Mithridates of Pergamon

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Mithridates of Pergamon († 46 BC ) was a nobleman from the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor and briefly king of the Bosporan Empire .

Life

Mithridates of Pergamon was the son of the Pergamener Menodotos and the Adobogiona, who came from a noble Galatian family. Allegedly his mother was a concubine of the important Pontic king Mithridates VI. , whose illegitimate son he should be considered by his name. He also grew up at the court of this anti-Roman king. In Rome Mithridates joined v Pergamon 59th As a witness against Lucius Valerius Flaccus . He held priesthoods in Pergamon and was able to obtain privileges for this city from Gaius Julius Caesar .

In the autumn of 48 BC BC Mithridates followed Caesar to Egypt. When the Alexandrian War began and Caesar was besieged by the Egyptian army in Alexandria , Mithridates received the order from the Roman general, who considered him brave and capable of war, to recruit a relief army in Syria and Asia Minor . The Pergamener was able to recruit a significant army, including 3,000 Jews under the command of Antipater , the father of Herod the Great . Due to the influence of Antipater, many other rulers in Syria made aid contingents available for Caesar. B. the Nabataean king Malchos . In December 48 BC In BC (according to the Julian calendar) Mithridates advanced along the coast in the company of a fleet towards the Egyptian border post Pelusion , pulled his ships over the beach into the old channel, broke the Egyptian river lock on the Nile and could then turn the city into a combined country - and conquer sea operation. From Pelusion he reached Leontopolis , whose Jewish population he won with the help of Antipater, to Memphis , which converted to him voluntarily. As he advanced, he defeated a Ptolemaic army, supported by Antipater, at a place called Iudaion Stratopedon ("Jewish camp"), the location of which is unknown. Caesar and the Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII experienced the advance of the relief army on Alexandria . about the same time. The latter wanted to prevent the unification of his enemies and therefore moved against Mithridates. But after deceiving the Egyptians and bypassing Lake Mareotis, Caesar succeeded in uniting his troops with those of the Pergamener. On January 14, 47 BC BC (Julian) the Egyptian army was finally annihilated in the decisive battle near the Nile, with Ptolemy XIII. drowned in the Nile. Alexandria then had to capitulate.

After the victory over Pharnakes II in the Battle of Zela on May 21, 47 BC. Because of his merits and loyalty, Caesar made Mithridates king of the Bosporan Empire and the tetrarch of the Trokmer as the closest relative of the last tetrarch. But since after the departure of Pharnakes his governor Asandros had instigated a rebellion in the Bosporos and killed the king, who had fled after his defeat against Caesar, Mithridates should now take action against the usurper and then become the new ruler. However, the Pergamener suffered a setback against Asandros and probably lost his life. The time of the Mithridates attempt to subjugate Colchis, reported by Strabo , cannot be assigned , but this probably took place shortly before his move to the Crimea .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Strabon , Geographika 13, 625; Alexandrian War 78.
  2. ↑ Cicero , per L. Valerio Flacco 41.
  3. ↑ IGR IV 1682.
  4. ↑ Alexandrian War 26; Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 14, 127ff .; Jewish War 1, 187ff.
  5. ↑ Alexandrian War 26; Cassius Dio , Roman History 42, 41; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 14, 130.
  6. ↑ Alexandrian War 27; Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 14, 131–136; Jewish War 1, 190ff.
  7. ^ Alexandrian War 28–32; Cassius Dio, Roman History 42, 43; Plutarch , Caesar 49; Appian , Civil Wars 2, 90 and 5, 9; Titus Livius , Ab urbe condita , periocha 112; among others
  8. ↑ Alexandrian War 78; Strabon, Geographika 13, 625; Cassius Dio, Roman History 42, 48, 4; Appian, Mithridatius 121; Cicero , De divinatione 2, 79.
  9. ^ Strabo, Geographika 13, 625.
  10. ↑ Strabon, Geographika 11, 498; Fritz Geyer: Mithridates 15. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 2, Stuttgart 1932, Col. 2205 f. (here: col. 2206).
personal data
SURNAME Mithridates of Pergamon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hellenistic nobleman, king of the Bosporan Empire
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 46 BC Chr.