Speaker 1: Section fourteen of the grochy Marius and Sulla by A. H. Beasley.
Speaker 1: This librevox recording is in the public domain. Read by Pamelinagami,
Speaker 1: Chapter twelve Sullah in Greece and Asia. A citizen of
Speaker 1: Athens named Eurysthion, whose mother was an Egyptian slave, and
Speaker 1: who was the son or adopted son of one Athenian,
Speaker 1: had been sent by the Athenians as ambassador to Mithridates.
Speaker 1: He had been a schoolmaster and teacher of rhetoric, and
Speaker 1: professed the philosophy of Epicurus. He gained the ear of
Speaker 1: Mithridates and sent home flaming accounts of the king's power
Speaker 1: and of his intention of restoring the democracy at Athens.
Speaker 1: The Athenians sent some ships of war to bring him
Speaker 1: home from Eubea, with a present of a silver footed litter,
Speaker 1: and in this clothed in purple, and with a fine
Speaker 1: ring on his finger, which he had got, probably from
Speaker 1: his friend Mithriti Dedes. He came back to Athens with
Speaker 1: much parade. In a set speech, he dilated on the
Speaker 1: king's splendid successes and advised the people to declare themselves
Speaker 1: independent and elect him their general. They did so, and
Speaker 1: he very soon massacred his opponents and made himself despot.
Speaker 1: Thus Athens and the Piraeus passed into the hands of Mithridates.
Speaker 1: The spirit of disaffection to Rome spread rapidly when Archelaus
Speaker 1: Reader's note Greek Archelaus appeared in Greece. The Achaeans, Laconians
Speaker 1: and Botians, with the exception of THESPII, joined him, while
Speaker 1: the Pontic fleet seized Ubea and Demetrius, a town at
Speaker 1: the head of the Gulf of Pegasi. Surro was sent
Speaker 1: by the Roman governor of Macedonia to make head against
Speaker 1: the invaders. He won a naval battle and captured Sciathus,
Speaker 1: where all the spoils of the enemy were stored. Then
Speaker 1: he marched into BeO Osia, and after a three days
Speaker 1: engagement with the combined forces of Archilaus and Aristion, pushed
Speaker 1: Archilaus back to the coast. The war perhaps might have
Speaker 1: been ended here, but at this moment Leucullus came to
Speaker 1: announce the approach of Sullah and to warn Sura that
Speaker 1: the war had been entrusted to him. So Sura retired
Speaker 1: to Macedonia. Sullah had left Brundusium in eighty seven, and
Speaker 1: landing on the coast of Epirus, gathered what supplies he
Speaker 1: could from Aetolia and Thessaly, and marched straight for Athens.
Speaker 1: It was soon seen that the foundations of the empire
Speaker 1: of Mithridates was based on sand. The Beeotians at once submitted,
Speaker 1: including Thebes, which had joined the king. Cellah then began
Speaker 1: two sieges, that of the Pyraeus, where Archilaus was, and
Speaker 1: that of Athens, defended by Aristian. Archilaus had before shown
Speaker 1: himself an intrepid soldier, and he baffled all Sullah's efforts
Speaker 1: with equal ingenuity and courage. After an unsuccessful attempt to
Speaker 1: storm the walls, Sulla retired to Eleusis and Megara, thus
Speaker 1: keeping up his communications with Thebes and the Peloponnese, and
Speaker 1: set to work constructing catapults and other engines and preparing
Speaker 1: an earthwork from which he meant to attack the wall
Speaker 1: with them. For these purposes he cut down the trees
Speaker 1: of the Academia and Lyceum. He was kept informed of
Speaker 1: intended sallies by two slaves inside the town, who threw
Speaker 1: down leaden balls with words cut on them. But as
Speaker 1: fast as the earthwork rose, Archilaus built towers on the
Speaker 1: walls opposite to it, and thus harassed the besiegers. He
Speaker 1: was also reinforced by Mithridates, and then came out and
Speaker 1: fought a battle which was for some time doubtful, but
Speaker 1: he was forced to retire at length with the loss
Speaker 1: of two thousand men. He himself remained till the last
Speaker 1: the gates were shut, and he had to be drawn
Speaker 1: up by a rope over the wall. The affairs of Selah, however,
Speaker 1: were in no flourishing condition. He had come to Greece
Speaker 1: with only thirty thousand men, with no fleet and little money.
