Mithridates VI Eupator: A Life from Beginning to End

Have you ever heard of Mithridates VI Eupator? Don’t feel bad if you haven’t—the name doesn’t exactly roll right off your tongue. Nevertheless, Mithridates was indeed one of the mightiest leaders of the ancient world. This was a man who made himself immune to poison by consuming deadly toxins daily, earning him the nickname “the Poison King.” He spoke over twenty languages fluently and ruled an empire that stretched from the Black Sea coast of Anatolia to the distant shores of Crimea. Most remarkably of all, he became the Roman Republic’s most dangerous enemy, fighting three devastating wars that lasted over two decades and forced Rome to deploy some of its greatest generals—Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompey—just to stop him.

In many ways, Mithridates fancied himself a successor to Alexander the Great, the Macedonian conqueror who had spread Greek culture far and wide. He sought to follow in his idol’s footsteps, but the rise of the Roman Republic on his western flank prevented him from doing so. It was a tough and challenging life for Mithridates VI Eupator, one marked by betrayal, warfare, and the constant threat of assassination. Here in this book, we take an in-depth look at his life from beginning to end.