希腊罗马名人传(Lucullus)

the grandfather of lucullus had been consul； his uncle by the mother'sside was metellus, surnamed numidicus. as for his parents, his fatherwas convicted of extortion, and his mother caecilia's reputation wasbad. the first thing that lucullus did before ever he stood for anyoffice, or meddled with the affairs of state, being then but a youth,was to accuse the accuser of his father, servilius the augur, havingcaught him in offence against the state. this thing was much takennotice of among the romans, who commended it as an act of high merit.even without the provocation the accusation was esteemed no unbecomingaction, for they delighted to see young men as eagerly attacking injusticeas good dogs do wild beasts. but when great animosities ensued, insomuchthat some were wounded and killed in the fray, servilius escaped.lucullus followed his studies and became a competent speaker, in bothgreek and latin, insomuch that sylla, when composing the commentariesof his own life and actions, dedicated them to him, as one who couldhave performed the task better himself. his speech was not only elegantand ready for purposes of mere business, like the ordinary oratorywhich will in the public market-place-

"lash as a wounded tunny does the sea," but on every other occasionshows itself-

"dried up and perished with the want of wit；" but even in his youngerdays he addicted himself to the study, simply for its own sake, ofthe liberal arts； and when advanced in years, after a life of conflicts,he gave his mind, as it were, its liberty, to enjoy in full leisurethe refreshment of philosophy； and summoning up his contemplativefaculties, administered a timely check, after his difference withpompey, to his feelings of emulation and ambition. besides what hasbeen said of his love of learning already, one instance more was,that in his youth, upon a suggestion of writing the marsian war ingreek and latin verse and prose, arising out of some pleasantry thatpassed into a serious proposal, he agreed with hortensius the lawyerand sisenna the historian, that he would take his lot； and it seemsthat the lot directed him to the greek tongue, for a greek historyof that war is still extant.

among the many signs of the great love which he bore to his brothermarcus, one in particular is commemorated by the romans. though hewas elder brother, he would not step into authority without him, butdeferred his own advance until his brother was qualified to bear ashare with him, and so won upon the people as, when absent, to bechosen aedile with him.

he gave many and early proofs of his valour and conduct in the marsianwar, and was admired by sylla for his constancy and mildness, andalways employed in affairs of importance, especially in the mint；most of the money for carrying on the mithridatic war being coinedby him in peloponnesus, which, by the soldiers' wants, was broughtinto rapid circulation and long continued current under the name oflucullean coin. after this, when sylla conquered athens, and was victoriousby land but found the supplies for his army cut off, the enemy beingmaster at sea, lucullus was the man whom he sent into libya and egyptto procure him shipping. it was the depth of winter when he venturedwith but three small greek vessels, and as many rhodian galleys, notonly into the main sea, but also among multitudes of vessels belongingto the enemies who were cruising about as absolute masters. arrivingat crete he gained it, and finding the cyrenians harassed by longtyrannies and wars, he composed their troubles, and settled theirgovernment； putting the city in mind of that saying which plato oncehad oracularly uttered of them, who, being requested to prescribelaws to them, and mould them into some sound form of government, madeanswer that it was a hard thing to give laws to the cyrenians, abounding,as they did, in wealth and plenty. for nothing is more intractablethan man when in felicity, nor anything more docile, when he has beenreduced and humbled by fortune. this made the cyrenians so willinglysubmit to the laws which lucullus imposed upon them. from thence sailinginto egypt, and pressed by pirates, he lost most of his vessels； buthe himself narrowly escaping, made a magnificent entry into alexandria.the whole fleet, a compliment due only to royalty, met him in fullarray, and the young ptolemy showed wonderful kindness to him, appointinghim lodging and diet in the palace, where no foreign commander beforehim had been received. besides, he gave him gratuities and presents,not such as were usually given to men of his condition, but four timesas much； of which, however, he took nothing more than served his necessityand accepted of no gift, though what was worth eighty talents wasoffered him. it is reported he neither went to see memphis, nor anyof the celebrated wonders of egypt. it was for a man of no businessand much curiosity to see such things, not for him who had left hiscommander in the field lodging under the ramparts of his enemies.

ptolemy, fearing the issue of that war, deserted the confederacy,but nevertheless sent a convoy with him as far as cyprus, and at parting,with much ceremony, wishing him a good voyage, gave him a very preciousemerald set in gold. lucullus at first refused it, but when the kingshowed him his own likeness cut upon it, he thought he could not persistin a denial, for had he parted with such open offence, it might haveendangered his passage. drawing a considerable squadron together,which he summoned as he sailed by out of all the maritime towns exceptthose suspected of piracy, he sailed for cyprus, and there understandingthat the enemy lay in wait under the promontories for him, he laidup his fleet, and sent to the cities to send in provisions for hiswintering among them. but when time served, he launched his shipssuddenly, and went off and hoisting all his sails in the night, whilehe kept them down in the day, thus came safe to rhodes. being furnishedwith ships at rhodes, he also prevailed upon the inhabitants of cosand cnidus to leave the king's side, and join in an expedition againstthe samians. out of chios he himself drove the king's party, and setthe colophonians at liberty, having seized epigonus the tyrant, whooppressed them.

about this time mithridates left pergamus, and retired to pitane,where being closely besieged by fimbria on the land. and not daringto engage with so bold and victorious a commander, he was concertingmeans for escape by sea, and sent for all his fleets from every quarterto attend him. which when fimbria perceived, having no ships of hisown, he sent to lucullus, entreating him to assist him with his, insubduing the most odious and warlike of kings, lest the opportunityof humbling mithridates, the prize which the romans had pursued withso much blood and trouble, should now at last be lost, when he waswithin the net and easily to be taken. and were he caught, no onewould be more highly commended than lucullus, who stopped his passageand seized him in his flight. being driven from the land by the one,and met in the sea by the other, he would give matter of renown andglory to them both, and the much applauded actions of sylla at orchomenusand about chaeronea would no longer be thought of by the romans. theproposal was no unreasonable thing； it being obvious to all men, thatif lucullus had hearkened to fimbria, and with his navy, which wasthen near at hand, had blocked up the haven, the war soon had beenbrought to an end, and infinite numbers of mischiefs prevented thereby.but he, whether from the sacredness of friendship between himselfand sylla, reckoning all other considerations of public or of privateadvantage inferior to it, or out of detestation of the wickednessof fimbria, whom he abhorred for advancing himself by the late deathof his friend and the general of the army, or by a divine fortunesparing mithridates then, that he might have him an adversary fora time to come, for whatever reason, refused to comply, and sufferedmithridates to escape and laugh at the attempts of fimbria. he himselfalone first, near lectum, in troas, in a sea-fight, overcame the king'sships； and afterwards, discovering neoptolemus lying in wait for himnear tenedos, with a greater fleet, he went aboard a rhodian quinqueremegalley, commanded by damagoras, a man of great experience at sea,and friendly to the romans, and sailed before the rest. neoptolemusmade up furiously at him, and commanded the master, with all imaginablemight, to charge； but damagoras, fearing the bulk and massy stem ofthe admiral, thought it dangerous to meet him prow to prow, and, rapidlywheeling round, bid his men back water, and so received him astern；in which place, though violently borne upon, he received no mannerof harm, the blow being defeated by falling on those parts of theship which lay under water. by which time, the rest of the fleet comingup to him, lucullus gave order to turn again, and vigorously fallingupon the enemy, put them to flight, and pursued neoptolemus. afterthis he came to sylla, in chersonesus, as he was preparing to passthe strait, and brought timely assistance for the safe transportationof the army.

peace being presently made, mithridates sailed off to the euxine sea,but sylla taxed the inhabitants of asia twenty thousand talents, andordered lucullus to gather and coin the money. and it was no smallcomfort to the cities under sylla's severity, that a man of not onlyincorrupt and just behaviour, but also of moderation, should be employedin so heavy and odious an office. the mitylenaeans, who absolutelyrevolted, he was willing should return to their duty, and submit toa moderate penalty for the offence they had given in the case of marius.but finding them bent upon their own destruction, he came up to them,defeated them at sea, blocked them up in their city and besieged them；then sailing off from them openly in the day to elaea, he returnedprivately, and posting an ambush near the city, lay quiet himself.and on the mitylenaeans coming out eagerly and in disorder to plunderthe deserted camp, he fell upon them, took many of them, and slewfive hundred, who stood upon their defence. he gained six thousandslaves and a very rich booty.

he was no way engaged in the great and general troubles of italy whichsylla and marius created, a happy providence at that time detaininghim in asia upon business. he was as much in sylla's favour, however,as any of his other friends； sylla, as was said before, dedicatedhis memoirs to him as a token of kindness, and at his death, passingby pompey, made him guardian to his son； which seems, indeed, to havebeen the rise of the quarrel and jealousy between them two, beingboth young men, and passionate for honour.

a little after sylla's death, he was made consul with marcus cotta,about the one hundred and seventy-sixth olympiad. the mithridaticwar being then under debate, marcus declared that it was not finished,but only respited for a time, and therefore, upon choice of provinces,the lot falling to lucullus to have gaul within the alps, a provincewhere no great action was to be done, he was ill-pleased. but chiefly,the success of pompey in spain fretted him, as, with the renown hegot there, if the spanish war were finished in time, he was likelyto be chosen general before any one else against mithridates. so thatwhen pompey sent for money, and signified by letter that, unless itwere sent him, he would leave the country and sertorius, and bringhis forces home to italy, lucullus most zealously supported his request,to prevent any pretence of his returning home during his own consulship；for all things would have been at his disposal, at the head of sogreat an army. for cethegus, the most influential popular leader atthat time, owing to his always both acting and speaking to pleasethe people, had, as it happened, a hatred to lucullus, who had notconcealed his disgust at his debauched, insolent, and lawless life.lucullus, therefore, was at open warfare with him. and lucius quintius,also, another demagogue, who was taking steps against sylla's constitution,and endeavouring to put things out of order, by private exhortationsand public admonitions he checked in his designs, and repressed hisambition, wisely and safely remedying a great evil at the very outset.

