The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy

by Adrienne Mayor

  13. Acknowledged as king. Mithradates was hailed as king of Pontus, called “King of Kings.”

  14. Rules peacefully for a time. The first decade of Mithradates’ reign was peaceful.

  15. Prescribes new laws, promotes a new world order. Mithradates established new laws (freeing slaves, canceling debt, expanding citizenship) and promoted a “new world order”: his alternative to Roman rule in his new Black Sea Empire.

  16. Later loses favor with gods and/or subjects. During the wars against Rome, omens indicated gods’ disfavor; heavy losses caused allies to abandon Mithradates. His subjects turned against his increasingly draconian rule; he was beset by defections, desertions, betrayals. In the end, he lost his power in a revolt.

  17. Driven from throne and city. Lucullus and Pompey both drove Mithradates from his throne in Pergamon and Pontus, forcing him to abandon his kingdom and flee for his life, first to Armenia, and then to his Kingdom of the Bosporus in the Crimea. His son Pharnaces revolted, driving Mithradates from his throne.

  18. Unusual or mysterious death. The circumstances of Mithradates’ death were extraordinary, mysterious, and violent. Barricaded in a tower, he attempted to commit suicide with poison. He died by the sword of his bodyguard; some sources say he was killed by his son’s soldiers. His body was never indentified with certainty; his death was not “simple” but in effect “double” (Cassius Dio 37.13).

  19. Dies in an elevated place. Mithradates died in the high tower of his fortress, on Mount Mithradates, above the town of Pantikapaion.

  20. Children do not succeed him. Mithradates himself ensured that his sons could not succeed him, murdering or getting rid of all but one viable heir, Pharnaces, who betrayed him to the Romans and usurped the crown. Pharnaces did not independently inherit Mithradates’ original Kingdom of Pontus; his status was that of a client of Rome. Crushed by Julius Caesar, Pharnaces died in 47 BC.

  21. Corpse buried unconventionally, or somehow hidden or obscured.Mithradates’ corpse was poorly embalmed and shipped across the Black Sea to Pompey. The face was unrecognizable, raising doubts that he was really dead. Even though Pompey could not be certain it was Mithradates’ body, he gave it a grand burial, yet the location is unclear.

  22. More than one revered tomb. Pompey placed the body in Mithradates’ family tomb. But the sources conflict, and scholars still debate whether Mithradates’ body was interred in Sinope or in Amasis.

  23. Prophecies predicted future greatness. Numerous prophecies and oracles predicted Mithradates’ birth, his rise to power, and his grand destiny.

  PERSONALITY DISORDERS

  Does Mithradates fit the typical personality profile of “the poisoner”? In Rome and Greece, poison was considered the weapon of women and “unmanly” Persian-influenced barbarians; today it is often seen as the weapon of the greedy, weak, oppressed, or cowardly (Stuart 2004, 114–15), or the murder method of psychopaths, “controlling, sneaky people with no conscience” or remorse. Some call the poisoners of family members “custodial killers” (Newman 2005, 18–19). Perhaps this label best fits Mithradates as poisoner of his harem, since he felt he was protecting his family and acting as guardian of his and their honor. In other cases, however, Mithradates mastered what was the traditional weapon of succession and assassination in his world.

  Is it possible or useful to apply current psychiatric diagnostic tools to historical figures, based on reported behavior and character? In the case of Mithradates, the temptation is great. Among the many drawbacks is the fact that all the evidence was presented by his enemies. Yet “the question deserves to be asked,” declares Danish historian Tønnes Bekker-Neilsen, who initiated the analysis of Mithradates’ mental health in 2004. The king’s known activities, “crimes,” emotions, and contradictions have been thoroughly detailed in the preceding chapters. Based on the available evidence of Mithradates’ psychiatric history, what might be measured by modern diagnostic rating scales for personality disorders?

  In modern psychiatry, psychopaths are usually highly intelligent, superficially charming individuals who do not experience deep emotions or empathy and habitually lie and manipulate others. Some, but not all, psychopaths are violent criminals. Other conditions are often confused with psychopathy. For example, a “borderline personality” suffers severe mood swings, fragile emotional defenses, and fluctuating self-image, among other traits (Bekker-Neilsen equates borderline personality with psychopathy). Antisocial personality disorder is applied to those who commit aggressive, criminal acts. Mithradates could be considered a sociopath: someone who may commit crimes but has a strong sense of right and wrong based on the values of his or her particular social group.

  The standard Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), devised and refined by psychologist Robert Hare in the 1980s, has twenty traits. The highest possible score is 40; the score of the general population falls under 5. The following list condenses the traits into fourteen characteristics and considers whether or not they apply to Mithradates, as he was known to his contemporaries and ancient historians.

