Speaker 1: Section thirteen of the grochy Marius and Sola by A. H. Beasley.
Speaker 1: This librovox recording is in the public domain. Read by Pamelinagami,
Speaker 1: chapter eleven, the First Mithridateic War. Events have been anticipated
Speaker 1: in order to relate the close of Sinna's career, But
Speaker 1: it is time now to say what Sullah had been
Speaker 1: doing and who that Mithridates was, whose name for so
Speaker 1: long had been formidable at Rome. After the defeat of
Speaker 1: the Northern Hordes and the suppression of the second slave revolt,
Speaker 1: there was a war with the Keltiberi in Spain in
Speaker 1: ninety seven, in which Sertorius showed himself already an adroit
Speaker 1: and bold officer. He was in winter quarters at Castulo Caslona,
Speaker 1: and his men were so disorderly that the Spaniards were
Speaker 1: emboldened to attack them in the town. Sertorius escaped, rallied
Speaker 1: those soldiers who had also was escaped, marched back, and
Speaker 1: after putting those in the town to the sword, dressed
Speaker 1: his troops in the dead men's clothes, and so obtained
Speaker 1: admission to another town which had helped the enemy. But
Speaker 1: the hero of the campaign was Titus Didius. Afterwards Caesar's
Speaker 1: lieutenant in the social war. He had some hard fighting
Speaker 1: and captured Termasus, the chief town of the Aravaki, and Colenda.
Speaker 1: He earned his triumph by other means. Also. There was
Speaker 1: a town near Colenda, the inhabitants of which the Romans
Speaker 1: wished to destroy. Didius told them that he would give
Speaker 1: them the lands of Colinda, and they came to receive
Speaker 1: their allotments. As soon as they were within his lines,
Speaker 1: his soldiers set on them and slew them all. In
Speaker 1: ninety six b C. Tolemaus Appian bequeathed Sireni, a narrow
Speaker 1: strip of terraced land on the north coast of Africa,
Speaker 1: situated between the Libyan deserts and the Mediterranean, to Rome.
Speaker 1: The Romans did not refuse the legacy, but they took
Speaker 1: no trouble to govern the country. The cities of Syreni
Speaker 1: were declared to be free. In other words, while nominally
Speaker 1: subject to Rome, so that she might interfere when she pleased,
Speaker 1: they were left to govern themselves. Such government was no government,
Speaker 1: but it was in accordance with the deliberate policy of
Speaker 1: the Senatorial Party. It was in the same year ninety
Speaker 1: six b C. That Mithridatees committed the first of the
Speaker 1: series of crimes which eventually brought him into collision with Rome.
Speaker 1: His sister had married the king of Cappadocia, Mithridatees assassinated him. Nicomates,
Speaker 1: king of Bethynia, seized Cappadocia, and married the widowed sister
Speaker 1: of Mithridates. Having slain one brother in law, Mithridatees expelled
Speaker 1: the other and set on the throne his sister's son.
Speaker 1: But when his nephew refused to welcome home Gordius, the
Speaker 1: man who had murdered his father, Mithriddes marched against and
Speaker 1: assassinated him. Then he set on the throne his own son,
Speaker 1: to whom he gave his nephew's name, and made Gordius
Speaker 1: his guardian him. The Cappadocians expelled and raised to the
Speaker 1: throne another nephew of Mithridates, but Mithridatees instantly drove him
Speaker 1: from power. Nicomedes now appealed to the Senate and produced,
Speaker 1: as he asserted, a third nephew of Mithridatees as a
Speaker 1: claimant for the crown. To support his assertion, he sent
Speaker 1: his wife to Rome to swear she had had three sons. Mithridates,
Speaker 1: as if in burlesque of the imposture, sent Gordius to
Speaker 1: swear that the youth on the throne was son of
Speaker 1: a Cappadocian king who had died more than thirty years before. Four.
