Mithridates II of Parthia
Mithridates II (Persian مهرداد Mehrdad [ meɦrdɔ ː d], given by Mithras ) was a Parthian king, who reigned from about 123-88 BC. He has been called the Great in ancient times. He is also the first Parthian ruler who calls himself on his coins King of Kings and thus probably continued the Achaemenids. On his coins he is also called Euergetes. Mithridates II is considered the greatest Parthian rulers, under whom the empire reached its greatest extent.
Conquest of Mesopotamia
Mithridates II was the son of his predecessor Artabanus I, who had perished in the fight against eastern enemies. In the west, large parts of the empire were lost, so that it seemed that the Parthian Empire came close to sinking at about the same time. Mithridates II proved to be an able king and was initially Babylonia again incorporate the Reich. This area had a short time before resolved with the Charakene from the Reich. As a sign of the victory he had coins of Hyspaosines, which was however already died 124 BC their mark. Whole of Mesopotamia was conquered by storm and reached the ruler in the year 113 BC, Dura Europos.
Mithridates II then attacked Armenia, which was ruled by King Artavasdes, and was able to Tigranes, the son of Armenian king's capture. This is the first time that the Parthians actively interfered in the politics of Armenia.
The east of the empire
To the east of the kingdom of the problems seemed unsolvable. Incident nomads, who are referred to in the ancient sources as the Scythians had destroyed the Greco- Bactrian Kingdom and massively threatened the eastern borders of the empire. Here, however, Mithridates II was the incident nomads ward and divided the provinces of Parthia and Aria back into the kingdom. Sistan, which came under the direct control of the nomads, he seems to have at least made a vassal.
In the year 121 BC, the Chinese had ( 141-87 BC) defeated the Huns under Emperor Wudi in the east and were greatly expanded to the west. In the Ferghana the sphere of influence of the Chinese met the Parthian Empire of. For the year 120 BC, a Chinese delegation is attested to the Parthian court under Mithridates II. In the following years, the Silk Road was opened.
The western boundary of the empire
94 BC died the Armenian king, Mithridates and Tigranes II sat his son, who had lived until then among the Parthians, on the Armenian throne. Soon afterwards attacked Mithridates II of Adiabene, Gordyene and Osrhoene and conquered this city States, making the Euphrates to the western border of the Parthian Empire. Here came the Parthians for the first time to the Romans. Mithridates II sent 96 BC a certain Orobazos as ambassador to Sulla. A contract was negotiated with Sulla apparently gained the upper hand and Orobazos so placed that he and thus appeared the Parthians as a supplicant. The actual outcome of the negotiations is not known, but it can be assumed that the Euphrates was set as the limit. Orobazos to have been executed later.
In the year 88 BC the Seleucid king Demetrius besieged III. in Berea his brother Philip I Philadelphus, whereupon the ruler of the city called for help Arabs and Parthians. On the Parthian side of the governor Mithridates Sinnakes rushed to Berea. The besiegers were overwhelmed, Demetrius III. captured and sent to Mithridates II. The Seleucid ruler remained the rest of his life in the Parthian captivity until he died of an illness.
Domestic Policy
From 90 BC Mithridates II had to contend with domestic political enemies. 93 and 92/1 BC, he is still recognized certificates in Babylonia as ruler. Shortly afterwards, a certain Gotarzes I got anti-king, the 91 /0 to 81/ 0 BC appears as ruler in Mesopotamia in the records of the year. Normally, the Parthian rulers in documents are not referred to by their names, but only as Arsaces. The fact that Gotarzes explicitly appears under its own name, points to internal political problems and seems to prove that he was not the only ruler to claim the throne. However, the events in detail remain unclear.
There are strong indications that under Mithridates II, the Parthian Empire was restructured. The last administration cuneiform texts were written under his rule. Temple in the Babylonian style were replaced by those in a more hellenistich - Parthian style. Both may suggest that the oriental temple administration was discontinued. The previously oldest dated documents from Nisa belong to his reign.
Representations of the ruler
The Image of the Lord is known almost exclusively by his coinage. It can be basically several types differ. It may appear with a short beard and a diadem. There are pictures that show him with a medium length beard or with a long beard, the ruler always wears a tiara. A very different picture type shows him with a tiara on her head.
In Behistun, in present-day western Iran, there is a rock relief that the rulers and vassals or four officers shows that make him waiting. The inscriptions are Greek. The relief is now only poorly preserved and is known only by old copies.