He Died Old

The story of Mithradates, oriental despot, King of Pontus in the first century BC, is an extraordinary and memorable one: unique among his ruling contemporaries, all of whom died young, he survived triumphantly into old age; and almost unique among the great autocrats of history he remained uncorrupted by absolute power. He came to the throne, amid a pattern of family murders but his most dangerous enemy throughout his life was Rome whose aggression at one point drove him from his native land. At 20 he was a ruthless tyrant, at 40 a libertine and by the age of 68 he was a daring leader and a disciplined and heroic warrior. In this brilliant book Alfred Duggan sets the Mithradates saga with complete actuality against its tortuous Eastern background.