[12] By this time Domitius had prepared himself; and drawn out his army
in array against Pompey; but there was a watercourse betwixt
them, craggy, and difficult to pass over; and this, together
with a great storm of wind and rain pouring down even from
break of day, seemed to leave but little possibility of their
coming together, so that Domitius, not expecting any engagement
that day, commanded his forces to draw off and retire to the
camp. Now Pompey, who was watchful upon every occasion, making
use of the opportunity, ordered a march forthwith, and having
passed over the torrent, fell in immediately upon their
quarters. The enemy was in a great disorder and tumult, and in
that confusion attempted a resistance; but they neither were
all there, nor supported one another; besides, the wind having
veered about, beat the rain full in their faces. Neither
indeed was the storm less troublesome to the Romans, for that
they could not clearly discern one another, insomuch that even
Pompey himself, being unknown, escaped narrowly; for when one
of his soldiers demanded of him the word of battle, it happened
that he was somewhat slow in his answer, which might have cost
him his life. The enemy being routed with a great slaughter, (for it is said,
that of twenty thousand there escaped but three thousand,) the
army saluted Pompey by the name of Imperator; but he declined
it, telling them, that he could not by any means accept of that
title, as long as he saw the camp of the enemy standing; but if
they designed to make him worthy of the honor, they must first
demolish that. The soldiers on hearing this, went at once and
made an assault upon the works and trenches, and there Pompey
fought without his helmet, in memory of his former danger, and
to avoid the like. The camp was thus taken by storm, and among
the rest, Domitius was slain. After that overthrow, the cities
of the country thereabouts were all either secured by
surrender, or taken by storm. King Iarbas, likewise, a
confederate and auxiliary of Domitius, was taken prisoner, and
his kingdom was given to Hiempsal.
|
¶ Pompey goes from victory to victory in Africa, subduing
the region in a mere 40 days; he is just 24 years old.
|
Pompey could not rest here, but being ambitious to follow the
good fortune and use the valor of his army, entered Numidia;
and marching forward many days' journey up into the country, he
conquered all wherever he came. And having revived the terror
of the Roman power, which was now almost obliterated among the
barbarous nations, he said likewise, that the wild beasts of
Africa ought not to be left without some experience of the
courage and success of the Romans; and therefore he bestowed
some few days in hunting lions and elephants. And it is said,
that it was not above the space of forty days at the utmost, in
which he gave a total overthrow to the enemy, reduced Africa,
and established the affairs of the kings and kingdoms of all
that country, being then in the twenty-fourth year of his age.
|
|
¶ Sylla, pleased with Pompey's conduct of the wars, honors him
with the attribution "The Great."
|
[13] When Pompey returned back to the city of Utica, there were
presented to him letters and orders from
Sylla, commanding him
to disband the rest of his army, and himself with one legion
only to wait there the coming of another general, to succeed
him in the government. This, inwardly, was extremely grievous
to Pompey, though he made no show of it. But the army resented
it openly, and when Pompey besought them to depart and go home
before him, they began to revile
Sylla, and declared broadly,
that they were resolved not to forsake him, neither did they
think it safe for him to trust the tyrant. Pompey at first
endeavored to appease and pacify them by fair speeches; but
when he saw that his persuasions were vain, he left the bench,
and retired to his tent with tears in his eyes. But the
soldiers followed him, and seizing upon him, by force brought
him again, and placed him in his tribunal; where great part of
that day was spent in dispute, they on their part persuading
him to stay and command them, he, on the other side, pressing
upon them obedience, and the danger of mutiny. At last, when
they grew yet more importunate and clamorous, he swore that he
would kill himself if they attempted to force him; and scarcely
even thus appeased them. Nevertheless, the first tidings
brought to
Sylla were, that Pompey was up in rebellion; on
which he remarked to some of his friends, "I see, then, it is
my destiny to contend with children in my old age;" alluding at
the same time to Marius, who, being but a mere youth, had given
him great trouble, and brought him into extreme danger. But
being undeceived afterwards by better intelligence, and finding
the whole city prepared to meet Pompey, and receive him with
every display of kindness and honor, he resolved to exceed them
all. And, therefore, going out foremost to meet him, and
embracing him with great cordiality, he gave him his welcome
aloud in the title of Magnus, or the Great, and bade all that
were present call him by that name. Others say that he had
this title first given him by a general acclamation of all the
army in Africa, but that it was fixed upon him by this
ratification of
Sylla. It is certain that he himself was the
last that owned the title; for it was a long time after, when
he was sent proconsul into Spain against Sertorius, that he
began to write himself in his letters and commissions by the
name of Pompeius Magnus; common and familiar use having then
worn off the invidiousness of the title. And one cannot but
accord respect and admiration to the ancient Romans, who did
not reward the successes of action and conduct in war alone
with such honorable titles, but adorned likewise the virtues
and services of eminent men in civil government with the same
distinctions and marks of honor. Two persons received from the
people the name of Maximus, or the Greatest, Valerius /7/, for
reconciling the
senate and people, and Fabius Rullus /8/, because
he put out of the
senate certain sons of freed slaves who had
been admitted into it because of their wealth.
|
|
¶ Pompey honored with a triumph in Rome.
¶ Sylla's power is on the decline; that of Pompey, ascendant.
¶ Pompey shows himself given to ambition, an
immoderate striving after personal glory rather than the
noble and magnanimus quest for fame won through great deeds of enduring merit.
|
[14] Pompey now desired the honor of a triumph, which
Sylla opposed,
alleging that the law allowed that honor to none but
consuls and
praetors, and therefore
Scipio [Africanus] the elder, who subdued the
Carthaginians in Spain in far greater and nobler conflicts,
never petitioned for a triumph, because he had never been
consul or
praetor; and if Pompey, who had scarcely yet fully
grown a beard, and was not of age to be a
senator, should enter
the city in triumph, what a weight of envy would it bring, he
said, at once upon his government and Pompey's honor. This was
his language to Pompey, intimating that he could not by any
means yield to his request, but if he would persist in his
ambition, that he was resolved to interpose his power to humble
him. Pompey, however, was not daunted; but bade
Sylla recollect, that more worshiped the rising than the setting sun;
as if to tell him that his power was increasing, and
Sylla's in
the wane.
Sylla did not perfectly hear the words, but
observing a sort of amazement and wonder in the looks and
gestures of those that did hear them, he asked what it was that
he said. When it was told him, he seemed astounded at Pompey's
boldness, and cried out twice together, "Let him triumph," and
when others began to show their disapprobation and offense at
it, Pompey, it is said, to gall and vex them the more, designed
to have his triumphant chariot drawn with four elephants,
(having brought over several which belonged to the African
kings,) but the gates of the city being too narrow, he was
forced to desist from that project, and be content with horses.
