![]() ![]() ![]() As Mayor points out in The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy, nonfatal lightning strikes forecasted fame. Then, soon after his birth, lightning struck Mithradates’ crib, leaving a crown-like scar on his forehead. Astronomic phenomena were hugely portentous in antiquity, usually signifying the arrival of a savior, as with Jesus and the Star of Bethlehem. In the year he was either born or conceived, 135 or 134 BC, the “Star of Sinope” burned across the sky over Mithradates VI Eupator’s home in northwestern Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea. He conducted not one but three wars against Rome, caused more than 80,000 civilians to be slaughtered in a single day, and publicly executed an enemy by pouring molten gold down his throat.Įven his birth was marked by a celestial event. ![]() He developed immunities to poison – by taking poison. He had his armor made a size or two too big to intimidate enemies. Mithradates was not the type to do anything small. Mayor will discuss her book this Thursday, July 22, at the Central Library. Adrienne Mayor’s The Poison King is a stunning portrait of the greatest ruler time forgot. Persian king Mithradates was a master of warfare and toxicology who nearly brought the Roman Empire down. Charismatic, brave and ruthless, the first century B.C. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |