Editing Mithridatic Wars (section)

==Etymology==

The ''bellum Mithridaticum'' ("Mithridatic War") referred in official Roman circles to the mandate, or warrant, issued by the Roman Senate in 88&nbsp;BC declaring war against Mithridates.{{dubious span |text=Handed at first to the consuls, it would not end until the death of Mithridates or the declaration by the Senate that it was at an end. As there were no intermissions in the warrant until the death of Mithridates in 63&nbsp;BC, there was officially only one Mithridatic War.{{cn|date=November 2021}} |date=June 2024}}

Subsequently, historians noticed that the conduct of the war fell into three logical subdivisions. Some of them began to term these subdivisions the "First", "Second", and "Third" in the same texts in which they used the term in the singular. As the Roman Republic faded from general memory, the original legal meaning was not recognized. A few historians folded events prior to the declaration of war into the war.

Today, anything to do with the war can be included under it. Hence, the term "First Mithridatic War" is extended to include the wars between the states of Asia Minor as well as Roman support or lack of it for the parties of these wars. The officers offering this support were acting under other mandates from the Senate; to do anything not mandated was to risk criminal charges at home.