  1. Superficial, glib charm, intelligent, articulate. Mithradates was a highly intelligent, charismatic leader and a brilliant, persuasive orator. Yet by all reports, his appeal was not superficial but reflected a genuinely likable personality and deeply held principles.

  2. Grandiose sense of self-worth, narcissism. Mithradates had a penchant for theatrical gestures and a grandiose sense of self-worth. But these traits could be seen as an occupational hazard for an ambitious, popular Hellenistic monarch with a dazzling family tree, revered as divine and surrounded by prophecies of grandeur. Unlike his friend King Tigranes, Mithradates was flexible and realistic, responsive to adversity, and able to function as an ordinary individual, and as an equal of his soldiers when necessary.

  3. Early behavior problems.Boyhood experiments with poisons and running away from home were rational reactions to Mithradates’ dysfunctional family situation and genuine plots on his life by his mother and guardians.

  4. Lack of conscience, lack of guilt or remorse. Documented incidents indicate that Mithradates did not lack a conscience. He had a strong sense of right and wrong and suffered guilt and remorse, which in some cases led him to pardon those who wronged him.

  5. Lack of empathy, callousness, cold-blooded violence. As a leader determined to wipe out enemy Romans in Anatolia, Mithradates certainly exhibited extreme ruthlessness in 88 BC and callous, cold-blooded behavior in other instances. Some of his murderous acts were policy decisions under duress; others were planned revenge. Yet, as noted above, several episodes show that Mithradates was also capable of compassion and forgiveness, even against his own interest.

  6. Manipulative, deceitful, habitual lying.Mithradates could manipulate and intimidate others, an asset in diplomacy and politics. As one educated to respect Truth as opposed to Deceit, he was generally honest; he did not have a reputation as a liar, even among his enemies. He was a master of deception in warfare, a positive attribute in his day.

  7. Refusal to accept responsibility for actions, unreliable. Although during bouts of paranoia Mithradates was quick to suspect treachery and blame others, this was often a rational response to real threats. In general, he prized loyalty and was a reliable friend and ally; he took responsibility for his own decisions, an important tenet of his Persian upbringing.

  8. Promiscuous sexual behavior.Mithradates was sexually vigorous, with numerous partners, fathering many children. But harems and multiple offspring were the norm for Macedonian-Persian royalty in the Hellenistic era. He was not reputed to be sexually dissolute, as some contemporaries were.

  9. Parasitic, dependent lifestyle. Mithradates was wealthy but generous. He was never lazy or parasitic, but was universally admired as extremely hardworking and resourceful.

  10. Impulsive behavior, easily bored, requires stimulation. Remarkably intelligent and creative, Mithradates probably required constant stimulation; his interests were wide-ranging, from botany, toxicology,
gemology and art, literature, and music to engineering technology and furniture making. There is evidence for violence and a hot temper, but Mithradates was usually shrewd and calculating, capable of great patience and restraint. He was also a defiant and daring risk-taker, once again an asset in his day.

  11. Incapable of realistic, long-term planning. Mithradates’ reign was distinguished by long-term planning, which he and others deemed realistic. He was quick to revise strategies to meet new challenges. As Bekker-Neilsen points out, Mithradates did have a tendency to underestimate obstacles and adversaries, but this is a common trait among successful leaders in any era.

  12. Shallow emotions, fearlessness, lack of anxiety or depression. Mithradates was courageous but not without fear. He experienced strong negative and positive emotions: love, hate, compassion, humor, generosity, revenge, anxiety, fear, grief, loyalty, and depression.

  13. Lack of appreciation for art and music. By all reports, Mithradates had a passionate appreciation for art, literature, theater, and music.

  14. Failure to form long-term relationships and loyalties, many short-term relationships.Mithradates faced “difficulty in creating durable alliances,” remarked Bekker-Neilsen, “even with rulers who were his relatives.” But in the cutthroat, violent world of his reign of more than fifty years, Mithradates was the target of numerous conspiracies and betrayals by his enemies and those closest to him. Yet he maintained many remarkably long-term relationships, with Dorylaus and other boyhood friends, his military companions, allies including Tigranes, his daughters, and the women he loved.

  Mithradates scores highly on measures of grandiose self-assessment, and his behavior was at times cruel and vengeful. Yet he cannot be labeled a psychopath. As Bekker-Neilsen remarks, “being charismatic is no vice, and ruthlessness, fratricide . . . grandiosity and promiscuity” were necessary for survival in his milieu. Of course, a low score on the PCL-R is not a certificate of moral integrity: one can do very bad things without being a psychopath.