at this time news came that octavius, the governor of cilicia, wasdead, and many were eager for the place, courting cethegus, as theman best able to serve them. lucullus set little value upon ciliciaitself, no otherwise than as he thought, by his acceptance of it,no other man besides himself might be employed in the war againstmithridates, by reason of its nearness to cappadocia. this made himstrain every effort that that province might be allotted to himself,and to none other； which led him at last into an expedient not sohonest or commendable, as it was serviceable for compassing his design,submitting to necessity against his own inclination. there was onepraecia, a celebrated wit and beauty, but in other respects nothingbetter than an ordinary harlot； who, however, to the charms of herperson adding the reputation of one that loved and served her friends,by making use of those who visited her to assist their designs andpromote their interests, had thus gained great power. she had seducedcethegus, the first man at that time in reputation and authority ofall the city, and enticed him to her love, and so had made all authorityfollow her. for nothing of moment was done in which cethegus was notconcerned, and nothing by cethegus without praecia. this woman lucullusgained to his side by gifts and flattery （and a great price it wasin itself to so stately and magnificent a dame, to be seen engagedin the same cause with lucullus）, and thus he presently found cethegushis friend, using his utmost interest to procure cilicia for him；which when once obtained, there was no more need of applying himselfeither of praecia or cethegus； for all unanimously voted him to themithridatic war, by no hands likely to be so successfully managedas his. pompey was still contending with sertorius, and metellus byage unfit for service； which two alone were the competitors who couldprefer any claim with lucullus for that command. cotta, his colleague,after much ado in the senate, was sent away with a fleet to guardthe propontis, and defend bithynia.

lucullus carried with him a legion under his own orders, and crossedover into asia and took the command of the forces there, composedof men who were all thoroughly disabled by dissoluteness and rapine,and the fimbrians, as they were called, utterly unmanageable by longwant of any sort of discipline. for these were they who under fimbriahad slain flaccus, the consul and general, and afterwards betrayedfimbria to sylla； a willful and lawless set of men, but warlike, expertand hardy in the field. lucullus in a short time took down the courageof these, and disciplined the others, who then first, in all probability,knew what a true commander and governor was； whereas in former timesthey had been courted to service, and took up arms at nobody's command,but their own wills.

the enemy's provisions for war stood thus： mithridates, like the sophists,boastful and haughty at first, set upon the romans, with a very inefficientarmy, such, indeed, as made a good show, but was nothing for use；but being shamefully routed, and taught a lesson for a second engagement,he reduced his forces to a proper, serviceable shape. dispensing withthe mixed multitudes, and the noisy menaces of barbarous tribes ofvarious languages, and with the ornaments of gold and precious stones,a greater temptation to the victors than security to the bearers,he gave his men broad swords like the romans', and massy shields；chose horses better for service than show, drew up an hundred andtwenty thousand foot in the figure of the roman phalanx, and had sixteenthousand horse, besides chariots armed with scythes, no less thana hundred. besides which, he set out a fleet not at all cumbered withgilded cabins, luxurious baths, and women's furniture, but storedwith weapons and darts, and other necessaries, and thus made a descentupon bithynia. not only did these parts willingly receive him again,but almost all asia regarded him as their salvation from the intolerablemiseries which they were suffering from the roman money-lenders andrevenue farmers. these, afterwards, who like harpies stole away theirvery nourishment, lucullus drove away, and at this time, by reprovingthem, did what he could to make them more moderate, and to preventa general secession, then breaking out in all parts. while luculluswas detained in rectifying these matters, cotta, finding affairs ripefor action, prepared for battle with mithridates； and news comingfrom all hands that lucullus had already entered phrygia, on his marchagainst the enemy, he, thinking he had a triumph all but actuallyin his hands, lest his colleague should share in the glory of it,hasted to battle without him. but being routed, both by sea and land,he lost sixty ships with their men, and four thousand foot, and himselfwas forced into and besieged in chalcedon, there waiting for relieffrom lucullus. there were those about lucullus who would have hadhim leave cotta, and go forward, in hope of surprising the defencelesskingdom of mithridates. and this was the feeling of the soldiers ingeneral, who were indignant that cotta should by his ill-counsel notonly lose his own army, but hinder them also from conquest, whichat that time, without the hazard of a battle, they might have obtained.but lucullus, in a public address, declared to them that he wouldrather save one citizen from the enemy, than be master of all thatthey had.

archelaus, the former commander in boeotia under mithridates, whoafterwards deserted him and accompanied the romans, protested to lucullusthat, upon his bare coming, he would possess himself of all pontus.but he answered, that it did not become him to be more cowardly thanhuntsmen, to leave the wild beasts abroad and seek after sport intheir deserted dens. having so said, he made towards mithridates withthirty thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse. but on beingcome in sight of his enemies, he was astonished at their numbers,and thought to forbear fighting, and wear out time. but marius, whomsertorius had sent out of spain to mithridates with forces under him,stepping out and challenging him, he prepared for battle. in the veryinstant before joining battle, without any perceptible alterationpreceding, on a sudden the sky opened, and a large luminous body felldown in the midst between the armies, in shape like a hogshead, butin colour like melted silver, insomuch that both armies in alarm withdrew.this wonderful prodigy happened in phrygia, near otryae. lucullusafter this began to think with himself that no human power and wealthcould suffice to sustain such great numbers as mithridates had forany long time in the face of an enemy, and commanded one of the captivesto be brought before him, and first of all asked him how many companionshad been quartered with him and how much provision he had left behindhim, and when he had answered him, commanded him to stand aside； thenasked a second and a third the same question； after which, comparingthe quantity of provision with the men, he found that in three orfour days' time his enemies would be brought to want. this all themore determined him to trust to time, and he took measures to storehis camp with all sorts of provision, and thus living in plenty, trustedto watch the necessities of his hungry enemy.

this made mithridates set out against the cyzicenians, miserably shatteredin the fight at chalcedon, where they lost no less than three thousandcitizens and ten ships. and that he might the safer steal away unobservedby lucullus, immediately after supper, by the help of a dark and wetnight, he went off, and by the morning gained the neighbourhood ofthe city, and sat down with his forces upon the adrastean mount. lucullus,on finding him gone, pursued, but was well pleased not to over-takehim with his own forces in disorder； and he sat down near what iscalled the thracian village, an admirable position for commandingall the roads and the places whence, and through which, the provisionsfor mithridates's camp must of necessity come. and judging now ofthe event, he no longer kept his mind from his soldiers, but whenthe camp was fortified and their work finished, called them together,and with great assurance told them that in a few days, without theexpense of blood, he would give them victory.

mithridates besieged the cyzicenians with ten camps by land, and withhis ships occupied the strait that was betwixt their city and themainland, and so blocked them up on all sides； they, however, werefully prepared stoutly to receive him, and resolved to endure theutmost extremity, rather than forsake the romans. that which troubledthem most was, that they knew not where lucullus was, and heard nothingof him, though at that time his army was visible before them. butthey were imposed upon by the mithridatians, who, showing them theromans encamped on the hills, said, "do you see those？ those are theauxiliary armenians and medes, whom tigranes has sent to mithridates."they were thus overwhelmed with thinking of the vast numbers roundthem, and could not believe any way of relief was left them, evenif lucullus should come up to their assistance. demonax, a messengersent in by archelaus, was the first who told them of lucullus's arrival；but they disbelieved his report, and thought he came with a storyinvented merely to encourage them. at which time it happened thata boy, a prisoner who had run away from the enemy, was brought beforethem； who, being asked where lucullus was, laughed at their jesting,as he thought, but, finding them in earnest, with his finger pointedto the roman camp； upon which they took courage. the lake dascylitiswas navigated with vessels of some little size； one, the biggest ofthem, lucullus drew ashore, and carrying her across in a wagon tothe sea, filled her with soldiers, who, sailing along unseen in thedead of the night, came safe into the city.

the gods themselves, too, in admiration of the constancy of the cyzicenians,seem to have animated them with manifest signs, more especially nowin the festival of proserpine, where a black heifer being wantingfor sacrifice, they supplied it by a figure made of dough, which theyset before the altar. but the holy heifer set apart for the goddess,and at that time grazing with the other herds of the cyzicenians,on the other side of the strait, left the herd and swam over to thecity alone, and offered herself for sacrifice. by night, also, thegoddess appearing to aristagoras, the town clerk, "i am come," saidshe, "and have brought the libyan piper against the pontic trumpeter；bid the citizens, therefore, be of good courage." while the cyzicenianswere wondering what the words could mean, a sudden wind sprung upand caused a considerable motion on the sea. the king's batteringengines, the wonderful contrivance of niconides of thessaly, thenunder the walls, by their cracking and rattling soon demonstratedwhat would follow； after which an extraordinarily tempestuous southwind succeeding shattered, in a short space of time, all the restof the works, and, by a violent concussion, threw down the woodentower a hundred cubits high. it is said that in ilium minerva appearedto many that night in their sleep, with the sweat running down herperson, and showed them her robe torn in one place, telling them thatshe had just arrived from relieving the cyzicenians； and the inhabitantsto this day show a monument, with an inscription, including a publicdecree, referring to the fact.

