In antiquity, the term 'philhellene' referred to non-Greeks who were interested in Greek culture and also to Greeks keen to uphold their culture and traditions. In Pontus, for example, the Persian aristocracy adopted many Greek customs and trappings, enabling them to better manage their Greek colonists. They, in turn, sought to maintain their cultural identity and friendly relations with neighbouring Hellenistic states. During the Mithridatic Wars, between the Kingdom of Pontus and Rome in the 1st century BC, Mithridates VI took philhellenism a stage further, presenting himself as the defender of all Hellenic culture and Greece in particular. It was a useful piece of political posturing.