Speaker 1: He was forced to plunder the shrines of Epidorus, Olympia
Speaker 1: and Delphi. His messenger to Delphi came back saying that
Speaker 1: he had heard the sound of a lute in the
Speaker 1: temple and dared not commit the sacrilege. But Selah sent
Speaker 1: him back saying that he was sure the sound was
Speaker 1: a note of welcome, and that the god meant him
Speaker 1: to have the treasure. He promised to pay it back
Speaker 1: some day, and he kept his word, for he confiscated
Speaker 1: half the land of Thebes and applied the proceeds to
Speaker 1: reimbursing the sacred funds in his worst straits, he was
Speaker 1: always ready with some such mockery. Winter was now at hand,
Speaker 1: and Sullah dispatched Lucullus to Egypt to get ships. The
Speaker 1: refusal of the king of Egypt shows what was now
Speaker 1: thought of the Roman power. Sellah then formed a camp
Speaker 1: at Eleusis and continued the siege, and so shook the
Speaker 1: great tower of Archilaus by a simultaneous discharge of twelve
Speaker 1: leaden balls from his catapults, that it had to be
Speaker 1: drawn back by means of the two slaves. He was
Speaker 1: also able to frustrate the attempts of Archilaus to throw
Speaker 1: supplies into Athens, which was now suffering from hunger, for
Speaker 1: Sullah had surrounded it with forts and turned the siege
Speaker 1: into a blockade. Mithridates now sent his son into Macedonia
Speaker 1: with an army, before which the small Roman force there
Speaker 1: had to retire. After this success, the prince marched toward Athens,
Speaker 1: but died on the way at the Pyrieus. Scenes occurred,
Speaker 1: which were afterwards repeated at the Siege of Jerusalem. Arcoles
Speaker 1: Lais undermined the earthwork, and solom made another determined attempt
Speaker 1: to take the wall by storm, he battered down part
Speaker 1: of it, fired the props of his mine, and so
Speaker 1: brought down more, and sent troops by relays to escalade
Speaker 1: the breach. But Archilaus, like the Plataeans in the Peloponnesian War,
Speaker 1: built an inner crescent shaped wall, from which they took
Speaker 1: the assailants in front and on both flanks when they
Speaker 1: tried to advance. At last, wearied by this dogged resistance,
Speaker 1: Sula turned the siege of the Pyrieus into a blockade,
Speaker 1: which meant simply that he hindered Archilaus from helping Athens,
Speaker 1: for he could not prevent the influx of supplies from
Speaker 1: the sea. Athens, meanwhile, was in dreadful straits. Wheat was
Speaker 1: selling at nearly three pounds ten shillings a gallon, and
Speaker 1: the inhabitants were feeding on old leather bottles, shoes, and
Speaker 1: the bodies of the dead. A deputation came out, but
Speaker 1: Sullah sent them back because they began and harangue on
Speaker 1: the deeds of their ancestors put into their moulice. No
Speaker 1: doubt by the rhetorician Aristian, Sullah told them they were
Speaker 1: the scum of nations, not descended from the old Athenians
Speaker 1: at all, and that instead of listening to their rhetoric,
Speaker 1: he meant to punish their rebellion. On the night of
Speaker 1: March first, eighty six b c. He broke into the
Speaker 1: town amid the blare of trumpets and the shouts of
Speaker 1: his troops. He told his men to give no quarter,
Speaker 1: and the blood, it was said, ran down through the
Speaker 1: gates into the suburbs. A Ristion fled to the acropolis.
