question has been raised more than once in historiography, but its many facets force us to return to it again and again.
In one of his recent works, the largest modern researcher of the history of Mithridates Eupator, B. McGing, expressed the opinion now dominant in science, and coinciding with his personal, opinion on this issue: “The Hellenism of Eupator includes so many aspects that we cannot resist the temptation to think , as if he and his family had become in every respect a Greek dynasty, to doubt whether the kingdom of Mithridates had not become in every respect a Greek monarchy. I would like to emphasize here that Iranian principles continued to retain their importance throughout the reign of Mithridates Eupator.”
While generally agreeing with this view of the problem, the author of this article still sees a number of aspects that need to be examined in more detail in order to identify the ideas of Mithridates VI himself and his attitude towards his Iranian roots and Hellenistic borrowings. Most clearly, in our opinion, these aspects will be visible when analyzing the available evidence about the family of the Pontic ruler. Moreover, specifically about his family, since earlier layers associated with the ancestors of Mithridates VI, as not related to his will and actions, will remain outside the scope of this study.

Wives of Mithridates VI Eupator

According to the marriage tradition established in the Pontic kingdom, local monarchs chose wives from among their sisters or Seleucid princesses, usually bearing the name Laodice(2). Kinship with the Seleucids, of course, increased the international authority of the country and the degree of Hellenization of the Pontic court, which naturally affected the marriage sphere. Marriages with sisters were also not a sign of barbarism; the Lagids, for example, whom no one ever called barbarians, used this custom very often (3); this form of marriage was also practiced in the ruling house of the Seleucids.
Mithridates VI Eupator did not depart from this tradition: it is known that he married his sister Laodice. It is possible that before marriage this princess had a different name. The fact is that Mithridates VI also had another sister named Laodice (see below about her), and therefore it is unlikely that in the same family children at the same time were called by the same name; It’s difficult to even give such an example.
The marriage of Mithridates VI Eupator and his sister Laodice, apparently, was a possible compromise between the king and the opposing palace group led by his mother - a group pushed out of power, but not yet completely defeated. The marriage took place, based on the age of Mithridates VI, after the deprivation of power of the widow of Mithridates V, Euergetes. Getting his sister as a wife, Mithridates VI (perhaps, on the contrary, his opponents) wanted to see in her the eldest woman of the Pontic royal house, and this one, according to tradition, bore the Seleucid name Laodice. For that era, the name had enormous propaganda significance: for example, just by changing the name, Mithridates VI and Nicomedes III gave legitimacy to their own children who were placed on the throne of other countries (Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, respectively). This probably explains the presence in the sources of two daughters with the same name from the same father, and possibly the same mother, since they (Laodice) both became queens, and therefore both were legitimate royal daughters (5).
This version can also be confirmed by the story of Laodice the Younger’s betrayal of Mithridates VI Eupator, the attempt to poison him and the subsequent execution of her and others guilty of this. A conspiracy, real or imagined, is clearly visible here, the result of which was the execution of those guilty or disliked by the king. Moreover, there is a version according to which the very trip of Mithridates VI across Asia, during which these events began, was caused by the weakness of the king, who was actually forced out of his palace. From the messages of Justin and Sallust it follows that Laodice was executed, but in historiography there is an opinion that this is not so, and the message about the execution of Laodice is a consequence of the pro-Roman literary tradition hostile to Mithridates VI (6). In any case, after the death of Laodice, Mithridates VI Eupator did not choose another sister as his wife, although, as is clear from the sources, he had them, and, most likely, at least some of them were at an age when they could still have children (see below for more on this).
The son of Mithridates VI and Laodice, whom Justin reports, according to T. Reinach, was the future king of Cappadocia - Ariarat IX (7). Ariarat IX was born - however, at birth he also probably received a different name - in 109/108 BC, and at the age of eight he became king of Cappadocia, that is, in 100/101 BC ( 8) . This Ariarat helped Mithridates VI in the war for Cappadocia, and was later poisoned by him.
T. Mommsen, in his vivid portrait of Mithridates VI, gives a short but very characteristic remark about the king’s harem, seeing in this one of the signs of his Asian way of life (9). T. Reinak compares the gyneceum of Mithridates VI with the Sultan's seraglio, likening the difference in the status of wives and concubines to the differences in the status of sultanas and concubines established in the harems of the Turkish sultans. Most subsequent authors accepted this point of view without objection or passed it by.
However, it should be noted that all the other wives of Mithridates VI, except Laodice, were Greek, and none of them came from the royal family. The king practiced marriages with commoners, as was customary among the Pergamon Attalids (10). Apparently, Mithridates VI wanted in this way to gain the support of the citizens of the policies that were previously part of the Pegamian kingdom, and now located in the Roman province of Asia.
So, from sources we know the names of five women of Mithridates VI, whose status is either exactly royal or close to it:
1. Laodice (about her, see above); 2. Monima; 3. Stratonics; 4. Berenice; 5. Hypsicracy. Let's analyze all available information about them.
Monima from Stratonicea. As Plutarch reports about Monim: “... when at one time the king sought her favor and sent her 15,000 gold pieces, she refused everything until he signed a marriage contract with her and proclaimed her queen, sending her a diadem” (11 ). Monima's father Philopoemen became the “observer” (bishop) over Ephesus, which apparently was one of the conditions of the marriage contract. During the anti-Mithridates uprising in Ephesus, Philopoemen most likely died, since we no longer have news of his activities. The marriage between Mithridates VI and Monima apparently took place around 88 BC, during the period of the king's greatest successes in the first war with Rome.
The king's feelings for Monima were probably really strong; This is also confirmed by Plutarch’s testimony about the “obscene” correspondence between the king and his wife discovered by Pompey in the New Fortress.
