MITHRIDATES. 





even possessed himself of Galatia, which had placed 

 itself under the protection of Rome. He next 

 directed his attention to Cappadocia ; but, fearing 

 the power of Ariarathes, who was in possession of 

 this country, and his connexion with the Romans, he 

 had recourse to treachery, and caused him to be 

 assassinated. At the same time, Nicomedes, king 

 of Bithynia, entered Cappadocia, drove out the son of 

 the murdered king, and married Laodice, the widow 

 of Ariarathes and the sister of Mithridates. The 

 latter then took the opportunity of re-entering Cap- 

 padocia, conquered it, and replaced his nephew on 

 the throne ; but he soon compelled the young prince, 

 by his dishonourable requisitions, to a declaration of 

 war. They marched against each other, with about 

 equal forces. Mithridates then offered terms of 

 peace, and invited the young prince to a conference, 

 in which he killed him with a dagger, in the sight 

 of both armies. The Cappadocians, seeing their 

 master fall, were seized with terror, and Mithridates 

 possessed himself of the country, almost without 

 opposition. Nicomedes now concerted with his 

 wife the plan of suborning a young man to represent 

 the third son of Ariarathes, and caused him to send 

 to Rome to implore assistance. Laodice herself per- 

 formed a journey to Rome, in order to confirm his 

 story. Mithridates took advantage of this fraud to 

 endeavour to prove to the Romans that the young 

 prince to whom he had given up Cappadocia (who 

 was his own son, to whom he had given the name of 

 Ariarathes) was the real son of Ariarathes. The 

 Romans, having discovered this double fraud, took 

 Cappadocia from Mithridates, and Paphlagonia from 

 Nicomedes; and the Cappadocians elected Ariobar- 

 zanes their king. Scarcely had Sylla, whose arms 

 had elevated the latter to the throne, left Asia, when 

 Mithridates, with the assistance of Tigranes, king 

 of Armenia, replaced his son upon the Cappadocian 

 throne. He also, at the same time, took Bithynia, 

 and gave that country to his brother Socrates Chris- 

 tos. The Romans, however, soon restored things to 

 their former condition. Mithridates then declared 

 himself against the Romans, and, because they would 

 not acquiesce in his demands, he suddenly fell upon 

 Cappadocia and Bithynia at the same time. His 

 forces amounted to 250,000 foot, 50,000 horse, 130 

 chariots armed with scythes, and 400 ships. Those 

 of the Romans, with the Bithynian auxiliaries, were 

 not much inferior, and were commanded by Cassius, 

 Aquilius, and Oppius. Mithridates was successful at 

 the opening of the war. He not only defeated 

 Nicomedes, but also Aquilius, conquered Bithynia, 

 and captured a great part of the Roman fleet. 

 Phrygia, Caria, Mysia, Lycia, Pamphylia, Paphla- 

 gonia, and all the country as far as Ionia, fell into 

 his hands, and hailed him as the saviour of Asia. 

 The Roman generals Oppius and Aquilius were also 

 given up to him as prisoners by the inhabitants of 

 l.aodicea and Lesbos ; and he caused melted gold to 

 be poured down the throat of the latter, in derision 

 of the avarice of the Romans. The free cities of 

 Asia, Magnesia, Mitylene, Ephesus, &c., opened their 

 gates to the victor, who collected treasure sufficient 

 to maintain his army five years. He caused all the 

 Roman citizens in Asia Minor, with their wives and 

 children, ip be put to death. Dionysius and Plutarch 

 give the number of those who perished at 150,000 ; 

 Appian at 80,000. Mithridates next conquered 

 the islands of the JEgean sea. Rhodes, however, 

 held out so firmly that he returned to Pergamus. From 

 hence he sent his general Archelaus, with 120,000 

 men, to Greece. Athens fell by treachery into his 

 hands, and various other places were taken, while 

 another of his generals, Metrr phanes, ravaged Euboea. 

