King Mithridates VI (120-63 BC) of Pontos followed in the footsteps of Alexander the Great: his ambition was the unification of all Greek speaking peoples. This plan, however, brought him in conflict with the powerful Roman Republic. The result were the three Mithridatic Wars from 89 to 63 BC. To fight Rome Mithridates had to recruit mercenaries. These men wanted to be paid with money they could also spend at home, in other words: with an "international" currency. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean, this was the money of King Lysimachus during the last century BC. Mithridates thus started to issue such coins. They bore the image of Alexander the Great and of the goddess Athena.