Monima's further fate is sad: so that she does not fall into the hands of the Romans, she is killed by order of the king.
Stratonik. Unlike Laodice and Monima, whose status can be accurately defined as royal, the position of Stratonice is unknown. Plutarch calls her a concubine, Appian does not know whether she is a concubine or a wife, Cassius Dio calls her a wife.
Stratonica, who replaced Monima in the heart of the king, was of absolutely no noble birth. Talking about her acquaintance with the king at a feast, Plutarch emphasizes the baseness of her family and does not even mention the name of her father; our other sources are silent about this. The city from which she came is also unknown.
It is all the more surprising in this regard that Mithridates entrusted Stratonika with the management of the fortress with the treasury. Stratonica handed over the fortress and treasures to Pompey in exchange for a promise to spare the life of her son from the king, Xifar. Mithridates, having learned about this, in order to punish the traitor, executed Xifar. According to T. Reinach, Stratonika’s act is explained by jealousy of the position that Hypsicratia occupied near the king (12).
The further fate of Stratonica is unknown to us, however, given the fact that Pompey left most of the treasures of Mithridates VI in her ownership, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she spent the rest of her life in prosperity.
Berenice of Chios. Her name is mentioned only in Plutarch's text. Describing the tragedy in Pharnacia, when the king’s wives and concubines killed themselves on his orders so as not to fall into the hands of the Romans, Plutarch also reports that Berenice and her mother were poisoned.
Hypsicracy. We know about this woman that she accompanied Mithridates VI after his defeat by Gnaeus Pompey. Hypsicratia was dressed like a Persian warrior and behaved accordingly, caring for the king and his war horse. Plutarch calls her a concubine, Valery Maxim, Eutropius and Festus, who relies on him, call her the wife of the king.
Its functions under the king were so unusual that Mithridates VI called it not Hypsicratia, but Hypsicrates. This circumstance, as well as a hint of the king’s sympathy for the beauty of the young man, even allowed us to make an assumption about the unconventional orientation of the Pontic ruler, which seems completely incredible to us.
According to Valery Maxim, Hypsicratia accompanied the king during his campaign against the Bosporus, but further traces of her fate are lost. From the work of Orosius it is known that before he died, Mithridates VI gave poison to his wives and concubines, but we do not know whether Hypsicratia was among them.
The image of Hypsicratia, which found its way into the works of ancient authors, is close to the image of the mythological women warriors of the Amazons; perhaps this is due to the tendency of Mithridates to imitate Alexander the Great, who, as is known, according to legend, married the queen of these warriors.
So, Stratonice, Berenice and Hypsicratia - who are they: wives or concubines? An analysis of the sources rather inclines us to the second version. It is this status that Plutarch defines for them, who, as is known, relied, when describing the Asian company of Pompey, on the work of Theophanes of Mytilene. In this case, this source is reliable for us, since Theophanes accompanied Pompey on this campaign and was undoubtedly aware of these details. The only doubt raised is Stratonika, to whom the king entrusted strictly secret information about the secret treasury (see more about this above). The answer, it seems to us, is found in Appian, who reports that Mithridates “being so prudent and resilient, had only one weakness - in pleasures with women.”
Of course, in addition to the five above-mentioned wives (concubines), Mithridates VI entered into rather long love alliances with other women. So sources tell us about a certain Adobogion, a concubine of Mithridates VI and, possibly, the mother of his son, known as Mithridates of Pergamon. This Adobogion, a Galatian woman judging by her name, was later the wife of the Galatian tetrarch Menodotus (13).
There were also other concubines whose names are unknown; They were the daughters of the noblest people of the kingdom, and it was they who were freed and sent to their relatives by Pompey. Appian says that “the eunuch Bacchus... killed his (Mithridates - K.G.) sisters, wives and concubines.” Plutarch also reports about the “Scythian wives” of Mithridates VI during the triumph of Pompey. According to Orosius, some wives and concubines of Mithridates died with him. If we consider that information about the wives and concubines of Mithridates VI mainly relates to the period of the end of the Third Mithridatic War, then we can safely assume the presence of many others, information about which either did not reach us or did not make it into history at all.
Apparently, there were also children of Mithridates VI from his concubines, but they were not considered legitimate. This is exactly what Mithridates of Pergamon, son of Adobogion, should be, as well as Archelaus, the son of the Pontic strategist of the same name, who claimed that he was actually the son of Mithridates VI Eupator. To believe, based on the current state of the sources, that Mithridates Eupator was their father, as well as the opposite, is unproven.
As we see, in the matter of choosing wives, Mithridates VI was guided by women of non-royal origin (14). Apart from his sister Laodice, he did not enter into a marriage alliance with any princess. Apparently, the support of the Greeks of the Roman province of Asia, from which his wives came, was more important to him than alliances with Bithynia, Egypt, Parthia or any other kingdoms. Perhaps Mithridates VI Eupator did not want to receive his wife from the hands of her relative - the king, since, in this case, becoming his son-in-law, he seemed to fall under someone else's, even purely nominal, authority.
Polygamy is characteristic not only of the Pontic ruler; moreover, a direct analogy arises here with Alexander the Great, whom Mithridates VI Eupator sought to imitate in everything, and even the Macedonian royal house in general.
The author of this article is more inclined to the version according to which Mithridates VI Eupator was so woman-loving that he proceeded in matrimonial matters solely from his own desires, and not from any far-sighted political calculations. This circumstance brings him closer to the classical Hellenistic monarchs, many of whom also had a significant number of mistresses, but never more than one (of course, at the same time) main wife, coming from an influential royal house. The settlement of these women in a guarded palace seems absolutely natural, and most likely the same practice existed in other royal courts of the Hellenistic world; therefore, to see this as something typically Orientalist is unfounded (15).

