Berenice of Chios ( grc-gre, Βερενίκη ''Bereníke''; died about 72/71 BC) was an obscure

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

noblewoman from the Greek island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

who became the third wife of King

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 ...

Biography

In 86 BC, Mithridates VI, through the agency of one of his generals, deported the inhabitants of

, the capital city of the Greek island of Chios. Then Mithridates distributed the land to Pontian settlers he brought in. At some point, Mithridates VI met Berenice, who was a citizen from the capital of Chios. She became one of his mistresses and eventually his third wife. Little is known about their relationship. There is a possibility that Mithridates VI renamed the capital city of Chios in honor of Berenice. The city bore her name until the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

annexed the island about 85 BC.

Death

In about 72 or 71 BC, Plutarch reports that Mithridates VI ordered his family to commit suicide in order to avoid capture by the Roman consul

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingdom ...

, who was pursuing him. Berenice decided to take her life with poison, but when her mother, who was next to her, requested some, she shared it with her. The shared amount eventually killed her mother, who was older, but did not take effect on her, and subsequently she was strangled by a man of the palace guard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenice of Chios 1st-century BC Greek women 1st-century BC Greek people Ancient Chians Queens of Pontus 70s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Mithridatic dynasty