In 47 BC, Lycomedes was probably about 50 years old when he was named by Roman dictator, Gaius
Julius Caesar, the priest of the
goddess Bellona in the temple-state of
Comana,[2][3] and sovereign, therefore, of the surrounding country.[4] The predecessor of Lycomedes was
Archelaus, the grandson of the
Pontic general Archelaus.[5]Strabo reports that with Roman client King
Polemon I of Pontus, Lycomedes besieged a fortress held by Arsaces, a rebel chief who was guarding the sons of King
Pharnaces II of Pontus, until Arsaces surrendered.[6]
Later Lycomedes was a supporter of Roman
triumvirMark Antony, who at some point enlarged the territory of Lycomedes' kingdom.[7] Due to Lycomedes’ partisanship with Mark Antony, he was deposed by Octavian after the
Battle of Actium.[8] He was succeeded as priest and ruler, briefly, by the brigand-king
Cleon of Gordiucome, and more permanently by
Dyteutus.[9]
Gabelko, Oleg L. (2009). "The Dynastic History of the Hellenistic Monarchies of Asia Minor According to the Chronography of George Synkellos". In Højte, Jakob Munk (ed.).
Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. pp. 47–62.
ISBN978-87-793-4443-3. Archived from
the original on 2011-03-16.
Mayor, Adrienne (2010). The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
ISBN978-06-911-5026-0.