Nicomedes II of Bithynia

Nicomedes II Epiphanes (Greek: Νικομήδης ὁ Ἐπιφανής "Nicomedes God-Manifest") was the king of Bithynia from 149 to c. 127 BC. He was fourth in descent from Nicomedes I. Nicomedes II was the son and successor of Prusias II and Apame IV. His parents were related as they were maternal cousins.

Nicomedes II
King of Bithynia
Reign	149 – 127 BC
Predecessor	Prusias II
Successor	Nicomedes III
Born	Bithynia (modern-day Turkey)
Died	127 BC Nicomedia (modern-day İzmit, Kocaeli, Turkey)
Issue	Nicomedes III Nysa
Greek	Νικομήδης Β΄
Father	Prusias II
Mother	Apame IV
Religion	Greek Polytheism

Life

He was so popular with the people that his father sent him to Rome to limit his influence. However, in Rome, he also gained favor from the Roman Senate, forcing Prusias to send an emissary named Menas with secret orders to assassinate him.^[1] But the emissary revealed the plot, and persuaded the prince to rebel against his father.^[2]

Supported by Attalus II Philadelphus, king of Pergamon, he was completely successful, and ordered his father to be put to death at Nicomedia.^[3] During his long reign Nicomedes adhered steadily to the Roman alliance, and assisted them against the pretender to the throne of Pergamon Eumenes III. He was succeeded by his son Nicomedes III.

Nicomedes introduced the Bithynian era for numbering years on his coins. This system was to last in parts of the Greek world down to the 4th century AD.^[4]

References

1. Appian. The Mithridatic Wars. He sent Menas as his fellow ambassador, and told him if he should secure a remission of the payments to spare Nicomedes, but if not, to kill him at Rome.
2. Appian. The Mithridatic Wars.
3. Appian. The Mithridatic Wars. Prusias fled to the temple of Zeus, where he was stabbed by some of the emissaries of Nicomedes.
4. Jakob Munk Højte, "From Kingdom to Province: Reshaping Pontos after the Fall of Mithridates VI", in Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen (ed.), Rome and the Black Sea Region: Domination, Romanisation, Resistance (Aarhus University Press, 2006), 15–30.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Nicomedes II.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 664.

Preceded by Prusias II

King of Bithynia 149 BC – 127 BC

Succeeded by Nicomedes III