The Poison King's Last Stand

Mithridates VI was born in 134 BCE in the Kingdom of Pontus, near the Black Sea

in modern Turkey. His father, King Mithridates V, was poisoned at

a feast. Court conspirators? Internal betrayal? His mother had a favorite.

His brother. Not him. So Mithridates became the next target. He fled into the

wilderness and disappeared. For seven years, he lived in exile. Hunting. Surviving.

Planning revenge. And every single day, he swallowed poison. Tiny doses.

Building immunity. Training his body to reject death itself. This practice would

later be called mithridatism. When he returned, he took the throne by force.