Sisters of Mithridates VI Eupator

Ancient authors brought to us the names of the five sisters of Mithridates VI: 1.Laodice I; 2. Laodice II (about her, see above); 3. Roxana; 4. Statera; 5. Nisa.
Laodice I is the wife of the Cappadocian king Ariarathes VI. The exact date and circumstances of this marriage are unknown. It is traditionally believed that it followed the invasion of Cappadocia by Mithridates V Euergetes, mentioned by Appian (16). According to Pompey Trogus, Laodicea I, after the death of her husband, ruled together with her son Ariarathes VII, then married the Bithynian king Nicomedes III (17) and helped him capture Cappadocia. After the invasion of the country by the troops of Mithridates, she was apparently forced to go to Bithynia to her new husband (18).
Roxana and Stateira. It is known about them that they took refuge in Pharnacia when Mithridates, fearing that they would fall into the hands of the Romans, ordered them to die. The king did not marry them off and they “stayed as girls until they were forty years old” (19).
Nisa. Another sister of Mithridates VI was imprisoned by him in one of the fortresses and released by Lucullus. Perhaps it was she who was subsequently carried out in the triumph of Pompey, although this is surprising: after all, having freed Nysa, Lucullus was supposed to lead her in his triumph. Therefore, it is possible that Mithridates also had a sixth sister, bearing a name unknown to us.
Thus, we see that Mithridates VI did not marry any of his sisters; moreover, most likely, throughout his reign they were isolated from the court. The reason here apparently lies in the personal characteristics of the Pontic ruler, who suffered major troubles from his two sisters (Laodice I and Laodice II). Here we see “Oriental despotism” more clearly, but in both Syria and Egypt the sisters of the monarchs were completely dependent on their will.