mithridates, through the knavery of his officers, not knowing forsome time the want of provision in his camp, was troubled in mindthat the cyzicenians should hold out against him. but his ambitionand anger fell, when he saw his soldiers in the extremity of want,and feeding on men's flesh； as, in truth, lucullus was not carryingon the war as mere matter of show and stage-play, but, according tothe proverb, made the seat of war in the belly, and did everythingto cut off their supplies of food. mithridates, therefore, took advantageof the time while lucullus was storming a fort, and sent away almostall his horse to bithynia, with the sumpter cattle, and as many ofthe foot as were unfit for service. on intelligence of which, lucullus,while it was yet night, came to his camp, and in the morning, thoughit was stormy weather, took with him ten cohorts of foot, and thehorse, and pursued them under falling snow and in cold so severe thatmany of his soldiers were unable to proceed； and with the rest comingupon the enemy, near the river rhyndacus, he overthrew them with sogreat a slaughter that the very women of apollonia came out to seizeon the booty and strip the slain. great numbers, as we may suppose,were slain； six thousand horses were taken, with an infinite numberof beasts of burden, and no less than fifteen thousand men. all whichhe led along by the enemy's camp. i cannot but wonder on this occasionat sallust, who says that this was the first time camels were seenby the romans, as if he thought those who, long before, under scipiodefeated antiochus, or those who lately had fought against archelausnear orchomenus and chaeronea, had not known what a camel was. mithridateshimself, fully determined upon flight, as mere delays and diversionsfor lucullus, sent his admiral aristonicus to the greek sea； who,however, was betrayed in the very instant of going off, and lucullusbecame master of him, and ten thousand pieces of gold which he wascarrying with him to corrupt some of the roman army. after which,mithridates himself made for the sea, leaving the foot officers toconduct the army, upon whom lucullus fell, near the river granicus,where he took a vast number alive, and slew twenty thousand. it isreported that the total number killed, of fighting men and of otherswho followed the camp, amounted to something not far short of threehundred thousand.

lucullus first went to cyzicus, where he was received with all thejoy and gratitude suiting the occasion, and then collected a navy,visiting the shores of the hellespont. and arriving at troas, he lodgedin the temple of venus, where, in the night, he thought he saw thegoddess coming to him, and saying-

"sleep'st thou, great lion, when the fawns are nigh？" rising up hereupon,he called his friends to him, it being yet night, and told them hisvision； at which instant some ilians came up and acquainted him thatthirteen of the king's quinqueremes were seen off the achaean harbour,sailing for lemnos. he at once put to sea, took these, and slew theiradmiral isidorus. and then he made after another squadron, who werejust come into port, and were hauling their vessels ashore, but foughtfrom the decks, and sorely galled lucullus's men； there being neitherroom to sail round them, nor to bear upon them for any damage, hisships being afloat, while their stood secure and fixed on the sand.after much ado, at the only landing-place of the island, he disembarkedthe choicest of his men, who, falling upon the enemy behind, killedsome, and forced others to cut their cables, and thus making fromthe shore, they fell foul upon one another, or came within the reachof lucullus's fleet. many were killed in the action. among the captiveswas marius, the commander sent by sertorius, who had but one eye.and it was lucullus's strict command to his men before the engagement,that they should kill no man who had but one eye, that he might ratherdie under disgrace and reproach.

this being over, he hastened his pursuit after mithridates, whom hehoped to still find in bithynia, intercepted by voconius, whom hesent out before to nicomedia with part of the fleet to stop his flight.but voconius, loitering in samothrace to get initiated and celebratea feast, let slip his opportunity, mithridates being passed by withall his fleet. he, hastening into pontus before lucullus should comeup to him, was caught in a storm, which dispersed his fleet and sunkseveral ships. the wrecks floated on all the neighbouring shore formany days after. the merchant ship, in which he himself was, couldnot well in that heavy swell be brought ashore by the masters forits bigness, and it being heavy with water and ready to sink, he leftit and went aboard a pirate vessel, delivering himself into the handsof pirates, and thus unexpectedly and wonderfully came safe to heraclea,in pontus.

thus the proud language lucullus had used to the senate ended withoutany mischance. for they having decreed him three thousand talentsto furnish out a navy, he himself was against it, and sent them wordthat without any such great and costly supplies, by the confederateshipping alone, he did not in the least doubt but to rout mithridatesfrom the sea. and so he did, by divine assistance, for it is saidthat the wrath of diana of priapus brought the great tempest uponthe men of pontus, because they had robbed her temple and removedher image.

many were persuading lucullus to defer the war, but he rejected theircounsel, and marched through bithynia and galatia into the king'scountry, in such great scarcity of provision at first, that thirtythousand galatians followed, every man carrying a bushel of wheatat his back. but subduing all in his progress before him, he at lastfound himself in such great plenty that an ox was sold in the campfor a single drachma, and a slave for four. the other booty they madeno account of, but left it behind or destroyed it； there being nodisposing of it, where all had such abundance. but when they had madefrequent incursions with their cavalry, and had advanced as far asthemiscyra, and the plains of the thermodon, merely laying waste thecountry before them, they began to find fault with lucullus, asking"why he took so many towns by surrender, and never one by storm, whichmight enrich them with the plunder？ and now, forsooth, leaving amisusbehind, a rich and wealthy city, of easy conquest, if closely besieged,he will carry us into the tibarenian and chaldean wilderness, to fightwith mithridates." lucullus, little thinking this would be of suchdangerous consequence as it afterwards proved, took no notice andslighted it； and was rather anxious to excuse himself to those whoblamed his tardiness, in losing time about small, pitiful places notworth the while, and allowing mithridates opportunity to recruit."that is what i design," said he, "and sit here contriving by my delay,that he may grow great again, and gather a considerable army, whichmay induce him to stand, and not fly away before us. for do you notsee the wide and unknown wilderness behind？ caucasus is not far off,and a multitude of vast mountains, enough to conceal ten thousandkings that wished to avoid a battle. besides this, a journey but offew days leads from cabira to armenia, where tigranes reigns, kingof kings, and holds in his hands a power that has enabled him to keepthe parthians in narrow bounds, to remove greek cities bodily intomedia, to conquer syria and palestine, to put to death the kings ofthe royal line of seleucus, and carry away their wives and daughtersby violence. this same is relation and son-in-law to mithridates,and cannot but receive him upon entreaty, and enter into war withus to defend him； so that, while we endeavour to dispose mithridates,we shall endanger the bringing in of tigranes against us, who alreadyhas sought occasion to fall out with us, but can never find one sojustifiable as the succour of a friend and prince in his necessity.why, therefore, should we put mithridates upon this resource, whoas yet does not see how he may best fight with us, and disdains tostoop to tigranes； and not rather allow him time to gather a new armyand grow confident again, that we may thus fight with colchians andtibarenians whom we have often defeated already, and not with medesand armenians."

upon these motives, lucullus sat down before amisus, and slowly carriedon the siege. but the winter being well spent, he left murena in chargeof it, and went himself against mithridates, then rendezvousing atcabira, and resolving to await the romans, with forty thousand footabout him and fourteen thousand horse, on whom he chiefly confided.passing the river lycus, he challenged the romans into the plains,where the cavalry engaged, and the romans were beaten. pomponius,a man of some note, was taken wounded； and sore, and in pain as hewas, was carried before mithridates, and asked by the king if he wouldbecome his friend if he saved his life. he answered, "yes, if youbecome reconciled to the romans； if not, your enemy." mithridateswondered at him, and did him no hurt. the enemy being with their cavalrymaster of the plains, lucullus was something afraid, and hesitatedto enter the mountains, being very large, woody, and almost inaccessible,when by good-luck, some greeks who had fled into a cave were taken,the eldest of whom, artemidorus by name, promised to bring lucullus,and seat him in a place of safety for his army, where there was afort that overlooked cabira. lucullus, believing him, lighted hisfires, and marched in the night； and safely passing the defile, gainedthe place, and in the morning was seen above the enemy, pitching hiscamp in a place advantageous to descend upon them if he desired tofight, and secure from being forced if he preferred to lie still.neither side was willing to engage at present. but it is related thatsome of the king's party were hunting a stag, and some romans wantingto cut them off, came out and met them. whereupon they skirmished,more still drawing together to each side, and at last the king's partyprevailed, on which the romans, from their camp seeing their companionsfly, were enraged, and ran to lucullus with entreaties to lead themout, demanding that the sign might be given for battle. but he, thatthey might know of what consequence the presence and appearance ofa wise commander is in time of conflict and danger, ordered them tostand still. but he went down himself into the plains, and meetingwith the foremost that fled, commanded them to stand and turn backwith him. these obeying, the rest also turned and formed again ina body, and thus, with no great difficulty, drove back the enemies,and pursued them to their camp. after his return, lucullus inflictedthe customary punishment upon the fugitives, and made them dig a trenchof twelve foot, working in their frocks unfastened, while the reststood by and looked on.

there was in mithridates's camp one olthacus, a chief of the dandarians,a barbarous people living near the lake maeotis, a man remarkablefor strength and courage in fight, wise in council, and pleasant andingratiating in conversation. he, out of emulation, and a constanteagerness which possessed him to outdo one of the other chiefs ofhis country, promised a great piece of service to mithridates, noless than the death of lucullus. the king commended his resolution,and, according to agreement, counterfeited anger, and put some disgraceupon him； whereupon he took horse, and fled to lucullus, who kindlyreceived him, being a man of great name in the army. after some shorttrial of his sagacity and perseverance, he found way to lucullus'sboard and council. the dandarian, thinking he had a fair opportunity,commanded his servants to lead his horse out of the camp, while hehimself, as the soldiers were refreshing and resting themselves, itbeing then high noon, went to the general's tent, not at all expectingthat entrance would be denied to one who was so familiar with him,and came under pretence of extraordinary business with him. he hadcertainly been admitted had not sleep, which has destroyed many captains,saved lucullus. for so it was, and menedemus, one of the bedchamber,was standing at the door, who told olthacus that it was altogetherunseasonable to see the general, since, after long watching and hardlabour, he was but just before laid down to repose himself. olthacuswould not go away upon this denial, but still persisted, saying thathe must go in to speak of some necessary affairs, whereupon menedemusgrew angry, and replied that nothing was more necessary than the safetyof lucullus, and forced him away with both hands. upon which, outof fear, he straightway left the camp, took horse, and without effectreturned to mithridates. thus in action as in physic, it is the criticalmoment that gives both the fortunate and the fatal effect.