Speaker 1: Hunger forced him, in the end to capitulate, and he
Speaker 1: was killed. Solo meanwhile, had forced on the siege of
Speaker 1: Pyrieus still more vigorously. He got past the crescent wall,
Speaker 1: only to find other walls similarly constructed behind it. But
Speaker 1: he gradually drove our Kleaeus into Munichia or the peninsular
Speaker 1: part of Piraeus, and as he had no ships, he
Speaker 1: could do nothing more. Either before or after the capture
Speaker 1: of the acropolis. Archelaus sailed away in obedience to his
Speaker 1: summons from Taxilis, a new general whom Mithridates had sent
Speaker 1: with an army of one hundred thousand foot, ten thousand
Speaker 1: horse and ninety scythed chariots into Greece with these forces
Speaker 1: and the troops previously sent with his master's son. He
Speaker 1: formed a junction at Thermopylae, marched into Phocus, down the
Speaker 1: valley of the Caphesus, attempted but failed to take Aletaea,
Speaker 1: and came up with Sulla near Chyronea. Sullah had marched
Speaker 1: into Baeotia and joined Hortensius, who had brought some troops
Speaker 1: from Thessaly, but he is said by Appian to have
Speaker 1: had not a third of the enemy's numbers, while Plutarch
Speaker 1: affirms that he had only fifteen thousand foot and fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred horse. Sullah was on the west bank of the
Speaker 1: Capphaesus on an eminence named Philippiotis, and Archilaus on the
Speaker 1: other side of the river not far off. Sulla's soldiers
Speaker 1: were alarmed by the numbers and splendors of the enemy,
Speaker 1: for the brass and steel of their armor kindled the
Speaker 1: air with an awful flame like that of lightning. Archilaus,
Speaker 1: marching down the valley of the Capphasus, tried to seize
Speaker 1: a strong position called the acropolis of the Peripotamie, situated
Speaker 1: on the assis, which joined the Capphasus to the south
Speaker 1: of both armies. But Cellah, who had wearied out his
Speaker 1: men by drudgery and dike making and made them eager
Speaker 1: for a fight, crossed the Capphaesus seized the position first,
Speaker 1: and then, crossing the asses, took up his position under
Speaker 1: Mount Adyllium. Here he encamped opposite Archilaus, who, having also
Speaker 1: crossed the ass was now at a place called Assia,
Speaker 1: which was near Lake Capius. Thence Archilaus made an temped
Speaker 1: on Chyronea, but Sullah was again beforehand with him and
Speaker 1: garrisoned the place with one legion. South of Chyrinea was
Speaker 1: a hill called Thurium. This Archilayus seized. Cellah then brought
Speaker 1: the rest of his troops across the Capphesus to form
Speaker 1: a junction with the legion in Chynea and dislodge the
Speaker 1: enemy from Thurium. He left Morena on the north of
Speaker 1: the Caphaesus to keep the enemy in check at Assia. Archilaius, however,
Speaker 1: also brought his main army across the Caphesus after Sullah.
Speaker 1: Morena followed him, and Sullah drew up his army with
Speaker 1: his cavalry on each wing, himself commanding the right and
Speaker 1: Marina the left. The armies were now opposite each other.
Speaker 1: Sulla to the south, then Archilaus, then the Caphesus. Selah
Speaker 1: sent some troops round Thurium, to the hills behind Chyronea
Speaker 1: and in the enemy's rear. The enemy ran down in
Speaker 1: confusion from Thurium, where they were met by Marina with
Speaker 1: Sollah's left wing, and were either destroyed or driven back
Speaker 1: into the center of the line of Archilaus, which they
Speaker 1: threw into disorder. Solah on the right advanced so quickly
Speaker 1: as to prevent the scythed chariots from getting any impetus
Speaker 1: by which they were rendered useless, for the soldiers easily
Speaker 1: eluded them when driven at a slow pace, and as
Speaker 1: soon as they had passed, killed the horses and drivers.
Speaker 1: Archilaus now extended his right wing in order to surround Marena. Hortensius,
Speaker 1: whom Sallah had posted on some hills to the left
Speaker 1: of his left wing on purpose to defeat this maneuver,
Speaker 1: immediately pressed forward to attack this body on its left flank,
Speaker 1: but Archelaus drove him back with some cavalry and nearly
Speaker 1: surrounded Hortensius. Selah hastened to his aid and Archilaus, seeing
Speaker 1: him coming, instantly countermarched and attacked Sulla's right in his absence,
Speaker 1: while Taxilies assailed Morena on the left, but Sullah hastened
Speaker 1: back to after leaving Hortensius to support Morena, and when
Speaker 1: he appeared, the right wing drove back Archilaus to the Caphesus.
