In the novel “Mithridates,” the events of a distant past are depicted—when ancient Crimea (Taurida) came under the rule of the Pontic king Mithridates VI. This book concludes the historical trilogy begun by the author with two volumes of the novel “On Pontus Euxinus” (“The Great Scythia” and “The Uprising at the Bosporus”). However, “Mithridates” is entirely self-contained, plot-wise separate.
The author tells of the fates of the people of the Bosporan kingdom during the Third Mithridatic War, when the peoples of the East defended their independence from Roman expansion. The time period is from 80 to 63 BCE.
The novel was written as a result of studying many historical materials, supplemented by the author’s creative fiction. The text includes a number of the author’s revisions and clarifications.