after this, sornatius being sent out with ten companies for forage,and pursued by menander, one of mithridates's captains, stood hisground, and after a sharp engagement, routed and slew a considerablenumber of the enemy. adrianus being sent afterward, with some forces,to procure food enough and to spare for the camp, mithridates didnot let the opportunity slip, but despatched menemachus and myro,with a great force, both horse and foot, against him, all which excepttwo men, it is stated, were cut off by the romans. mithridates concealedthe loss, giving it out that it was a small defeat, nothing near sogreat as reported, and occasioned by the unskillfulness of the leaders.but adrianus in great pomp passed by his camp, having many wagonsfull of corn and other booty, filling mithridates with distress, andthe army with confusion and consternation. it was resolved, therefore,to stay no longer. but when the king's servants sent away their owngoods quietly, and hindered others from doing so too, the soldiersin great fury thronged and crowded to the gates, seized on the king'sservants and killed them, and plundered the baggage. dorylaus, thegeneral, in this confusion, having nothing else besides his purplecloak, lost his life for that, and hermaeus the priest was trod underfootin the gate.

mithridates, having not one of his guards, nor even a groom remainingwith him, got out of the camp in the throng, but had none of his horseswith him； until ptolemy, the eunuch, some little time after, seeinghim in the press making his way among the others, dismounted and gavehis horse to the king. the romans were already close upon him in theirpursuit, nor was it through want of speed that they failed to catchhim, but they were as near as possible doing so. but greediness anda petty military avarice hindered them from acquiring that booty whichin so many fights and hazards they had sought after, and lost lucullusthe prize of his victory. for the horse which carried the king waswithin reach, but one of the mules that carried the treasure eitherby accident stepping in, or by order of the king so appointed to gobetween him and the pursuers, they seized and pilfered the gold, andfalling out among themselves about the prey, let slip the great prize.neither was their greediness prejudicial to lucullus in this only,but also they slew callistratus, the king's confidential attendant,under suspicion of having five hundred pieces of gold in his girdle；whereas lucullus had specially ordered that he should be conveyedsafe into the camp. notwithstanding all which, he gave them leaveto plunder the camp.

after this, in cabira, and other strongholds which he took, he foundgreat treasures, and private prisons, in which many greeks and manyof the king's relations had been confined, who, having long sincecounted themselves no other than dead men, by the favour of lucullusmet not with relief so truly as with a new life and second birth.nyssa, also, sister of mithridates, enjoyed the like fortunate captivity；while those who seemed to be most out of danger, his wives and sistersat phernacia, placed in safety as they thought, miserably perished,mithridates in his flight sending bacchides the eunuch to them. amongothers there were two sisters of the king, roxana and statira, unmarriedwomen forty years old, and two ionian wives. berenice of chios andmonime of biletus. this latter was the most celebrated among the greeks,because she so long withstood the king in his courtship to her, thoughhe presented her with fifteen thousand pieces of gold, until a covenantof marriage was made, and a crown was sent her, and she was salutedqueen. she had been a sorrowful woman before, and often bewailed herbeauty, that had procured her a keeper, instead of a husband, anda watch of barbarians, instead of the home and attendance of a wife；and, removed far from greece, she enjoyed the pleasure which she proposedto herself only in a dream, being in the meantime robbed of that whichis real. and when bacchides came and bade them prepare for death,as every one thought most easy and painless, she took the diadem fromher head, and fastening the string to her neck, suspended herselfwith it； which soon breaking, "o wretched headband！" said she, "notable to help me even in this small thing！" and throwing it away shespat on it, and offered her throat to bacchides. berenice had prepareda potion for herself, but at her mother's entreaty, who stood by,she gave her part of it. both drank the potion, which prevailed overthe weaker body. but berenice, having drunk too little, was not releasedby it, but lingering on unable to die, was strangled by bacchidesfor haste. it is said that one of the unmarried sisters drank thepoison, with bitter execrations and curses； but statira uttered nothingungentle or reproachful, but, on the contrary, commended her brother,who in his own danger neglected not theirs, but carefully providedthat they might go out of the world without shame or disgrace.

lucullus, being a good and humane man, was concerned at these things.however, going on, he came to talaura, from whence four days beforehis arrival mithridates had fled, and was got to tigranes in armenia.he turned off, therefore, and subdued the chaldeans and tibarenians,with the lesser armenia, and having reduced all their forts and cities,he sent appius to tigranes to demand mithridates. he himself wentto amisus, which still held out under the command of callimachus,who, by his great engineering skill, and his dexterity at all theshifts and subtleties of a siege, had greatly incommoded the romans.for which afterward he paid dear enough, and was now outmanoeuvredby lucullus, who, unexpectedly coming upon him at the time of theday when the soldiers used to withdraw and rest themselves, gainedpart of the wall, and forced him to leave the city, in doing whichhe fired it； either envying the romans the booty, or to secure hisown escape the better. no man looked after those who went off in theships, but as soon as the fire had seized on most part of the wall,the soldiers prepared themselves for plunder； while lucullus, pityingthe ruin of the city, brought assistance from without, and encouragedhis men to extinguish the flames. but all, being intent upon the prey,and giving no heed to him, with loud outcries, beat and clashed theirarms together, until he was compelled to let them plunder, that bythat means he might at least save the city from fire. but they didquite the contrary, for in searching the houses with lights and torcheseverywhere, they were themselves the cause of the destruction of mostof the buildings, inasmuch that when lucullus the next day went in,he shed tears, and said to his friends, that he had often before blessedthe fortune of sylla, but never so much admired it as then, becausewhen he was willing he was also able to save athens, "but my infelicityis such, that while i endeavour to imitate him, i become like mummius."nevertheless, he endeavoured to save as much of the city as he could,and at the same time, also, by a happy providence a fall of rain concurredto extinguish the fire. he himself while present repaired the ruinsas much as he could, receiving back the inhabitants who had fled,and settling as many other greeks as were willing to live there, addinga hundred furlongs of ground to the place.

this city was a colony of athens, built at that time when she flourishedand was powerful at sea, upon which account many who fled from aristion'styranny settled here, and were admitted as citizens, but had the ill-luckto fly from evils at home into greater abroad. as many of these assurvived lucullus furnished every one with clothes, and two hundreddrachmas, and sent them away into their own country. on this occasiontyrannion the grammarian was taken. murena begged him of lucullus,and took him and made him a freedman； but in this he abused lucullus'sfavour, who by no means liked that a man of high repute for learningshould be first made a slave and then freed； for freedom thus speciouslygranted again was a real deprivation of what he had before. but notin this case alone murena showed himself far inferior in generosityto the general.

lucullus was now busy in looking after the cities of asia, and havingno war to divert his time, spent it in the administration of law andjustice, the want of which had for a long time left the province aprey to unspeakable and incredible miseries； so plundered and enslavedby tax-farmers and usurers that private people were compelled to selltheir sons in the flower of their youth, and their daughters in theirvirginity, and the states publicly to sell their consecrated gifts,pictures, and statues. in the end their lot was to yield themselvesup slaves to their creditors, but before this worse troubles befellthem, tortures, inflicted with ropes and by horses, standing abroadto be scorched when the sun was hot, and being driven into ice andclay in the cold； insomuch that slavery was no less than a redemptionand joy to them. lucullus in a short time freed the cities from allthese evils and oppressions； for, first of all, he ordered there shouldbe no more taken than one per cent. secondly, where the interest exceededthe principal, he struck it off. the third and most considerable orderwas, that the creditor should receive the fourth part of the debtor'sincome； but if any lender had added the interest to the principal,it was utterly disallowed. insomuch, that in the space of four yearsall debts were paid and lands returned to their right owners. thepublic debt was contracted when asia was fined twenty thousand talentsby sylla, but twice as much was paid to the collectors, who by theirusury had by this time advanced it to a hundred and twenty thousandtalents. and accordingly they inveighed against lucullus at rome,as grossly injured by him, and by their money's help （as, indeed,they were very powerful, and had many of the statesmen in their debt）,they stirred up several leading senators against him. but luculluswas not only beloved by the cities which he obliged, but was alsowished for by other provinces, who blessed the good-luck of thosewho had such a governor over them.

appius clodius, who was sent to tigranes （the same clodius was brotherto lucullus's wife）, being led by the king's guides a roundabout way,unnecessarily long and tedious, through the upper country, being informedby his freedman, a syrian by nation, of the direct road, left thatlengthy and fallacious one； and bidding the barbarians, his guides,adieu, in a few days passed over euphrates, and came to antioch upondaphne. there being commanded to wait for tigranes, who at that timewas reducing some towns in phoenicia, he won over many chiefs to hisside, who unwillingly submitted to the king of armenia, among whomwas zarbienus, king of the gordyenians； also many of the conqueredcities corresponded privately with him, whom he assured of relieffrom lucullus, but ordered them to lie still at present. the armeniangovernment was an oppressive one, and intolerable to the greeks, especiallythat of the present king, who, growing insolent and overbearing withhis success, imagined all things valuable and esteemed among men notonly were his in fact, but had been purposely created for him alone.from a small and inconsiderable beginning, he had gone on to be theconqueror of many nations, had humbled the parthian power more thanany before him, and filled mesopotamia with greeks, whom he carriedin numbers out of cilicia and cappadocia. he transplanted also thearabs, who lived in tents, from their country and home, and settledthem near him, that by their means he might carry on the trade.