Speaker 1: Morena was equally triumphant on the left wing, and the
Speaker 1: Barbarians fled Pellmell to the Caphesus, only ten thousand of
Speaker 1: them reaching Calcus in Eubea. Appian says the Romans lost
Speaker 1: only thirteen men, while Plutarch, on the authority of Sulla's memoirs,
Speaker 1: says that they lost four. This is absurd. Sulla seems
Speaker 1: to have told some startling lies in his memoirs, perhaps
Speaker 1: to prove that he had been the favorite of fortune,
Speaker 1: which was a mania of his Mithridates, when he heard
Speaker 1: of the defeat of Archilaus, sent Doroleus with eight thousand
Speaker 1: men to Eubea, where he joined the remnant of the
Speaker 1: army of Archilaus and crossed to the mainland. Met Sullah
Speaker 1: at Orcomenas. Sollah was in Phthiotis to confront Lucas Valerius Flaccus,
Speaker 1: who had come to supersede him, but he returned as
Speaker 1: soon as he heard that Doroleus had landed. Orcomenus is
Speaker 1: just north of the Caphaesus where it runs into Lake Capius,
Speaker 1: and a stream called Melus, rising on the east of
Speaker 1: Orcomenez joined the Capphaesus near its mouth. The neighboring ground
Speaker 1: being a marsh Archilus did not want to fight, but
Speaker 1: Doroleus hinted at treachery, and had no doubt been ordered
Speaker 1: by Mithridates to avenge Chyrenaea near Mount Tilfossium. However, to
Speaker 1: the south of Lake Capius, he was worsted by Sullah
Speaker 1: in a skirmish, and, thinking better of the advice of Archilaus,
Speaker 1: tried to prolong the war. Archilaus indeed seems to have
Speaker 1: commanded in the battle, for Mithridates was shrewd enough to
Speaker 1: know when he had a good general. He drew up
Speaker 1: his army in four lines, the scythed chariots in front,
Speaker 1: behind them the Macedonian phalanx, then his auxiliaries, including Italian deserters,
Speaker 1: and lastly his light armed troops. On each flank. He
Speaker 1: posted his cavalry Sullah, who was weak in cavalry, dug
Speaker 1: two ditches guarded by forts, one on each flank, so
Speaker 1: as to keep off the enemy's horse. Then he drew
Speaker 1: up his infantry in three lines, leaving gaps in them
Speaker 1: for the light troops and cavalry to come through from
Speaker 1: the rear. When kneaded to the second line, stakes were
Speaker 1: given with orders to plant them so as to form
Speaker 1: a palisade, and the first line, when the chariots charged,
Speaker 1: retired behind the palisade, while the light troops advanced through
Speaker 1: the gaps and hurled missiles at the horses and drivers.
Speaker 1: The chariots turned and threw the phalanx into confusion, and
Speaker 1: when Archelaus ordered up his cavalry, Sullah sent round his
Speaker 1: to take them in the rear. At one time, however,
Speaker 1: the contest was doubtful, and the Romans wavered till they
Speaker 1: were put to shame by their general, who, seizing a
Speaker 1: standard and advancing toward the foe, cried out. When those
Speaker 1: at home asked where it was you abandoned your leader,
Speaker 1: say it was at Orclemens. This great victory, in which
Speaker 1: Salah showed generalship of a high order, ended the First
Speaker 1: Mithridateic War. The date is not quite certain. Probably it
Speaker 1: happened in eighty six. After the battle, Sullah wintered in Thessaly,
Speaker 1: where he built a fleet, being tired of waiting for Lucullus.
