deficient in naval force, sent to Lucullus, and prayed him to come with his fleet and help him to take the most detested and the most hostile of kings, in order that Mithridates, the great prize, which had been followed through many contests and labours, might not escape the Romans, now that he had given them a chance of seizing him, and was caught within the nets. He said, if Mithridates was taken, no one would have more of the glory than he who stopped his flight and laid hold of him when he was trying to steal away; that if Mithridates were shut out from the land by him, and excluded from the sea by Lucullus, there would be a victory for both of them, and that as to the vaunted exploits of Sulla at Orchomenus and Chæronea,[329] the Romans would think nothing of them in comparison with this. There was nothing unreasonable in all that Fimbria said; and it was plain to every man that if Lucullus, who was at no great distance, had then accepted the proposal of Fimbria, and led his ships there and blockaded the port with his fleet, the war would have been at an end, and all would have been delivered from innumerable calamities. But whether it was that Lucullus regarded his duty to Sulla above all private and public interests, or that he detested Fimbria, who was an abandoned man, and had lately murdered his own friend and general,[330] merely from ambition to command, or whether it was through chance, as the Deity would have it, that he spared Mithridates, and reserved him for his own antagonist--he would not listen to Fimbria, but allowed Mithridates to escape by sea, and to mock the force of Fimbria.
Lucullus himself, in the first place, defeated off Lektum in the Troad,[331] the king's ships, which showed themselves there, and again observing that Neoptolemus was stationed at Tenedos with a larger force, he sailed against him ahead of all the rest, in a Rhodian galley of five banks which was commanded by Demagoras, a man well affected to the Romans, and exceedingly skilful in naval battles.
Neoptolemus came against him at a great rate, and ordered the helmsman to steer the ship right against the vessel of Lucullus; but Demagoras, fearing the weight of the king's vessel and the rough brass that she was fitted with, did not venture to engage head to head, but he quickly turned his ship round and ordered them to row her stern foremost,[332] and the vessel being thus depressed at the stern received the blow, which was rendered harmless by falling on those parts of the ship which were in the water. In the meantime his friends coming to his aid, Lucullus commanded them to turn his ship's head to the enemy; and, after performing many praiseworthy feats, he put the enemy to flight, and pursued Neoptolemus.
IV. After this, Lucullus joined Sulla in the Chersonesus, as he was going to cross the Hellespont, and he made the passage safe for him, and assisted his army in getting over. When the treaty was made, and Mithridates had sailed off to the Euxine, and Sulla had imposed a contribution[333] of twenty thousand talents on Asia, and Lucullus had been appointed to collect the money, and to strike coin, it appeared some small consolation to the cities of Asia for the harshness of Sulla that Lucullus not only behaved with honesty and justice, but conducted himself mildly in the discharge of so oppressive and disagreeable a duty. Though the Mitylenæans had openly revolted, Lucullus wished them to come to their senses, and to submit to some reasonable penalty for their ill-conduct in the matter of Marius;[334] but perceiving that they were under the influence of some evil dæmon, he sailed against them, and defeated them in a battle, and, after shutting them up in their walls, and establishing a blockade, he sailed out in open day to Elæa,[335] but he returned by stealth, and laying an ambuscade near the city, kept quiet. The Mitylenæans approached in disorder, and with confidence in the expectation of plundering a deserted camp; but Lucullus falling on them took a great number alive, and killed five hundred of them who made resistance. He also took six thousand slaves, and the rest of the booty was past count. But in the miseries which Sulla and Marius were at that time bringing on the people of Italy, without limit and of every kind, he had no share, being detained by his business in Asia by some happy fortune. Nevertheless, he had not less favour with Sulla than the rest of his friends; for, as I have said Sulla dedicated his memoirs to Lucullus, as a token of his affection, and finally he appointed him the guardian of his son, and passed by Pompeius. And this was probably the origin of the difference and the jealousy between Lucullus and Pompeius; for they were both young, and burning for distinction.
