General Notes

[2280151.ged]
Mithradates I, also called ARSACES VI (fl. 2nd century BC), king of
Parthia (reigned 171-138 BC); he succeeded his brother Phraates I.
Before 160 Mithradates I seized Media from the Seleucid ruler Timarchus.
Turning to the east, he won two provinces, Tapuria and Traxiana, from the
Bactrian king Eucratides. Mithradates then captured the province of
Elymais (ancient Elam) and invaded Babylonia (142 or 141). The Seleucid
king Demetrius II Nicator recaptured Babylon (141 or 140) but was
defeated and held by Mithradates in honourable captivity. Generally,
Mithradates was regarded as a mild ruler, and his epithet Philhellene
("Greek-loving") indicates that he tried to conciliate his Greek subjects.