Customer Reviews

The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the first biography in a over century of a major figure in Roman history. The story of Mithradates is a thrilling one and Mayor's narrative carries you along through an amazing series of twists and turns. The book is based on a great deal of in-depth research on ancient Roman writers, archeology, art, and ancient and modern science. The historical speculation is careful and clearly marked. Although this book often reads like a novel, it stays true to the history. The author's guess-work is always clearly flagged. Opens up a new perspective on the age-old conflict between East and West and on the fall of the Roman Republic. Highly recommended.

This book combines two qualities that I find essential in a history work: It is extensively, indeed exhaustively researched, and it is eminently readable and accessible.

I have been primarily a student of Roman/Byzantine history, while naturally developing a fair amount of knowledge about the history of the Gauls/Franks, Persians, Carthaginians, and Persians, among others. I know Hannibal because I know Fabian (and Scipio), Vercengetorix because I know Caesar, and so on, but I knew little about Mithradates prior to reading this work. I was particularly interested to learn that Mithradates was a historical character of considerable fame throughout the middle ages and renaissance. While I have of course previously read of the campaigns of Sulla and Pompey in Asia, this had always been from the Roman point of view, with little effort to provide insight into Mithradates, their primary opponent, and his realm. Apparently the old boy has fallen out of fashion for a hundred years or so.

As I read "The Poison King", I found myself constantly amazed at the wealth, activity, cultures, and leadership in Pontus. While many of the detailed records of his life are lost or colored by their Roman filter, Mithradates remains a compelling and fascinating character based upon what we know and may reasonably infer or surmise. It is surely not overstatement to say that he was Rome's most feared enemy for fifty years. If you are interested in the Eastern theater of Rome's empire prior to the fall of the Republic, I think you have to regard this as a must-read.

Regarding some of the negative reviews: I almost have believe we didn't read the same book. I read the work with care, after reading at least two negative reviews here, and keeping their negative commentary in mind I found no merit in their views. I'd say someone has an axe to grind, or is sufficiently concerned with modern politics to be unable to discern a truly objective, scholarly, and entertaining work of ancient history. I will say that this is primarily a work of history, not merely military history.

I am quite enamored with the history of the Hellenistic Pontic kingdom and I asked for this book as a gift. I was elated to receive it and haven't been able to put it down.
My only complaint is the author's tendency to be a bit redundant.
It seems like she expects the reader to have such a short memory that she needs to reiterate important points that she has mentioned many times already.

Otherwise the narrative is very captivating. I look forward to reading more books by Mayor.

I found the book to be very interesting. She puts together a lot of information that is easy to read. I have several books on the Roman Empire but nothing about Mithradates so I appreciate the author's work and in depth research as it gets me more up to speed on that part of ancient history. A lot of my books I pass on or donate but this one I will keep in my ancient history collection.

Literature on ancient Rome can overtly or subtly applaud the level of civilization it provided for its people. Little note is made that the beneficiaries were a small percentage of the population. The beneficiary proportion is smaller still when the people of conquered lands are counted. Rome's enemies skirmished and revolted, but Rome's strong aggressive armies fended them all off for centuries.

Adrienne Mayor provides an antidote (pun intended) to the genuine, and highly touted, accomplishments of Rome. Within the context of Mithradates' life you can see the point of view of Rome's enemies, slaves and clients. You see how they mocked Rome's cherished myth of being founded by orphans suckled by wolves. You see sympathy for Jugurtha and other royals humiliated by Rome's triumphs. You see resentment of a former middle class reduced to paupers by taxes and tributes. Feelings obviously ran deep such that thousands of coordinated guerilla attacks on Black Sea based Romans could kill perhaps 80,000 in one day in 88 BCE.

This book describes not only the complex character of Mithradates but also the complex world in which he lived. Mayor takes you through Mithradates life as a wandering youth, to his study and use of poisons, to his benign (for its times) rule, to his raising great armies, to his murder of relatives, to his marriages and mistresses (losing track of the children) to the death that is recorded for him. She also poses some alterntive history, worth considering, of later life for Mithradates and his warrior wife Hypsicratea.

At the end there is a discussion entitled "Hero or Deviant?" with an outline of how Mithradates meets and doesn't meet the criteria for each. I've long wondered psychology as an evolutionary trait. What would be the psychology of the thousands of people vulnerable to total loss of home and family in wars (to say nothing of earthquakes and diseases) for which they know very little about? Are there specific psychological traits that result from being in line for succession to a throne in a world where the winner takes all leadership and wealth? What of the psychology of the soldier who marches thousands of miles sometimes foraging for food before the fight even begins?

This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in this period.

this is an excellent story of a man who stood against the powerful Roman Empire, the writing is great, you feel as though you are there with Mithradates battling the Romans, could not put it down for a moment.

It gives you a great insight to the regions history, especially in relation to the superpowers of the day. It's too bad more history books aren't written in this fashion. This book is among the best, and I love history books/biographies.

Usually my taste in Roman-era or Hellenistic history runs to the dry. Think Mommsen or Syme. Although Mayor is considered the exact opposite of dry, I still had to read this, because the subject has so rarely been covered in this level of detail - and I was completely blown away.

Mayor's style runs to the flamboyant, but that works very well with Mithridates as the topic. Her Plutarch-style dramatic enthusiasm for her subject actually helps you see Mithridates as his contemporaries would have seen him. I've often wondered how he managed to rally from his many defeats instead of just disappearing into obscurity - and when you see him THIS way, you can understand it. He was the beneficiary of a unique set of circumstances and occupied a favored position in the politics and culture of the time, and Mayor helps you understand how this led people to continue to flock to him, every time the Romans cut him down.

Reading Mayor's treatment of Mithridates is also helpful in understanding the early Emperors, Caligula and Nero in particular. Their behavior - nearly inexplicable in a context that only takes into account the somewhat fastidious outlook of the Romans of the Republic - becomes much more understandable when you realize that they would have seen figures like Mithridates as possible models. Nero's obsession with participating in Greek games and contests makes more sense after you read how Mithridates had already done so, and won. The book is full of little details like this.

All in all, this work fills in a critical hole in the narrative of the ancient Mediterranean, and helps tie together Hellenistic history and the history of the early Roman Empire. Highly recommended.

I have read several historical novels with my favorite up to now being Cicero by Antony Everitt. However, methinks that The Poison King will move to the top of the list. The Poison King is beautifully written and illustrated. What I love about this book is that it gives an objective portrayal of one of the greatest enemies of the Roman Republic. I highly recommend this book to anyone. Fans of ancient history will be enthralled with the portrait of Mithradates painted by Ms. Mayor. Other readers will soon become fans of ancient history.

I picked up this book not knowing much about the ancient kingdom of Pontus or the life story of Mithradates. I was expecting it to be a dry, dull, boring biography. Instead it read as a great adventure story. This book will probably be read mostly by people interested in the history of the period, but I recommend it to another group -- those who love epic fantasy and the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia. What gives this story so much more weight is that it's real!