Prusias II of Bithynia

Pharnaces of Pontus, without waiting for the return of his ambassadors, decides in the spring of 181 to attack both Eumenes and Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and therefore invades Galatia with a large force.

Eumenes, allied with Prusias II Cynegus, who had succeeded his father Prusias as king of Bithynia on the latter’s death in 182, leads an army to oppose him, however, hostilities are soon suspended following the arrival of Roman deputies, who have been appointed by the Roman Senate to inquire into the matters in dispute.

Negotiations take place at Pergamon but are inconclusive, with Pharnaces' demands being rejected by the Romans as unreasonable.

As a consequence, the war between Pontus and Pergamon and her allies is renewed.

The war between Pontus and the allied Pergamenes, Bithynians, and Cappadocians has continued, apparently with various interruptions, until the summer of 179 BCE, when Pharnaces, finding himself unable to cope with the combined forces of Eumenes and Ariarathes, is compelled to purchase peace by the cession of all his conquests in Galatia and Paphlagonia, with the exception of Sinope.

Perseus the eldest son and successor in 179 BCE of the recently deceased Philip V of Macedon, secures his position by arranging dynastic marriages with other Hellenistic kings, taking the daughter of Seleucus IV of Syria as his wife and giving the hand of his sister to Prusias II of Bithynia, son of Prusias I Cholus.

In addition, he uses diplomacy to extend his influence.

Abrupolis, a king of the Thracian Sapaei, and ally of the Romans, had attacked the dominions of Perseus around 179 BCE, and laid them waste as far as Amphipolis, as well as overrunning the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus.

He is eventually driven out of his holdings by Perseus, the conflict of which helps ignite the Third Macedonian War, since Rome takes issue with the ousting of an ally from his territories.

Flamininus, throughout his stewardship of Greece, has attempted to preserve Greek local autonomy, but Rome abandons this policy soon after his death in 174.

While some ancient (and modern) writers considered Abrupolis's routing by Perseus a primary cause of the Third Macedonian War, other, later Roman writers, and modern scholars, tended to look upon it as an act of self-defense, with Rome merely using it as one pretext for a quarrel with Perseus.

Attalus' frequent ambassadorial missions to Rome have earned him a favorable reputation there, and he has maintained close ties with the Romans since becoming king.

They help him hold his own in his struggle (156-154) against Prusias II, the aggressive king of Bithynia in northern Anatolia.

Prusias had joined with the King of Pergamon, Eumenes II, in a war against King Pharnaces I of Pontus from 181–179 BCE.

He later invaded the territories of Pergamon, now ruled by Attalus II, in 156, only to be defeated in 154.

The Pergamenes insist on heavy reparations.

Mithridates IV of Pontus is first mentioned in 179 BCE in association with Pharnaces I in a treaty concluded by the latter King of Pergamon, Eumenes II, in a manner that would lead one to suppose he was already admitted to some share in sovereign power.

The date of Mithridates’ accession to the Pontian throne is utterly mysterious, since we first hear of him as ruler in 154 BCE, when he is mentioned as sending an auxiliary force to the assistance of King of Pergamon, Attalus II Philadelphus, against the King of Bithynia, Prusias II.

This moment is an important event, since it signals the start of a policy of friendship of the Kingdom of Pontus with the Roman Republic and her allies that is to continue until the time of Mithridates VI Eupator.

Prusias II Cynegus of Bithynia had in 156-154 invaded the territories of Pergamon, only to be defeated, and the Pergamenes have insisted on heavy reparations.

His son Nicomedes II is so popular with the people that his father had sent him to Rome to limit his influence.

However, in Rome, he had also gained favor from the Roman Senate, forcing Prusias to send an emissary with secret orders to assassinate him.

But the emissary reveals the plot, and persuades the prince to rebel against his father.

Supported by Attalus II, king of Pergamon, he is completely successful, orders his father to be put to death at Nicomedia, and takes the Bithynian throne as Nicomedes II Epiphanes.