And when his soldiers, who had not received as large rewards as
they had expected, began to clamor, and interrupt the triumph,
Pompey regarded these as little as the rest, and plainly told
them that he had rather lose the honor of his triumph, than
flatter them. Upon which Servilius, a man of great
distinction, and at first one of the chief opposers of Pompey's
triumph, said, he now perceived that Pompey was truly great and
worthy of a triumph. It is clear that he might easily have
been a
senator, also, if he had wished, but he did not sue for
that, being ambitious, it seems, only of unusual honors. For
what wonder had it been for Pompey, to sit in the
senate before
his time? But to triumph before he was in the
senate, was
really an excess of glory.
|
|
¶ This show of success pleases the people, but
Sylla looks on with disfavor.
|
And moreover, it did not a little ingratiate him with the
people; who were much pleased to see him after his triumph take
his place again among the Roman knights.
[15] On the other side, it
was no less distasteful to
Sylla to see how fast he came on,
and to what a height of glory and power he was advancing; yet
being ashamed to hinder him, he kept quiet. But when, against
his direct wishes, Pompey got
Lepidus made
consul, /9/ having
openly joined in the canvass and, by the good-will the people
felt for himself, conciliated their favor for
Lepidus,
Sylla could forbear no longer; but when he saw him coming away from
the election through the forum with a great train after him,
cried out to him, "Well, young man, I see you rejoice in your
victory. And, indeed, is it not a most generous and worthy
act, that the
consulship should be given to
Lepidus, the vilest
of men, in preference to
Catulus, the best and most deserving
in the city, and all by your influence with the people? It
will be well, however, for you to be wakeful and look to your
interests; as you have been making your enemy stronger than
yourself." But that which gave the clearest demonstration of
Sylla's ill-will to Pompey, was his last will and testament;
for whereas he had bequeathed several legacies to all the rest
of his friends, and appointed some of them guardians to his
eon, he passed by Pompey without the least remembrance.
However, Pompey bore this with great moderation and temper; and
when
Lepidus and others were disposed to obstruct his interment
in the Campus Martius, and to prevent any public funeral taking
place, came forward in support of it, and saw his obsequies
performed with all honor and security /10/.
|
|
¶ Sylla dies, 78 B.C.; Rome again is riven by factions.
¶ Pompey is given command against Lepidus and Brutus; he drives Lepidus out
of Italy to die in exile; Brutus surrenders with a fight but Pompey
orders with killed.
|
[16] Shortly after the death of
Sylla, his prophetic words were
fulfilled; and
Lepidus proposing to be the successor to all his
power and authority, without any ambiguities or pretences,
immediately appeared in arms, rousing once more and gathering
about him all the long dangerous remains of the old factions,
which had escaped the hand of
Sylla.
Catulus, his colleague,
who was followed by the sounder part of the
senate and people,
was a man of the greatest esteem among the Romans for wisdom
and justice; but his talent lay in the government of the city
rather than the camp, whereas the exigency required the skill
of Pompey. Pompey, therefore, was not long in suspense which
way to dispose of himself, but joining with the nobility, was
presently appointed general of the army against
Lepidus, who
had already raised up war in great part of Italy, and held
Cisalpine Gaul in subjection with an army under Brutus. As for
the rest of his garrisons, Pompey subdued them with ease in his
march, but Mutina in
Gaul resisted in a formal siege, and he
lay here a long time encamped against Brutus. In the meantime
Lepidus marched in all haste against Rome, and sitting down
before it with a crowd of followers, to the terror of those
within, demanded a second
consulship. But that fear quickly
vanished upon letters sent from Pompey, announcing that he had
ended the war without a battle; for Brutus, either betraying
his army, or being betrayed by their revolt, surrendered
himself to Pompey, and receiving a guard of horse, was
conducted to a little town upon the river Po; where he was
slain the next day by Geminius, in execution of Pompey's
commands. And for this Pompey was much censured; for, having
at the beginning of the revolt written to the
senate that
Brutus had voluntarily surrendered himself, immediately
afterward he sent other letters, with matter of accusation
against the man, after he was taken off.
Brutus, who with
Cassius slew
Caesar, was son to this Brutus; neither in war nor
in his death like his father, as appears at large in his life.
Lepidus upon this being driven out of Italy, fled to Sardinia,
where he fell sick and died of sorrow, not for his public
misfortunes, as they say, but, upon the discovery of a letter,
proving his wife to have been unfaithful to him.
|
|
¶ Civil war yet rends the Roman Empire as
Sertorius battles on in Spain.
¶ Pompey is sent to Spain to put down
Sertorius.
|
[17] There yet remained Sertorius, a very different general from
Lepidus, in possession of Spain, and making himself formidable
to Rome; the final disease, as it were, in which the scattered
evils of the civil wars had now collected. He had already cut
off various inferior commanders, and was at this time coping
with Metellus Pius, a man of repute and a good soldier, though
perhaps he might now seem too slow, by reason of his age, to
second and improve the happier moments of war, and might be
sometimes wanting to those advantages which Sertorius by his
quickness and dexterity would wrest out of his hands. For
Sertorius was always hovering about, and coming upon him
unawares, like a captain of thieves rather than soldiers,
disturbing him perpetually with ambuscades and light
skirmishes; whereas Metellus was accustomed to regular conduct,
and fighting in battle array with full-armed soldiers /11/. Pompey,
therefore, keeping his army in readiness, made it his object to
be sent in aid to Metellus; neither would he be induced to
disband his forces, notwithstanding that
Catulus called upon
him to do so, but by some colorable device or other he still
kept them in arms about the city, until the
senate at last
thought fit, upon the report of Lucius Philippus, to decree him
that government. At that time, they say, one of the
senators there expressing his wonder and demanding of Philippus whether
his meaning was that Pompey should be sent into Spain as
proconsul, "No," replied Philippus, "but as proconsuls," as if
both
consuls for that year were in his opinion wholly useless.
|
|
¶ Pompey goes to Spain to put down
Sertorius' rebellion, 76 B.C.
