the poison king the life and legend of mithradates

Paul Getty Museum ) Taking Over the KingdomĪround 116 BC, Mithridates came out of hiding, and confronted his mother. This antidote, known in English as Mithridate, is believed to have been a ‘universal antidote’ that could counter any type of poison.Īn elaborate drug Jar for Mithridate. In addition, the Pontic king is reputed to have experimented on, and concocted one of the best known antidotes in antiquity. Laodicea is said to have been a suspect in her husband’s murder, and, fearing for his own life, her son went into hiding himself.ĭuring this time, Mithridates apparently consumed various types of poison in small doses in order to develop immunity against them, should an assassin attempt to kill him by this means.

Although Mithridates inherited his father’s throne, he was still a minor at the time, and the kingdom was ruled by a regent, Laodice VI, a Seleucid princess who was the mother of the boy king. Mithridates is believed to have been born sometime around 130 BC, and was about 13 years old when his father, Mithridates V Euergetes was assassinated.

He is best known for his conflict with the Roman Republic in the three Mithridatic Wars, in which the Pontic king fought against three prominent Roman generals – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus. Mithridates lived between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Mithridates (spelled also as Mithradates) VI, whose full name is Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysius, was a famous king of Pontus, a Hellenistic kingdom in Asia Minor of Persian origin.

The poison king the life and legend of mithradates