Speaker 1: At Delhiam, he met Archilaus and each urged the other
Speaker 1: to turn traitor. Archilaus promising that Mithridates would aid Selah
Speaker 1: against Sinna Sellah advising Archilaius to dethrow Mithridates. It was
Speaker 1: a curious way of showing the respect which they entertained
Speaker 1: for each other's ability. But Sullah was too scornful of
Speaker 1: Asiatic aid, and Archilaus too loyal to listen to such suggestions. However,
Speaker 1: when Archilaius fell ill afterwards, Sullah was so attentive to him,
Speaker 1: besides giving him land and Ubia and styling him friend
Speaker 1: of the Roman people, that it was suspected that Archelaus
Speaker 1: had been playing into his hands all along. It was
Speaker 1: a most unlikely suspicion, for nothing was more natural than that. Now,
Speaker 1: when Sullah was making terms with Mithridates and going to
Speaker 1: meet Fimbria, he should wish to make Archillais his friend,
Speaker 1: for after all, he had resolved to forget the Asiatic
Speaker 1: massacre and had not pushed Mithridates to desperation. The terms
Speaker 1: agreed upon were these. Mithridates was to surrender Cappadocia, Patholgo, Bithynia,
Speaker 1: Asia and the islands eighty ships of war, all prisoners
Speaker 1: and deserters. He was to give pay and provisions to
Speaker 1: Sulla's men, and provide a war indemnity of three thousand
Speaker 1: talents seven hundred thirty two thousand pounds, to restore to
Speaker 1: their homes the refugees from Macedonia and those whom, as
Speaker 1: will be related afterwards he had carried off from Kios,
Speaker 1: and to hand over more of his ships of war
Speaker 1: in such states as Rhodes. In alliance with Rome. Mithridates
Speaker 1: was then to be recognized as the ally of Rome.
Speaker 1: He chafed at the terms, the proposal of which indeed
Speaker 1: brought out the long headed intrepidity, of sullest character and
Speaker 1: the strongest light walking, as it were, on the razor
Speaker 1: edge of two precipices. He never faltered once. The Romans
Speaker 1: could not charge him with not having carried into effect
Speaker 1: the original purposes of the war, the restoration of Nicomaise
Speaker 1: and Ario Barzanis, nor could Mithridates fail in the end
Speaker 1: to listen to the voice of Archilaus when he at
Speaker 1: first rejected the terms. Sullah advanced toward Asia, plundering some
Speaker 1: of the barbarous tribes on the frontiers of Macedonia and
Speaker 1: reducing that province to order. But Mithridates did not hesitate long.
Speaker 1: He too was in a difficult position. The inhabitants of
Speaker 1: Asia Minor soon found that in yielding to him, they
Speaker 1: had exchanged whips for scorpions. He suspected that the defeat
Speaker 1: of Archilaus at Chynaea would excite rebellion, and he seized
Speaker 1: as many of the Galician chiefs as he could and
Speaker 1: slew them with their wives and children. The consequence was
Speaker 1: that the surviving chiefs expelled the man whom he had
Speaker 1: sent a satrap. He suspected the Kaians also and made
Speaker 1: them give up their arms and the children of their
Speaker 1: chief men as hostages. Then he made a requisition on
Speaker 1: them for two thousand talents four hundred and eighty eight
Speaker 1: thousand pounds, And because they could not raise the money,
Speaker 1: or because the tyrant pretended that there was a deficiency,
Speaker 1: the citizens were shipped off to the east of the
Speaker 1: Black Sea, and the island was occupied by colonists. The
Speaker 1: man who had managed the affair of Kios was sent
Speaker 1: to play the same game at Ephesus, but the people
Speaker 1: were on their guard, slew him and raised the standard
Speaker 1: of rebellion. Tarles, Hypaipa, Metropolis, Ardiss, Myrna and other towns
Speaker 1: followed their example. Mithridates tried to buoy up his sinking cause,
Speaker 1: attracting debtors by the remission of debts, resident aliens by
Speaker 1: the gift of the citizenship of the towns which they inhabited,
Speaker 1: and slaves by the promise of freedom. Devices of a
Speaker 1: desperate man. A plot was laid against the life which
Speaker 1: was betrayed, and in his fury he launched out into
Speaker 1: yet more savage excesses. He sent a set of men
Speaker 1: to collect depositions, and they slew indiscriminately those who were denounced.