V. Shortly after Sulla's death, Lucullus was consul[336] with Marcus Cotta, about the hundred and seventy-sixth Olympiad. Many persons were again attempting to stir up the Mithridatic war, and Marcus said that the war was not ended, but only stopped for a time. It was for this reason that Lucullus was annoyed at the lot giving him for his province Gaul within (south of) the Alps, which offered no opportunity for great exploits. But the reputation of Pompeius, who was now in Iberia, stung him most, as it was expected that Pompeius, in preference to any one else, would be forthwith chosen to the command of the war against Mithridates, if it should happen that the Iberian war should be brought to a close. Accordingly, when Pompeius asked for money,[337] and wrote to say that if they did not send it he would leave Iberia and Sertorius, and lead his troops hack to Italy, Lucullus did all he could to get money sent, and to prevent Pompeius returning from Iberia on any pretence whatever while he was consul; for he considered that the whole State would be at the disposal of Pompeius if he were at Rome with so large an army. Cethegus,[338] also, who had then the power in his hands by always speaking and acting with a view to popularity, was at enmity with Lucullus, who detested his habits of life, which were nothing but a course of unnatural lusts, insolence, and violence. With Cethegus then Lucullus was at open war. There was, indeed another demagogue, Lucius Quintius,[339] who had set himself against Sulla's measures, and attempted to disturb the present settlement of affairs; but Lucullus, by much persuasion in private and reproof in public, drew him from his designs, and quieted his ambition, in as politic and wholesome a way as a man could do, by taking in hand so great a disease at its commencement.
VI. In the meantime news arrived of the death of Octavius,[340] the Governor of Cilicia. Now there were many eager competitors for the province, who courted Cethegus as the person who was best able to help them to it. As to Cilicia itself, Lucullus made no great account of that province; but, inasmuch as he thought, if he should get Cilicia, which bordered on Cappadocia, no one else would be sent to conduct the war against Mithridates, he left no means untried to prevent the province falling into other hands; and, at last, contrary to his natural disposition, he submitted from necessity to do an act which was not creditable, or commendable, though it was useful towards the end he had in view. There was a woman named Præcia, who was famed through Rome for her beauty and gallantry, and though in other respects she was no better than a common prostitute, yet, as she availed herself of her influence with those who visited her and talked to her, for the purpose of forwarding the interests and political views of her friends, she added to her other attractions the reputation of being a woman who was much attached to her friends, and very active in accomplishing anything, and she obtained great influence. Cethegus, who was then at the height of his popularity, and directed the administration, was captivated by Præcia, and began to cohabit with her, and thus the whole power of the State fell into her hands; for no public measure was transacted if Cethegus was not for it, and if Præcia did not recommend it to Cethegus. Now Lucullus gained over Præcia by presents and flattery; and, indeed, it was in itself a great boon to a proud woman, fond of public display, to be seen using her influence on behalf of Lucullus; and thus he soon had Cethegus speaking in his favour, and trying to get Cilicia for him.
When Lucullus had once gained the province of Cilicia, it was no longer necessary for him to call in the aid of Præcia or Cethegus, but all alike readily put into his hands the conduct of the Mithridatic war, believing that it could not be managed better by any other person; for Pompeius was still fighting against Sertorius, and Metellus[341] had withdrawn from service by reason of his age, and these were the only persons who could be considered as rivals to Lucullus in any dispute about the command in the war. However, Cotta, the colleague of Lucullus, after making earnest application to the Senate, was sent with some ships to watch the Propontis,[342] and to defend Bithynia.
