Nicomedes IV of Bithynia
Nicomedes IV, known as
Philopator, was the king of
Bithynia, from c.
94 BC to
75/4 BC. He was the son and successor of
Nicomedes III.
There is nothing known about Nicomedes birth or the years before he became king. However, his reign began at the death of his father. The first few years of his kingship were relatively peaceful, but soon the king of
Pontus Mithridates the Great, one of
Rome's greatest enemies during the late Republic, began harassing Bithynia's borders.
Nicomedes' brother Socrates, assisted by Mithridates, defeated Nicomedes' army in
90 BC, and Nicomedes was forced to flee to
Italy. He was restored to his throne due to Rome's influence in the region. However, the Senate encouraged Nicomedes to raid Mithridates' territory, and Mithridates struck once again in
88 BC. Nicomedes fled once again to Rome.
Due to the close ties that Bithynia had enjoyed with the Romans, his appeal for help resulted in the sending of the powerful
consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla to
Asia Minor and the
first Mithridatic War. Sulla fought Mithridates on several occasions over the next three years, and finally in
85, Mithridates sued for peace, and was allowed to retain his kingship in Pontus after paying a heavy fine.
Nicomedes was restored to his throne in Bithynia in
84 BC. The years that followed were relatively peaceful, though Bithynia came more and more under the control of Rome. In
80 BC, young
Julius Caesar was an ambassador to Nicomedes' court. It was said that he and Nicomedes became lovers leading to the disparaging title, "the Queen of Bithynia", an allegation that was much brought up by Caesar's political enemies later on in his life.
As one of his last acts as king of Bithynia, in
74 BC, Nicomedes bequeathed the entire kingdom of
Bithynia to Rome. The
Roman Senate quickly voted it as a new province. Rome's old enemy Mithridates had other plans for Bithynia, however, and Nicomedes death and bequeathal led directly to the
third Mithridatic War.
Smith
p. 1197 Suetonius
ii., 45-53*
Suetonius,
Lives of the Caesars: "Caesar".
*
Smith, William (editor);
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology:
"Nicomedes III" (erroneously called so),
Boston, (1867).
