Arcathias ( grc, Ἀρκαθίας) was a Pontic prince of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and Greek Macedonian ancestry, and figure in the

First Mithridatic War The First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule were led by Mithridates ...

. Arcathias was a son of

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...

and his sister-wife Laodice. In 89 BC, Arcathias joined

Neoptolemus In Greek mythology, Neoptolemus (; ), also called Pyrrhus (; ), was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia, and the brother of Oneiros. He became the mythical progenitor of the ruling dynasty of the Molossians of ancient Epi ...

and Archelaus, his father's generals, with 10,000 horses, which he brought from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, at the commencement of the war with the Romans. Arcathias took an active part in the great battle fought near the river Amneius or Amnias in Paphlagonia (the modern

Gök River The Gök River or Gökırmak ( Turkish for "Sky River") is a tributary of the Kızılırmak in Turkey. At the past it was called Amnias ( el, Αμνίας). Its source is in Kastamonu Province. The Battle of the River Amnias was fought in 89 BC ...

), in which

Nicomedes IV of Bithynia Nicomedes IV Philopator ( grc-gre, Νικομήδης Φιλοπάτωρ) was the king of Bithynia from c. 94 BC to 74 BC. (''numbered as III. not IV.'') He was the first son and successor of Nicomedes III of Bithynia. Life Memnon of Heraclea wrot ...

was defeated. Two years afterwards, in 87 BC, he invaded Macedonia with a separate army alongside a general named Taxilas. There they either annihilated the legions of Sentius or successfully ejected them from Macedonia. By 86 BC, he had completely conquered Macedonia. He then proceeded to march against

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

, but died on the way, at Tidaeum (or Potidaea or Mount Tisaion). The commander of the army sent to Macedonia is called "Ariarathes" by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, but it's generally assumed that this is the same person.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcathias Ancient Pontic Greeks Ancient Persian people Iranian people of Greek descent 2nd-century BC Iranian people 1st-century BC Iranian people Mithridatic Wars Mithridatic dynasty