Speaker 1: The Senate decided as a lion might between two jackals
Speaker 1: quarreling over a carcass. It took Cappadocia from Mithridates and
Speaker 1: Paphlagonia from Nicomedes and declared both countries free. But the
Speaker 1: Cappadocians clamored for a king, and so in ninety three
Speaker 1: the Senate appointed Ariobarzanus, the first. Mithridates then stirred up
Speaker 1: to Granus, king of Armenia, to expel Ariobarzanus, who fled
Speaker 1: to Rome. Sullah was sent to restore him, and did
Speaker 1: so in ninety two after defeating the Cappadocians under Gordius
Speaker 1: and the Armenians. It was when he was on this
Speaker 1: mission that the Romans and Parthians confronted each other for
Speaker 1: the first time. The Parthians sent an embassy to ask
Speaker 1: for the alliance of Rome. Three chairs were set for Ariobarzanus,
Speaker 1: Sollah and Orobazas and Solah, who was only proprietor took
Speaker 1: the central seat. This incensed the Parthian king, and he
Speaker 1: revenged himself, not on Sullah, but on the unfortunate Orobazus,
Speaker 1: whom he put to death. A Kaldean in the Parthian suite,
Speaker 1: after studying Sullah's face, predicted great things for him, which
Speaker 1: pleased Sullah as much as it would have done Marius,
Speaker 1: for he believed in his luck, just as his rival
Speaker 1: did in his seventh consulship. But when he came home
Speaker 1: he was impeached for taking bribes from Ariobarzanus. No doubt,
Speaker 1: he had made his trip, which was so gratifying to
Speaker 1: his pride, not less profitable also, and had had his
Speaker 1: appetite wedded for a second taste of Eastern treasures. Mithridates, meanwhile,
Speaker 1: was brooding over his humiliation and meditating revenge. He went
Speaker 1: on a journey incognito through the Roman province of Asia
Speaker 1: and Bithynia, intending to attack both if he found himself
Speaker 1: strong enough. When he came back, he found that his wife,
Speaker 1: who was also his sister, had been unfaithful to him,
Speaker 1: and he put her to death. He had now murdered
Speaker 1: a wife, a sister, a brother, and a nephew. He
Speaker 1: had also imprisoned his mother, and was equally merciless to
Speaker 1: his sons, his daughters, and his concubines. At his death,
Speaker 1: it is said a paper was found in which he
Speaker 1: had foredoomed his most trusted servants, and he slew all
Speaker 1: the inmates of his harem in order to hinder them
Speaker 1: from falling into his enemy's hands. His whole history is
Speaker 1: in fact one long record of sensuality, treachery, and murder.
Speaker 1: From his earliest years, he had breathed, as it were,
Speaker 1: an atmosphere of assassination. His father had been assassinated when
Speaker 1: he was eleven years old. His guardians and even his
Speaker 1: own mother had then plotted to assassinate him. They placed
Speaker 1: him on a wire horse and made him perform exercises
Speaker 1: with the javelin on it. When his precocious vigor defeated
Speaker 1: their hopes, they tried to poison him, but by studying antidotes,
Speaker 1: he made his body poison proof, or at least was
Speaker 1: reputed to have done so, and, flying from his enemies,
Speaker 1: lived for seven years through all the hardships of a
Speaker 1: wild and wandering life in which he never slept under
Speaker 1: a roof and hunted and fought with wild beasts to
Speaker 1: emerge in manhood. A very tiger himself for strength and
Speaker 1: beauty of body and ferocity of disposition, a tyrant who
Speaker 1: spared neither man in his ambition nor woman in his lust.