¶ Pompey earned a great reputation for his frugality,
being naturally inclined to temperance, and no ways inordinate in his desires.
|
[18] When Pompey was arrived in Spain, as is usual upon the fame of
a new leader, men began to be inspired with new hopes, and
those nations that had not entered into a very strict alliance
with Sertorius, began to waver and revolt; whereupon Sertorius
uttered various arrogant and scornful speeches against Pompey,
saying in derision, that he should want no other weapon but a
ferula and rod to chastise this boy with, if he were not afraid
of that old woman, meaning Metellus /12/. Yet in deed and reality
he stood in awe of Pompey, and kept on his guard against him,
as appeared by his whole management of the war, which he was
observed to conduct much more warily than before; for Metellus,
which one would not have imagined, was grown excessively
luxurious in his habits having given himself over to
self-indulgence and pleasure, and from a moderate and
temperate, became suddenly a sumptuous and ostentatious liver /13/,
so that this very thing gained Pompey great reputation and
goodwill, as he made himself somewhat specially an example of
frugality, although that virtue was habitual in him, and
required no great industry to exercise it, as he was naturally
inclined to temperance, and no ways inordinate in his desires.
The fortune of the war was very various; nothing however
annoyed Pompey so much as the taking of the town of Lauron by
Sertorius. For when Pompey thought he had him safe inclosed,
and had boasted somewhat largely of raising the siege, he found
himself all of a sudden encompassed; insomuch that he durst not
move out of his camp, but was forced to sit still whilst the
city was taken and burnt before his face /14/. However, afterwards
in a battle near Valentia, he gave great defeat to Herennius
and Perpenna, two commanders among the refugees who had fled to
Sertorius, and now lieutenants under him, in which he slew
above ten thousand men.
|
|
¶ Pompey, ambitious of the sole glory of defeating
Sertorius rushes into battle before
his fellow general Metellus can arrive; the battle is inconclusive.
|
[19] Pompey, being elated and filled with confidence by this
victory, made all haste to engage Sertorius himself, and the
rather lest Metellus should come in for a share in the honor of
the victory. Late in the day, towards sunset, they joined
battle near the river Sucro, both being in fear lest Metellus
should come; Pompey, that he might engage alone, Sertorius,
that he might have one alone to engage with. The issue of the
battle proved doubtful, for a wing of each side had the better;
but of the generals, Sertorius had the greater honor, for that
he maintained his post, having put to flight the entire
division that was opposed to him, whereas Pompey was himself
almost made a prisoner; for being set upon by a strong man at
arms that fought on foot, (he being on horseback,) as they were
closely engaged hand to hand, the strokes of their swords
chanced to light upon their hands, but with a different
success; for Pompey's was a slight wound only, whereas he cut
off the other's hand. However, it happened so, that many now
falling upon Pompey together, and his own forces there being
put to the rout, he made his escape beyond expectation, by
quitting his horse, and turning him out among the enemy. For
the horse being richly adorned with golden trappings, and
having a caparison of great value, the soldiers quarreled among
themselves for the booty, so that while they were fighting with
one another, and dividing the spoil, Pompey made his escape /15/.
By break of day the next morning, each drew out his forces into
the field to claim the victory; but Metellus coming up,
Sertorius vanished, having broken up and dispersed his army.
For this was the way in which he used to raise and disband his
armies, so that sometimes he would be wandering up and down all
alone, and at other times again he would come pouring into the
field at the head of no less than one hundred and fifty
thousand fighting-men, swelling of a sudden like a winter
torrent.
|
|
¶ Metellus arrives with reënforcements.
|
When Pompey was going after the battle to meet and welcome
Metellus, and when they were near one another, he commanded his
attendants to lower their rods in honor of Metellus, as his
senior and superior. But Metellus on the other side forbade
it, and behaved himself in general very obligingly to him, not
claiming any prerogative either in respect of his
consular rank
or seniority; excepting only that when they encamped together,
the watchword was given to the whole camp by Metellus. But
generally they had their camps asunder, being divided and
distracted by the enemy, who took all shapes, and being always
in motion, would by some skillful artifice appear in a variety
of places almost in the same instant, drawing them from one
attack to another, and at last keeping them from foraging,
wasting the country, and holding the dominion of the sea,
Sertorius drove them both out of that part of Spain which was
under his control, and forced them for want of necessaries to
retreat into provinces that did not belong to them /16/.
|
|
¶ Lucullus in the senate supports Pompey's request
for money to prosecute the war in Spain in order to keep
Pompey in Spain and leaving command of the war against
Mithridates to himself.
|
[20] Pompey, having made use of and expended the greatest part of
his own private revenues upon the war, sent and demanded moneys
of the
senate, adding, that in case they did not furnish him
speedily, he should be forced to return into Italy with his
army.
Lucullus being
consul at that time, though at variance
with Pompey, yet in consideration that he himself was a
candidate for the command against Mithridates, procured and
hastened these supplies /17/, fearing lest there should be any
presence or occasion given to Pompey of returning home, who of
himself was no less desirous of leaving Sertorius, and of
undertaking the war against Mithridates, as an enterprise which
by all appearance would prove much more honorable and not so
dangerous.
|
|
¶ Sertorius murdered by his own partisans, 72 B.C..
¶ Pompey pacifies Spain; destroys certain treasonous letters he finds lest
they become the occasion of continued civil war.
|
In the meantime Sertorius died, being
treacherously murdered by some of his own party; and Perpenna,
the chief among them, took the command, and attempted to carry
on the same enterprises with Sertorius, having indeed the same
forces and the same means, only wanting the same skill and
conduct in the use of them. Pompey therefore marched directly
against, Perpenna, and finding him acting merely at random in
his affairs, had a decoy ready for him, and sent out a
detachment of ten cohorts into the level country with orders to
range up and down and disperse themselves abroad. The bait
took accordingly, and no sooner had Perpenna turned upon the appeared suddenly with
all his army and joining battle, gave him a total overthrow.
Most of his officers were slain in the field, and he himself
being brought prisoner to Pompey, was by his order put to
death. Neither was Pompey guilty in this of ingratitude or
unmindfulness of what had occurred in Sicily, which some have
laid to his charge, but was guided by a high minded policy and
a deliberate counsel for the security of his country. For
Perpenna, having in his custody all Sertorius's papers, offered
to produce several letters from the greatest men in Rome, who,
desirous of a change and subversion of the government, had
invited Sertorius into Italy. And Pompey, fearing that these
might be the occasion of worse wars than those which were now
ended, thought it advisable to put Perpenna to death, and burnt
the letters without reading them.
|
|
¶ Pompey returns to Italy to find the country convulsed by the slave rebellion
of Spartacus.
