"A fascinating reading experience"

In first century BC, the Roman Senate declared King Mithridates Eupator VI of Pontus (on the Black Sea) as its greatest enemy. Rome had turned Pontus into a satellite state when Mithridates' mother ruled. When he became the monarch, his country was totally reliant on Rome. Instead of bowing like his mom, he launches campaigns often brutal to throw Rome out of his country and the rest of Asia Minor. Over the next four decades starting at home, Mithridates ruled and warred. First he exploited the weaknesses of his mother ultimately overthrowing her; then he challenged the puppeteers of the Roman Republic using anything in his genocidal arsenal to make a point. Finally after forty years of battles, retreats, and more war, he met final defeat at the hands of General Pompey. Even then he refused to bow having his men execute him instead of allowing the Romans to parade him as a trophy.

This is a fabulous historical fiction novel that provides deep insight into the Ancient Roman world through one of its toughest enemies. Many readers like this reviewer probably never heard of Mithridates before, but he obviously proved to be a dangerous long term threat to the Romans. Though the depth in which Michael Curtis Ford provides military tactics seems overwhelming to the lay- person, it also furbishes a sense of how brilliant Rome's Greatest Enemy truly was. The tactics also lead to fantastic descriptions of the battles as the audience get a first hand account (narrated by the lead protagonist's son) of life in the BC Roman Empire from the perspective of those who wanted out from the glory.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 10, 2004

Summary

To the Romans, the greatest enemy the Republic ever faced was not the Goths or Huns, nor even Hannibal, but rather a ferocious and brilliant king on the distant Black Sea: Mithridates Eupator VI of Pontus, known to history as Mithridates the Great. At age eleven, Mithridates inherited a small mountain kingdom of wild tribesmen, which his wicked mother governed in his place. Sweeping to power at age twenty-one, he proved to be a military genius and quickly consolidated various fiefdoms under his command. Since Rome also had expansionist designs in this region, bloody conflict was inevitable. Over forty years, Rome sent its greatest generals to contain Mithridates and gained tenuous control over his empire only after suffering a series of devastating defeats at the hands of this cunning and ruthless king. Each time Rome declared victory, Mithridates considered it merely a strategic retreat, and soon came roaring back with a more powerful army than before. Bursting with heroic battle scenes and eloquent storytelling, Michael Curtis Ford has crafted a riveting novel of the ancient world and resurrected one of history's greatest warriors.