James Baquet

The Kingdom of Pontus (also known as the Pontic Empire) is centered in Anatolia, that large portion of modern Turkey located on the westernmost part of the Asian continent. It was founded by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persia, and lasted from 281 B.C. to 62 A.D. The Mithridatic dynasty gets its name from its founder, Mithridates I Ktistes — indeed, “Ktistes” means “founder.” He is also called Mithridates III of Cius, as both his father and grandfather bore that name as rulers of the Greek town of Cius. (“Mithridates,” by the way, comes from Mithra, an Iranian god connected with the sun.)

Mithridates I seems to have been born in the mid-330s B.C., but it is his great-great-great-great-grandson, Mithridates VI (120-63 B.C.) — called “the Great” — who interests us today. He is remembered as one of the most formidable enemies of the Roman Republic, who conducted no fewer than three wars against it.

Mithridates VI was of both Persian and Greek ancestry. He claimed the Persian Emperors Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great as ancestors on one side, and the generals of Alexander the Great on the other. (No wonder he was “great!”)

After expanding his kingdom well beyond its borders, Mithridates took on the Roman advance into Anatolia in a series of three wars, fought from 88-84 B.C., from 83-81 B.C., and from 73-63 B.C. In the first two, Mithridates was more or less successful. At the end of the third, he withdrew to a citadel and committed suicide, largely due to the treachery of his sons. Pontus was annexed to Rome.

At one point during the third war, however, a wondrous thing happened. In the early days of that war, Mithridates was facing the Roman army under Lucullus, who fielded 32,000 men against the larger Persian force. As the two sides marched toward each other, a meteor described as “silvery-hot” smashed into the battleground between the two armies. Both of the rattled troops abandoned the field, with not one death or injury from battle recorded.

But the leaders must have considered this a good omen, as the war continued another 10 years, ending, as we have seen, in the defeat of Pontus.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. forebears, grandparents etc.

2. a small stone body falling from space to earth

3. impressive

4. fortress, stronghold

5. deceit, trickery

6. upset, nervous

7. the act of killing oneself

8. added

9. amazing

10. portent, sign