The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates

The Poison King by Adrienne Mayor

Book Review by Philip Matyszak

Two thousand years after his death, Mithridates VI of Pontus continues to generate strong feelings, and this will certainly continue to be the case for readers of Adrienne Mayor's latest book. I have a feeling that readers on this forum will either love it or hate it, but rather as with Mithridates himself, it’s hard to be neutral. To make my own position clear, I'm a fan, both of this book and of the man himself. But with both I have reservations. With Mithridates, it is impossible to completely admire a man who cold-bloodedly arranged the execution of 80,000 men, women and children in a single day. With the book, the text contains invention and occasional misstatements which could easily give an unwary reader the wrong impression...

...read the full review of The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy

p.s. Matyszak made an follow up interview with the author Adrienne Mayor, which we will post shortly...