Mithridates VI was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia (now Turkey) from about 120–63 BC.
Map of the Kingdom of Pontus, Before the reign of Mithridates VI (dark purple), after his conquests (purple).
Mithradates VI Of Pontus was referred to as the Poison King. He was a brilliant toxicologist. He was obsessed with poison and took small doses of a specially prepared poison to help him develop a resistance if someone tried to poison him. He impressed history by eating poison, murdering his own mother to become king, and as Rome's worst enemy. King Mithridates hated the Roman Empire and sent his army west to crush the "Romans, the enemy of all humanity." He engaged three of the prominent generals from the late Roman Republic in the Mithridatic Wars: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus.
In the end, Rome was victorious and Mithradates lost his kingdom and his life. After Pompey defeated him in Pontus, Mithridates fled to the lands north of the Black Sea in the winter of 66 BC in the hope that he could raise a new army and carry on the war.
His preparations proved to be too harsh on the populace, who rebelled against him. He reportedly attempted suicide by poison. This failed because of his immunity.
According to Appian's Roman History, he then requested his Gaulish bodyguard, Bituitus, to kill him. Machiavelli praised his military genius. European royalty sought out his secret elixir against poison. His life inspired Mozart's first opera, while for centuries poets and playwrights recited bloody, romantic tales of his victories, defeats, intrigues, concubines, and mysterious death.
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