VII. Lucullus, with one legion which he had raised at home, crossed over into Asia, where he took the command of the rest of the forces, all of whom had long been spoiled by luxurious habits and living at free quarters; and the soldiers of Fimbria were said to have become difficult to manage, from being accustomed to obey no commander. They were the men who joined Fimbria in putting to death Flaccus, who was a consul and their general, and who gave up Fimbria himself to Sulla[343]--self-willed and lawless men, but brave and full of endurance, and experienced soldiers. However, in a short time, Lucullus took down the insolence of these soldiers, and changed the character of the rest, who then, for the first time, as it seems, knew what it was to have a genuine commander and leader; for under other generals, they were used to be courted, and spirited on to military service in such wise as was agreeable to them. As to the enemy, matters were thus: Mithridates, like most of the sophists,[344] full of boasting at first, and rising up against the Romans arrogantly, with an army unsubstantial in fact, but in appearance brilliant and pompous, had failed in his undertaking, and exposed himself to ridicule: but now, when he was going to commence the war a second time, taught by experience he concentrated his powers in a real and effectual preparation. Rejecting those motley numbers and many-tongued threats of the barbarians, and arms ornamented with gold and precious stones, which he considered to be the spoils of the victors, and to give no strength to those who possess them, he set about having Roman swords made, and heavy shields manufactured; and he got together horses which were well trained, instead of horses which were well caparisoned; and one hundred and twenty thousand foot-soldiers who were disciplined to the Roman order of battle, and sixteen thousand horse-soldiers, without reckoning the scythe-bearing four-horse chariots, and these were a hundred; besides, his ships were not filled with tents embroidered with gold, nor with baths for concubines, nor apartments for the women luxuriously furnished; but fitting them out fully with arms, missiles, and stores, he invaded Bithynia, where he was again gladly received by the cities, and not by these cities only, for a return of their former calamities had visited all Asia, which was suffering past endurance from the Roman money-lenders[345] and farmers of the taxes.[346] These men, who, like so many harpies, were plundering the people of their substance, Lucullus afterwards drove out; but, for the time, he endeavoured by reproof to make them more moderate in their conduct, and he stopped the insurrection of the towns, when, so to speak, not a single man in them was quiet.
VIII. While Lucullus was busied about these matters, Cotta, thinking it a good opportunity for himself, was preparing to fight with Mithridates; and, though many persons brought him intelligence that Lucullus was encamped in Phrygia on his advanced march, Cotta, thinking that he had the triumph all but in his hands, hastened to engage, that Lucullus might have no share in it. But he was defeated by land and by sea at the same time; and he lost sixty vessels with all the men in them, and four thousand foot-soldiers, and he was shut up in Chalkedon[347] and besieged there, and obliged to look for help at the hands of Lucullus. Now there were some who urged Lucullus not to care for Cotta, but to advance forward, as he would be able to seize the kingdom of Mithridates, which was unprotected; and this was the language of the soldiers especially, who were indignant that Cotta, not satisfied with ruining himself and those with him by his imprudent measures, should be a hindrance to their getting a victory without a contest when it was in their power; but Lucullus said in reply to all this in an harangue, that he would rather save one Roman from the enemy than get all that the enemy had. And when Archelaus,[348] who had commanded for Mithridates in Bœotia, and afterwards had left him, and was now in the Roman army, maintained that if Lucullus would only show himself in Pontus, he might make himself master of everything at once, Lucullus replied that he was not a greater coward than huntsmen, which he should be if he passed by the wild beasts and went to their empty dens. Saying this he advanced against Mithridates, with thirty thousand foot-soldiers and two thousand five hundred cavalry. On arriving in sight of the enemy, he was startled at their numbers, and wished to avoid a battle and to protract the time. Marius, however, whom Sertorius had sent from Iberia to Mithridates in command of a force, came out to meet Lucullus, and challenged him to the contest, on which Lucullus put his army in order of battle; and they were just on the point of commencing the engagement, when, without any evident change, but all at once, the sky opened, and there appeared a huge flame-like body, which came down between the two armies, in form most like a cask, and in colour resembling molten silver, so that both armies were alarmed at the sight and separated. This, it is said, took place in Phrygia, at a place called Otryæ. Lucullus, considering that it was not possible for any human resources or wealth to maintain for any length of time, and in the presence of an enemy, so many thousands as Mithridates had, ordered one of the prisoners to be brought to him, and asked him first how many messmates he had, and then how much provision he had left in his tent. When the man had given his answer, he ordered him to be removed, and he put the same question to a second, and to a third.
Then comparing the amount of provisions that the enemy had with the number of those who were to be fed, he concluded that the enemy's provisions would fail them in three or four days. He now stuck still more closely to his plan of protracting the time, and he employed himself in getting into his camp a great store of provision, that he might have abundance himself, and so wait till the enemy was reduced to want.
IX. In the meantime Mithridates resolved to attack the Kyzikeni,[349] who had received a blow in the battle at Chalkedon, for they had lost three thousand men and ten ships. Accordingly, wishing to give Lucullus the slip, he put himself in motion immediately after supper, taking advantage of a dark and rainy night; and he succeeded in planting his force at daybreak right opposite to the city, at the base of the mountain tract of the Adrasteia.[350] Lucullus, who perceived his movements and followed him, was well satisfied that he had not come up with the enemy while his own troops were out of battle order; and he posted his army near the village named Thrakia, in a position excellently adapted to command the roads and the places from which and through which the soldiers of Mithridates must bring their supplies.
Now, as he had in his own mind a clear comprehension of the issue, he did not conceal it from his men; but as soon as he had chosen his ground, and the men had finished the entrenchments, he summoned them together, and confidently told them that he would, in a few days, give them a victory which would cost no blood. Mithridates had hemmed in the Kyzikeni with ten camps on the land side, and towards the sea with his ships, by blocking up the narrow channel which separates the city from the mainland, and thus he was besieging them on both sides.
Though the citizens were disposed to resist the enemy boldly, and had determined to sustain all hardships for the sake of the Romans, they were troubled at not knowing where Lucullus was, and at having heard nothing of him. Yet the army of Lucullus was visible and in sight of the city; but the citizens were deceived by the soldiers of Mithridates, who pointed to the Romans in their entrenchments on the higher ground, and said, "Do you see them? That is the army of the Armenians and Medes, which Tigranes has sent to support Mithridates."
The Kyzikeni were alarmed to see such a host of enemies around them, and they had no hopes that they could be released, even if Lucullus should come. However, Demonax, who was sent to them by Archelaus, was the first to inform them of Lucullus being there. While they were distrusting his intelligence, and thinking that he had merely invented this story to comfort them in their difficulties, there came a youth, who had been captured by the enemy and made his escape. On their asking him where he supposed Lucullus to be, he laughed outright, for he thought they were making sport of him; but, seeing that they were in earnest, he pointed with his hand to the Roman camp, and the citizens again took courage. Now the lake Daskylitis[351] is navigable for boats of a considerable size, and Lucullus, drawing up the largest of them, and conveying it on a waggon to the sea-coast, put into it as many soldiers as it would hold. The soldiers crossed over by night unobserved, and got into the city.
X. It appears that the deity, also, admiring the bravery of the Kyzikeni, encouraged them by other manifest signs, and especially by this: the festival called Persephassia[352] was at hand, and as they had not a black cow to sacrifice, they made one of dough, and placed it at the altar. The cow which was intended to be the victim, and was fattening for the goddess, was pasturing, like the other animals of the Kyzikeni, on the opposite mainland; but on that day, leaving the rest of the herd by itself, it swam over the channel to the city and presented itself to be sacrificed. The goddess also appeared in a dream to Aristagoras, the town-clerk,[353] and said: "For my part, I am come, and I bring the Libyan fifer against the Pontic trumpeter.
Bid the citizens, then, be of good cheer." The Kyzikeni were wondering at these words, when at daybreak the sea began to be disturbed by an unsteady, changing wind that descended upon it, and the engines of the king, which were placed near the walls--admirable contrivances of Nikonides the Thessalian--by their creaking and rattling showed what was going to happen: then a south-west wind, bursting forth with incredible fury, broke to pieces the other engines in a very short time, and shook and threw down the wooden tower, which was a hundred cubits high. It is told that Athena appeared to many of the people in Ilium in their sleep, streaming with copious sweat, showing part of her peplus rent, and saying that she had just returned from helping the Kyzikeni. And the people of Ilium used to show a stele[354] which contained certain decrees and an inscription about these matters.
