Mithridates III of Parthia

Mithridates III (Parthian: 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕 Mihrdāt) was king of the Parthian Empire from 87 to 80 BC. His existence is disputed in scholarship.

Mithridates III 𐭌𐭄𐭓𐭃𐭕
Coin of a Parthian king, possibly Mithridates III, Ray mint
King of the Parthian Empire
Reign	87–80 BC
Predecessor	Orodes I
Successor	Orodes I
Died	80/79 BC
Dynasty	Arsacid dynasty
Father	Mithridates II
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Biography

Mithridates' year of birth is not specified by ancient historians, but his coin mints illustrate him as a middle-aged man.^[1] He was probably a son of Mithridates II.^[1] In July/August 87 BC, Mithridates III usurped the Parthian throne from Orodes I.^[2] Around the same period, the Seleucid ruler Demetrius III Eucaerus besieged his brother Philip I Philadelphus in Bereoa in Syria.^[1] The governor of the city, however, called on Aziz, an Arab phylarch (tribal leader), and the Parthian governor Mithridates Sinaces for help; with their aid, Demetrius III was defeated and taken hostage to Mithridates III, who treated him with "honour" until he died of illness.^[1] In August/September 80 BC, Mithridates III was dethroned in Babylon, and was shortly afterwards expelled from Susa by Orodes I.^[3] Mithridates III may have survived this event and managed to flee to the north, where he continued fighting until he died the following year.^[4] Other scholars, however, do not support the existence of a Mithridates III ruling in the 80s BC.^[5] According to M. Rahim Shayegan (2011), the existence of rival kings during Orodes I's reign "repose primarily upon numismatic evidence, may find scant support in the literary and documentary sources, and can be contradicted by a diverging interpretation of the period's coinage."^[6] Shayegan deduces that Gotarzes I reigned till his death in c. 80 BC, and was succeeded by Orodes I.^[7]