A military biography of Mithridates VI 'the Great' of Pontus, Rome's
most persistent enemy. The Mithridiatic wars stretched over half a
century and two continents, and have a fascinating cast of pirates,
rebels, turncoats and poisoners (though an unfortunate lack of heroes
with untarnished motives). There are pitched battles, epic sieges,
double-crosses and world-class political conniving, assassinations and
general treachery. Through it all, the story is built about the dominant
character of Mithridates, connoisseur of poisons, arch-schemer and
strategist, resilient in defeat, savage and vindictive in victory.
Almost by definition, this book will break new ground, in that nothing
has been written on Mithridates for the general public for almost half a
century, though scholarly journals have been adding a steady trickle of
new evidence, which is drawn upon here.
Few enough leaders went to war with Rome and lived long to tell the
tale, but in the first half of the first century BC, Mithridates did so
three times. At the high point of his career his armies swept the Romans
out of Asia Minor and Greece, reversing a century of Roman expansion in
the region. Even once fortune had turned against him he would not
submit. Up to the day he died, a fugitive drive to suicide by the
treachery of his own son, he was still planning an overland invasion of
Rome itself.