XI. Mithridates, so long as he was deceived by his generals and kept in ignorance of the famine in his army, was annoyed at the Kyzikeni holding out against the blockade. But his ambition and his haughtiness quickly oozed away when he had discovered the straits in which his army was held, and that they were eating one another; for Lucullus was not carrying on the war in a theatrical way, nor with mere show; but, as the proverb says, was kicking against the belly, and contriving every means how he should cut off the food. Accordingly, while Lucullus was engaged in besieging a certain garrisoned post, Mithridates, seizing the opportunity, sent off into Bithynia nearly all his cavalry, with the beasts of burden, and all his superfluous infantry. Lucullus hearing of this, returned to his camp during the night, and early in the following morning, it being winter time, getting ready ten cohorts and the cavalry, he followed the troops of Mithridates, though it was snowing, and his soldiers suffered so much that many of them gave in by reason of the cold, and were left behind: however, with the rest he came up with the enemy at the river Rhyndakus,[355] and gave them such a defeat that the women came from the town of Apollonia and carried off the baggage and stripped the dead. Many fell in the battle, as might be supposed, but there were taken six thousand horses, with a countless number of baggage-beasts, and fifteen thousand men, all whom he led back past the camp of the enemy. I wonder at Sallustius saying that this was the first time that the Romans saw the camel;[356] for he must have supposed that the soldiers of Scipio, who some time before had defeated Antiochus, and those who had also fought with Archelaus at Orchomenus and Chæronea, were unacquainted with the camel. Now Mithridates had determined to fly as soon as he could; but, with the view of contriving something which should draw Lucullus in the other direction, and detain him in his rear, he sent his admiral, Aristonikus, to the Grecian sea, and Aristonikus was just on the point of setting sail when he was betrayed to Lucullus, who got him into his power, together with ten thousand pieces of gold which he was carrying to bribe a part of the Roman army with. Upon this Mithridates fled to the sea, and his generals led the land forces off. But Lucullus falling upon them at the river Granikus,[357] took many prisoners, and slew twenty thousand of them.
It is said that near three hundred thousand persons were destroyed out of the whole number of camp-followers and fighting-men.
XII. Upon entering Kyzikus, Lucullus took his pleasure, and enjoyed a friendly reception suitably to the occasion; he next visited the Hellespont, and got his navy equipped. Arriving at the Troad,[358] he placed his tent within the sacred precincts of Aphrodite, and as he was sleeping there he thought that he saw the goddess in the night standing by him, saying: "Why slumber, lion of the mighty heart?
The fawns are near at hand."
Waking from sleep, Lucullus called his friends and told them his dream, while it was still night; and there came persons from Ilium, who reported that thirteen of the king's quinqueremes had been seen near the Achæan harbour, moving in the direction of Lemnos.
Immediately setting sail, Lucullus captured these vessels and killed their commander, Isidorus, and he then advanced against the other captains. Now, as they happened to be at anchor, they drew all their vessels together up to the land, and, fighting from the decks, dealt blows on the men of Lucullus; for the ground rendered it impossible to sail round to the enemy's rear, and, as the ships of Lucullus were afloat, they could make no attack on those of the enemy, which were planted close to the land and securely situated. However, with some difficulty, Lucullus landed the bravest of his soldiers in a part of the island which was accessible, who, falling on the rear of the enemy, killed some and compelled the rest to cut their cables and make their escape from the land, and so to drive their vessels foul of one another, and to be exposed to the blows of the vessels of Lucullus.
Many of the enemy perished; but among the captives there was Marius,[359] he who was sent from Sertorius. Marius had only one eye, and the soldiers had received orders from Lucullus, as they were setting out on the expedition, to kill no one-eyed man; for Lucullus designed to make Marius die a shameful and dishonourable death.
