Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/845

Rh LUCULLUS. 1. Ii. Llcinius Lucnllns, cuiule aedile, b. c. 'iUi!. 3. L. Liciti. Lucullus, praetor b. c. 105, married Caecilia, dauphter of L. Metellus Calvus. I LUCULLUS. 831 TertuUa, the wife M. Crassus, the triumvir. 4. L. Llcin. Lucullus, COS. B. c. 74, married, 1. Clodia. 2. Serrilia. 5. L. Licin. Lucullus, killed at Philippl, B.C. 42. . L. LiciNius LucuLLUS, cnrule aedile with Q. Fulviiis in B. c. 202. He and his colleague distin- guished themselves by the magnificence with which they exhibited the Ludi Romani ; but some of the scribes and other officials under the aediles were convicted of defrauding the public treasury ; and Lucullus liimself incurred the suspicion of having connived at their practices. (Liv. xxx. 39.) 2. L. LiciNius Lucullus, the grandfather of Lucullus, the conqueror of Mithridates, and the first of the family who attained to distinction (Plut. Luculi. 1 ; Cic. Acad. pr. ii. 45), was pro- bably a son of the preceding. He was elected consul for the year B.C. 151, together with A. Postumius Albinus, and was appointed to succeed M. Marcellus in the command in Spain. The war which was then going on in that country against the Celtiberians appears to have been unpopular at Rome, so that some difficulty was found in raising the necessary levies ; and the severity with which these were enforced by Lucullus and his colleague, irritated the people and the tribunes to such a de- gree, that the latter went so far as to arrest both consuls, and to cast them into prison. These dis- sensions were at length terminated by the inter- vention of the young Scipio Aemilianus, who volunteered his services, and succeeded in reviving the military ardour of the populace. (Polyb. xxxv. 3, 4 ; Liv. Epit. xlviii ; Appian, Hisp. 49 ; Oros. iv. 21.) But before the arrival of Lucullus in Spain, the war with the Celtiberians had been completely terminated by Marcellus, and all tribes previously in arms had submitted. The new consul, however, greedy both of glory and plunder, and finding himself disappointed of his expected foes, now turned his arms against the Vaccaeans, a tribe who had hitherto had no relations with the Ro- mans, and proceeded to cross the Tagus and invade their territories, without any authority from the senate. His first attacks were directed against the city of Cauca, which was readily induced to submit,' on terms of capitulation ; but these were shamefully violated by Lucullus, who had no sooner made himself master of the town than he caused all the inhabitants to be put to the sword, to the number of near 20,000. From hence he advanced into the heart of the country, crossed the Douro, and laid siege to Intercatia, a strong city which for a long time defied his arms, but was at length induced to submit on favourable terms, the inviolability of which was guaranteed to them by Scipio. A subsequent attack upon Pallantia was wholly unsuccessful ; and Lucullus, after sufi'ering severely from hunger, and being hard pressed by the enemy, was compelled to recross the Douro, and take up hid winter-quarters in the south of Spain. But notwithstanding this ignominious termination of a war as unwarranted by authority from Rome as it was unjust in itself, no notice was taken of the proceedings of Lucullus, who con- tinued in Spain, with the rank of proconsul. (Ap- pian, Hisp. 50 — 55 ; Liv. Epit. xlviii ; Plin. H. N. ix. 30. v^ 48.) After wintering in Turdetania, in the spring of 150, he invaded the country of the Lusitanians, at the same time with Ser. Galba ; and, according to Appian, shared with the latter in the guilt of the atrocious acts of perfidy and cruelty by which he disgraced the Roman name. [Galea, No. 6.] But, more fortunate than his colleague, he escaped even the hazard of a trial on his return to Rome. (Appian, Hisp. 55,59, 61). The war against the Vaccaeans, though prompted chiefly by the avarice of Lucullus, had brought him but little booty ; but he appears to have, by some means or other, amassed great wealth during the period of his government, a part of which he de- voted to the construction of a temple of Good Fortune (Felicitas). It is a very characteristic trait, that having borrowed from L. Mummius some of the statues which the latter had brought from Corinth, to adorn this temple for the ceremony of its dedication, he afterwards refused to restore them, under the plea that they were now con- secrated to the goddess. (Dion Cnss.fi-agm. 81 ; Strab. viii. p. 381.) 3. L. LiciNius L, F. Lucullus, son of the pre- ceding, was praetor in B. c. 1 03, and was appointed by the senate to take the command in Sicily, where the insurrection of the slaves under Athenion and Tryphon had begun to assume a very fomiidable aspect. He took with him a force of 17,000 men, of which the greater part were regular Roman or Italian troops ; but though he at first obtained a complete victory in the field, and compelled Try- phon to shut himself up in the fortress of Triocala, he failed in reducing that stronghold, and ultimately retreated from before it in an ignominious manner. (Diod. xxxvi. Exc. Phot. p. 535, 536 ; Flor. iii. 19.) After this, whether from incapacity or cor- ruption, he effected nothing more, and was soon after replaced by C. Servilius. He is said to have destroyed all his military stores and broken up his camp previous to resigning the command into the hands of his successor. (Diod. Eire. Vat. p. 111.) It was perhaps in revenge for this proceeding, that on his return to Rome he found himself assailed by another Servilius with a prosecution for bribery and malversation. But whatever may have been the motives of the latter, the guilt of Lucullus was so manifest that even his brother-in law, Metellus Numidicus, declined to appear in his defence ; and he was unanimously condemned and driven into exile. (Plut. Luculi. 1 ; Cic. Verr. iv. 66 ; Diod. Exc. Pilot, p. 536 ; Aur. Vict, de Vir. Lllust 62.) 4. L. LiciNius L. F. L. N. Lucullus, celebrated as the conqueror of Mithridates, and by much the most illustrious of his family. He was the son of the preceding and of Caecilia, the daughter of L. Metellus Calvus. (Plut. Luculi. 1.) [Caecilia, No. 3.] We have no express mention of the period of his birth or of his age, but Plutarch tells us that he was older than Pompey {Luculi. 36, Pomp. 31) ; he must therefore have been born, before B. c. 106, probably at least as early as 109 or 110, since his younger brother Marcus was old enough to be curule aedile in 79. [See No. 6. J His first appearance in public life was as the ac- cuser of the augur Servilius, who had procured the banishment of his father, but had in his turn laid himself open to a criminal charge. This species of