Asiatic Vespers

Asiatic Vespers
Part of the First Mithridatic War
Asia Minor and surrounding region at the start of the First Mithridatic War, in 89 BC
Location	Asia Minor
Date	c. early 88 BC
Attack type	Mass murder and Genocide
Deaths	80,000–150,000[1][2]
Victims	Romans and Latin-speaking peoples
Perpetrators	Mithridates VI Eupator
Motive	Purge Asia Minor of Roman influence

The Asiatic Vespers (also known as the Asian Vespers, Ephesian Vespers, or the Vespers of 88 BC) refers to the massacres of Roman and other Latin-speaking peoples living in parts of western Anatolia c. early 88 BC by forces loyal to Mithridates VI Eupator, ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus, who orchestrated the massacre in an attempt to rid Asia Minor of Roman influence. An estimated 80,000 people were killed during the episode. The incident served as the casus belli or immediate cause of the First Mithridatic War between the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Pontus.