The Third Mithridatic War (75-65 BC) was one of three Mithridatic Wars fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. The Romans won the war, and Mithridates committed suicide, ending the menace of Pontus and conquering the Armenian kingdom.
Mithridates VI had long been a thorn in Rome's side, having been the subject of two wars against the Roman Republic, in the early 1st century BC. In response to the chaos in Rome, following the terror of Gaius Marius and Sulla's dictatorship, the Republic was in total disorder.
Launching an attack at the same time as a revolt by Sertorius swept through the Spanish provinces, Mithridates was initially virtually unopposed. The Senate acted, by sending the consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus to deal with the Pontic threat. The only other reliable general, Pompey, was in Gaul, marching to Hispania to help crush the revolt lead by Sertorius.
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