MITHRADATES III  . murdered his father Phraates III. about 57 B.C., with the assistance of his brother Orodes . He was made king of Media, and waged war against his brother, but was soon deposed on account of his cruelty . He took refuge with Gabinius, the Roman proconsul of Syria . He advanced into Mesopotamia, but was beaten at Seleucia by Surenas, fled into Babylon, and after a long siege was taken prisoner and killed in 54 by Orodes I . (Dio Cass . 39, 56; Justin 42, 4; Jos . Bell. i . 8, 7, Ant . 14, 6, 4) . A Parthian king Mithradates, who must have occupied the throne for a short time during the reign of Phraates IV., is mentioned by Jos . Ant. xvi . 8, 4, in to B.C.; another pretender Meherdates was brought from Rome in A.D .

49 by the opponents of

Gotarzes, but defeated (Tac . Ann. xi. to, xii. to sqq.) . The name of another pretender Mithradates (often called Mithradates IV.) occurs on a coin of the first half of the 2nd century, written in Aramaic, accompanied by the Arsacid titles in Greek (Wroth, Catal. of the Coins of Parthia, p . 219) ; he appears to be identical with Meherdotes, one of the rival kings of Parthia who fought against Trajan in 116; he died in an attack on Commagene and appointed his son Sanatruces successor, who fell in a battle against the Romans (Arrian ap . Malalas, Chron. pp . 270 . 274) . (ED .