Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/849

Rh LUCULLUS. princes who had been subject to the j'oke of Ti- granes. Antiochus Asiaticus also, the last king of Syria, who had been dethroned by the Annenian king, but had taken advantage of the advance of the Romans to establish himself once more on the throne of his ancestors, now obtained from Lucullus the confirmation of his power (Appian, »SV/r. 49). But by far the most important of the neighbouring monarchs was Arsaces, king of Parthia, to whom Lucullus, knowing that his friendship and alliance had been earnestly courted by Mithridates and Tigranes, despatched Sextilius as ambassador. The Parthian monarch gave a friendly reception to the Roman envoy, and dismissed him with fair pro- mises, but his real object was only to temporise, and, so doubtful was his conduct, that Lucullus is said to have designed to leave both Mithridates and Tigranes for a time, and march at once against Arsaces. But his projects were now cut short by the mutinous spirit of his own army. It was late in the season before it was possible to renew mili- tary operations in the mountainous and elevated regions where he now found himself, and mean- while he sent orders to Sornatius to bring to his support the troops which he had left in Pontus, but the soldiers absolutely refused to follow him, and the lieutenant was unable to enforce his authority. Even those who were under the command of Lu- cullus himself in Gordyene, took alarm at the idea of marching against the Parthians, and not only was their general compelled to abandon this design, but it was with some difficulty that he could pre- vail upon them to follow him once more against Mithridates and Tigranes. These two monarchs had again assembled a considerable army, with which they occupied the high table lands of the centre of Armenia, and when Lucullus at length (in the summer of 68) moved forward to attack them, they met him on the banks of the river Arsanias. The victory of the Romans was again as decisive and as easily won as at Tigranocerta : the two kings fled ignominioiisly from the field, and numbers of their officers fell in the battle. But when Lucullus pushed forward with the in- tention of making himself master of Artaxata, the capital of Armenia, his soldiers again refused to fol- low him, and he was compelled to return into a less inclement region ; and turning his arms southwards, he laid siege to tlie city of Nisibis, in Mygdonia. It was defended by the same Callimachus wlio had so long defied the Roman arms at Amisus, and was considered to be altogether impregnaljle ; but Lu- cullus surprised it during a dark and stormy win- ter's night, and afterwards took up his quarters there, until the season should admit of a renewal of military operations. (Plut. LticulL 30 — 32 ; Appian, Mithr. 87 ; Dion Cass. xxxv. 4 — 7.) But the discontents among his troops which had already given Lucullus so much trouble, broke out with renewed violence in the camp at Nisibis. They were fostered by P. Clodius, whose turbu- lent and restless spirit already showed itself in its full force, and encouraged by reports from Rome, where the demagogues, who were favourable to Pompey, or had been gained over by the equestrian party (whose bitter hostility against Lucullus had never relaxed), were loud in their clamours against that general. They accused him of protracting the war for his own personal objects either of ambition or avarice ; and the soldiery, whose appetite for plunder had been often checked by Lucullus, readily LUCULLUS. 835 joined in the outcry. It was, therefore, in vain that he endeavoured to prevail upon his mutinous army to resume operations in the spring of the year 67 ; and while he remained motionless at Nisibis, Mithridates, who had already taken advantage of his absence to invade Pontus and attempt the re- covery of his own dominions, was able to overthrow the Roman lieutenants Fabiiis and Triarius in several successive actions. [Mithridates.] The news of these disasters compelled Lucullus to re- turn in fill haste to Pontus, a movement doubtless in accordance with the wishes of his army, who appear to have followed him on this occasion with- out reluctance. On his approach Mithridates withdrew into the Lesser Armenia, and thither Lucullus prepared to pursue and attack him, when his movements were again paralysed by the open mutiny of his soldiers. All that he could obtain from them by the most abject entreaties, was the promise that they would not abandon his standard during the remainder of that summer, and lie was compelled to establish himself in a camp, where he spent all the rest of the season in hiactivity, while Mithridates and Tigranes were able to overrun without opposition the greater part both of Pontus and Cappadocia. Such was the state of things, when ten legates (among whom was Marcus, the brother of Lucullus) arrived in Asia, to settle the afiairs of Pontus, and reduce it to the form of a Roman province ; and they had, in consequence, to report to the senate that the country supposed to have been completely conquered was again in the hands of the enemy. The adversaries of Lucullus naturally availed themselves of so favourable an occasion, and a decree was passed to transfer to Acilius Glabrio, one of the consuls for the year, the province of Bithynia and the command against Mithridates. But Glabrio was wholly incompetent for the task assigned him : on arriving in Bithynia, and learning the posture of affairs, he made no attempt to assume the command or take the field against Mithridates, but remained quiet within the confines of the Roman province, while he still far- ther embarrassed the position of Lucullus, by issuing proclamations to his soldiers, announcing to them that their general was superseded, and re- leasing them from their obedience, Mithridates meanwhile ably availed himself of this position of affairs, and Lucullus had the mortification of seeing Pontus and Cappadocia occupied by the enemy before his eyes, and the results of all his previous campaigns apparently annihilated, without being able to stir a step in their defence. But it was still more galling to his feelings when, in the spring of B.C. QQ^ he was called upon to resign the command to his old rival Pompey, who had been appointed by the Manilian law to supersede both him and Glabrio. (Plut. LumlL 33—35 ; Appian, il/tVAr. 88—91 ; Dion Cass. xxxv. 8—10, 12—17 ; Cic. p. Leg. Manil. 2, 5, 9, Ep. ad Att. xiii. 6 ; Eutrop. vi. 11.) The friends of the two generals succeeded in bringing about an interview between them be- fore Lucullus quitted his government ; but though the meeting was at first friendly, it ended in bick- erings and disputes, which only aggravated the enmity already existing between them. Pompey still further increased the irritation of his rival by proceeding to rescind many of the regulations which the latter had introduced, even before he had quitted the province. (Plut. Lucull. 36, Pomp. 31 ; Dion Cass, xxxvi. 29.) 3h 2