The ''Epistula Mithridatis'' ( la, "Letter of Mithridates"), also known as the Letter of Mithridates to King Arsaces, is a letter allegedly written by

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 ...

to the

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

king

Phraates III Phraates III (also spelled Frahad III; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕 ''Frahāt''), was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 69 BC to 57 BC. He was the son and successor of Sinatruces (). At Phraates III's accession, his empire cou ...

(70–57 BC). The letter was discovered "among a collection of

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...

ian speeches and letters probably originally produced in the first or second centuries A.D". In the letter, Mithridates requests Parthian aid against the troops of

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 ...

, and in a series of arguments, Mithridates asks the Parthians to join an alliance with Mithridates and

Tigranes Tigranes (, grc, Τιγράνης) is the Greek transliteration of the Old Iranian name ''*Tigrāna''. This was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of Armenia. The name of Tigranes, which was theophoric in nature, was u ...

(king of

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 ...

), against the Romans. The letter, assigned to Sallust, is considered to be an important source on the Pontic–Parthian relations at the time. According to Prof. Dr. Marek Jan Olbrycht, the letter suggests "a genuine document found by the Romans in the personal archives of Mithridates". According to Dr. Eric Adler (associate professor), the composition of the letter by Sallust, is largely the result of his own invention. Adler states that "A few scholars have asserted that the ''EM'' (''Epistula Mithridatis'') owes its origin to a document culled from the archives of Mithridates, which Sallust somehow acquired and translated or adapted into Latin. Some claim that

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

discovered this

epistle An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...

in a secret archive after the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies dragging the entire east of the ...

, and then presumably brought to Rome. Others have supposed that the ''EM'' is an expression of authentic Pontic propaganda, and thus based on arguments that are not Sallust's own. (...) We can be reasonably certain, then, that the ''EM'' is the creation of Sallust and is the product of a Roman historian's attempt to reconstruct the likely arguments of an anti-Roman Eastern king".

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Sources

* * {{cite book, url=https://www.academia.edu/865473, last=Olbrycht, first=Marek Jan, editor1-first=Jakob Munk, editor1-last=Højte, year=2009, chapter=Mithridates VI Eupator and Iran, title=Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom, publisher=Aarhus University Press, series=Black Sea Studies, volume=9, issn=1903-4873, isbn=978-8779344433, pages=163–190 Kingdom of Pontus Parthian Empire Letters (message) Latin texts Parthian Dark Age 1st-century BC works