the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Mithradates II
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or II. (c. 256 -190, according to Meyer, Mithradates and III. ), a mere child. Early in his reign the Gauls of Galatia invaded his territory. Mithradates was at the battle of Ancyra (c. 241), in which he assisted Antiochus Hierax against his brother Seleucus Callinicus, in spite of the fact that he had married the daughter of the latter with Greater Phrygia as her dowry. His two daughters, both named Laodice, were married, one to Antiochus the Great, the other to his cousin Achaeus, a dynast of Asia Minor. He unsuccessfully attacked Sinope, which was taken by his successor Pharnaces, the brother (not the son) Of MITHRADATES III. (169-121), surnamed Philopator, Philadelphus, and Euergetes. According to Meyer, however, there were two kings (Mithradates IV. Philopator and V. Euergetes). He was the first king of Pontus to recognize the suzerainty of the Romans, of whom he was a loyal ally. He assisted Attalus II. of Pergamum to resist Prusias II. of Bithynia; furnished a contingent during the Third Punic War; and aided the Romans in obtaining possession of Pergamum, bequeathed to them by Attalus III., but claimed by Aristonicus, a natural son of 1 There is much difference of opinion in regard to the kings of Pontus called Mithradates to the accession of Mithradates Eupator. Ed. Meyer reckons five, T. Reinach three.
Eumenes II. Both Mithradates and Nicomedes of Bithynia demanded Greater Phrygia in return for their services. It was awarded to Mithradates, but the senate refused to ratify the bargain on the ground of bribery. For several years the kings of Pontus and Bithynia bid against each other, till in 116 Phrygia was declared independent, although in reality it was treated as part of the province of Asia. Mithradates appears to have taken it without waiting for the decision of the senate. He invaded Cappadocia, and married his daughter to the young king, Ariarathes Epiphanes; bought the succession from the last king of Paphlagonia, and obtained a kind of protectorate over Galatia. He was a great admirer of the Greeks, who called him Euergetes; he removed his capital from Amasia to Sinope, and bestowed liberal gifts upon the temples of Delos and Athens. At the height of his power he was assassinated by his courtiers during a banquet in his palace at Sinope.
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Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Mithradates II'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/m/mithradates-ii.html. 1910.
