He led the revolt against the Pergamene regime and found success early on, seizing various cities near the coast of Anatolia, including the island of Samos, and killing the Roman Consul Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus.

Though he stipulated that Pergamum and the rest of the Greek cities were exempt from this bequest, it mattered little to the Romans, with Tiberius Gracchus in particular eager to take advantage of this gift to fund his ambitious land reforms.

As a result of the turmoil that stemmed from Gracchus encroaching on the prerogative of the Senate by attempting to use his power as the Tribune of the Plebs to allocate the bequest to the funding of his new laws, the Romans were slow in securing their claim.

[2] Before being expelled from the area he had taken Samos, Myndus and Colophon in sea raids, and crucially, the Roman consul dispatched to put an end to his revolt, Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus, was killed after an attempt to take back Leucae.

His cause was also furthered by the death of Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, who, along with Mithridates V of Pontus, Nicomedes II of Bithynia, and Pylaemenes of Paphlagonia, opposed the revolt in the hopes of winning the favor of Rome.