It is remarkable, that usury has always occasioned the ruin of the states where it has been tolerated; and it was this disorder which contributed very much to subvert the constitution of the Roman commonwealth, and gave birth to the greatest calamities in all the provinces of that empire.

Lucullus, at this time, applied himself in giving the province of Asia some relaxation, which he could only effect by putting a stop to the injustice and cruelty of the usurers and tax-farmers. The latter, finding themselves deprived by Lucullus of the immense gain they made, raised a great outcry, as if they had been excessively injured, and by the force of money animated many orators against him; particularly confiding in having most of those who governed the republic in their debt, which gave them a very extensive and almost unbounded influence. But Lucullus despised their clamours with a constancy the more admirable from its being very uncommon.

SECTION III.-LUCULLUS DECLARES WAR AGAINST TIGRANES. THE LATTER LOSES TWO BATTLES.

TIGRANES, to whom Lucullus had sent an ambassador, though of no great power in the beginning of his reign, had enlarged it so much by a series of successes, of which there are few examples, that he was commonly surnamed the "king of kings. After having overthrown and almost ruined the family of the kings, successors of Seleucus the Great; after having very often humbled the pride of the Parthians, transported whole cities of Greeks into Media, conquered all Syria and Palestine, and given laws to the Arabians, called Scanites; he reigned with an authority respected by all the princes of Asia. The people paid him honours, after the manner of the East, even to adoration. His pride was inflamed and supported by the immense riches he possessed, by the exces sive and the continual praise of his flatterers, and by a prosperity that had never known any interruption.*

Appius Clodius was introduced to an audience of this prince, who appeared with all the splendour he could display, in order to give the ambassador a higher idea of the royal dignity; who, on his side, uniting the haughtiness of his dis position with that which particularly characterized his republic, perfectly supported the dignity of a Roman ambassador.

After having explained in a few words the subject of complaints which the Romans had against Mithridates, and that prince's breach of faith in violating the peace, without so much as attempting to give any reason or colour for it, he told Tigranes, that he came to demand his being delivered up to him, as due by every sort of title to the triumph of Lucullus: that he did not expect that he, as a friend to the Romans, which he had been till then, would make any difficulty in giving up Mithridates; and, that in case of his refusal, he was instructed to declare war against him.

That prince, who had never been contradicted, and who knew no other law nor rule but his will and pleasure, was extremely offended at this Roman freedom. But he was much more so with the letter of Lucullus when it was delivered to him. The title of king only, which it gave him, did not satisfy him. He had assumed that of "king of kings," of which he was very fond, and had carried his pride in that respect so far as to cause himself to be served by crowned heads. He never appeared in public without having four kings attending him; two on foot, on each side of his horse, when he went abroad; at table, in his chamber, in short every where, he had always some of them to do the lowest offices for him; but especially when he gave audience to ambassadors, for at that time, to give strangers a great idea of his glory and power, he made them all stand in two ranks, one on each side of his throne, where they appeared in the habit and posture of common slaves. A pride so full of absurdity offends all the world; one more refined shocks less, though much the same in its nature.

*A. M. 3934. Ant. J. C. 70. Plut, in Lucul, P. 504-512. p. 228-232.

Memn c. 48-57, Appian. in Mitbrid.

It is not surprising that a prince of this character should bear the manner in which Clodius spoke to him with impatience. It was the first free and sincere speech he had heard, during the five-and-twenty-years he had governed his subjects, or rather tyrannized over them with excessive insolence. He answered, that Mithridates was the father of Cleopatra his wife; that the union between them was of too strict a nature to admit of his delivering him up for the triumph of Lucullus; and that if the Romans were unjust enough to make war against him, he knew how to defend himself, and to make them repent it. To express his resentment by his answer, he directed it only to Lucullus, without adding the usual title of Imperator, or any others commonly given to the Roman generals.