¶ Pompey and Crassus share in the victory
over Spartacus, while in truth Pompey's part in the affair was
little, and that late.
|
[21] Pompey continued in Spain after this so long a time as was
necessary for the suppression of all the greatest disorders in
the province; and after moderating and allaying the more
violent heats of affairs there, returned with his army into
Italy, where he arrived, as chance would have it, in the height
of the servile war. Accordingly, upon his arrival,
Crassus,
the commander in that war, at some hazard precipitated a
battle, in which he had great success, and slew upon the place
twelve thousand three hundred of the insurgents. Nor yet was
he so quick, but that fortune reserved to Pompey some share of
honor in the success of this war, for five thousand of those
that had escaped out of the battle fell into his hands; and
when he had totally cut them off, he wrote to the
senate, that
Crassus had overthrown the slaves in battle, but that he had
plucked up the whole war by the roots /18/. And it was agreeable to
the people in Rome both thus to say, and thus to hear said,
because of the general favor of Pompey. But of the Spanish war
and the conquest of Sertorius, no one, even in jest, could have
ascribed the honor to anyone else.
|
|
¶ Some begin to fear that Pompey plans tyranny.
|
Nevertheless, all this
high respect for him, and this desire to see him come home,
were not unmixed with apprehensions and suspicions that he
might perhaps not disband his army, but take his way by the
force of arms and a supreme command to the seat of
Sylla. And
so in the number of all those that ran out to meet him and
congratulate his return, as many went out of fear as affection.
But after Pompey had removed this alarm, by declaring
beforehand that he would discharge the army after his triumph,
those that envied him could now only complain that he affected
popularity, courting the common people more than the nobility,
and that whereas
Sylla had abolished the
tribuneship of the people, he designed to gratify the people by restoring that
office, which was indeed the fact. For there was not any one
thing that the people of Rome were more wildly eager for, or
more passionately desired, than the restoration of that office,
insomuch that Pompey thought himself extremely fortunate in
this opportunity, despairing (if he were anticipated by
someone else in this) of ever meeting with any other sufficient
means of expressing his gratitude for the favors which he had
received from the people.
|
|
¶ Pompey's second triumph; Pompey and Crassus chosen consuls, 70 B.C..
¶ The wealthy Crassus has his support in the senate; Pompey
among the commons.
|
[22] Though a second triumph was decreed him, and he was declared
consul, yet all these honors did not seem so great an evidence
of his power and glory, as the ascendant which he had over
Crassus; for he, the wealthiest among all the statesmen of his
time, and the most eloquent and greatest too, who had looked
down on Pompey himself, and on all others as beneath him, durst
not appear a candidate for the
consulship before he had applied
to Pompey. The request was made accordingly, and was eagerly
embraced by Pompey, who had long sought an occasion to oblige
him in some friendly office; so that he solicited for
Crassus,
and entreated the people heartily, declaring, that their favor
would be no less to him in choosing
Crassus his colleague, than
in making himself
consul. Yet for all this, when they were
created
consuls, they were always at variance, and opposing one
another /19/.
Crassus prevailed most in the
senate, and Pompey's
power was no less with the people, he having restored to them
the office of
tribune, and having allowed the courts of
judicature to be transferred back to the knights by a new law.
He himself in person, too, afforded them a most grateful
spectacle, when he appeared and craved his discharge from the
military service. For it is an ancient custom among the
Romans, that the knights, when they had served out their legal
time in the wars, should lead their horses into the
market-place before the two officers, called censors, and
having given an account of the commanders and generals under
whom they served, as also of the places and actions of their
service, should be discharged, every man with honor or
disgrace, according to his deserts. There were then sitting in
state upon the bench two censors, Gellius and Lentulus,
inspecting the knights, who were passing by in muster before
them, when Pompey was seen coming down into the forum, with all
the ensigns of a
consul, but leading his horse in his hand.
When he came up, he bade his lictors make way for him, and so
he led his horse to the bench; the people being all this while
in a sort of amaze, and all in silence, and the censors
themselves regarding the sight with a mixture of respect and
gratification. Then the senior censor examined him: "Pompeius
Magnus, I demand of you whether you have served the full time
in the wars that is prescribed by the law?" "Yes," replied
Pompey with a loud voice, "I have served all, and all under
myself as general." The people hearing this gave a great
shout, and made such an outcry for delight, that there was no
appeasing it; and the censors rising from their judgment-seat,
accompanied him home to gratify the multitude, who followed
after, clapping their hands and shouting.
|
|
¶ Pompey and Crassus reconciled.
|
[23] Pompey's
consulship was now expiring, and yet his difference
with
Crassus increasing, when one Caius Aurelius, a knight, a
man who had declined public business all his lifetime, mounted
the hustings, and addressed himself in an oration to the
assembly, declaring that Jupiter had appeared to him in a
dream, commanding him to tell the
consuls, that they should not
give up office until they were friends. After this was said,
Pompey stood silent, but
Crassus took him by the hand, and
spoke in this manner: "I do not think, fellow-citizens, that I
shall do anything mean or dishonorable, in yielding first to
Pompey, whom you were pleased to ennoble with the title of
Great, when as yet he scarce had a hair on his face; and
granted the honor of two triumphs, before he had a place in the
senate." Hereupon they were reconciled and laid down their
office /20/.
|
|
¶ Pompey shows he understands that his fame is a valuable coin to be spent wisely
and not debased by through too much familiarity.
|
Crassus resumed the manner of life which he had always
pursued before; but Pompey in the great generality of causes
for judgment declined appearing on either side, and by degrees
withdrew himself totally from the forum, showing himself but
seldom in public; and whenever he did, it was with a great
train after him. Neither was it easy to meet or visit him
without a crowd of people about him; he was most pleased to
make his appearance before large numbers at once, as though he
wished to maintain in this way his state and majesty, and as if
he held himself bound to preserve his dignity from contact with
the addresses and conversation of common people. And life in
the robe of peace is only too apt to lower the reputation of
men that have grown great by arms, who naturally find
difficulty in adapting themselves to the habits of civil
equality. They expect to be treated as the first in the city,
even as they were in the camp; and on the other hand, men who
in war were nobody, think it intolerable if in the city at any
rate they are not to take the lead. And so, when a warrior
renowned for victories and triumphs shall turn advocate and
appear among them in the forum, they endeavor their utmost to
obscure and depress him; whereas, if he gives up any
pretensions here and retires, they will maintain his military
honor and authority beyond the reach of envy. Events
themselves not long after showed the truth of this.
|
|
¶ Pirates begin to gain power, having first risen as mercenaries
if Mithridates; while Rome wearied herself in civil war pirates seize control of the seas.