Speaker 1: Sixteen hundred. It is set in all these events may
Speaker 1: have occurred in the winter of eighty six to eighty
Speaker 1: five BC, when Flaccus was on his march from the
Speaker 1: Adriatic coast through Macedonia and Thrace for Asia. Flaccus had
Speaker 1: quarreled with his lieutenant Fimbria and superseded him Fibria, when
Speaker 1: Flaccus had crossed from Byzantium to Chalcidon, induced the troops,
Speaker 1: who hated their general, to mutiny. Flaccus returned in haste,
Speaker 1: but learning what had happened, fled back to Chalcidon and
Speaker 1: thence to Nicomedia. Here Fibria, finding him hidden in a well,
Speaker 1: murdered him and threw his head into the sea. Then
Speaker 1: attacking the king's son, he feeded him at the river
Speaker 1: Rindacus and pursued the king himself to Pergamus and Petani,
Speaker 1: where he would have taken him, but that Mithridates crossed
Speaker 1: over to Midellini, while Fimbria had no ships, and was
Speaker 1: thus bulked of his prey. Another event had happened to
Speaker 1: aggravate his irritation. Lucullus, sent by Salah to collect a fleet, had,
Speaker 1: as has been related, failed in Egypt, but he had
Speaker 1: procured ships from Syria and Rhodes, induced Kas and Nidas
Speaker 1: to revolt, and driven out the Pontic partisans from Chios
Speaker 1: and Colophon. He was now in the neighborhood when Mithridates
Speaker 1: was at Pitani, but he turned a deaf ear to
Speaker 1: Fimbria's request for aid. And after defeating Neoptolemus, the king's
Speaker 1: admiral met Sulla in the Thracian Cursonese and conveyed him
Speaker 1: across to Dardanus in the troad, where Mithridates came to
Speaker 1: meet him. Each had one feeling in common, dread lest
Speaker 1: the others should make terms with Fimbria, and the bargain
Speaker 1: was soon struck in spite of Sullah's soldiers, who were
Speaker 1: thus after all, bulked of the long looked for Asiatic
Speaker 1: campaign and their desire to take revenge for the great massacre.
Speaker 1: But Sullah, as we have seen, got some money to
Speaker 1: quiet them, and they were in his power in Asia
Speaker 1: almost as much as he had been in theirs at Rome.
Speaker 1: He at once led them against Fimbria, who was near
Speaker 1: thy Retira in Lydia. He summoned that leader to hand
Speaker 1: over his army, and the soldiers began to desert to him.
Speaker 1: Fimbria tried to force them to swear obedience to him,
Speaker 1: and slew the first who refused. Then he sent a
Speaker 1: slave to assassinate Sullah, and the discovery of this attempt
Speaker 1: so maddened Sullah's soldiers that Fimbria dared not trust even
Speaker 1: Sullah's promised safe conduct and slew himself. Sullah incorporated his
Speaker 1: troops with his own army and proceeded to regulate the
Speaker 1: affairs of Asia. Those towns which had remained faithful to
Speaker 1: Rome or had sided with him were liberally rewarded. All
Speaker 1: slaves who refused to return to their masters were slain.
Speaker 1: The towns that resisted were punished and their walls destroyed.
Speaker 1: The ringleaders in the massacre were put to death. The
Speaker 1: taxpayers were forced to pay at once the previous five
Speaker 1: years arrears and a fine of twenty thousand talents four million,
Speaker 1: eight hundred and eighty thousand pounds, and Lucullus was left
Speaker 1: to collect it. In order to raise this sum, the
Speaker 1: unhappy Asiatics were obliged to mortgage their public buildings to
Speaker 1: the Italian money lenders. But Sullah got the whole of it,
Speaker 1: and scarcely was he gone when pirates, hounded on by
Speaker 1: Mithridates came like flocks of vultures to devour what the
Speaker 1: eagles had left. End of Section fourteen.