Mithridates VI, surnamed Eupator, called the Great c.132-63BC
King of Pontus

He succeeded to the throne (c.120BC) as a boy, but soon subdued the tribes who bordered on the Euxine as far as the Crimea, and made an incursion into Cappadocia and Bithynia, then Roman. In the First Mithridatic War (88), Mithridates, intially successful, was compelled to make peace with Sulla (85), relinquishing all his conquests in Asia. The aggressions of the Roman legate led to the Second Mithridatic War (83-81), which Mithridates won. In the Third Mithridatic War (74) he prospered with some Roman support until Lucullus compelled him to take refuge with his son-in-law, Tigranes I of Armenia (72), and defeated both of them at Artaxata (68). In 66 Pompey defeated Mithridates on the Euphrates, and his son's rebellion caused him to kill himself. He was cruel and sensual but energetic and determined, and his political skill enabled him to pose a serious threat to Rome; he was unlucky to meet able Roman generals.