¶ the pirates plunder cities; desecrate the temples
of the gods; and kidnap and kill Roman citizens.
|
[24] The power of the pirates first commenced in Cilicia, having in
truth but a precarious and obscure beginning, but gained life
and boldness afterwards in the wars of Mithridates /21/, where they
hired themselves out, and took employment in the king's
service. Afterwards, whilst the Romans were embroiled in their
civil wars, being engaged against one another even before the
very gates of Rome, the seas lay waste and unguarded, and by
degrees enticed and drew them on not only to seize upon and
spoil the merchants and ships upon the seas, but also to lay
waste the islands and seaport towns. So that now there
embarked with these pirates men of wealth and noble birth and
superior abilities, as if it had been a natural occupation to
gain distinction in. They had divers arsenals, or piratic
harbors, as likewise watch towers and beacons, all along the
sea-coast; and fleets were here received that were well manned
with the finest mariners, and well served with the expertest
pilots, and composed of swift sailing and light-built vessels
adapted for their special purpose. Nor was it merely their
being thus formidable that excited indignation; they were even
more odious for their ostentation than they were feared for
their force. Their ships had gilded masts at their stems; the
sails woven of purple, and the oars plated with silver, as if
their delight were to glory in their iniquity. There was
nothing but music and dancing, banqueting and revels, all along
the shore. Officers in command were taken prisoners, and
cities put under contribution, to the reproach and dishonor of
the Roman supremacy. There were of these corsairs above one
thousand sail, and they had taken no less than four hundred
cities, committing sacrilege upon the temples of the gods, and
enriching themselves with the spoils of many never violated
before, such as were those of Claros, Didyma, and Samothrace;
and the temple of the Earth in Hermione, and that of
Aesculapius in Epidaurus, those of Neptune at the Isthmus, at
Taenarus, and at Calauria; those of Apollo at Actium and
Leucas, and those of Juno, in Samos, at Argos, and at Lacinium.
They themselves offered strange sacrifices upon Mount Olympus,
and performed certain secret rites or religious mysteries,
among which those of Mithras have been preserved to our own
time, having received their previous institution from them.
But besides these insolencies by sea, they were also injurious
to the Romans by land; for they would often go inland up the
roads, plundering and destroying their villages and
country-houses. And once they seized upon two Roman praetors,
Sextilius and Bellinus, in their purple-edged robes, and
carried them off together with their officers and lictors. The
daughter also of Antonius, a man that had had the honor of a
triumph, taking a journey into the country, was seized, and
redeemed upon payment of a large ransom. But it was most
abusive of all, that when any of the captives declared himself
to be a Roman and told his name, they affected to be surprised,
and feigning fear, smote their thighs and fell down at his
feet, humbly beseeching him to be gracious and forgive them.
The captive seeing them so humble and suppliant, believed them
to be in earnest; and some of them now would proceed to put
Roman shoes on his feet, and to dress him in a Roman gown, to
prevent, they said, his being mistaken another time. After all
this pageantry, when they had thus deluded and mocked him long
enough, at last putting out a ship's ladder, when they were in
the midst of the sea, they told him he was free to go, and
wished him a pleasant journey; and if he resisted, they
themselves threw him overboard, and drowned him.
|
|
¶ Pompey sent out to suppress the pirates, under a proposal to
grant him broad powers at sea and up to 50 miles inland.
|
[25] This piratic power having got the dominion and control of all
the Mediterranean, there was left no place for navigation or
commerce. And this it was which most of all made the Romans,
finding themselves to be extremely straitened in their markets,
and considering that if it should continue, there would be a
dearth and famine in the land, determine at last to send out
Pompey to recover the seas from the pirates. Gabinius, one of
Pompey's friends, preferred a law, whereby there was granted to
him, not only the government of the seas as admiral, but in
direct words, sole and irresponsible sovereignty over all men.
For the decree gave him absolute power and authority in all the
seas within the pillars of Hercules, and in the adjacent
mainland for the space of four hundred furlongs from the sea.
Now there were but few regions in the Roman empire out of that
compass; and the greatest of the nations and most powerful of
the kings were included in the limit. Moreover by this decree
he had a power of selecting fifteen lieutenants out of the
senate, and of assigning to each his province in charge; then
he might take likewise out of the treasury and out of the hands
of the revenue-farmers what moneys he pleased; as also two
hundred sail of ships, with a power to press and levy what
soldiers and seamen he thought fit. When this law was read,
the common people approved of it exceedingly, but the chief men
and most important among the
senators looked upon it as an
exorbitant power, even beyond the reach of envy, but well
deserving their fears. Therefore concluding with themselves
that such unlimited authority was dangerous, they agreed
unanimously to oppose the bill, and all went against it, except
Caesar, who gave his vote for the law, not to gratify Pompey,
but the people, whose favor he had courted underhand from the
beginning, and hoped to compass for himself. The rest
inveighed bitterly against Pompey, insomuch that one of the
consuls told him, that if he was ambitious of the place of
Romulus, he would scarce avoid his end, but he was in danger of
being torn in pieces by the multitude for his speech. Yet when
Catulus stood up to speak against the law, the people in
reverence to him were silent and attentive. And when, after
saying much in the most honorable terms in favor of Pompey, he
proceeded to advise the people in kindness to spare him, and
not to expose a man of his value to such a succession of
dangers and wars, "For," said he, "where could you find another
Pompey, or whom would you have in case you should chance to
lose him?" they all cried out with one voice, "Yourself." And
so
Catulus, finding all his rhetoric ineffectual, desisted.
Then Roscius attempted to speak, but could obtain no hearing,
and made signs with his fingers, intimating, "Not him alone,"
but that there might be a second Pompey or colleague in
authority with him. Upon this, it is said, the multitude being
extremely incensed, made such a loud outcry, that a crow flying
over the market-place at that instant was struck, and drops
down among the crowd; whence it would appear that the cause of
birds falling down to the ground, is not any rupture or
division of the air causing a vacuum, but purely the actual
stroke of the voice, which when carried up in a great mass and
with violence, raises a sort of tempest and billow, as it were,
in the air. /22/
|
|
¶ Pompey receives command of the mission to put down the pirates, 67 B.C.
¶ How Pompey deflects the envy that this grand appointment was bound to
engender.
¶ Pompey's initial success in cleansing much of the Mediterranean
of pirates in a mere 40 days.