Speaker 1: His stature was gigantic. His strength and activities such as
Speaker 1: took captive the imagination of the East. He could, it
Speaker 1: was believed, outrun the deer, out eat and out drink
Speaker 1: anyone at the banquet, strike down flying game, unorringly, tame
Speaker 1: the wildest steed, and ride one hundred and twenty miles
Speaker 1: in a day. Twenty two nations obeyed him, and he
Speaker 1: could speak the dialect of each of An ear of
Speaker 1: Greek refinement was spread thinly over the savage animalism of
Speaker 1: the man. He was a virtuoso and had a wonderful
Speaker 1: collection of rings. He maintained Greek poets and historians, and
Speaker 1: offered prizes for singing. He had shrewdness enough to employ
Speaker 1: Greek generals, but not enough to keep him from being
Speaker 1: grossly superstitious. For twenty years, from one ten to ninety
Speaker 1: b c. He had been with never resting activity, extending
Speaker 1: his empire before the Romans assailed him. He had inherited
Speaker 1: from his ancestors the kingdom of Pontus or Cappadocia on
Speaker 1: the Pontus, which had been one of the two satropies
Speaker 1: into which Cappadocia was divided at the time of the
Speaker 1: Macedonian conquest. Mithridates the fourth had married a princess of
Speaker 1: the Greek race, the sister of Seleucus, king of Syria.
Speaker 1: His grandfather had conquered Sinope and Paphlagonia as far as
Speaker 1: the Bithynian frontier. His father had helped the Romans in
Speaker 1: the Third Punic War, had been styled the Friend of Rome,
Speaker 1: and had been rewarded with the province of Phrygia nominally
Speaker 1: for his services against Aristonicus the Pretender to the Kingdom
Speaker 1: of Adilas, but had been deprived of it afterwards when
Speaker 1: it was found out that really it had been put
Speaker 1: up for auction by Manius Aquilius, who was completing the
Speaker 1: subjugation of the adherents of the Pretender. The boundaries of
Speaker 1: Pontus at his accession cannot be strictly defined. On the east,
Speaker 1: it stretched towards the Caucasus and the sources of the
Speaker 1: Euphrates lesser Armenia being dependent on it. On the south
Speaker 1: and southwest, its frontiers were Cappadocia and Galicia. On the west,
Speaker 1: nominally passed Phlagonia was the frontier for the grandfather of
Speaker 1: Mithridatees had been induced by the Romans to promise to
Speaker 1: evacuate his conquests, but Snobi was then and continued to
Speaker 1: be the capital of the Pontic Kingdom, and both Paphlagonia
Speaker 1: and Galicia were virtually independent. This was the territory to
Speaker 1: which Mithridates was heir, and which, true to the policy
Speaker 1: of his father and grandfather, he constantly strove, by force
Speaker 1: or fraud, to extend. To the east of the Black Sea.
Speaker 1: He conquered Colchis on the Faces and converted it into
Speaker 1: a satrope. To the north. He was hailed as the
Speaker 1: deliverer of the Greek towns on that coast, and in
Speaker 1: the region now known as the Crimea, which from the
Speaker 1: constant exaction of tribute by barbarous tribes, were in the
Speaker 1: absence of any protectorate like that of Athens, falling into
Speaker 1: decay by sea, and perhaps across the Caucasus by land,
Speaker 1: Mithridates sent his troops under the Greek generals Neoptolemus and Diophantis.
Speaker 1: Neoptolemus won a victory over the Tawera Scythians at Panticapium Kirch,
Speaker 1: and the kingdom of Bosphorus, and the Crimea was ceded
Speaker 1: to his master by its grateful king. Diophants marched westwards
Speaker 1: as far as the Tyras Neister, and in a great
Speaker 1: battle almost annihilated an army of the Roxalani, a nomadic
Speaker 1: people who roamed between the Boristhenes, the Neper and the
Speaker 1: Tenaius don. By these conquests, Mithridates acquired a tribute of
Speaker 1: two hundred talents forty eight thousand pounds and two hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy thousand bushels of grain, and the rich recruiting
Speaker 1: ground for his armies. On the east, he annexed Lesser
Speaker 1: Armenia and entered into the closest alliance with Tigranus, king
Speaker 1: of Greater Armenia, which had lately become a powerful kingdom,
Speaker 1: given him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage. If the allies
Speaker 1: had any defined scheme of conquest, it was that Mithridates
Speaker 1: should occupy Asia Minor and the coast of the Black Sea,
Speaker 1: and to Granus the interior and Syria. How the king
Speaker 1: intrigued and meddled in Cappadocia and Bithynia had been previously related.
