Silver tetradrachm, minted in October 92 BCE, of Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus from 120-63 BCE and perhaps second only to Hannibal as the Roman Republic's most dangerous enemy. As with many Hellenistic monarchs, Mithradates identified himself closely with a god, in this case Dionysus. His portrait on the obverse shows him as youthful and with free-flowing locks of hair, an iconographic type frequently associated with Dionysus. On the reverse, a stag grazes with a star and crescent above him. The surrounding inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΙΘΡΑΔΑΤΟΥ ΕΥΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ("Of King Mithradates Eupator"), with indicators of the year (CΣ) and month (Α). The whole is surrounded by clusters of ivy and fruit, again evoking Dionysus in his role as promoter of vegetal fertility.
At the time of this coin's minting, the Roman Republic had just intervened on behalf of Mithradates' enemy Nicomedes III of Bithynia, preventing Mithradates from expanding the borders of Pontus at Bithynia's expense. This event may have cemented his hatred for the Romans. Four years later, in 88 BCE, he would instigate a massacre of Romans and Italians throughout Asia Minor (the so-called "Asiatic Vespers"), igniting a quarter-century series of wars with Sulla, his lieutenant Lucullus, and Pompey the Great that ended with Mithradates' defeat and suicide.
Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com | Wikimedia Commons | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic
