Bacchides (eunuch)
Bacchides (Ancient Greek: Βακχίδης) was a eunuch of the Pontic Greek ruler Mithridates VI Eupator during the Third Mithridatic War.
In 71 BCE, when Mithridates's defeat at the hands of the Roman general Lucullus seemed imminent, Mithridates in despair dispatched Bacchides to Pharnacia (modern Giresun) to either kill -- or warn them to kill themselves -- his wives and sisters, lest they be captured by his enemies.[1][2][3]
While some writers describe this as an act of despair, some, such as the Roman historian Plutarch, describe it as an act of strength, knowing "the strong man fears shame more than death".[4]
The 2nd century CE Greek historian Appian wrote that the eunuch's name was "Bacchus".[5]
The 1st-century BCE Greek historian Strabo mentions another "Bacchides" who was the governor of Sinope at the time when this town was besieged by Lucullus, who is possibly the same as the above.[6]
References
- ↑ Plutarch, "Lucullus", Parallel Lives 18, &c.
- ↑ Paradeisopoulos, Iordanis (1836). The Pontus of the nineteenth-century travellers. p. 342. ISBN 9786188698857. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ↑ Mayor, Adrienne (2009). The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy. Princeton University Press. p. 282. ISBN 9780691126838. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ↑ Marinella, Lucrezia (2007). The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Men. Translated by Dunhill, Anne. University of Chicago Press. p. 107. ISBN 9780226505503. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
- ↑ Appian, Mithridates 82
- ↑ Strabo, Geographica xii. p.546
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William (1870). "Bacchides". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 450.