the name of several kings of Pontus. See Pontus.

Mithridates VII., surnamed Eupator and the Great, succeeded to the throne at the age of 11 years, about 123 years before the Christian era. The beginning of his reign was marked by ambition, cruelty, and artifice. He murdered his own mother, who had been left by his father coheirs of the kingdom; and he fortified his constitution by drinking antidotes against the poison with which his enemies at court attempted to destroy him. He early injured his body to hardship, and employed himself in the most manly exercises, often remaining whole months in the country, and making frozen snow and the earth the place of his repose. Naturally ambitious and cruel, he spared no pains to acquire himself power and dominion. He murdered the two sons whom his sister Laodice had had by Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, and placed one of his own children, only eight years old, on the vacant throne. These violent proceedings alarmed Nicomedes king of Bithynia, who had married Laodice the widow of Ariarathes. He suborned a youth to be king of Cappadocia, as the third son of Ariarathes; and Laodice was sent to Rome to impose upon the senate, and assure them that her third son was now alive, and that his pretensions to the kingdom of Cappadocia were just and well grounded. Mithridates, on his part, sent to Rome Gordius the governor of his son; who solemnly declared before the Roman people, that the youth who sat on the throne of Cappadocia was the third son and lawful heir of Ariarathes, and that he was supported as such by Mithridates. This intricate affair displeased the Roman senate; and finally to settle the dispute they took away the kingdom of Cappadocia from Mithridates, and Paphlagonia from Nicomedes. These two kingdoms being thus separated from their original possessors, were presented with their freedom and independence; but the Cappadocians refused it, and received Ariobarzanes for king. Such were the first seeds of enmity between Rome and the king of Pontus. Mithridates never lost an opportunity by which he might lessen the influence of his adversaries; and the more effectually to destroy their power in Asia, he ordered all the Romans that were in his dominions to be massacred. This was done in one night, and no less than 150,000, according to Plutarch, or 80,000 Romans, as Appian mentions, were made the victims of his cruelty. This called aloud for vengeance. Aquilius, and soon after Sylla, marched against Mithridates with a large army. The former was made prisoner; but Sylla obtained a victory over the king's generals; and another decisive engagement rendered him master of all Greece, Macedonia, Ionia, and Asia Minor. This ill fortune was aggravated by the loss of about 200,000 men, who were killed in the several engagements that had been fought; and Mithridates, weakened by repeated ill success by sea and land, sued for peace from the conqueror, which he obtained on condition of defraying the expenses which the Romans had incurred by the war, and of remaining satisfied with the possessions which he had received from his ancestors. While these negotiations of peace were carried on, Mithridates was not unmindful of his real interest. His poverty, and not his inclinations, obliged him to wish for peace. He immediately took the field with an army of 140,000 infantry and 16,000 horses, which consisted of his own forces and those of his son-in-law Tigranes king of Armenia. With such a numerous army, he soon made himself master of the Roman provinces in Asia; none dared to oppose his conquests; and the Romans, relying on his fidelity, had withdrawn the greatest part of their armies from the country. The news of his warlike preparations was no sooner heard, than Lucullus the consul marched into Asia; and without delay he blocked up the camp of Mithridates, who was then besieging Cyzicus. The Asiatic monarch escaped from him, and fled into the heart of his kingdom. Lucullus pursued him with the utmost celerity; and would have taken him prisoner after a battle, had not the avidity of his soldiers preferred the plundering of a mule loaded with gold to the taking of a monarch who had exercised such cruelties against their countrymen, and shown himself so faithless to the most solemn engagements. After this escape Mithridates was more careful about the safety of his person; and he even ordered his wives and sisters to destroy themselves, fearful of their falling into the enemy's hands. The appointment of Gabrio to the command of the Roman forces, instead of Lucullus, was favourable to Mithridates, who recovered the greatest part of his dominions. The sudden arrival of Pompey, however, soon put an end to his victories. A battle in the night was fought near the Euphrates, in which the troops of Pontus laboured under every disadvantage. The engagement was by moon-light, and as the moon then shone in the face of the enemy, the lengthened shadows of the arms of the Romans having induced Mithridates to believe that the two armies were close together, the arrows of his soldiers were darted from a great distance, and their efforts rendered ineffectual. An universal overthrow ensued, and Mithridates, bold in his misfortunes, rushed through the thick ranks of the enemy at the head of 800 horsemen, 500 of whom perished in the attempt to follow him. He fled to Tigranes; but that monarch refused an asylum to his father-in-law, whom he had before supported with all the collected forces of his kingdom. Mithridates found a safe retreat among the Scythians; and though destitute of power, friends, and resources, yet he meditated the overthrow of the Roman empire, by penetrating into the heart of Italy by land. These wild projects were rejected by his followers, and he sued for peace. It was denied to his ambassadors; and the victorious Pompey declared, that, to obtain it, Mithridates must ask it in person. He scorned to trust himself in the hands of his enemy, and resolved to conquer or to die. His subjects refused to follow him any longer; and revolting from him, made his son Pharnaces king. The son showed himself ungrateful to his father; and even, according to some writers, he ordered him to be put to death. This unnatural treatment broke the heart of Mithridates; he obliged his wife to poison herself, and attempted to do the same himself: It was in vain: the frequent antidotes he had taken in the early part of his life, strengthened his constitution against the poison; and when this was unavailing, he attempted to stab himself. The blow was not mortal; and a Gaul who was then present, at his own request gave him the fatal stroke, about 64 years before the Christian era. Such were the misfortunes, abilities, and miserable end, of a man, who supported himself so long against the power of Rome, and who, according to the declarations of the Roman authors, proved a more powerful and indefatigable adversary to the capital of Italy than the great Annibal, Pyrrhus, Perseus, or Antiochus.

Mithridates has been commended for his eminent virtues, and censured for his vices. As a commander, he deserves the most unbounded applause; and it may create admiration to see him waging war, with such success, during so many years, against the most powerful people on earth, led to the field by a Sylla, a Lucullus, and a Pompey. He was the greatest monarch that ever sat on a throne, according to the opinion of Cicero; and indeed no greater proof of his military character can be brought, than the mention of the great rejoicings which happened in the Roman armies and in the capital at the news of his death. No less than 12 weeks were appointed for public thanksgivings to the immortal gods; and Pompey, who had sent the first intelligence of his death to Rome, and who had partly hastened his fall, was rewarded with the most uncommon honours. It is said that Mithridates conquered 24 nations, whose different languages he knew, and spoke with the same ease and fluency as his own. As a man of letters he also deserves attention. He was acquainted with the Greek language, and even wrote in that dialect a treatise on botany. His skill in physic is well known; and even now there is a celebrated antidote which bears his name, and is called mithridate. Superstition as well as nature had united to render him great; and if we rely upon the authority of Justin, his birth was accompanied by the appearance of two large comets, which were seen for 70 days successively, and whose splendor eclipsed the mid-day sun, and covered the fourth part of the heavens.

**MITRIDATICUM BELLUM**, the *Mithridatic War*, one of the longest and most celebrated wars ever carried on by the Romans against a foreign power. See Pontus.