Mithridates II of Pontus

Who is Mithridates II of Pontus?

Mithridates II, third king of Pontus and son of Ariobarzanes, whom he succeeded on the throne.

He was a minor when his father died, but the period of his accession cannot be determined. It seems probable that it must be placed considerably before 240 BC, as Memnon tells us that he was a child at his father's death, and he had a daughter of marriageable age in 222 BC. Shortly after his accession, his kingdom was invaded by the Gauls, who were eventually repulsed. After he attained manhood, he married Laodice, a sister of Seleucus II Callinicus, with whom he is said to have received the province of Phrygia as a dowry. But notwithstanding this alliance, we find Mithridates II fighting against Seleucus during a war between Seleucus and Antiochus Hierax. Eventually, Mithridates defeated Seleucus in a great battle at Ancyra in 239 BC whereby Seleucus lost twenty thousand of his troops and narrowly escaped with his own life. In 222 BC, Mithridates gave his daughter Laodice in marriage to the Seleucid king Antiochus III: another of his daughters, also named Laodice, was married about the same time to Achaeus, the cousin of Antiochus.