he had many kings waiting on him, but four he always carried withhim as servants and guards, who, when he rode, ran by his horse'sside in ordinary under-frocks, and attended him, when sitting on histhrone, and publishing his decrees to the people, with their handsfolded together； which posture of all others was that which most expressedslavery, it being that of men who had bidden adieu to liberty, andhad prepared their bodies more for chastisement than the service oftheir masters. appius, nothing dismayed or surprised at this theatricaldisplay, as soon as audience was granted him, said he came to demandmithridates for lucullus's triumph, otherwise to denounce war againsttigranes： insomuch that though tigranes endeavoured to receive himwith a smooth countenance and a forced smile, he could not dissemblehis discomposure to those who stood about him at the bold languageof the young man； for it was the first time, perhaps, in twenty-fiveyears, the length of his reign, or, more truly, of his tyranny, thatany free speech had been uttered to him. however, he made answer toappius, that he would not desert mithridates, and would defend himself,if the romans attacked him. he was angry, also, with lucullus forcalling him only king in his letter, and not king of kings, and, inhis answer, would not give him his title of imperator. great giftswere sent to appius, which he refused； but on their being sent againand augmented, that he might not seem to refuse in anger, he tookone goblet and sent the rest back, and without delay went off to thegeneral.

tigranes before this neither vouchsafed to see nor speak with mithridates,though a near kinsman, and forced out of so considerable a kingdom,but proudly and scornfully kept him at a distance, as a sort of prisoner,in a marshy and unhealthy district； but now, with much professionof respect and kindness, he sent for him, and at a private conferencebetween them in the palace, they healed up all private jealousiesbetween them, punishing their favourites, who bore all the blame；among whom metrodorus of scepsis was one, an eloquent and learnedman, and so close an intimate as commonly to be called the king'sfather. this man, as it happened, being employed in an embassy bymithridates to solicit help against the romans, tigranes asked him,"what would you, metrodorus, advise me to in this affair？" in returnto which, either out of good-will to tigranes, or a want of solicitudefor mithridates, he made answer, that as ambassador he counselledhim to it, but as a friend dissuaded him from it. this tigranes reportedand affirmed to mithridates, thinking that no irreparable harm wouldcome of it to metrodorus. but upon this he was presently taken off,and tigranes was sorry for what he had done, though he had not, indeed,been absolutely the cause of his death； yet he had given the fatalturn to the anger of mithridates, who had privately hated him before,as appeared from his cabinet papers when taken, among which therewas an order that metrodorus should die. tigranes buried him splendidly,sparing no cost to his dead body, whom he betrayed when alive. intigranes's court died, also, amphicrates the orator （if, for the sakeof athens, we may also mention him）, of whom it is told that he lefthis country and fled to seleucia, upon the river tigris, and, beingdesired to teach logic among them, arrogantly replied, that the dishwas too little to hold a dolphin. he, therefore, came to cleopatra,daughter of mithridates, and queen to tigranes, but, being accusedof misdemeanours, prohibited all commerce with his countrymen, endedhis days by starving himself. he, in like manner, received from cleopatraan honourable burial, near sapha, a place so called in that country.

lucullus, when he had re-established law and a lasting peace in asia,did not altogether forget pleasure and mirth, but, during his residenceat ephesus, gratified the cities with sports, festival triumphs, wrestlinggames, and single combats of gladiators. and they, in requital, institutedothers, called lucullean games, in honour to him, thus manifestingtheir love to him, which was of more value to him than all the honour.but when appius came to him and told him he must prepare for war withtigranes, he went again into pontus, and, gathering together his army,besieged sinope, or rather the cilicians of the king's side who heldit； who thereupon killed a number of the sinopians, and set the cityon fire, and by night endeavoured to escape. which when lucullus perceived,he entered the city, and killed eight thousand of them who were stillleft behind； but restored to the inhabitants what was their own, andtook special care for the welfare of the city. to which he was chieflyprompted by this vision. one seemed to come to him in his sleep, andsay, "go on a little further, lucullus, for autolycus is coming tosee thee." when he arose he could not imagine what the vision meant.the same day he took the city, and as he was pursuing the cilicians,who were flying by sea, he saw a statue lying on the shore, whichthe cilicians carried so far, but had not time to carry aboard. itwas one of the masterpieces of sthenis. and one told him that it wasthe statue of autolycus, the founder of the city. this autolycus isreported to have been son to deimachus, and one of those who, underhercules, went on the expedition out of thessaly against the amazons；from whence in his return with demoleon and phlogius, he lost hisvessel on a point of the chersonesus, called pedalium. he himself,with his companions and their weapons, being saved, came to sinope,and dispossessed the syrians there. the syrians held it, descendedfrom syrus, as is the story, the son of apollo and sinope, the daughterof asopus. which as soon as lucullus heard he remembered the admonitionof sylla, whose advice it is in his memoirs to treat nothing as socertain and so worthy of reliance as an intimation given in dreams.

when it was now told him that mithridates and tigranes were just readyto transport their forces into lycaonia and cilicia, with the objectof entering asia before him, he wondered much why the armenian, supposinghim to entertain any real intentions to fight with the romans, didnot assist mithridates in his flourishing condition, and join forceswhen he was fit for service, instead of suffering him to be vanquishedand broken in pieces, and now at last beginning the war, when itshopes were grown cold, and throwing himself down headlong with them,who were irrevocably fallen already. but when machares, the son ofmithridates, and governor of bosporus, sent him a crown, valued ata thousand pieces of gold, and desired to be enrolled as a friendand confederate of the romans, he fairly reputed that war at an end,and left sornatius, his deputy, with six thousand soldiers, to takecare of pontus. he himself, with twelve thousand foot and a littleless than three thousand horse, went forth to the second war, advancing,it seemed very plain, with too great and ill-advised speed, into themidst of warlike nations and many thousands upon thousands of horse,into an unknown extent of country, every way inclosed with deep riversand mountains, never free from snow； which made the soldiers, alreadyfar from orderly, follow him with great unwillingness and opposition.for the same reason, also, the popular leaders at home publicly inveighedand declaimed against him, as one that raised up war after war, notso much for the interest of the republic, as that he himself, beingstill in commission, might not lay down arms, but go on enrichinghimself by the public dangers. these men, in the end, effected theirpurpose. but lucullus, by long journeys, came to the euphrates, where,finding the waters high and rough from the winter, he was much troubledfor fear of delay and difficulty while he should procure boats andmake a bridge of them. but in the evening the flood beginning to retire,and decreasing all through the night, the next day they saw the riverfar down within his banks, so much so that the inhabitants, discoveringthe little islands in the river, and the water stagnating among them,a thing which had rarely happened before, made obeisance to lucullus,before whom the very river was humble and submissive, and yieldedan easy and swift passage. making use of the opportunity, he carriedover his army, and met with a lucky sign at landing. holy heifersare pastured on purpose for diana persia, whom, of all the gods, thebarbarians beyond euphrates chiefly adore. they use these heifersonly for her sacrifices. at other times they wander up and down undisturbed,with the mark of the goddess, a torch, branded on them； and it isno such light or easy thing, when occasion requires, to seize oneof them. but one of these, when the army had passed the euphrates,coming to a rock consecrated to the goddess, stood upon it, and then,laying down her neck, like others that are forced down with a rope,offered herself to lucullus for sacrifice. besides which, he offeredalso a bull to euphrates, for safe passage. that day he tarried there,but on the next, and those that followed, he travelled through sophene,using no manner of violence to the people who came to him and willinglyreceived his army. and when the soldiers were desirous to plundera castle that seemed to be well stored within, "that is the castle,"said he, "that we must storm," showing them taurus at a distance；"the rest is reserved for those who conquer there." wherefore hasteninghis march, and passing the tigris, he came over into armenia.

the first messenger that gave notice of lucullus's coming was so farfrom pleasing tigranes that he had his head cut off for his pains；and no man daring to bring further information, without any intelligenceat all, tigranes sat while war was already blazing around him, givingear only to those who flattered him, by saying that lucullus wouldshow himself a great commander if he ventured to wait for tigranesat ephesus, and did not at once fly out of asia at the mere sightof the many thousands that were come against him. he is a man of astrong body that can carry off a great quantity of wine, and of apowerful constitution of mind that can sustain felicity. mithrobarzanes,one of his chief favourites, first dared to tell him the truth, buthad no more thanks for his freedom of speech than to be immediatelysent out against lucullus with three thousand horse, and a great numberof foot, with peremptory demands to bring him alive and trample downhis army. some of lucullus's men were then pitching their camp, andthe rest were coming up to them, when the scouts gave notice thatthe enemy was approaching, whereupon he was in fear lest they shouldfall upon him, while his men were divided and unarranged； which madehim stay to pitch the camp himself, and send out sextilius the legate,with sixteen hundred horse, and about as many heavy and light arms,with orders to advance towards the enemy, and wait until intelligencecame to him that the camp was finished. sextilius designed to havekept this order； but mithrobarzanes coming furiously upon him, hewas forced to fight. in the engagement, mithrobarzanes himself wasslain, fighting, and all his men, except a few who ran away, weredestroyed. after this, tigranes left tigranocerta, a great city builtby himself, and retired to taurus, and called all his forces abouthim.