Speaker 1: And when he had marched into Cappadocia, it was at
Speaker 1: the head of eighty thousand foot, ten thousand horse and
Speaker 1: six hundred scythed chariots. Such was the history, the power,
Speaker 1: and the character of the great Potentate, who had yielded
Speaker 1: to the demands of Sullah the Proprietor, but who now
Speaker 1: awaited the attack of Sullah the Proconsul with proud disdain. Much, indeed,
Speaker 1: had happened since the year ninety two to justify such feelings.
Speaker 1: Hardly had Celery and stated Ariobarzanus, when Tigranus drove him
Speaker 1: out again and restored the son of Mithridates. While in Bithynia,
Speaker 1: the younger son of Nicomedes, Socrates appeared in arms against
Speaker 1: his elder brother, Nicomedes the Second, who on his father's
Speaker 1: death had been acknowledged as king by Rome. Socrates had
Speaker 1: soldiers from Pontus with him, but Mithridates, though his hand
Speaker 1: was plain in these disturbances outwardly stood aloof and the Senate,
Speaker 1: sending Manius Aquilius to restore the two kings, ordered Mithridates
Speaker 1: to aid him with troops if they were wanted. The
Speaker 1: king submitted, as before, not indeed sending troops, but without resisting,
Speaker 1: and as a proof of his complacency, put Socrates to death.
Speaker 1: This happened in the year ninety when Rome was pressed
Speaker 1: hardest by the Italians, and at first sight it seems
Speaker 1: astonishing that he should not have seized on so favorable
Speaker 1: a moment. But in those days news would travel from
Speaker 1: the west of Italy to Sinopia, but slowly and uncertainly,
Speaker 1: and Mithridates would have the fate of Antiochus in mind
Speaker 1: to warn him how the foes of the Great Republic fared,
Speaker 1: and the history of Pergamus to testify to the prosperity
Speaker 1: of those who remained its friends. Sullah's proud tone in
Speaker 1: ninety two would not have lessened this impression, and before
Speaker 1: he appealed to force, the crafty king hoped to make
Speaker 1: his position securer by fraud, partly therefore from real awe,
Speaker 1: partly because he was not yet ready. He obeyed Aquilius
Speaker 1: as he had obeyed Sullah. But Aquilius, who had once
Speaker 1: put up for Jia to auction, knew what pickings there
Speaker 1: were for a senator when war was afoot in Asia,
Speaker 1: and perhaps may have had the honester notion that as
Speaker 1: Mithridatees were sure to go to war soon, it was
Speaker 1: for the public as well as for his private interest,
Speaker 1: to act boldly and strike the first blow. So he
Speaker 1: forced the reluctant Bethynia king to declare war and to
Speaker 1: ravage with an army the country round a Mastris, while
Speaker 1: his fleet shut up the Bosphorus. Still, Mithridates did not stir.
Speaker 1: All that he did was to lodge a complaint with
Speaker 1: the Romans and solicit their mediation or their permission to
Speaker 1: defend himself. Acuilius replied that he was in no case
Speaker 1: to make war on Nicomades. It is easy to conceive
Speaker 1: how such an answer affected a man of the king's temper.
Speaker 1: He instantly sent his son with an army into Cappadocia.
