Notes taken about the last three kings of Bithynia, 147 - 74 B.C.
David Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor... pp. 312 - 316.

Nicomedes II

In 149 B.C., King Prusias's son, Nicomedes, returned from a mission in Rome and rebelled against his father. Aided by King Attalus of Pergamum, he entered Bithynia with an army, a move which can hardly have lacked the Senate's approval. Commissioners were appointed to protest, but they made no real effort to protect the King. Moreover, the Bithynians themselves, who thoroughly hated and despised their ruler, welcomed Nicomedes. His emissaries promptly murdered Prusias in the Temple of Zeus at Nicomedeia. Nicomedes made himself king without opposition either in Rome or in Asia Minor.

Nicomedes II, surnamed Epiphanes, thus began his reign as the protégé of Attalus. Except for his double crime of parricide and sacrilege by means of which he ascended the throne, we know of nothing to his discredit. He seems to have been thoroughly imbued with respect for Rome's rule. Unlike his father, he cultivated friendly relations with the Greek cities and was honoured by the Ionian Federation. He was succeeded by his son, Nicomedes III around 127 B.C.

Nicomedes III

Because of his many benefactions, Nicomedes III received the surname of Evergetes. At the beginning of his reign, he seems to have become involved in a dispute with Mithradates V of Pontus. Both monarchs appealed to Rome with the result that both were accused of trying to outbid each other in bribing the Roman voters. His benefactions turned out to be of little help to his own kingdom. In 104 the economic condition of Bithynia was so bad that many of its inhabitants had been seized as slaves by Roman money-lenders, and the Senate finally enacted a law forbidding a free man from an allied state to be held in servitude in any province of Rome. He died around 94 B.C. (there was suspicion of poison) discredited at Rome and his heir impoverished.

Nicomedes IV

Nicomedes Evergetes left two sons. The elder, Nicomedes IV, born of his first wife, succeeded to the throne with the surname Philopator. The younger, Socrates, son of a concubine, had been sent away to Cyzicus. The situation of Socrates afforded Mithradates of Pontus a welcome opportunity to place him as a puppet-king on the Bithynian throne. Nicomedes fled to Italy. Though reinstated by the Romans, he had lost all credibility. His debts enabled the Senate’s legates in Asia to manipulate him. He invaded Mithradates's territory at their command. The campaign ended in disaster and a second flight and, finally, in the seizure of Bithynia by a Pontic army. His ultimate restoration by Sulla made him an obedient vassal of Rome for the remaining years of his reign.

Nicomedes IV was not unknown in the Hellenic world. While still crown-prince he had been honoured at Delos by a monument erected by the group of youths who had just completed their training in arms customary for young Greeks. It may be assumed that he had at least a modicum of Hellenic culture; but so scandalous was his private life that years later it was made a matter of reproach to Julius Caesar that in his youth he had spent some time at Nicomedes's court. He married twice. His first wife was his father's sister. His second was the Cappadocian princess Nysa, the daughter of his step-mother Laodice. They had a daughter, named for herself, whose interests were later defended in Rome by Julius Caesar. If Nysa had a son at all, the father was not the King, for no legitimate heir was named. When Nicomedes IV died in 74, it was found that he had bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman people. A pretender appeared, claiming to be the lawful son of Nysa by Nicomedes, but he merely attempted to make good his case by appealing to the Senate. His claim was examined but soon rejected, for natives of Bithynia testified against his legitimacy. The Senators then accepted the bequest and ordered the governor of Asia, Marcus Juncus, to take over Bithynia and organize it as a province of Rome.

Thus, within a few years of each other, two new provinces were acquired in Asia Minor: Pamphylia on the southern coast and Bithynia at the entrance to the Euxine. The province of Asia was now flanked by two other Roman dependencies.