Mithridates of Armenia

Mithridates of Armenia

Mithridates (Georgian: მითრიდატე) of Armenia (flourished 1st century) was an Iberian prince and a king of Armenia under the protection of the Roman Empire.

Mithridates was installed by his brother Pharasmanes I of Iberia who, encouraged by Tiberius, invaded Armenia and captured its capital Artaxata in 35. When the Parthian prince Orodes, son of Artabanus II of Parthia, attempted to dispossess Mithridates of his newly-acquired kingdom, Pharasmanes assembled a large army, with which he totally defeated the Parthians in a pitched battle (Tacitus, Annals. vi. 32-35). At a later period (c. 37), the new emperor Caligula had Mithridates arrested, but Claudius restored him on the Armenian throne c. 42. Subsequently, Mithridates's relations with Pharasmanes deteriorated and the Iberian king instigated his son, Rhadamistus, to invade Armenia and overthrow Mithridates in 51. Betrayed by his Roman commanders, Mithridates surrendered, but was put to death by Rhadamistus, who usurped the crown.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1870).