Speaker 1: But once more he tried diplomacy. Pelopotus, his envoy, came
Speaker 1: to Acuilius and said that his master was willing to
Speaker 1: aid the Romans against the Italians if the Romans would
Speaker 1: forbid Nicomedes to attack him their ally. If not, he
Speaker 1: wished the alliance to be formally dissolved, or there was
Speaker 1: yet another alternative, let the commissioners and himself appeal to
Speaker 1: the Senate to decide between them. The commissioners treated the
Speaker 1: message as an insult Mithridatees, they said, must not attack Nicomedes,
Speaker 1: and they intended to restore Ario Barzanis. Possibly the conduct
Speaker 1: of Aquilius was due to his having been heavily bribed
Speaker 1: by Nicomedes, who must have felt that when the Romans
Speaker 1: were gone, he would be like a mouse awaiting the
Speaker 1: cat's spring. For it is difficult to imagine the foolhardiness which,
Speaker 1: without some such tangible stimulus, would at that moment have
Speaker 1: plunged him into war. But when once the die was cast,
Speaker 1: Mithridanes threw himself into the war with the energy of
Speaker 1: long suppressed rage. He sent to court the Alliance of
Speaker 1: Egypt and the Cretan League, to whom he represented himself
Speaker 1: as the champion of Greece against her tyrant. He tried
Speaker 1: to stir up revolts in Thrace and Macedonia. He arranged
Speaker 1: with Tagranus that an Armenian army should co operate with him,
Speaker 1: leaving him the land it occupied, but carrying off the plunder.
Speaker 1: He gave the word, and a swarm of pirate ships
Speaker 1: swept the Mediterranean. Under his colors. He summoned an army
Speaker 1: of two hundred and fifty thousand foot, forty thousand horse
Speaker 1: and one hundred and thirty scythed chariots, a fleet of
Speaker 1: three hundred decked vessels, and one hundred other ships called
Speaker 1: die Crota, with a double bank of oars. He formed
Speaker 1: an armed in Roman fashion, a foreign contingent in which
Speaker 1: many Romans and Italians enlisted, and he placed able Greek
Speaker 1: generals Archelaus and Neoptolemus over his troops. To meet this
Speaker 1: formidable array, the Romans had a fleet off Byzantium, the
Speaker 1: Army of Nicomedes, which was still between Sinopian a Mastris,
Speaker 1: and three corps, each of forty thousand men, but composed
Speaker 1: for the most part of hastily organized Asiatics, one under
Speaker 1: Cassius between Bithynia and Galatian, another under Aquilius between Bithynia
Speaker 1: and Pontus, and a third under Appius in Cappadocia. The
Speaker 1: war was decided almost in a single battle. Neoptolemus and
Speaker 1: Archelaus routed the Bithynian army on the River Omnius and
Speaker 1: captured the camp and military chest. It was a fierce
Speaker 1: and for some time a doubtful fight, and seems to
Speaker 1: have been decided by the scythed chariots, which spread terror
Speaker 1: in the Bithynian ranks. Nicomedes fled to Aquilius, who was
Speaker 1: defeated by Archelaus near Mount Scorobas, and fled with the
Speaker 1: king across the Sangarius to Pergamus, whence he attempted to
Speaker 1: reach Rhodes. Cassius retreated to Phrygia and tried to discipline
Speaker 1: his raw levies, but finding this impossible, he broke up
Speaker 1: the army and led the Roman troops with him to Apamea.
Speaker 1: The fleet in the Black Sea was surrendered by its commander.
Speaker 1: Thus tried triumphant by sea and land. Mithridatees, after settling Bithynia,
Speaker 1: marched through Phrygia and Mesia into the Roman province of Asia,
Speaker 1: and was hailed everywhere as a deliverer, for after his
Speaker 1: victories he had sent home all his Asiatic prisoners with presents.
