Present-day knowledge of Lycia in the period of classical antiquity comes mostly from archaeology, in which this region is unusually rich.

Believed to have been based at Antiphellus, Mithrapata is known to have competed for power with another man named Arttumpara.

[1] The name of Mithrapata, which is of Persian origin, is known from Lycian coins and also from inscriptions.

[2] During the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the Lycian nobility was using Persian names,[3] so Mithrapata may have been one of them.

After about 360 BC, the region of Lycia was taken over by the Carian dynast Mausolus.