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Hypsicratea or Hypsikrateia (Ancient Greek: Ὑψικράτεια, fl. 63 BC), was the concubine, and perhaps wife, of King Mithridates VI of Pontus.[1]
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Nothing is known of the family background of Hypsicratea, although it has been noted that her name suggests that her family came from the Cimmerian Bosporus.[2] All the information about her relates to the final years of Mithridates' reign.
During the Battle of the Lycus, Hypsicratea and Mithridates led a charge of 800 cavalry against the Roman forces led by Pompey. However, in the battle, the two, along with two other unnamed companions, were separated from the rest of their cavalry and escaped, while Pompey killed or captured nearly ten thousand of Mithridates' troops.[3]
After their escape, Hypsicratea followed Mithridates north, along the east coast of the Black Sea, to Sinora, along with around 3000 other survivors of the Battle of the Lycus that joined them later.[4] Ancient sources neglect to mention Hypsicratea after this point.
She may have died during an uprising in Phanagoria in 63 BC.[5]
Plutarch wrote that she was:
Valerius Maximus reports:
In 2004, a brief epitaph of Hypsicratea was discovered by archaeologists in Phanagoria. The epitaph uses the masculine version of her name, Hypsicrates - thus confirming what Plutarch said about her. This also suggests Hypsicrates was the name by whom she was publicly known, rather than simply a pet name given by Mithridates. It calls her "wife of King Mithridates Eupator Dionysos."[6]
The epitaph was inscribed on a block of marble, which formed part of the base of a bronze statue of Hypsicratea. The statue has not survived, and it is impossible to know how it depicted her.[7]
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