 On the news of the defeat of the latter, Mithridates 



sent his son Ariarathes, with a powerful army, into 

 Macedonia, which, with Thrace, was speedily con- 

 quered. His amis were everywhere victorious, 

 until, at length, the report that he threatened Italy 

 itself, led the Romans to adopt more decisive meas- 

 ures. Sylla embarked for Greece, reduced Athens 

 by famine, destroyed the army of Archelaus in a 

 bloody contest at Chaeronea, and emancipated all 

 Greece by two victories in Boeotia. Fimbria, with 

 no less success, reduced Asia Minor, and besieged 

 Mithridates himself in the fortress of Pitane, who 

 finally fled to his ships. The Pontic fleet was also 

 twice defeated by Lucullus. Thus pressed on every 

 side, Mithridates commissioned Archelaus to conclude 

 a treaty, which Sylla granted, under severe condi- 

 tions, B. C. 89. Mithridates was limited to his 

 hereditary kingdom of Pontus, and compelled to 

 deliver into the hands of the Romans eighty ships of 

 war manned, and to pay 2000 talents. Sylla had 

 scarcely left Asia before Mithridates attacked Col- 

 chis, and refused to fulfil the conditions of the peace. 

 The Roman general, Muraena, who entered and 

 ravaged Pontus, was defeated, and many cities of 

 Asia had declared themselves for the victor, when 

 Aulus Gabinius, sent by the dictator Sylla, appeared. 

 Cappadocia was evacuated by Mithridates ; but, on 

 the other hand, he subdued the Bosphorians (B. C. 

 82), and had no sooner heard of the death of Sylla 

 (B. C. 78), than he determined to recover the coun- 

 tries he had ceded, and, in order to distract the 

 Romans, entered into a treaty with Sertorius, the 

 chief of the Marian faction in Spain. His son-in-law 

 Tigranes, king of Armenia, entered into his designs, 

 and marched to Cappadocia, while Mithridates him- 

 self, after the subjugation of Paphlagonia, conquered 

 Bithynia and the provinces of Asia. A new war 

 with Rome was now unavoidable. The consuls 

 Lucullus and Cotta went against Mithridates, the 

 latter as commander of the fleet, and the former as 

 general of the land forces. Cotta was unsuccessful; 

 Lucullus, on the contrary, cautiously avoided a gen- 

 eral engagement with the superior forces of the 

 enemy, but at the same time gained so many impor- 

 tant advantages, by sea and land, that he soon entered 

 Pontus as a conqueror. While he was besieging 

 Amisus, Mithridates collected an army, and gained 

 a decided victory; yet Lucullus succeeded in regain- 

 ing what he had lost, and Mithridates found himself 

 compelled, by the revolt of his own troops, to fly to 

 Tigranes, in Armenia, who received him, but did 

 not make common cause with him. Lucullus, who 

 had, in the mean time, transformed Pontus into a 

 Roman province, demanded the surrender of Mithri- 

 dates, which Tigranes refused, because, as he said, 

 although he disapproved the conduct of Mithridates, 

 he nevertheless esteemed it dishonourable to deliver 

 up so near a connexion to his enemies ; but, as he 

 foresaw that the Romans would not be contented 

 with this answer, he agreed with Mithridates that he 

 should return to Pontus with 10,000 men, collect an 

 army, and return with it before Lucullus, who w,j.s 

 besieging Sinope, should come into Armenia. Sinope, 

 however, surrendered sooner than they expected, 

 and Lucullus defeated Tigranes before his junction 

 with Mithridates. Tigranes, nevertheless, collected 

 a new army, which Mithridates led into Pontus. 

 Lucullus, however, checked his progress by a vic- 

 tory; but, during the winter, Mithridates strength- 

 ened his forces, and soon entirely defeated the 

 lieutenants of Lucullus, and then directed his march 

 towards Armenia Minor, to form a junction with 

 Tigranes. In the mean time, the consul Manias 

 Acilius Glabrio had taken the chief command, in the 

 place of Lucullus. The allied kings took advantage 

 of the confusion incidental to this change, and 



