Mithridates I of Media Atropatene

King of Media

Mithridates I of Media Atropatene, sometimes known as Mithridates I and Mithridates of Media (100 BC – 66 BC) was a king of Media Atropatene.

Although Mithridates I was a Median prince, little is known on his lineage and his life. In or before 67 BC, Mithridates I married an unnamed Armenian princess from the Artaxiad dynasty who was a daughter of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great and, possibly, his wife, Cleopatra of Pontus.[1][2]

Mithridates I ruled from 67 to c. 66 BC. Mithridates I is mentioned by Cassius Dio in the last campaign against the Roman general Lucullus in 67 BC.[3] He was supporting Tigranes, when his father-in-law went to war against the Romans to invade Cappadocia in 67 BC.[4] There is a possibility that Mithridates I was present with Tigranes the Great and King Mithridates VI of Pontus, when Tigranes and Mithridates VI were defeated by Lucullus at the Arsanias River in 66 BC.[5]

Mithridates I appeared to have died in c. 66 BC, as his relative Darius I was King of Media Atropatene in c. 65 BC.[6] According to modern genealogies, Mithridates I and his Armenian wife are presented in being the parents of a child, a son called Ariobarzanes I[7] which can explain the claims of Mithridates I's descendants to the Armenian kingship in opposition to the lasting ruling monarchs of the Artaxiad dynasty.

## References

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1. ^ Cassius Dio, 36.14
2. ^ "Cassius Dio – Book 36". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
3. ^ Cassius Dio, 36.14
4. ^ Azerbaijan iii. Pre-Islamic History, Atropates, Persian satrap of Media, made himself independent in 321 B.C. Thereafter Greek and Latin writers named the territory as Media Atropatene or, less frequently, Media Minor: Parthian period
5. ^ Ancient Library article on Mithridates, page 1094 Archived 2006-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ Azerbaijan iii. Pre-Islamic History, Atropates, Persian satrap of Media, made himself independent in 321 B.C. Thereafter Greek and Latin writers named the territory as Media Atropatene or, less frequently, Media Minor: Parthian period
7. ^ Toumanoff, Manual genealogy and chronology for the Christian Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania), p.p.81-82

## Sources

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* C. Toumanoff, Manual genealogy and chronology for the Christian Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania), ED. Aquila, Rome, 1976
* Ancient Library article on Mithridates
* Ptolemaic Genealogy: Tryphaena
* Azerbaijan iii. Pre-Islamic History, Atropates, Persian satrap of Media, made himself independent in 321 B.C. Thereafter Greek and Latin writers named the territory as Media Atropatene or, less frequently, Media Minor: Parthian period