Speaker 1: Then he sent messengers into Litia and Pamphylia to seek
Speaker 1: the alliance of those countries. Opphius was in Laodicea on
Speaker 1: the Lychas the king offered the townsmen immunity if they
Speaker 1: surrendered him, and when they did so, carried him about
Speaker 1: as a show. Aquilius was also given up by the
Speaker 1: middle Inanians and made to ride in chains on an
Speaker 1: ass calling out who he was wherever he went. At Pergamus,
Speaker 1: Mithriddes slew him by pouring molten gold down his throat,
Speaker 1: a savage punishment which perhaps confirms the impression that it
Speaker 1: was Roman avarice which forced the war. Magnesia on the Maander,
Speaker 1: Ephesus and Midelini welcomed the king joyfully, and Stra Tanisea
Speaker 1: in Carea was captured. He then attacked Magnesia near Mount Sephalus,
Speaker 1: prepared to invade Rhodes, and issued a hideous order for
Speaker 1: the exterminating massacre of every Roman and Italian in Asia
Speaker 1: on an appointed day. Punishments were proclaimed for anyone who
Speaker 1: should hide one of the proscribed or bury his body.
Speaker 1: Rewards were promised for all who killed or denounced them
Speaker 1: slaves who slew their masters were to be freed. The
Speaker 1: murder of a creditor was to be taken as payment
Speaker 1: by a debtor of half his debt. There were dreadful
Speaker 1: scenes on the fatal day, the thirtieth after the order
Speaker 1: was issued in the Asiatic cities. In Pergamus, the victims
Speaker 1: fled to the temple of Iceculapius and were shot down
Speaker 1: as they clung to the statue. At Ephesus, they were
Speaker 1: dragged out from the temple of Artemis and slain At Adramitium,
Speaker 1: they swam out to sea, but were brought back and killed,
Speaker 1: and their children were drowned at costs. Alone was any
Speaker 1: mercy shown there. Those who had taken refuge in the
Speaker 1: temple of Iceculapius were spared. The number of the slain
Speaker 1: was said to be eighty thousand, or even one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty thousand, which must have been, however, an incredible exaggeration.
Speaker 1: By this fiendish crime, Mithridates must, though he was mistaken,
Speaker 1: have felt that he had cut himself off forever from
Speaker 1: any reconciliation with Rome. But no doubt he acted on calculation,
Speaker 1: for not only did he get rid of men who
Speaker 1: might have recruited the Roman armies. Not only did he
Speaker 1: gratify the long hoarded hatred of the farmers and peasants
Speaker 1: of whom Roman publocani and Roman slave masters had so
Speaker 1: long made a prey. Not only did he obligin the
Speaker 1: debtors by wiping out their debts and even the very
Speaker 1: memory of them and their creditor's blood, but he might
Speaker 1: well count on putting his accomplices also beyond the pale
Speaker 1: of Roman mercy, and so linking them to his own fortunes. Moreover,
Speaker 1: vengeance seemed remote, for Sullah had just marched on Rome
Speaker 1: instead of to the east, and the civil war in
Speaker 1: Italy might make Mithridates permanently supreme in Asia. So he
Speaker 1: made Pergamus his capital, leaving Sinopi to his son as
Speaker 1: vice regent. While Cappadocia, Phrygia, and Bithynia were turned into satrpies.
Speaker 1: All arrears of taxes were remitted, and so wealthy had
Speaker 1: his spoils made him that exemption for five years to
Speaker 1: come was promised to the towns that had obeyed his orders.
Speaker 1: But the tide was already on the turn. In Paphlagonia,
Speaker 1: there was still resistance, Archelaus was repulsed and wounded at Magnesia.
Speaker 1: CI Deities in person was forced to abandon the siege
Speaker 1: of Rhodes. His revenge was stated he was tired of
Speaker 1: the hardships of a war which he meant his generals
Speaker 1: to conduct in future, and with a new wife, he
Speaker 1: went back to Pergamus, to his rings in his music
Speaker 1: and debaucheries, at the very time that a shudder had
Speaker 1: gone through Italy at the tidings of the massacre, and
Speaker 1: when Sullah was on his way to avenge it. End
Speaker 1: of Section thirteen.