¶ Pompey returns to Rome to confront Piso who is depriving
him of supplies and seamen.
|
[26] The assembly broke up for that day; and when the day was come,
on which the bill was to pass by suffrage into a decree, Pompey
went privately into the country; but hearing that it was passed
and confirmed, he resumed again into the city by night, to
avoid the envy that might be occasioned by the concourse of
people that would meet and congratulate him. The next morning
he came abroad and sacrificed to the gods, and having audience
at an open assembly, so handled the matter that they enlarged
his power, giving him many things besides what was already
granted, and almost doubling the preparation appointed in the
former decree. Five hundred ships were manned for him, and an
army raised of one hundred and twenty thousand foot, and five
thousand horse. Twenty-four
senators that had been generals of
armies were appointed to serve as lieutenants under him, and to
these were added two quaestors. Now it happened within this
time that the prices of provisions were much reduced, which
gave an occasion to the joyful people of saying, that the very
name of Pompey had ended the war. However, Pompey in pursuance
of his charge divided all the seas, and the whole Mediterranean
into thirteen parts, allotting a squadron to each, under the
command of his officers; and having thus dispersed his power
into all quarters, and encompassed the pirates everywhere, they
began to fall into his hands by whole shoals, which he seized
and brought into his harbors. As for those that withdrew
themselves betimes, or otherwise escaped his general chase,
they all made to Cilicia, where they hid themselves as in their
hive; against whom Pompey now proceeded in person with sixty of
his best ships, not however until he had first scoured and
cleared all the seas near Rome, the Tyrrhenian, and the
African, and all the waters of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily;
all which he performed in the space of forty days, by his own
indefatigable industry and the zeal of his lieutenants.
|
|
¶ Of Pompey's moderation in not exacting revenge on Piso
when he might have.
¶ Pompey hurries back to the task of pursuing the pirates,
but makes time for a stop in Athens.
|
[27] Pompey met with some interruption in Rome, through the malice
and envy of Piso, the
consul, who had given some check to his
proceedings, by withholding his stores and discharging his
seamen; whereupon he sent his fleet round to
Brundusium,
himself going the nearest way by land through Tuscany to Rome;
which was no sooner known by the people, than they all flocked
out to meet him upon the way, as if they had not sent him out
but few days before. What chiefly excited their joy, was the
unexpectedly rapid change in the markets, which abounded now
with the greatest plenty, so that Piso was in great danger to
have been deprived of his
consulship, Gabinius having a law
ready prepared for that purpose; but Pompey forbade it,
behaving himself as in that, so in all things else, with great
moderation, and when he had made sure of all that he wanted or
desired, he departed for
Brundusium, whence he set sail in
pursuit of the pirates. And though he was straitened in time,
and his hasty voyage forced him to sail by several cities
without touching, yet he would not pass by the city of Athens
unsaluted; but landing there, after he had sacrificed to the
gods, and made an address to the people, as he was returning
out of the city, he read at the gates two epigrams, each in a
single line, written in his own praise; one within the gate: --
Thy humbler thoughts make thee a god the more;
the other without:--
Adieu we bid, who welcome bade before.
|
|
¶ Pompey shrewdly gets some of the pirates to turn themselves in and
betray their fellows, having received from Pompey an offer of mercy.
|
Now because Pompey had shown himself merciful to some of these
pirates that were yet roving in bodies about the seas, having
upon their supplication ordered a seizure of their ships and
persons only, without any further process or severity,
therefore the rest of their comrades in hopes of mercy too,
made their escape from his other commanders, and surrendered
themselves with their wives and children into his protection.
He continued to pardon all that came in, and the rather because
by them he might make discovery of those who fled from his
justice, as conscious that their crimes were beyond an act of
indemnity.
[28] The most numerous and important part of these
conveyed their families and treasures, with all their people
that were unfit for war, into castles and strong forts about
Mount Taurus; but they themselves having well manned their
galleys, embarked for Coracesium in Cilicia, where they
received Pompey and gave him battle. Here they had a final
overthrow, and retired to the land, where they were besieged.
At last, having dispatched their heralds to him with a
submission, they delivered up to his mercy themselves, their
towns, islands, and strong-holds, all which they had so
fortified that they were almost impregnable, and scarcely even
accessible.
|
¶ In the space of three months Pompey ends the threat from piracy.
|
Thus was this war ended, and the whole power of the pirates at
sea dissolved everywhere in the space of three months, wherein,
besides a great number of other vessels, he took ninety
men-of-war with brazen beaks; and likewise prisoners of war to
the number of no less than twenty thousand.
| |
¶ Pompey makes good his offer of clemency, settling the
former pirates in villages.
|
As regarded the disposal of these prisoners, he never so much
as entertained the thought of putting them to death; and yet it
might be no less dangerous on the other hand to disperse them,
as they might reunite and make head again, being numerous,
poor, and warlike. Therefore wisely weighing with himself,
that man by nature is not a wild or unsocial creature, neither
was he born so, but makes himself what he naturally is not, by
vicious habit; and that again on the other side, he is
civilized and grows gentle by a change of place, occupation,
and manner of life, as beasts themselves that are wild by
nature, become tame and tractable by housing and gentler usage,
upon this consideration he determined to translate these
pirates from sea to land, and give them a taste of an honest
and innocent course of life, by living in towns, and tilling
the ground. Some therefore were admitted into the small and
half-peopled towns of the Cilicians, who for an enlargement of
their territories, were willing to receive them. Others he
planted in the city of the Solians, which had been lately laid
waste by Tigranes, king of Armenia, and which he now restored.
But the largest number were settled in Dyme, the town of
Achaea, at that time extremely depopulated, and possessing an
abundance of good land.
| |
¶ Pompey's good conduct is marred by his envy of Metellus.
|
[29] However, these proceedings could not escape the envy and
censure of his enemies; and the course he took against Metellus
in Crete was disapproved of even by the chiefest of his
friends. For Metellus, a relation of Pompey's former colleague
in Spain, had been sent praetor into Crete, before this
province of the seas was assigned to Pompey. Now Crete was the
second source of pirates next to Cilicia, and Metellus having
shut up a number of them in their strong-holds there, was
engaged in reducing and extirpating them. Those that were yet
remaining and besieged sent their supplications to Pompey, and
invited him into the island as a part of his province, alleging
it to fall, every part of it, within the distance from the sea
specified in his commission, and so within the precincts of his
charge. Pompey receiving the submission, sent letters to
Metellus, commanding him to leave off the war; and others in
like manner to the cities, in which he charged them not to
yield any obedience to the commands of Metellus. And after
these, he sent Lucius Octavius, one of his lieutenants, to act
as general, who entering the besieged fortifications, and
fighting in defense of the pirates, rendered Pompey not odious
only, but even ridiculous too; that he should lend his name as
a guard to a nest of thieves, that knew neither god nor law,
and make his reputation serve as a sanctuary to them, only out
of pure envy and
emulation /23/ to Metellus. For neither was
Achilles thought to act the part of a man, but rather of a mere
boy, mad after glory, when by signs he forbade the rest of the
Greeks to strike at Hector:--
"for fear
Some other hand should give the blow, and he
Lose the first honor of the victory."
| |
¶ Shamefully, Pompey succored Rome's enemies rather than see another
get credit for reducing them.
|
Whereas Pompey even sought to preserve the common enemies of
the world, only that he might deprive a Roman praetor, after
all his labors, of the honor of a triumph. Metellus however
was not daunted, but prosecuted the war against the pirates,
expelled them from their strongholds and punished them; and
dismissed Octavius with the insults and reproaches of the whole
camp.
| |
¶ The pirates being reduced to submission, Manilius proposes a law to give Pompey command in the war
against Mithridates, in place of
Lucullus, 66 B.C.
|
[30] When the news came to Rome that the war with the pirates was at
an end, and that Pompey was unoccupied, diverting himself in
visits to the cities for want of employment, one Manlius [read "Manilius"], a
tribune of the people, preferred a law that Pompey should have
all the forces of
Lucullus, and the provinces under his
government, together with Bithynia, which was under the command
of Glabrio; and that he should forthwith conduct the war
against the two kings, Mithridates and Tigranes, retaining
still the same naval forces and the sovereignty of the seas as
before. But this was nothing less than to constitute one
absolute monarch of all the Roman empire. For the provinces
which seemed to be exempt from his commission by the former
decree, such as were Phrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Cilicia, the upper Colchis, and Armenia, were all added in by
this latter law, together with all the troops and forces with
which
Lucullus had defeated Mithridates and Tigranes. And
though
Lucullus was thus simply robbed of the glory of his
achievements in having a successor assigned him, rather to the
honor of his triumph, than the danger of the war /24/; yet this was
of less moment in the eyes of the aristocratical party, though
they could not but admit the injustice and ingratitude to
Lucullus. But their great grievance was, that the power of
Pompey should be converted into a manifest tyranny; and they
therefore exhorted and encouraged one another privately to bend
all their forces in opposition to this law, and not tamely to
cast away their liberty; yet when the day came on which it was
to pass into a decree, their hearts failed them for fear of the
people, and all were silent except
Catulus, who boldly
inveighed against the law and its proposer, and when he found
that he could do nothing with the people, turned to the
senate,
crying out and bidding them seek out some mountain as their
forefathers had done, and fly to the rocks where they might
preserve their liberty /25/. The law passed into a decree, as it is
said, by the suffrages of all the tribes. And Pompey in his
absence was made lord of almost all that power, which
Sylla only obtained by force of arms, after a conquest of the very
city itself. When Pompey had advice by letters of the decree,
it is said that in the presence of his friends, who came to
give him joy of his honor, he seemed displeased, frowning and
smiting his thigh, and exclaimed as one overburdened, and weary
of government, "Alas, what a series of labors upon labors! If
I am never to end my service as a soldier, nor to escape from
this invidious greatness, and live at home in the country with
my wife, I had better have been an unknown man." But all this
was looked upon as mere trifling, neither indeed could the best
of his friends call it anything else, well knowing that his
enmity with
Lucullus, setting a flame just now to his natural
passion for glory and empire, made him feel more than usually
gratified.
| |
¶ The Manilian Law gave Pompey command over the territories subdued by
Lucullus.
¶ Lucullus reproaches Pompey for ambition;
Pompey indicts Lucullus of greed.
|
[31] As indeed appeared not long afterwards by his actions, which
clearly unmasked him; for in the first place, he sent out his
proclamations into all quarters, commanding the soldiers to
join him, and summoned all the tributary kings and princes
within his charge; and in short, as soon as he had entered upon
his province, he left nothing unaltered that had been done and
established by
Lucullus. To some he remitted their penalties,
and deprived others of their rewards, and acted in all respects
as if with the express design that the admirers of
Lucullus
might know that all his authority was at an end.
Lucullus
expostulated by friends, and it was thought fitting that there
should be a meeting betwixt them; and accordingly they met in
the country of Galatia. As they were both great and successful
generals, their officers bore their rods before them all
wreathed with branches of laurel;
Lucullus came through a
country full of green trees and shady woods, but Pompey's march
was through a cold and barren district. Therefore the lictors
of
Lucullus, perceiving that Pompey's laurels were withered and
dry, helped him to some of their own, and adorned and crowned
his rods with fresh laurels. This was thought ominous, and
looked as if Pompey came to take away the reward and honor of
Lucullus's victories.
Lucullus had the priority in the order
of
consulships, and also in age; but Pompey's two triumphs made
him the greater man. Their first addresses in this interview
were dignified and friendly, each magnifying the other's
actions, and offering congratulations upon his success. But
when they came to the matter of their conference or treaty,
they could agree on no fair or equitable terms of any kind, but
even came to harsh words against each other, Pompey upbraiding
Lucullus with avarice, and
Lucullus retorting ambition upon
Pompey, so that their friends could hardly part them.
Lucullus, remaining in Galatia, made a distribution of the
lands within his conquests, and gave presents to whom he
pleased; and Pompey encamping not far distant from him, sent
out his prohibitions, forbidding the execution of any of the
orders of
Lucullus, and commanded away all his soldiers, except
sixteen hundred, whom he thought likely to be unserviceable to
himself, being disorderly and mutinous, and whom he knew to be
hostile to
Lucullus /26/; and to these acts he added satirical
speeches, detracting openly from the glory of his actions, and
giving out, that the battles of
Lucullus had been but with the
mere stage-shows and idle pictures of royal pomp, whereas the
real war against a genuine army, disciplined by defeat, was
reserved to him, Mithridates having now begun to be in earnest,
and having betaken himself to his shields, swords, and horses.
Lucullus, on the other side, to be even with him, replied, that
Pompey came to fight with the mere image and shadow of war, it
being his usual practice, like a lazy bird of prey, to come
upon the carcass, when others had slain the dead, and to tear
in pieces the relics of a war. Thus he had appropriated to
himself the victories over Sertorius, over
Lepidus, and over
the insurgents under Spartacus; whereas this last had been
achieved by
Crassus, that obtained by
Catulus, and the first
won by Metellus. And therefore it was no great wonder, that
the glory of the Pontic and Armenian war should be usurped by a
man who had condescended to any artifices to work himself into
the honor of a triumph over a few runaway slaves.
| |
¶ Pompey marches against Mithridates.