but lucullus, giving him no time to rendezvous, sent out murena toharass and cut off those who marched to tigranes, and sextilius, also,to disperse a great company of arabians then on the way to the king.sextilius fell upon the arabians in their camp, and destroyed mostof them, and also murena, in his pursuit after tigranes through acraggy and narrow pass, opportunely fell upon him. upon which tigranes,abandoning all his baggage, fled； many of the armenians were killedand more taken. after this success, lucullus went to tigranocerta,and sitting down before the city, besieged it. in it were many greekscarried away out of cilicia, and many barbarians in like circumstanceswith the greeks, adiabenians, assyrians, gordyenians, and cappadocians,whose native cities he had destroyed, and forced away the inhabitantsto settle here. it was a rich and beautiful city, every common man,and every man of rank, in imitation of the king, studied to enlargeand adorn it. this made lucullus more vigorously press the siege,in the belief that tigranes would not patiently endure it, but evenagainst his own judgment would come down in anger to force him away；in which he was not mistaken. mithridates earnestly dissuaded himfrom it, sending messengers and letters to him not to engage, butrather with his horse to try and cut off the supplies. taxiles, also,who came from mithridates, and who stayed with his army, very muchentreated the king to forbear, and to avoid the roman arms, thingsit was not safe to meddle with. to this he hearkened at first, butwhen the armenians and gordyenians in a full body, and the whole forceof medes and adiabenians, under their respective kings, joined him；when many arabians came up from the sea beyond babylon； and from thecaspian sea, the albanians and the iberians their neighbours, andnot a few of the free people, without kings, living about the araxes,by entreaty and hire also came together to him； and all the king'sfeasts and councils rang of nothing but expectations, boastings, andbarbaric threatenings, taxiles went in danger of his life for givingcouncil against fighting, and it was imputed to envy in mithridatesthus to discourage him from so glorious an enterprise. therefore tigraneswould by no means tarry for him, for fear he should share in the glory,but marched on with all his army, lamenting to his friends, as itis said, that he should fight with lucullus alone and not with allthe roman generals together. neither was his boldness to be accountedwholly frantic or unreasonable when he had so many nations and kingsattending him, and so many tens of thousands of well-armed foot andhorse about him. he had twenty thousand archers and slingers, fifty-fivethousand horse, of which seventeen thousand were in complete armour,as lucullus wrote to the senate, a hundred and fifty thousand heavy-armedmen, drawn up partly into cohorts, partly into phalanxes, besidesvarious divisions of men appointed to make roads and lay bridges,to drain off waters and cut wood, and to perform other necessary services,to the number of thirty-five thousand, who, being quartered behindthe army, added to its strength, and made it the more formidable tobehold.

as soon as he had passed taurus, and appeared with his forces, andsaw the romans beleaguering tigranocerta, the barbarous people within,with shoutings and acclamations, received the sight, and threateningthe romans from the walls, pointed to the armenians. in a councilof war, some advised lucullus to leave the siege, and march up totigranes, others that it would not be safe to leave the siege, andso many enemies behind. he answered that neither side by itself wasright, but together both gave sound advice； and accordingly he dividedhis army, and left murena with six thousand foot in charge of thesiege, and himself went out with twenty-four cohorts, in which wereno more than ten thousand men-at-arms, and with all the horse andslingers and archers and about a thousand sitting down by the riverin a large plain, he appeared, indeed, very inconsiderable to tigranes,and a fit subject for the flattering wits about him. some of whomjeered, others cast lots for the spoil, and every one of the kingsand commanders came and desired to undertake the engagement alone,and that he would be pleased to sit still and behold. tigranes himself,wishing to be witty and pleasant upon the occasion, made use of thewell-known saying, that they were too many for ambassadors, and toofew for soldiers. thus they continued sneering and scoffing. as soonas day came, lucullus brought out his forces under arms. the barbarianarmy stood on the eastern side of the river, and there being a bendof the river westward in that part of it, where it was easiest forded,lucullus, while he led his army on in haste, seemed to tigranes tobe flying； who thereupon called taxiles, and in derision said, "doyou not see these invincible romans flying？" but taxiles replied,"would, indeed, o king, that some such unlikely piece of fortune mightbe destined you； but the romans do not, when going on a march, puton their best clothes, nor use bright shields, and naked headpieces,as now you see them, with the leathern coverings all taken off, butthis is a preparation for war of men just ready to engage with theirenemies." while taxiles was thus speaking, as lucullus wheeled about,the first eagle appeared, and the cohorts, according to their divisionsand companies, formed in order to pass over, when with much ado, andlike a man that is just recovering from a drunken fit, tigranes criedout twice or thrice, "what, are they upon us？" in great confusion,therefore, the army got in array, the king keeping the main body tohimself, while the left wing giving in charge to the adiabenian, andthe right to the mede, in front of which latter were posted most ofthe heavy-armed cavalry. some officers advised lucullus, just as hewas going to cross the river, to lie still, that day being one ofthe unfortunate ones which they call black days, for on it the armyunder caepio, engaging with the cimbrians was destroyed. but he returnedthe famous answer, "i will make it a happy day to the romans." itwas the day before the nones of october.

having so said, he bade them take courage, passed over the river,and himself first of all led them against the enemy, clad in a coatof mail, with shining steel scales and a fringed mantle； and his swordmight already be seen out of the scabbard, as if to signify that theymust without delay come to a hand-to-hand combat with an enemy whoseskill was in distant fighting, and by the speed of their advance curtailthe space that exposed them to the archery. but when he saw the heavy-armedhorse, the flower of the army, drawn up under a hill, on the top ofwhich was a broad and open plain about four furlongs distant, andof no very difficult or troublesome access, he commanded his thracianand galatian horse to fall upon their flank, and beat down their lanceswith their swords. the only defence of these horsemen-at-arms aretheir lances； they have nothing else that they can use to protectthemselves or annoy their enemy, on account of the weight and stiffnessof their armour, with which they are, as it were, built up. he himself,with two cohorts, made to the mountain, the soldiers briskly following,when they saw him in arms afoot first toiling and climbing up. beingon the top and standing in an open place, with a loud voice he criedout, "we have overcome, we have overcome, fellow-soldiers！" and havingso said, he marched against the armed horsemen, commanding his mennot to throw their javelins, but coming up hand-to-hand with the enemy,to hack their shins and thighs, which parts alone were unguarded inthese heavy-armed horsemen. but there was no need of this way of fighting,for they stood not to receive the romans, but with great clamour andworse flight they and their heavy horses threw themselves upon theranks of the foot, before ever these could so much as begin the fight,insomuch that without a wound or bloodshed, so many thousands wereoverthrown. the greatest slaughter was made in the flight, or ratherin the endeavouring to fly away, which they could not well do by reasonof the depth and closeness of their own ranks, which hindered them.tigranes at first fled with a few, but seeing his son in the samemisfortune, he took the diadem from his head, and with tears gaveit him, bidding him save himself by some other road if he could. butthe young man, not daring to put it on, gave it to one of his trustiestservants to keep for him. this man, as it happened, being taken, wasbrought to lucullus, and so, among the captives, the crown of tigraneswas also taken. it is stated that above a hundred thousand foot werelost, and that of the horse but very few escaped at all. of the romans,a hundred were wounded and five killed. antiochus the philosopher,making mention of this fight in his book about the gods, says thatthe sun never saw the like. strabo, a second philosopher, in his historicalcollection, says that the romans could not but blush and deride themselvesfor putting on armour against such pitiful slaves. livy also saysthat the romans never fought an enemy with such unequal forces, forthe conquerors were not so much as one-twentieth part of the numberof the conquered. the most sagacious and experienced roman commandersmade it a chief commendation of lucullus that he had conquered twogreat and potent kings by two most opposite ways, haste and delay.for he wore out the flourishing power of mithridates by delay andtime, and crushed that of tigranes by haste； being one of the rareexamples of generals who made use of delay for active achievementand speed for security.

on this account it was that mithridates had made no haste to comeup to fight, imagining lucullus would, as he had done before, usecaution and delay, which made him march at his leisure to join tigranes.and first, as he began to meet some straggling armenians in the way,making off in great fear and consternation, he suspected the worst,and when greater numbers of stripped and wounded men met him and assuredhim of the defeat, he set out to seek for tigranes. and finding himdestitute and humiliated, he by no means requited him with insolence,but alighting from his horse, and condoling with him on their commonloss, he gave him his own royal guard to attend him, and animatedhim for the future. and they together gathered fresh forces aboutthem. in the city tigranocerta, the greeks meantime, dividing fromthe barbarians, sought to deliver it up to lucullus, and he attackedand took it. he seized on the treasure himself, but gave the cityto be plundered by the soldiers, in which were found, amongst otherproperty, eight thousand talents of coined money. besides this, also,he distributed eight hundred drachmas to each man out of the spoils.when he understood that many players were taken in the city, whomtigranes had invited from all parts for opening the theatre whichhe had built, he made use of them for celebrating his triumphal gamesand spectacles. the greeks he sent home, allowing them money for theirjourney, and the barbarians also, as many as had been forced awayfrom their own dwellings. so that by this one city being dissolved,many, by the restitution of their former inhabitants, were restored.by all of which lucullus was beloved as a benefactor and founder.other successes, also, attended him, such as he well deserved, desirousas he was far more of praise for acts of justice and clemency, thanfor feats in war, these being due partly to the soldiers, and verygreatly to fortune, while those are the sure proofs of a gentle andliberal soul； and by such aids lucullus, at that time, even withoutthe help of arms, succeeded in reducing the barbarians. for the kingsof the arabians came to him, tendering what they had, and with themthe sophenians also submitted. and he so dealt with the gordyenians,that they were willing to leave their own habitations, and to followhim with their wives and children. which was for this cause. zarbienus,king of the gordyenians, as has been told, being impatient under thetyranny of tigranes, had by appius secretly made overtures of confederacywith lucullus, but, being discovered, was executed, and his wife andchildren with him, before the romans entered armenia. lucullus forgotnot this, but coming to the gordyenians made a solemn interment inhonour of zarbienus, and adorning the funeral pile with royal robes,and gold, and the spoils of tigranes, he himself in person kindledthe fire, and poured in perfumes with the friends and relations ofthe deceased, calling him his companion and the confederate of theromans. he ordered, also, a costly monument to be built for him. therewas a large treasure of gold and silver found in zarbienus's palace,and no less than three million measures of corn, so that the soldierswere provided for, and lucullus had the high commendation of maintainingthe war at its own charge, without receiving one drachma from thepublic treasury.