XIII. As soon as he had accomplished this, Lucullus hastened in pursuit of Mithridates; for he expected still to find him about Bithynia, and watched by Voconius, whom he had sent with ships to Nikomedia[360] to follow up the pursuit. But Voconius lingered in Samothrakia,[361] where he was getting initiated into mysteries and celebrating festivals. Mithridates, who had set sail with his armament, and was in a hurry to reach Pontus before Lucullus returned, was overtaken by a violent storm, by which some of his ships were shattered and others were sunk; and all the coast for many days was filled with the wrecks that were cast up by the waves. The merchant-vessel in which Mithridates was embarked could not easily be brought to land by those who had the management of it, by reason of its magnitude, in the agitated state of the water, and the great swell, and it was already too heavy to hold out against the sea, and was water-logged; accordingly the king got out of the vessel into a piratical ship, and, intrusting his person to pirates, contrary to expectation and after great hazard he arrived at Heraklea[362] in Pontus. Now it happened that the proud boast of Lucullus to the Senate brought on him no divine retribution.[363] The Senate was voting a sum of three thousand talents to equip a navy for the war, but Lucullus stopped the measure by sending a letter, couched in vaunting terms, in which he said, that without cost and so much preparation, he would with the ships of the allies drive Mithridates from the sea. And he did this with the aid of the deity; for it is said that it was owing to the anger of Artemis Priapine[364] that the storm fell on the Pontic soldiers, who had plundered her temple and carried off the wooden statue.
XIV. Though many advised Lucullus to suspend the war, he paid no heed to them: but, passing through Bithynia and Galatia, he invaded the country of the king. At first he wanted provisions, so that thirty thousand Galatians followed him, each carrying on his shoulders a medimnus of wheat; but as he advanced and reduced all into his power, he got into such abundance of everything that an ox was sold in the camp for a drachma, and a slave for four drachmæ; and, as to the rest of the booty, it was valued so little that some left it behind, and others destroyed it; for there were no means of disposing of anything to anybody when all had abundance. The Roman army had advanced with their cavalry and carried their incursions as far as Themiskyra and the plains on the Thermodon,[365] without doing more than wasting and ravaging the country, when the men began to blame Lucullus for peaceably gaining over all the cities, and they complained that he had not taken a single city by storm, nor given them an opportunity of enriching themselves by plunder. "Nay, even now," they said, "we are quitting Amisus,[366] a prosperous and wealthy city, which it would be no great matter to take, if any one would press the siege, and the general is leading us to fight with Mithridates in the wilds of the Tibareni and Chaldæans."[367] Now, if Lucullus had supposed that these notions would have led the soldiers to such madness as they afterwards showed he would not have overlooked or neglected these matters, nor have apologised instead to those men who were blaming his tardiness for thus lingering in the neighbourhood of insignificant villages for a long time, and allowing Mithridates to increase his strength. "This is the very thing," he said, "that I wish, and I am sitting here with the design of allowing the man again to become powerful, and to get together a sufficient force to meet us, that he may stay, and not fly from us when we advance. Do you not see that a huge and boundless wilderness is in his rear, and the Caucasus[368] is near, and many mountains which are full of deep valleys, sufficient to hide ten thousand kings who decline a battle, and to protect them? and it is only a few days' march from Kabeira[369] into Armenia, and above the plains of Armenia Tigranes[370] the King of Kings has his residence, with a force which enables him to cut the Parthian off from Asia, and he removes the inhabitants of the Greek cities up into Media, and he is master of Syria and Palestine, and the kings, the descendants of Seleucus, he puts to death, and carries off their daughters and wives captives. Tigranes is the kinsman and son-in-law of Mithridates. Indeed, he will not quietly submit to receive Mithridates as a suppliant; but he will war against us, and, if we strive to eject Mithridates from his kingdom we shall run the risk of drawing upon us Tigranes, who has long been seeking for a pretext against us, and he could not have a more specious pretext than to be compelled to aid a man who is his kinsman and a king. Why, then, should we bring this about, and show Mithridates, who does not know it, with whose aid he ought to carry on the war against us? and why should we drive him against his wish, and ingloriously, into the arms of Tigranes, instead of giving him time to collect a force out of his own resources and to recover his courage, and so fight with the Kolchi, and Tibareni, and Cappadocians, whom we have often defeated, rather than fight with the Medes and Armenians?"