|
[32] After this
Lucullus went away, and Pompey having placed his
whole navy in guard upon the seas betwixt Phoenicia and
Bosporus, himself marched against Mithridates, who had a
phalanx of thirty thousand foot, with two thousand horse, yet
durst not bid him battle. He had encamped upon a strong
mountain where it would have been hard to attack him, but
abandoned it in no long time, as destitute of water. No sooner
was he gone but Pompey occupied it, and observing the plants
that were thriving there, together with the hollows which he
found in several places, conjectured that such a plot could not
be without springs, and therefore ordered his men to sink wells
in every corner. After which there was, in a little time,
great plenty of water throughout all the camp, insomuch that he
wondered how it was possible for Mithridates to be ignorant of
this, during all that time of his encampment there. After this
Pompey followed him to his next camp, and there drawing lines
round about him, shut him in. But he, after having endured a
siege of forty-five days, made his escape secretly, and fled
away with all the best part of his army, having first put to
death all the sick and unserviceable. Not long after Pompey
overtook him again near the banks of the river Euphrates, and
encamped close by him; but fearing lest he should pass over the
river and give him the slip there too, he drew up his army to
attack him at midnight. And at that very time Mithridates, it
is said, saw a vision in his dream foreshowing what should come
to pass. For he seemed to be under sail in the Euxine Sea with
a prosperous gale, and just in view of Bosporus, discoursing
pleasantly with the ship's company, as one overjoyed for his
past danger and present security, when on a sudden he found
himself deserted of all, and floating upon a broken plank of
the ship at the mercy of the sea. Whilst he was thus laboring
under these passions and phantasms, his friends came and awaked
him with the news of Pompey's approach; who was now indeed so
near at hand, that the fight must be for the camp itself, and
the commanders accordingly drew up the forces in battle array.
Pompey perceiving how ready they were and well prepared for
defense, began to doubt with himself whether he should put it
to the hazard of a fight in the dark, judging it more prudent
to encompass them only at present, lest they should fly, and to
give them battle with the advantage of numbers the next day.
But his oldest officers were of another opinion, and by
entreaties and encouragements obtained permission that they
might charge them immediately. Neither was the night so very
dark, but that, though the moon was going down, it yet gave
light enough to discern a body. And indeed this was one
especial disadvantage to the king's army. For the Romans
coming upon them with the moon on their backs, the moon, being
very low, and just upon setting, cast the shadows a long way
before their bodies, reaching almost to the enemy, whose eyes
were thus so much deceived that not exactly discerning the
distance, but imagining them to be near at hand, they threw
their darts at the shadows, without the least execution. The
Romans therefore perceiving this, ran in upon them with a great
shout; but the barbarians, all in a panic, unable to endure the
charge, turned and fled, and were put to great slaughter, above
ten thousand being slain; the camp also was taken. As for
Mithridates himself, he at the beginning of the onset, with a
body of eight hundred horse charged through the Roman army, and
made his escape. But before long all the rest dispersed, some
one way, some another, and he was left only with three persons,
among whom was his concubine, Hypsicratia, a girl always of a
manly and daring spirit, and the king called her on that
account Hypsicrates. She being attired and mounted like a
Persian horseman, accompanied the king in all his flight, never
weary even in the longest journey, nor ever failing to attend
the king in person, and look after his horse too, until they
came to Inora, a castle of the king's, well stored with gold
and treasure. From thence Mithridates took his richest
apparel, and gave it among those that had resorted to him in
their flight; and to every one of his friends he gave a deadly
poison, that they might not fall into the power of the enemy
against their wills. From thence he designed to have gone to
Tigranes in Armenia, but being prohibited by Tigranes, who put
out a proclamation with a reward of one hundred talents to any
one that should apprehend him, he passed by the head-waters of
the river Euphrates, and fled through the country of Colchis.
| |
¶ The Armenian campaign.
|
[33] Pompey in the meantime made an invasion into Armenia, upon the
invitation of young Tigranes, who was now in rebellion against
his father, and gave Pompey a meeting about the river Araxes,
which rises near the head of Euphrates, but turning its course
and bending towards the east, falls into the Caspian Sea. They
two, therefore, marched together through the country, taking in
all the cities by the way, and receiving their submission. But
king Tigranes, having lately suffered much in the war with
Lucullus, and understanding that Pompey was of a kind and
gentle disposition, admitted Roman troops into his royal
palaces, and taking along with him his friends and relations,
went in person to surrender himself into the hands of Pompey.
He came as far as the trenches on horseback, but there he was
met by two of Pompey's lictors, who commanded him to alight and
walk on foot, for no man ever was seen on horseback within a
Roman camp. Tigranes submitted to this immediately, and not
only so, but loosing his sword, delivered up that too; and last
of all, as soon as he appeared before Pompey, he pulled off his
royal turban, and attempted to have laid it at his feet. Nay,
worst of all, even he himself had fallen prostrate as an humble
suppliant at his knees, had not Pompey prevented it, taking him
by the hand and placing him near him, Tigranes himself on one
side of him and his son upon the other. Pompey now told him
that the rest of his losses were chargeable upon
Lucullus, by
whom he had been dispossessed of Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia,
Galatia, and Sophene; but all that he had preserved to himself
entire till that time he should peaceably enjoy, paying the sum
of six thousand talents as a fine or penalty for injuries done
to the Romans, and that his son should have the kingdom of
Sophene. Tigranes himself was well pleased with these
conditions of peace, and when the Romans saluted him king,
seemed to be overjoyed, and promised to every common soldier
half a mina of silver, to every centurion ten minas, and to
every
tribune a talent; but the son was displeased, insomuch
that when he was invited to supper, he replied, that he did not
stand in need of Pompey for that sort of honor, for he would
find out some other Roman to sup with. Upon this he was put
into close arrest, and reserved for the triumph.
| |
|
Not long after this Phraates, king of Parthia, sent to Pompey,
and demanded to have young Tigranes, as his son-in-law, given
up to him, and that the river Euphrates should be the boundary
of the empires. Pompey replied, that for Tigranes, he belonged
more to his own natural father than his father-in-law, and for
the boundaries, he would take care that they should be
according to right and justice.
| |
¶ Pompey subdues the Asiatic Iberians and Albanians, 66 B.C.
|
[34] So Pompey, leaving Armenia in the custody of Afranius, went
himself in chase of Mithridates; to do which he was forced of
necessity to march through several nations inhabiting about
Mount Caucasus. Of these the Albanians and Iberians were the
two chiefest. The Iberians stretch out as far as the Moschian
mountains and the Pontus; the Albanians lie more eastwardly,
and towards the Caspian Sea. These Albanians at first
permitted Pompey, upon his request, to pass through the
country; but when winter had stolen upon the Romans whilst they
were still in the country, and they were busy celebrating the
festival of Saturn, they mustered a body of no less than forty
thousand fighting men, and set upon them, having passed over
the rive | |