after this came an embassy from the king of parthia to him, desiringamity and confederacy； which being readily embraced by lucullus, anotherwas sent by him in return to the parthian, the members of which discoveredhim to be a double-minded man, and to be dealing privately at thesame time with tigranes, offering to take part with him, upon conditionmesopotamia were delivered up to him. which as soon as lucullus understood,he resolved to pass by tigranes and mithridates as antagonists alreadyovercome, and to try the power of parthia, by leading his army againstthem, thinking it would be a glorious result, thus in one currentof war, like an athlete in the games, to throw down three kings oneafter another, and successively to deal as a conqueror with threeof the greatest power under heaven. he sent, therefore, into pontusto sornatius and his colleagues, bidding them bring the army thence,and join with him in his expedition out of gordyene. the soldiersthere, however, who had been restive and unruly before, now openlydisplayed their mutinous temper. no manner of entreaty or force availedwith them, but they protested and cried out that they would stay nolonger even there, but would go away and desert pontus. the news ofwhich, when reported to lucullus, did no small harm to the soldiersabout him, who were already corrupted with wealth and plenty, anddesirous of ease. and on hearing the boldness of the others, theycalled them men, and declared they themselves ought to follow theirexample, for the actions which they had done did now well deserverelease from service and repose.

upon these and worse words, lucullus gave up the thoughts of invadingparthia, and in the height of summer-time went against tigranes. passingover taurus, he was filled with apprehension at the greenness of thefields before him, so long is the season deferred in this region bythe coldness of the air. but nevertheless, he went down, and twiceor thrice putting to flight the armenians who dared to come out againsthim, he plundered and burnt their villages, and seizing on the provisiondesigned for tigranes, reduced his enemies to the necessity whichhe had feared for himself. but when, after doing all he could to provokethe enemy to fight, by drawing entrenchments round their camp andby burning the country before them, he could by no means bring themto venture out, after their frequent defeats before, he rose up andmarched to artaxata, the royal city of tigranes, where his wives andyoung children were kept, judging that tigranes would never sufferthat to go without the hazard of a battle. it is related that hannibalthe carthaginian, after the defeat of antiochus by the romans, comingto artaxas, king of armenia, pointed out to him many other mattersto his advantage, and observing the great natural capacities and thepleasantness of the site, then lying unoccupied and neglected, drewa model of a city for it, and bringing artaxas thither, showed itto him and encouraged him to build. at which the king being pleased,and desiring him to oversee the work, erected a large and statelycity which was called after his own name, and made metropolis of armenia.

and in fact, when lucullus proceeded against it, tigranes no longersuffered it, but came with his army, and on the fourth day sat downby the romans, the river arsanias lying between them, which of necessitylucullus must pass in his march to artaxata. lucullus, after sacrificeto the gods, as if victory were already obtained, carried over hisarmy, having twelve cohorts in the first division in front, the restbeing disposed in the rear to prevent the enemy's inclosing them.for there were many choice horse drawn up against him； in the frontstood the mardian horse-archers, and iberians with long spears, inwhom, being the most warlike, tigranes more confided than in any otherof his foreign troops. but nothing of moment was done by them, forthough they skirmished with the roman horse at a distance, they werenot able to stand when the foot came up to them； but being broken,and flying on both sides, drew the horse in pursuit after them. thoughthese were routed, yet lucullus was not without alarm when he sawthe cavalry about tigranes with great bravery and in large numberscoming upon him； he recalled his horse from pursuing, and he himself,first of all, with the best of his men, engaged the satrapenians whowere opposite him, and before ever they came to close fight routedthem with the mere terror. of three kings in battle against him, mithridatesof pontus fled away the most shamefully, being not so much as ableto endure the shout of the romans. the pursuit reached a long way,and all through the night the romans slew and took prisoners, andcarried off spoils and treasure, till they were weary. livy says therewere more taken and destroyed in the first battle, but in the second,men of greater distinction.

lucullus, flushed and animated by this victory, determined to marchon into the interior and there complete his conquests over the barbarians,but winter weather came on, contrary to expectation, as early as theautumnal equinox, with storms and frequent snows, and, even in themost clear days, hoar frost and ice, which made the waters scarcelydrinkable for the horses by their exceeding coldness, and scarcelypassable through the ice breaking and cutting the horses' sinews.the country for the most part being quite uncleared, with difficultpasses, and much wood, kept them continually wet, the snow fallingthickly on them as they marched in the day, and the ground that theylay upon at night being damp and watery. after the battle they followednot lucullus many days before they began to be refractory, first ofall entreating and sending the tribunes to him, but presently theytumultuously gathered together, and made a shouting all night longin their tents a plain sign of a mutinous army. but lucullus as earnestlyentreated them, desiring them to have patience, till they took thearmenian carthage, and overturned the work of their great enemy, meaninghannibal. but when he could not prevail, he led them back, and crossingtaurus by another road, came into the fruitful and sunny country ofmygdonia, where was a great and populous city, by the barbarians callednisibis, by the greeks antioch of mygdonia. this was defended by guras,brother of tigranes, with the dignity of governor, and by the engineeringskill and dexterity of callimachus, the same who so much annoyed theromans at amisus. lucullus, however, brought his army up to it, andlaying close siege, in a short time took it by storm. he used guras,who surrendered himself, kindly, but gave no attention to callimachus,though he offered to make discovery of hidden treasures, commandinghim to be kept in chains, to be punished for firing the city of amisus,which had disappointed his ambition of showing favour and kindnessto the greeks.

hitherto, one would imagine fortune had attended and fought with lucullus,but afterwards, as if the wind had failed of a sudden, he did allthings by force, and as it were against the grain； and showed certainlythe conduct and patience of a wise captain, but in the results metwith no fresh honour or reputation； and indeed, by bad success andvain embarrassments with his soldiers, he came within a little oflosing even what he had before. he himself was not the least causeof all this, being far from inclined to seek popularity with the massof the soldiers, and more ready to think any indulgence shown to theman invasion of his own authority. but what was worst of all, he wasnaturally unsociable to his great officers in commission with him,despising others and thinking them worthy of nothing in comparisonwith himself. these faults, we are told, he had with all his manyexcellences； he was of a large and noble person, an eloquent speaker,and a wise counsellor, both in the forum and the camp. sallust saysthe soldiers were ill-affected to him from the beginning of the war,because they were forced to keep the field two winters at cyzicusand afterwards at amisus. their other winters, also, vexed them, forthey either spent them in an enemy's country, or else were confinedto their tents in the open field among their confederates； for lucullusnot so much as once went into a greek confederate town with his army.to this ill-affection abroad, the tribunes yet more contributed athome, invidiously accusing lucullus as one who for empire and richesprolonged the war, holding, it might almost be said, under his solepower cilicia, asia, bithynia, paphlagonia, pontus, armenia, all asfar as the river phasis； and now of late had plundered the royal cityof tigranes, as if he had been commissioned not so much to subdueas to strip kings. this is what we are told was said by lucius quintius,one of the praetors, at whose instance, in particular, the peopledetermined to send one who should succeed lucullus in his province,and voted, also, to relieve many of the soldiers under him from furtherservice.

besides these evils, that which most of all prejudiced lucullus waspublius clodius, an insolent man, very vicious and bold, brother tolucullus's wife, a woman of bad conduct, with whom clodius was himselfsuspected of criminal intercourse. being then in the army under lucullus,but not in as great authority as he expected （for he would fain havebeen the chief of all, but on account of his character was postponedto many）, he ingratiated himself secretly with the fimbrian troops,and stirred them up against lucullus, using fair speeches to them,who of old had been used to be flattered in such a manner. these werethose whom fimbria before had persuaded to kill the consul flaccus,and choose him their leader. and so they listened not unwillinglyto clodius, and called him the soldiers' friend, for the concern heprofessed for them, and the indignation he expressed at the prospectthat "there must be no end of wars and toils, but in fighting withall nations, and wandering throughout all the world they must wearout their lives receiving no other reward for their service than toguard the carriages and camels of lucullus, laden with gold and preciousgoblets； while as for pompey's soldiers, they were all citizens, livingsafe at home with their wives and children, on fertile lands, or intowns, and that, not after driving mithridates and tigranes into wilddeserts, and overturning the royal cities of asia, but after havingmerely reduced exiles in spain, or fugitive slaves in italy. nay,if indeed we must never have an end of fighting, should we not ratherreserve the remainder of our bodies and souls for a general who willreckon his chiefest glory to be the wealth of his soldiers."

by such practices the army of lucullus, being corrupted, neither followedhim against tigranes, nor against mithridates, when he now at oncereturned into pontus out of armenia, and was recovering his kingdom,but under pretence of the winter, sat idle in gordyene, every minuteexpecting either pompey, or some other general, to succeed lucullus.but when news came that mithridates had defeated fabius, and was marchingagainst sornatius and triarius, out of shame they followed lucullus.triarius, ambitiously aiming at victory before ever lucullus cameto him, though he was then very near, was defeated in a great battle,in which it is said that above seven thousand romans fell, among whomwere a hundred and fifty centurions and four-and-twenty tribunes,and that the camp itself was taken. lucullus, coming up a few daysafter, concealed triarius from the search of the angry soldiers. butwhen mithridates declined battle, and waited for the coming of tigranes,who was then on his march with great forces, he resolved before theyjoined their forces to turn once more and engage with tigranes. butin the way the mutinous fimbrians deserted their ranks, professingthemselves released from service by a decree, and that lucullus, theprovinces being allotted to others, had no longer any right to commandthem. there was nothing beneath the dignity of lucullus which he didnot now submit to bear, entreating them one by one, from tent to tent,going up and down humbly and in tears and even taking some like asuppliant by the hand. but they turned away from his salutes, andthrew down their empty purses, bidding him engage alone with the enemy,as he alone made advantage of it. at length by the entreaty of theother soldiers, the fimbrians, being prevailed upon, consented totarry that summer under him, but if during that time no enemy cameto fight them, to be free. lucullus of necessity was forced to complywith this, or else to abandon the country to the barbarians. he keptthem, indeed, with him, but without urging his authority upon them；nor did he lead them out to battle, being contented if they shouldbut stay with him, though he then saw cappadocia wasted by tigranes,and mithridates again triumphing, whom not long before he reportedto the senate to be wholly subdued； and commissioners were now arrivedto settle the affairs of pontus, as if all had been quietly in hispossession. but when they came, they found him not so much as masterof himself, but contemned and derided by the common soldiers, whoarrived at that height of insolence against their general, that atthe end of summer they put on their armour and drew their swords,and defied their enemies then absent and gone off a long while before,and with great outcries and waving their swords in the air they quittedthe camp, proclaiming that the time was expired which they promisedto stay with lucullus. the rest were summoned by letter pompey tocome and join him； he by the favour of the people and by flatteryof their leaders having been chosen general of the army against mithridatesand tigranes, though the senate and the nobility all thought thatlucullus was injured, having those put over his head who succeededrather to his triumph than to his commission, and that he was notso truly deprived of his command, as of the glory he had deservedin his command, which he was forced to yield to another.

