Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/1113

Rh MITimiDATES. tliis force by the assassination of Flaccus [Fim- bria], now advanced through Bithynia to assail Mithridates, b, c. 85. The king opposed to him a powerful army, under the command of his son, Mithridates, seconded by three of his generals ; but this was totally defeated by Fimbria, who quickly followed up his advantage, and laid siege to Per- gamus itself: from hence, however, Mithridates fled to Pitane, where he was closely blockaded by Fimbria ; and had LucuUus, the quaestor of Sulla, who commanded the Roman fleet in the Aegaean, been willing to co-operate with the Marian general, it would have been impossible for the king to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies. But the dis- sensions of the Romans proved the means of safety to Mithridates, who made his escape by sea to Mitylene. (Appian, Mithr. 51, 52 ; Plut. Lucull. 3 ; Memnon, 34 ; Oros. vi. 2 ; Liv. E'pit. Ixxxii. Ixxxiii.) It was not long afterwards that he re- ceived the tidings of the complete destruction of his armies in Greece, near Orchomenus ; and the news of this disaster, coupled with the progress of Fim- bria in Asia, now made Mithridates desirous to treat for peace, which he justly hoped to obtain on more favourable terms than he could otherwise liave expected, in consequence of the divided state of his enemies. He accordingly commissioned Archelaus, who was still in Euboea, to open nego- tiations with Sulla, which led to the conclusion of a preliminary treaty: but on the conditions of this being reported to the king, he positively refused to consent to the surrender of his fleet. Sulla here- upon prepared to renew hostilities, and in the spring of the following year (b. c. 84) crossed the Hellespont ; but Archelaus succeeded in bringing about an interview between-, the Roman general and Mithridates atDardanus, in the Troad, at which the terms of peace were definitively settled. Mi- thridates consented to abandon all his conquests in Asia, and restrict himself to the dominions which he held before the commencement of the war ; be- sides which he was to pay a sum of 2000 talents for the expences of the war, and surrender to the Romans a fleet of 70 ships fully equipped. Thus terminated. the first Mithridatic war. The king withdrew td Pontus, while Sulla turned his arms against Fimbria, whom he quickly defeated ; and then proceeded to settle the affairs of Asia, and re-establish, Nicomedes and Ariobarzanes in their respective kingdoms : after which he returned to Rome, leaving L. Murena, with two legions, to hold the command in Asia. (Appian,' 3/iVir. 54 — 63 ; Plut. Sull. 22—25, Lucvfl. 4 ; Memnon, 35 ; Dion Cass. Frag. W4— 176 ; Liv. Epit. Ixxxiii. ; Oros. vi. 2.) The attention of j^ithridates was now attracted towards his own more remote provhices of Colchis and the Bosporus, where symptoms of disaffection had begun to manifest themselves : the Colchians, however, submitted immediately on the king ap- pointing his son Mithridates to be their governor, with the title of king, and even received tneir new ruler with such demonstrations of favour as to ex- cite the jealousy of Mithridates, who, in conse- quence, recalled his son, and placed him in con- finement. He now assembled a large force both military and naval, for the reduction of the revolted provinces ; and so great were his preparations for this purpose, that they aroused the suspicions of the Romans, who pretended that they must be in fact designed against them. Murena, who hud been MITHRIDATES. 10.99 left in command by Sulla, was eager for some op- portunity of earning the honour of a triumph, and he now(B. c. 83), under the flimsy pretext that Mithridates had not yet evacuated the whole of Cappadocia, marched into that country, and not only made himself master of the wealthy citj'- of Comana, but even crossed the Halys, and laid waste the plains of Pontus itself. To this flagrant breach of the treaty so lately concluded, the Roman general was in great measure instigated by Arche- laus, who, finding himself regarded with suspicion by Mithridates, had consulted his safety by flight, and was received with the utmost honours by the Romans. Mithridates, who had evidently been wholly unprepared to renew the contest with Rome, offered no opposition to the progress of Mu- rena ; but finding that general disregard his re- monstrances, he sent to Rome to complain of his aggression. But when in the following spring (b. c. 82) he found Murena preparing to renew his hostile incursions, notwithstanding the arrival of a Roman legate, who nominally commanded him to desist, he at once determined to oppose him by force, and assembled a large army, with which he met the Roman general on the banks of the Halys. The action that ensued terminated in the complete victory of the king ; and Murena, with difficulty, effected his retreat into Phrygia, leaving Cappa- docia at the mercy of Mithridates, who quickly overran the whole province. But shortly after- wards A. Gabinius arrived in Asia, bringing peremptory orders from Sulla to Murena to desist from hostilities ; whereupon Mithridates once more consented to evacuate Cappadocia. (Appian, Mithr. 64—66, 67 ; Memnon, 36.) He was now at leisure to complete the reduction of the Bosporus, which he successful!}^ accomplished, and established Machares, one of his sons, as kuig of that country. But he suffered heavy losses in an expedition which he subsequently undertook against the Achaeans, a warlike tribe who dwelt at the foot of Mount Caucasus. (Appian, ib. 67.) Meanwhile, he could not for a moment doubt that, notwithstanding the interposition of Sulla, the peace between him and Rome was in fact a mere suspension of hostilities ; and that that haughty republic would never sufier the massacre of her citizens in Asia to remain ultimately unpunished. (See Cic. pro L. Manil. 3.) Hence all his efforts were directed towards the formation of an army capable of contending not only in numbers, but in discipline, with those of Rome ; and with this view he armed his barbarian troops after the Roman fashion, and endeavoured to train them up in that discipline of which he had so strongly felt the effect in the preceding contest. (Plut. Lucull. 7.) la these attempts he was doubtless assisted by the refugees of the Marian party, L. Magius and L. Fannius, who had accompanied Fimbria into Asia ; and on the defeat of that general by Sulla, had taken refuge with the king of Pontus. At their instigation also Mithridates sent an embassy to Sertorius, who was still maintaining his ground in Spain, and concluded an alliance with him against their common enemies. (Appian, Mithr. 68 ; Oros. vi. 2 ; Pseud. Ascon. ad Cic. Verr. i. 34, p. 183, ed. Orell.) It is remarkable that no formal treaty seems ever to have been concluded between Mithri- dates and the Roman senate ; and the king had in vain endeavoured to obtain the ratification of the terms agreed on between him and Sulla. (Appian,