Sons of Mithridates VI Eupator

Ancient authors brought to us the names of the eleven sons of Mithridates VI Eupator: 1. Artaphernes; 2. Mahar(21) ; 3. Pharnaces; 4. Xifar; 5. Darius; 6. Xerxes; 7. Oxatr; 8. Mithridates the Younger; 9. Arkafiy; 10. Exipodr; 11. Ariarat (see above about him).
As we see, the sons of Mithridates Eupator, unlike his wives, all have Persian names. This fact speaks in favor of the dominance of Orientalism in the family of the Pontic king, but perhaps this is simply a tribute to religious tradition.
The four younger sons captured in the rebellious Phanagoria have traditionally Persian names: Artaphernes, Darius, Xerxes, Oxater. Since they received their names during the heyday of Mithridates Eupator, we can conclude that the names were given to them for the Iranians, and not for the Greeks, for whom they could appear under some Greek epithets, similar to those that Mithridates Eupator himself had .
During the first war against Rome, Mithridates the Younger, Arcafias and also Ariarat were already adults. They were probably followed by Artaphernes, born in 104 BC. e., Machar and Pharnaces, born in 97 BC. and Xifar. Finally, the sons captured during the rebellion in Phanagoria followed. After this rebellion, Mithridates killed his other son Exipodrus: Orosius reports information about this, but other authors do not report about it. We know little about Artaphernes, but he is nevertheless mentioned in Pompey's triumph.
As is indisputably clear from the sources, princes are used as they grow older in administrative and military positions. Mithridates Eupator even transfers part of his powers to them when he is away. Mithridates strives to stop dynastic strife. However, there are indications to suspect that such things did happen. We know from Plutarch that while Mithridates was in Pergamon, he appointed one of his sons as ruler of other territories, to whom Pontus and the Bosporus were allocated. It was probably Mithridates the Younger.
Firstly, it was he who took his father’s name, traditional for the dynasty, which was no longer accidental, and could indicate his status as an heir. Secondly, Mithridates the Younger was near his father in Asia and fought against Fimbria, while the other eldest son Arcathius was in Greece.
You can try to figure out which of the wives of Mithridates Eupator was the mother of one or another of his children by comparing the year of the king’s marriage with them and the year when he took a new wife, but this method is unlikely to be completely reliable for reconstruction.

