Rome Polices Mithridates and Area Kings
In 108/07 B.C. Mithridates VI of Pontus and Nicomedes II of Bithynia marched into Paphlagonia, the country that lay between them. A Roman emisssary tried to force Nicomedes and Mithridates to restore Paphlagonia's king, Astreodon. Instead, Mithridates annexed a piece of Galatia (south of Paphlagonia), which his father was supposed to have inherited from earlier rulers. Meanwhile Nicomedes, far from restoring Paphlagonia to Astreodon, put his own son on the throne as puppet. The unsuccessful Roman embassy went home.In 102 B.C., Mithridates waged war to the south, on Cappadocia, and installed his 8-year-old son, Ariarathes IX Eusebes Philopator, as king under the regency of a Cappadocian named Gordius. Mithridates tried to bribe Roman senators to (1) accept this arrangement, (2) to accept his presence in Paphlagonia and Galatia, and (3) to counter Nicomedes' claim to Cappadocia. At the same time Mithridates was making his bid, Nicomedes appealed to Rome on behalf of his own pretender. Instead of taking a clear side, Rome ordered them out. They ordered Mithridates to leave Cappadocia, and Nicomedes, Paphlagonia. Mithridates obliged and he also left Paphlagonia.
Left to their own devices, the Cappadocian nobility selected Ariobarzanes for their king. Rome, through the agency of Sulla, helped Ariobarzanes assume power.
Mithridates and Armenia
By allying himself with the neighboring kingdom through marriage, Mithridates hoped to expand his empire. The Armenians would do the invading and reap the spoils while Pontus would gain the territory. In this way, Mithridates himself would not antagonize the Romans.
In 96/5 Tigranes I inherited the throne of Armenia and married Mithridates' daughter Cleopatra. In 94, Nicomedes of Bithynia died. By 91, Rome was embroiled in its own Social War, leaving Mithridates an opportunity to expand his empire. He easily persuaded his son-in-law to take Cappadocia, offering to divide the spoils. Next, Mithridates went after Nicomedes' successor in Bithynia, Nicomedes III.
The ousted rulers appealed to Rome, which ruled that they should be restored. M. Aquilius and Manlius Maltinus were ordered to deal with the monarchs of Pontus and Armenia.
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