  Recently it has been suggested that some social traits associated with psychopaths and sociopaths—superficial charm, ruthless aggression, manipulation, and callousness—reflect behavioral options that are highly valued in modern business, sports, the armed forces, and politics, leading to the new concept of “successful” sociopaths or psychopaths. This label might fit Mithradates, whose antisocial and sociopathic traits were assets ensuring his survival and memorable achievements. Mithradates also exhibited traits common among successful modern entrepreneurs: bold gambles, high tolerance for risk, resilience in the face of defeat, and unwavering confidence against all odds.

  APPENDIX TWO

  Mithradates’ Afterlife in the Arts and Popular Culture

  MITHRADATES’ legendary status began during his own lifetime and continued for more than two millennia, inspiring literature, art, music, popular culture, and scientific investigations. This brief compilation is not comprehensive: a full accounting of his legacy would fill a book. See Summerer 2009 for a survey of representations of Mithradates in scholarship and the arts, from the fifteenth to the twentieth century.

  VISUAL ARTS

  Mithradates, sometimes with his companion Hypsicratea, appears in numerous medieval illuminated manuscripts; e.g., Plutarch’s lives of Pompey, Sulla, and Lucullus; Boccaccio; and Christine de Pizan (figs. 6.2, 7.3, 14.3, 14.4, 15.5; plates 2, 3, 6, 8, 9); see Summerer 2009 for more images of the deaths of Mithradates and his family

  Monime, Mithradates’ tragic queen, was a popular subject of European paintings, for example, by Bartolomeo Pinelli (1816); Genovesio, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Hotel de Ville, France (sixteenth century); and fig. 12.5

  Mithradates bust, Versailles (fig. 15.9)

  Mithradates bust, by Verchaffen, ca. 1760 (N. Penny, “Lord Rockingham’s Sculpture Garden,” J. Paul Getty Journal 19 [1991]: 15 and fig. 11)

  Mithradates bust, marble, Palais Justiniani, Rome, engraving by Monnier

  Mithradates’ life story illustrated on two ornate sixteenth-century drug jars, J. Paul Getty Museum (fig. 15.3; plate 4)

  Illustrations of Racine’s Mithridate (1673), e.g., figs. 7.4, 10.1, 12.6

  Paintings illustrating the history of pharmacy, e.g., plate 1; Mithradates’ herbalist Krateuas appears in medieval medical manuscripts, e.g., Codex Vindobonensis Medicus, Munich

  Illustrations of Mithradates’ death in Roman history books, e.g., figs. 15.1, 15.2, 15.4

  DRAMA

  Pageau, Monime (1600), based on Plutarch, Florus, and Appian

  Behourt, Hypsicratée (1604) dramatized Plutarch’s description in Life of Pompey

  Gautier de Costes de La Calprenède, La Morte de Mitridate (1635) highly esteemed by Cardinal Richelieu and Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV (Brèque 1983 and Snaith 2007)

  Jean Racine, Mithridate (1673), Louis XIV’s favorite play (Goodkin 1986; Brèque 1983)

  Nathaniel Lee, Mithridates, King of Pontus, a Tragedy, London, 1678

  OPERA

  There are eighteen librettos based on Mithradates, including Aldrovandini, Mithridate in Sebastia, 1701; Scarlatti, Mitridate Eupatore, 1707; Capello, 1723; Vittorio Cigna-Santi and Gasparini, 1767. Mozart’s first serious opera, written at age fourteen, was Mitridate, re di Ponto, Milan, 1770 (Sadie 1972; Brèque 1983; for illustrations and photos of productions, see L’Avant Scene Opera, special issue, 1983). Recent performances: Santa Fe Opera, 2001; Convent Garden, London, 2005.

  LITERATURE

  Because of Mithradates’ linguistic brilliance, his name came to denote a book written in several languages, a mithridates. For example, the Mithridates by Konrad Gesner (b. 1516) was a study of 130 languages. Mithradates’ life story or, in particular, his special regime of ingesting poisons in small doses has been featured in many literary genres in Europe and the United States, for example:

  William Wordsworth, Prelude, 1798–1850

  Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” story, 1844

  Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, novel, 1845

  “The Modern Mithidates,” illustrated satirical poem, Vanity Fair (December 31, 1859), 5, lists poisons readily available on “every grocer’s shelves”

  John Greenleaf Whittier, “Mithridates in Chios,” poem, 1865

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Mithridates,” poem, ca. 1847

