First Mithridatic War
Like his brother Archelaus, Neoptolemus was a Cappadocian Greek nobleman, possibly of Macedonian descent from unknown parents. Perhaps his ancestors descended from those Greeks who arrived in Anatolia after the expedition of King Alexander the Great. Neoptolemus's family were active in the Pontic Court. Like his brother, Neoptolemus was a general and admiral in the First Mithridatic War (89 BC-85 BC). Prior to the First Mithridatic War, Neoptolemus and his brother had gained military experience in the Pontic campaigns on the northern shores of the Black Sea. He took part in campaigns as far as the mainland west of the Crimea, reaching possibly as far west as Tyras, where he erected a fortress which continues to bear his name. Also in the Crimea, in the Sea of Azov, he fought two battles on the Palus Maeotis in two years.