Nicomedes II Epiphanes (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: Νικομήδης Β' ὁ Ἐπιφανής) was the king of Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...

 from 149 to c. 127 BC. He was fourth in descent from Nicomedes I

Nicomedes I of Bithynia

Nicomedes I , second king of Bithynia, was the eldest son of Zipoetes I, whom he succeeded on the throne in 278 BC.-Overview:He commenced his reign by putting to death two of his brothers but the third, subsequently called Zipoetes II, raised an insurrection against him and succeeded in maintaining...

. Nicomedes II was the son and successor of Prusias II

Prusias II of Bithynia

Prusias II Cynegus was the king of Bithynia. He was the son and successor of Prusias I and Apama III....

 and Apame IV

Apame IV

For other uses of this name see, Apama Apame IV, sometimes known as Apama IV was a Macedonian princess from the Antigonid dynasty. Her father was Philip V, King from 221 BC to 179 BC, her mother was his first wife the daughter of Prusias I Cholus and Apama III, and her half-brother was Perseus,...

. His parents were related, as they were uncle and niece, as well as maternal half-cousins.

He was so popular with the people that his father sent him to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 to limit his influence. However in Rome, he also gained favor from the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, forcing Prusias to send an emissary with secret orders to assassinate him. But the emissary revealed the plot, and persuaded the prince to rebel against his father.

Supported by Attalus II Philadelphus

Attalus II Philadelphus

Attalus II Philadelphus was a King of Pergamon and the founder of modern-day Turkish city Antalya...

, king of Pergamon

Pergamon

Pergamon , or Pergamum, was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC...

, he was completely successful, and ordered his father to be put to death at Nicomedia

Nicomedia

Nicomedia was an ancient city in what is now Turkey, founded in 712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and was originally known as Astacus . After being destroyed by Lysimachus, it was rebuilt by Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever since been one of the most...

. During his long reign Nicomedes adhered steadily to the Roman alliance, and assisted them against Eumenes III

Eumenes III

Eumenes III was the pretender to the throne of Pergamon.When the Pergamene King Attalus III died in 133 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans...

 of Pergamon. He was succeeded by his son Nicomedes III

Nicomedes III of Bithynia

Nicomedes III Euergetes was the king of Bithynia, from c. 127 BC to c. 94 BC. He was the son and successor of Nicomedes II of Bithynia by an unnamed woman....

.