Daughters of Mithridates VI Eupator

Mithridates VI used his numerous daughters, as was customary at that time, “for their intended purpose,” that is, he married them off to his allies, thus securing a political agreement with marriage bonds. Mithridates VI became the father-in-law, and, therefore, the eldest in the concluded alliance, which naturally increased his international authority. In addition, the transfer of her daughter to her new master, her husband, was apparently regarded as a very valuable, truly royal gift: after all, the value of a woman descended from such a powerful ruler was immeasurably higher than any other. As we will see, Mithridates VI used all these aspects of marriage relations very skillfully, acquiring great political dividends in return for the daughter he gave away. In this regard, one cannot but agree with the statement of the Spanish researcher L. Ballesteros Pastor: “With regard to the daughters, we can conclude that Mithridates used them as an instrument in his foreign policy.”
Mithridates VI was well aware that his daughters were his capital; this can be seen from the fact that, leaving his wives and sisters in Pharnacia, which was subsequently captured by the Romans, he took his daughters with him to the Bosporus.
In total, Mithridates VI had 8 daughters known to us by name from surviving ancient sources: 1. Dripetina. 2. Cleopatra I. 3. Athenaida. 4. Mithridatis. 5. Nisa. 6. Cleopatra II. 7. Eupatra. 8. Orsabaris.
Dripetina. The year of her birth is unknown to us, but apparently she is the eldest legitimate daughter of Mithridates VI, since Valery Maximus reports that she was born to Laodice, the king’s sister-wife. Due to illness, Drypetina was left by Mithridates VI in the fortress of Sinoria under the supervision of the faithful eunuch Menophilus. The betrayal of the fortress garrison, which opened the gates to Pompey's legate Manlius Priscus, forced Menophilus to kill Drepentina, and then himself, so as not to fall into the hands of enemies
Cleopatra. Cleopatra was married to the King of Armenia Tigranes II in 94 BC. The year of her birth is not known to us. The alliance with Tigran II, sealed by marriage, turned out to be very beneficial for Mithridates VI. As for Cleopatra, she most likely had a fairly influential position at her husband’s court.
Athenaida. Next in seniority we know the daughter of Mithridates VI, who was betrothed to the king of Cappadocia, Ariobarzanes I. Appian reports: “Considering it unacceptable that a war was being waged against Mithridates, who had concluded an agreement with the Romans, Sulla sent Aulus Gabinius to convey to Murena the previous strict order not to fight with Mithridates, and Mithridates and Ariobarzanes to reconcile with each other. At this meeting, Mithridates betrothed his four-year-old daughter to Ariobarzanes, and under this pretext he agreed to own what was in his hands from Cappadocia, and in addition to this he appropriated other parts of this country, treated everyone and awarded everyone monetary rewards for the best toasts and treats , jokes and songs, as he usually did. Only Gabinius did not touch anything. Thus the second war between Mithridates and the Romans ended approximately in the third year.”
Apparently, the young daughter of Mithridates VI was betrothed not to the old man Ariobarzanes I, but to his son and heir Ariobarzanes II, since from the letters of Cicero we know that the mother of Ariobarzanes III was the daughter of Mithridates VI - Athenaida. This marriage, like the marriage of his other daughter, Cleopatra, brought good political dividends to Mithridates VI in the form of some part of the territory of Cappadocia.
The engagement, judging by Appian's text, took place at the very end of the Second Mithridatic War in 82 BC. The princess's name refers to Athens, which sided with Mithridates VI. Mithridates VI could name his daughter Athenaida only before their fall, which occurred on March 1, 86 BC. Consequently, and this also fits the testimony of Appian, Athenaida was born in the winter - spring of 86 BC.
Miridatis and Nissa. They were to marry the Lagids, kings of Egypt and Cyprus respectively. But the marriages did not take place due to the defeat of Mithridates VI in the war with Rome. Both daughters were with their father until the last moment and in 63 BC. poisoned themselves so as not to fall into the hands of the Romans.
Cleopatra II. It is known about this daughter of Mithridates VI that she was in Phanagoria at the time of the uprising of this city against the king. However, unlike the other children of the king, she was not at a loss and resisted the rebels. Admired by her courage, Mithridates sent her help and thereby saved her. The further fate of Cleopatra II is unknown. There is no doubt that this woman is not the same Cleopatra who was married to the King of Armenia Tigran II - she is another daughter of the Pontic ruler. She may have received her name after the death of the latter, already as an adult. If this is so, then Mithridates VI was preparing her for marriage with one of the “strong” kings, giving her more weight by replacing her name with a more significant one.
Eupatra and Orsabaris, who were carried out in Pompey's triumph. It is possible that Orsabaris was captured, along with other unnamed daughters of Mithridates VI, whom he sent as brides for his future Scythian leaders - allies. In the political situation that had arisen at that time, this would have been a very successful alliance for Mithridates. But the soldiers accompanying the princesses handed them over to the Romans. Eupatra was captured and also handed over to the Romans by the rebel Phanagorians led by Castor.
A number of the names of the daughters of Mithridates VI are Greek, a number are Persian, some are derived from his names (Mithridatis and Eupatra), the absence of the name Laodice is symptomatic. This is apparently due to the king’s desire to mix up names and be equally “his own”, both for the Greeks and for the indigenous population of Pontus. Unlike the king's sons, who have exclusively Persian, mostly royal names, the Greek names of his daughters are of purely Seleucid origin.

Other relatives of Mithridates VI Eupator

It is interesting that the name of the only relative of Mithridates (24) known to us, who was not related to him in the first degree, is Greek - Phoenix. This man commanded the vanguard of Mithridates' army against Lucullus and then defected to the Romans. This message from Appian leads some modern researchers to believe that other relatives of the king could have held high military and administrative positions. This is also confirmed by the fact that the father of one of Mithridates’ wives, Monima, Philopoemen became an “observer” (bishop) over Ephesus. However, this gives absolutely nothing for our research, since this state of affairs is natural both for the court of any eastern ruler and for systems of government of the most classical Hellenistic states.

To summarize this study, it can be noted that the family “policy” of Mithridates VI Eupator, in general, was traditional for Hellenistic rulers, although it had some distinctive features caused not so much by the “orientalism” of the king, but by his personal characteristics, which, of course, were largely based on his Iranian roots. What is important for us is that in the eyes of the Greeks, Mithridates, as far as his family affairs were concerned, looked almost the same as other classical Hellenistic monarchs.