it was yet more of just matter of pity and indignation to those whowere present； for lucullus remained no longer master of rewards orpunishments for any actions done in the war； neither would pompeysuffer any man to go to him, or pay any respect to the orders andarrangements he made with advice of his ten commissioners, but expresslyissued edicts to the contrary, and could not but be obeyed by reasonof his greater power. friends, however, on both sides, thought itdesirable to bring them together, and they met in a village of galatia,and saluted each other in a friendly manner, with congratulationson each other's successes. lucullus was the elder, but pompey themore distinguished by his more numerous commands and his two triumphs.both had rods dressed with laurel carried before them for their victories,and as pompey's laurels were withered with passing through hot anddroughty countries, lucullus's lictors courteously gave pompey's someof the fresh and green ones which they had, which pompey's friendscounted a good omen, as indeed, of a truth, lucullus's actions furnishedthe honours of pompey's command. the interview however, did not bringthem to any amicable agreement； they parted even less friends thanthey met. pompey repealed all the acts of lucullus, drew off his soldiers,and left him no more than sixteen hundred for his triumph, and eventhose unwilling to go with him. so wanting was lucullus, either throughnatural constitution or adverse circumstances, in that one first andmost important requisite of a general, which had he but added to hisother many and remarkable virtues, his fortitude, vigilance, wisdom,justice, the roman empire had not had euphrates for its boundary,but the utmost ends of asia and the hyrcanian sea； as other nationswere then disabled by the late conquests of tigranes, and the powerof parthia had not in lucullus's time shown itself so formidable ascrassus afterwards found it, nor had as yet gained that consistency,being crippled by wars at home and on its frontiers, and unable evento make head against the encroachments of the armenians. and lucullus,as it was, seems to me through others' agency to have done rome greaterharm than he did her advantage by his own. for the trophies in armenia,near the parthian frontier, and tigranocerta, and nisibis, and thegreat wealth brought from thence to rome, with the captive crown oftigranes carried in triumph, all helped to puff up crassus, as ifthe barbarians had been nothing else but spoil and booty, and he,falling among the parthian archers, soon demonstrated that lucullus'striumphs were not beholden to the inadvertency and effeminacy of hisenemies, but to his own courage and conduct. but of this afterwards.

lucullus, upon his return to rome, found his brother marcus accusedby caius memmius for his acts as quaestor, done by sylla's orders；and on his acquittal, memmius changed the scene, and animated thepeople against lucullus himself, urging them to deny him a triumphfor appropriating the spoils and prolonging the war. in this greatstruggle, the nobility and chief men went down, and mingling in personamong the tribes, with much entreaty and labour, scarce at lengthprevailed upon them to consent to his triumph. the pomp of which provednot so wonderful or so wearisome with the length of the processionand the number of things carried in it, but consisted chiefly in vastquantities of arms and machines of the king's with which he adornedthe flaminian circus, a spectacle by no means despicable. in his progressthere passed by a few horsemen in heavy armour, ten chariots armedwith scythes, sixty friends and officers of the king's, and a hundredand ten brazen-beaked ships of war, which were conveyed along withthem, a golden image of mithridates six feet high, a shield set withprecious stones, twenty loads of silver vessels, and thirty-two ofgolden cups, armour, and money, all carried by men. besides which,eight mules were laden with golden couches, fifty-six with bullion,and a hundred and seven with coined silver, little less than two millionseven hundred thousand pieces. there were tablets, also, with inscriptions,stating what moneys he gave pompey for prosecuting the piratic war,what he delivered into the treasury, and what he gave to every soldier,which was nine hundred and fifty drachmas each. after all which henobly feasted the city and adjoining villages or vici.

being divorced from clodia, a dissolute and wicked woman, he marriedservilia, sister to cato. this also proved an unfortunate match, forshe only wanted one of all of clodia's vices, the criminality shewas accused of with her brothers. out of reverence to cato, he fora while connived at her impurity and immodesty, but at length dismissedher. when the senate expected great things from him, hoping to findin him a check to the usurpations of pompey, and that with the greatnessof his station and credit he would come forward as the champion ofthe nobility, he retired from business and abandoned public life eitherbecause he saw the state to be in a difficult and diseased condition,or, as others say, because he was as great as he could well be, andinclined to a quiet and easy life, after those many labours and toilswhich had ended with him so far from fortunately. there are thosewho highly commend his change of life, saying that he thus avoidedthe rock on which marius split. for he, after the great and gloriousdeeds of his cimbrian victories, was not contented to retire uponhis honours, but out of an insatiable desire of glory and power, evenin his old age, headed a political party against young men, and lethimself fall into miserable actions, and yet more miserable sufferings.better in like manner, they say, had it been for cicero, after catiline'sconspiracy, to have retired and grown old, and for scipio, after hisnumantine and carthaginian conquests, to have sat down contented.for the administration of public affairs has, like other things, itsproper term, and statesmen, as well as wrestlers, will break downwhen strength and youth fail. but crassus and pompey, on the otherhand laughed to see lucullus abandoning himself to pleasure and expense,as if luxurious living were not a thing that as little became hisyears as government of affairs at home or of an army abroad.

and, indeed, lucullus's life, like the old comedy, presents us atthe commencement with acts of policy and of war, at the end offeringnothing but good eating and drinking, feastings, and revellings, andmere play. for i give no higher name to his sumptuous buildings, porticos,and baths, still less to his paintings and sculptures, and all hisindustry about these curiosities, which he collected with vast expense,lavishly bestowing all the wealth and treasure which he got in thewar upon them, insomuch that even now, with all the advance of luxury,the lucullean gardens are counted the noblest the emperor has. tuberothe stoic, when he saw his buildings at naples, where he suspendedthe hills upon vast tunnels, brought in the sea for moats and fish-pondsround his house, and built pleasure-houses in the waters, called himxerxes in a gown. he had also fine seats in tusculum, belvederes,and large open balconies for men's apartments, and porticos to walkin, where pompey coming to see him, blamed him for making a housewhich would be pleasant in summer, but uninhabitable in winter； whomhe answered with a smile, "you think me, then, less provident thancranes and storks, not to change my home with the season." when apraetor, with great expense and pains, was preparing a spectacle forthe people, and asked him to lend him some purple robes for the performersin a chorus, he told him he would go home and see, and if he had gotany, would let him have them； and the next day asking how many hewanted, and being told that a hundred would suffice, bade him to taketwice as many： on which the poet horace observes, that a house isbut a poor one where the valuables unseen and unthought of do notexceed all those that meet the eye.

lucullus's daily entertainments were ostentatiously extravagant, notonly with purple coverlets, and plate adorned with precious stones,and dancings, and interludes, but with the greatest diversity of dishesthe most elaborate cookery, for the vulgar to admire and envy. itwas a happy thought of pompey in his sickness, when his physicianprescribed a thrush for his dinner, and his servants told him thatin summer-time thrushes were not to be found anywhere but in lucullus'sfattening coups, that he would not suffer them to fetch one thence,but observing to his physician, "so if lucullus had not been an epicure,pompey had not lived," ordered something else that could easily begot to be prepared for him. cato was his friend and connection, but,nevertheless, so hated his life and habits, that when a young manin the senate made a long and tedious speech in praise of frugalityand temperance, cato got up and said, "how long do you mean to goon making money like crassus, living like lucullus, and talking likecato？" there are some, however, who say the words were said, but notby cato.

it is plain from the anecdotes on record of him that lucullus wasnot only pleased with, but even gloried in his way of living. forhe is said to have feasted several greeks upon coming to rome dayafter day, who of a true grecian principle, ashamed, and decliningthe invitations, where so great an expense was every day incurredfor them, he with a smile told them, "some of this, indeed my grecianfriends, is for your sakes, but more for that of lucullus." once whenhe supped alone, there being only one course, and that but moderatelyfurnished, he called his steward and reproved him, who professingto have supposed that there would be no need of any great entertainment,when nobody was invited, was answered, "what, did not you know, then,that to-day lucullus dines with lucullus？" which being much spokenof about the city cicero and pompey one day met him loitering in theforum, the former his intimate friend and familiar, and, though therehad been some ill-will between pompey and him about the command inthe war, still they used to see each other and converse on easy termstogether. cicero accordingly saluted him, and asked him whether to-daywere a good time for asking a favour of him, and on his answering,"very much so," and begging to hear what it was, "then," said cicero,"we shall like to dine with you to-day, just on the dinner that isprepared for yourself." lucullus being surprised, and requesting aday's time, they refused to grant it, neither suffered him to talkwith his servants, for fear he should give order for more than wasappointed before. but thus much they consented to, that before theirfaces he might tell his servants, that to-day he would sup in theapollo （for so one of his best dining-rooms was called）, and by thisevasion he outwitted his guests.

for every room, as it seems, hadits own assessment of expenditure, dinner at such a price, and allelse in accordance； so that the servants, on knowing where he woulddine, knew also how much was to be expended, and in what style andform dinner was to be served. the expense for the apollo was fiftythousand drachmas, and thus much being that day laid out, the greatnessof the cost did not so much amaze pompey and cicero, as the rapidityof the outlay. one might believe lucullus thought his money reallycaptive and barbarian, so wantonly and contumeliously did he treatit.