XV. Upon such considerations as these, Lucullus protracted the time before Amisus without pushing the siege; and, when the winter was over, leaving Murena to blockade the city, he advanced against Mithridates, who was posted at Kabeira, and intending to oppose the Romans, as he had got together a force of forty thousand infantry and four thousand horse on whom he relied most. Crossing the river Lykus into the plain, Mithridates offered the Romans battle. A contest between the cavalry ensued, in which the Romans fled, and Pomponius, a man of some note, being wounded, was taken prisoner, and brought to Mithridates while he was suffering from his wounds. The king asked him if he would become his friend if his life were spared, to which Pomponius replied, "Yes, if you come to terms with the Romans; if not, I shall be your enemy." Mithridates admired the answer, and did him no harm. Now, Lucullus was afraid to keep the plain country, as the enemy were masters of it with their cavalry, and he was unwilling to advance into the hilly region, which was of great extent and wooded and difficult of access; but it happened that some Greeks were taken prisoners, who had fled into a cave, and the eldest of them, Artemidorus, promised Lucullus to be his guide, and to put him in a position which would be secure for his army, and also contained a fort that commanded Kabeira. Lucullus, trusting the man, set out at nightfall after lighting numerous fires, and getting through the defiles in safety; he gained possession of the position; and, when the day dawned, he was seen above the enemy, posting his soldiers in a place which gave him the opportunity of making an attack if he chose to fight, and secured him against any assault if he chose to remain quiet. At present neither general had any intention of hazarding a battle; but it is said, that while some of the king's men were pursuing a deer, the Romans met them and attempted to cut off their retreat, and this led to a skirmish, in which fresh men kept continually coming up on both sides. At last the king's men had the better, and the Romans, who from the ramparts saw their comrades falling, were in a rage, and crowded about Lucullus, praying him to lead them on, and calling for the signal for battle. But Lucullus, wishing them to learn the value of the presence and sight of a prudent general in a struggle with an enemy and in the midst of danger, told them to keep quiet; and, going down into the plain and meeting the first of the fugitives, he ordered them to stand, and to turn round and face the enemy with him. The men obeyed, and the rest also facing about and forming in order of battle, easily put the enemy to flight, and pursued them to their camp. Lucullus, after retiring to his position, imposed on the fugitives the usual mark of disgrace, by ordering them to dig a trench of twelve feet in their loose jackets, while the rest of the soldiers were standing by and looking on.
XVI. Now there was in the army of Mithridates a prince of the Dandarii,[371] named Olthakus (the Dandarii are one of the tribes of barbarians that live about the Mæotis), a man distinguished in all military matters where strength and daring are required, and also in ability equal to the best, and moreover a man who knew how to ingratiate himself with persons, and of insinuating address. Olthakus, who was always engaged in a kind of rivalry for distinction with one of the princes of the kindred tribes, and was jealous of him, undertook a great exploit for Mithridates, which was to kill Lucullus.
The king approved of his design, and purposely showed him some indignities, at which, pretending to be in a rage, Olthakus rode off to Lucullus, who gladly received him, for there was a great report of him in the Roman army; and Lucullus, after some acquaintance with him, was soon pleased with his acuteness and his zeal, and at last admitted him to his table and made him a member of his council. Now when the Dandarian thought he had a fit opportunity, he ordered the slaves to take his horse without the ramparts, and, as it was noontide and the soldiers were lying in the open air and taking their rest, he went to the general's tent, expecting that nobody would prevent him from entering, as he was on terms of intimacy with Lucullus, and said that he was the bearer of some important news. And he would have entered the tent without any suspicion, if sleep, that has been the cause of the death of many generals, had not saved Lucullus; for he happened to be asleep, and Menedemus, one of his chamber-attendants, who was standing by the door, said that Olthakus had not come at a fit time, for Lucullus had just gone to rest himself after long wakefulness and many toils. As Olthakus did not go away when he was told, but said that he would go in, even should Menedemus attempt to prevent him, because he wished to communicate with Lucullus about a matter of emergency and importance, Menedemus began to get in a passion, and, saying that nothing was more urgent than the health of Lucullus, he shoved the man away with both his hands. Olthakus being alarmed stole out of the camp, and, mounting his horse, rode off to the army of Mithridates, without effecting his purpose. Thus, it appears, it is with actions just as it is with medicines--time and circumstance give to the scales that slight turn which saves alive, as well as that which kills.
XVII. After this Sornatius, with ten cohorts, was sent to get supplies of corn. Being pursued by Menander, one of the generals of