  A. E. Housman, “Terence, this is stupid stuff,” poem, 1896

  Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, mystery, 1920

  Constantine Cavafy, “Darius,” poem about a poet in Mithradates’ court, 1920

  Dorothy Sayers, Strong Poison, mystery, 1931

  Poul Anderson, The Golden Slave, novel, 1960

  William Goldman, The Princess Bride, novel 1973; movie, 1987

  Colleen McCullough, The Grass Crown, novel, 1991

  E. E. Smith, Triplanetary, novel, 1997

  Michael Curtis Ford, The Last King, novel, 2004

  POPULAR CULTURE

  Mithradates appears in the “Total War: Rome” video game, 2008

  History Channel game, Anachronism (2008), “Mithradates VI the Great” set of four cards: “Use the King of Pontus, Rome’s most feared adversary, to outwit, out-think, and outmaneuver your opponents.” www.TriKingGames.com

  SPARTACVS: Crisis in the Roman Republic 80-71 BC (2009), board game pits the Roman Republic against the allies Mithradates, Spartacus, and Sertorius www.compassgames.com/spartacus.htm

  NOTES

  INTRODUCTION

  1. “Fairy tale” aspects: McGing 1986, 44–46; Holland 2003, 43; Goodkin 1986, 205; cf Champlin 2003, 92–96, 237, for folkloristic features of Nero’s story. Were some European folk motifs inspired by Mithradates’ story? For example, M’s love affair with his female page disguised as a male may be the origin of that stock figure in medieval tales and Shakespearean drama. M’s imprisonment of his sisters in towers so they could never marry is another fairy tale-motif. M in Norse mythology: Younger Edda 1879 and Ch 15.

  2. Both spellin
gs found on ancient coins, inscriptions, and historical manuscripts: Welles 1974, 296 n2; Ward 1749–50, 490–92; Reinach 1890, 49 n2. Justin 37.1 says M fought Rome for 46 years; Appian Mithradatic Wars 118 and Syrian Wars 48 say the wars lasted 42 years; Florus 1.40 and Eutropius 6.12 say 40; Pliny 7.26.98 says 30. It depends on when the conflict is said to have begun. M’s active resistance to Roman rule began in about 103 BC; war with Rome broke out in 88 BC.

  3. See Baley 1585 for typical medieval view, praising M’s nobility and “gifts to the whole world,” far surpassing Rome’s “victory and profit” in the Mithradatic Wars. Machiavelli Art of War (1519), 2.84–99. Summerer 2009: M was the subject of scientific works and a source of inspiration in popular literature and opera over centuries; facts were used, distorted, overlooked to construct positive and negative images. In the 1500s to 1700s, M was a tragic figure, a victim of betrayal and defeat by conspiracy.

  4. Corner 1915, 222.

  5. Rostovtzeff 1921, 220 (R left Russia for the United States in 1918). Reinach 1890, xiv. Gozalishvili 1965. Russian novels: Polupudnev 1993 and Samulev 2004. Recent Russian scholarship, eg Saprykin 2004, Kesmedzhi 2008, Tsetskhladze 2001, Zin’ko 2004, and see Højte 2009a, Bowersock 2008. Suspected political poisonings of Russia’s opponents reported in the media include a Bulgarian defector’s murder by ricin-tipped umbrella in 1978 and former Russian spy A. Litvinenko’s death in 2006 by radioactive polonium-210 in his sushi; in 2003 and 2004 two journalists critical of Vladimir Putin died mysteriously; and in 2004 Ukrainian presidential candidate V. Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned by Soviet-made “Yellow Rain” dioxin, which hideously disfigured his face (Ch 14, similar malady suffered by M before his death). Gutterman 2004. Newman 2005.

  6. Thanks to discussions with Gevork Nazaryan, www.ArmenianHighland .com; Vahe Gurzadyan; and Rubik Kocharian; also see Kurkjian 1958, ch 13. Armenians revere Tigran Mets (Tigranes the Great) and M, “the glorious King of Pontus,” Tigranes’ “true ally.” They “struggled together . . . against Roman dominance,” writes Yuri Babayan in 2002, www.armenianhistory.info, fulfilling the ancient Zoroastrian-influenced Armenian folk belief that a “great hero would wield a magic sword of lightning at the most critical time—when the world was in the grip of evil tyrants and people were yearning for liberation” (Nazaryan 2005). Mirdad/Mrhtat is a popular first name in Armenia. For an Iranian point of view, see Badi’ 1991, ch 5, “Mithridate Eupator ou la révolt de l’Asie.” Kurdish historian Mehrdad Izady considers M of Kurdish ancestry, and Pontus, Cappadocia, and Commagene as ancient Kurdish states: Izady 1992, 36–38, 86.