He was the first grandchild and grandson of Asander and Dynamis of the Bosporus and Cotys VIII and Antonia Tryphaena of Thrace.

Through his maternal grandmother Antonia Tryphaena, he was a descendant of Roman triumvir Mark Antony.

Through Aspurgus, Mithridates was a descendant of the Greek Macedonian kings: Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Seleucus I Nicator and the general and statesman Antipater.

In 45, for unknown reasons, Claudius deposed Mithridates from the throne and replaced him with his younger brother Cotys I. Claudius had withdrawn the Roman garrison under Aulus Didius Gallus from the Bosporan Kingdom and a few Roman cohorts were left behind with the eques Gaius Julius Aquila.

He was able to seize control of the local tribes and collect an army to declare war on Cotys I and Aquila.

Mithridates asked Claudius for a pardon and to be spared from a triumphal procession or capital punishment.

He was displayed as a public figure beside the platform in the Roman Forum along with his guards and his expression remained undoubted.