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First Mithridatic War
The First Mithridatic War /ˌmɪθrəˈdædɪk/ (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 VI of Pontus against Rome and the allied Kingdom of Bithynia. The war lasted five years and ended in a Roman victory, which forced Mithridates to abandon all of his conquests and return to Pontus. The conflict with Mithridates VI later resumed in two further Mithridatic Wars. Prelude Following his ascension to the throne of Kingdom of Pontus, Mithridates VI of Pontus focused on expanding his kingdom. Mithridates' neighbors, however, were Roman client states, and expansion at their expense would inevitably lead him to conflict with Rome. After successfully incorporating most of the coast around the Black Sea into his kingdom, he turned his attention towards Asia Minor (in particular, the Kingdom of Cappadocia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithridatic Wars
The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the hostilities with Rome. Mithridates led the Pontic forces in every war. The Romans were led by various generals and consuls throughout the wars, namely Sulla, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucullus, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, and Pompey, Gnaeus Pompey Magnus. The wars began over Pontus and Rome backing differing kings of Kingdom of Cappadocia, Cappadocia and Bithynia. The conflicts ended with the death of Mithridates in 63 BC and the annexation of Pontus and Syria by the Roman Republic. The Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Kingdom of Armenia and the Bosporan Kingdom ruled by Mithridates's son, Pharnaces II of Pontus, Pharnaces II became allied client states of Rome after the conclusion of the wars. Etymology The ''bellum Mithridaticum'' ("Mithridat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Licinius Murena (praetor 88 BC)
Lucius Licinius Murena was a Roman soldier and politician. He was notable for playing an important role in the Roman victory against the forces of Mithridates VI of Pontus at the Battle of Chaeronea (86 BC), Battle of Chaeronea in 86 BC during the First Mithridatic War and for starting another war, the Second Mithridatic War (83–81 BC), against Mithridates in Asia Minor without the authorisation of the Roman senate. Life Murena was a praetor probably in 88 BC. He was a lieutenant of Lucius Cornelius Sulla during the First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) with Mithridates VI of Pontus. He participated in the Battle of Chaeronea (86 BC), Battle of Chaeronea of 86 BC. Sulla encamped near Chaeronea, close to the camp of Archelaus (Pontic army officer), Archelaus, the commander of the enemy. He left Murena behind with one legion and two cohorts to face the enemy, should they prepare for battle, and went to Chaeronea, where the Romans had a garrison. Some of the townsfolk offered to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ariarathes VI
Ariarathes VI Epiphanes Philopator (), was the Ariarathid king of Cappadocia from 130 BC to 116 BC. He was the youngest son of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia and Nysa of Cappadocia. Name "Ariarathes" is the Hellenized form of an Old Iranian name, perhaps ''*Arya-wratha'' ("having Aryan joy"). The name is attested in Aramaic as ''Ariorath'' or ''Ariourat'', and in later Latin sources as ''Ariaratus''.; ; . Reign He was a child at his succession, and for this reason the power was kept by his mother, who acted as his regent. At some point his mother seems to have poisoned all of Ariarathes’ five brothers; but the infant king was saved by people loyal to the dynasty and had Nysa killed. Using this as a pretext, his maternal uncle, King Mithridates V Euergetes of Pontus (150 BC–120 BC), tried to assert control over the country by marrying Ariarathes to Mithridates' first daughter, Laodice of Cappadocia, who was also Ariarathes' maternal cousin. Laodice bore Ariarathes one daugh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laodice Of Cappadocia
Berenice or Laodice of Cappadocia, also known as Laodice ( ''Laodíkē''; flourished from the mid-120s BC to the 90s BC) was a princess from the Kingdom of Pontus and a queen of the Kingdom of Cappadocia by marriage to Ariarathes VI, and queen of Bithynia by marriage to Nicomedes III. She was regent of Cappadocia in 116 BC during the minority of her son Ariarathes VII. Early life Laodice was of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. She was the first born child of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Pontus, Laodice VI and Mithridates V. One of the siblings was Mithridates, who became Mithridates VI, and reigned 120–63 BC. She was born and raised in Pontus. Between 130 and 126 BC, her aunt, the sister of Mithridates V, queen of Cappadocia and regent of her son Ariarathes VI, Nysa of Cappadocia, died. She had been the wife and later the widow of the previous Cappadocian King Ariarathes V. Mithridates V was aware of the turbulent political situation in Cappadocia, which end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cappadocia
Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir province. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revolt (499 BC), the Cappadocians were reported as occupying a region from the Taurus Mountains to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates, to the north by the Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia. Van Dam, R. ''Kingdom of Snow: Roman rule and Greek culture in Cappadocia.'' Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, p.13 The name, traditionally used in Christianity, Christian sources throughout history, continues in use as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia (country), Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The Black Sea is Inflow (hydrology), supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester. Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe. The Black Sea, not including the Sea of Azov, covers , has a maximum depth of , and a volume of . Most of its coasts ascend rapidly. These rises are the Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north. In the west, the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills such as the Strandzha; Cape Emine, a dwindling of the east end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithridates VI
Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the 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 effective, ambitious, and ruthless ruler who sought to dominate Asia Minor and the Black Sea region, waging several hard-fought but ultimately unsuccessful wars (the Mithridatic Wars) to break Roman dominion over Asia and the Hellenic world. He has been called the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. He cultivated an immunity to poisons by regularly ingesting sub-lethal doses; this practice, now called mithridatism, is named after him. After his death, he became known as Mithridates the Great. Biography Name and ancestry ''Mithridates'' is the Greek attestation of the Iranic name ''Mihrdāt'', meaning "given by Mithra" ( - '' Mehrdād''), the name of the ancient Iranian sun god. The name ''Mihrdāt'' itself derives from Old Iranian ''Miθra-dāta-''. The Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legionary
The Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius''; : ''legionarii'') was a citizen soldier of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the Republic and Principate eras, alongside auxiliary and cavalry detachments. At its height, Roman Legionnaires were viewed as the foremost fighting force in the Roman world, with commentators such as Vegetius praising their fighting effectiveness centuries after the classical Roman legionary disappeared. Roman legionnaires were recruited from Roman citizens under age 45. They were first predominantly made up of recruits from Roman Italy, but more were recruited from the provinces as time went on. As legionnaires moved into newly conquered provinces, they helped Romanize the native population and helped integrate the disparate regions of the Roman Empire into one polity. They enlisted in a legion for 25 years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign. Legionna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristion
Aristion ( Greek: Άριστίων; died 1 March 86 BC in Athens) was a philosopher who became tyrant of Athens from 88 BC until he died in 86 BC. Aristion joined forces with King Mithridates VI of Pontus against Greece's overlords, the Romans, fighting alongside Pontic forces during the First Mithridatic War, but to no avail. On 1 March 86 BC, after a long and destructive siege, Athens was taken by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who had Aristion executed. Life Aristion's early history is preserved by Athenaeus on the authority of Posidonius. Posidonius calls him Athenion and makes him a Peripatetic philosopher, whereas others, Pausanias, Appian, and Plutarch, call him Aristion, and Appian calls him an Epicurean philosopher. There is no universally accepted resolution to this confusion, and it is possible that two separate tyrants held power in Athens in quick succession during the First Mithridatic War, whose stories became conflated together. This is the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorylaeus
Dorylaeus ({{langx, el, Δορύλαιος; early 1st century BC), was a commander in the Kingdom of Pontus who served under Mithridates the Great. Dorylaeus reinforced Archelaus with eighty thousand fresh troops after the latter's loss at Battle of Chaeronea. Dorylaeus wanted to bring about a battle with Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ... right away, but changed his mind after a skirmish with Roman troops. Bibliography *Plutarch: ''Sulla''20*Strabo: ''Geography''*Inscription People from the Kingdom of Pontus 1st-century BC people Hellenistic generals People of the Mithridatic Wars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcathius
Arcathias () was a Pontic prince of Persian and Greek Macedonian ancestry, and figure in the First Mithridatic War. Arcathias was a son of Mithridates VI of Pontus and his sister-wife Laodice. In 89 BC, Arcathias joined Neoptolemus and Archelaus, his father's generals, with 10,000 horses, which he brought from Armenia, 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), in which Nicomedes IV of Bithynia 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, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoptolemus (Pontic Army Officer)
Neoptolemus (, flourished second half of 2nd century BC and first half of 1st century BC, died by 63 BC) was a distinguished general of King Mithridates VI of Pontus. He was the brother of Archelaus, another general of Mithridates VI and the paternal uncle of Archelaus’ sons: Archelaus and Diogenes. Like his brother Archelaus, Neoptolemus was a Cappadocian Greek nobleman, possibly of Macedonian descent from unknown parents. He perhaps descended from Greeks who arrived in Anatolia after the expedition of King Alexander the Great. Neoptolemus's family were active in the Pontic Court. Like his brother, Neoptolemus was a general and admiral in the First Mithridatic War (89 BC-85 BC). Prior to the First Mithridatic War, Neoptolemus and his brother had gained military experience in the Pontic campaigns on the northern shores of the Black Sea. He took part in campaigns as far as the mainland west of the Crimea, reaching possibly as far west as Tyras, where he erected a fortress which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
