The source for the play is a 12-line section[1] within a longer work by the ancient historian Justin on Rome's policies with respect to its allies, in particular the princelings of the East.
[2] The ambitious Arsinoé, who holds sway at court, dominating her husband, detests Nicomède, and seeks to put her young son on the throne in place of his older brother.
He returns to the throne, gradually taking over the reins of power over against the opposition of Prusias, who relinquishes them despite himself, having previously wanted to send Nicomède to Rome as a hostage.
He calms the popular uprising that had been clamouring for him to be king, agreeing to live in friendly alliance with Rome if the empire will refrain from reducing the kingdom to servitude.
Literary critics Gustave Lanson and Paul Tuffrau observe that tenderness and passion feature not at all in the play - a drama in which the idea of courage as a noble ideal reigns supreme.