Lucullus, when Clodius reported his commission, and that war had been declared against Tigranes, returned with the utmost diligence into Pontus to commence it. The enterprise seemed rash, and the terrible power of the king astonished all those who relied less upon the valour of the troops and the conduct of the general, than upon a multitude of soldiers. After having made himself master of Sinope, he gave that place its liberty, as he did also to Amisus, and made them both free and independent cities. Cotta did not treat Heraclea, which he took after a long siege of treachery, in the same manner. He enriched himself out of its spoils, treated the inhabitants with excessive cruelty, and burned almost the whole city. On his return to Rome, he was at first well received by the senate, and honoured with the surname of Ponticus, on account of taking that place; but soon after, when the Heracleans had laid their complaints before the senate, and represented, in a manner capable of moving the bardest hearts, the miseries which Cotta's avarice and cruelty had inflicted on them, the senate contented themselves with depriving him of the latus clavus, which was the robe worn by the senators; a slight punishment for the crying excesses proved upon him.*

Lucullus left Sornatius, one of his generals, in Pontus, with six thousand men, and marched with the rest, which amounted only to twelve thousand foot, and three hundred horse, through Cappadocia to the Euphrates. He passed that river in the midst of winter, and afterwards the Tigris, and came before Tigranocerta, which was at some small distance, to attack Tigranes in his capital, where he had lately arrived from Syria. Nobody dared to speak to that prince of Lucullus and his march, after his cruel treatment of the person who brought him the first news of it, whom he put to death in reward for so important a service. He listened to nothing but the discourses of flatterers, who told him that Lucullus must be a great captain, if he only dared wait for him at Ephesus, and did not betake himself to flight and abandon Asia, when he saw the many thousands of which his army was composed. So true it is, says Plutarch, that as all constitutions are not capable of bearing much wine, all minds are not suited to bearing great fortunes without loss of reason and infatuation.

Tigranes at first had not designed so much as to see or speak to Mithridates, though his father-in-law; but treated him with the utmost contempt and arrogance, kept him at a distance, and placed a guard over him as a prisoner of state, in marshy unwholesome places. But after the embassy of Clodius, he had ordered him to be brought to court with all possible honours and marks of respect. In a private conversation which they had together without witnesses, they freed themselves of their mutual suspicions, to the great misfortune of their friends, upon whom they cast all the blame.t

Among those unfortunate persons was Metrodorus, of the city of Sceps s, a man of extraordinary merit, who had so much influence with the king, that he was called the king's father. That prince had sent him on an embassy to Tigranes, to desire aid against the Romans. When he had explained the occasion of his journey, Tigranes asked him, "what would you advise me to do in regard to your master's demands?" Upon which Metrodorus replied, with an

Memn. c. li.-xi.

↑ A. M. 3935. Ant. J. C. 69.

ill-timed sincerity: "As an ambassador, I advise you to do what Mithridates demands of you; but as your counsel, not to do it." This was a criminal prevarication, and a kind of treason. It cost him his life, when Mithridates had been apprized of it by Tigranes.

Lucullus continually advanced against that prince, and was already in a manner at the gates of his palace, without his either knowing or believing any thing of the matter; so much was he blinded by his presumption. Mithrobarzanes, one of his favourites, ventured to carry him that news. The reward he had for it was to be charged with a commission to go immediately with some troops, and bring Lucullus prisoner; as if the question had been only to arrest one of the king's subjects. The favourite, with the greatest part of the troops given him, lost their lives in endeavouring to execute that dangerous commission. This ill success opened the eyes of Tigranes, and made him recover from his infatuation. Mithridates had been sent back into Pontus with ten thousand horse, to raise troops there, and to return and join Tigranes, in case Lucullus entered Armenia. For himself, he had chosen to continue at Tigranocerta, in order to give the necessary orders for raising troops throughout his dominions. After this check, he began to be afraid of Lucullus, quitted Tigranocerta, retired to mount Taurus, and gave orders for all his troops to repair thither to him. Lucullus marched directly to Tigranocerta, took up his quarters around the place, and formed the siege of it. This city was full of all sorts of riches; the inhabitants of all orders and conditions having emulated each other in contributing to its embellishment and magnificence, in order to make their court to the king for this reason, Lucullus pressed the siege with the utmost vigour ; believing that Tigranes would never suffer it to be taken, and that he would come on in a transport of fury to offer him battle, and oblige him to raise the siege. And he was not mistaken in this conjecture. Mithridates sent every day couriers to Tigranes, and wrote him letters, to advise him in the strongest terms not to hazard a battle, and only to make use of his cavalry in cutting off provisions from Lucullus. Taxiles himself was sent by him with the same instructions, who, staying with him in his camp, earnestly entreated him every day, not to attack the Roman armies, as they were excellently disciplined, veteran soldiers, and almost invincible.

At first, he hearkened patiently to this advice. But when his troops, consisting of a great number of different nations, were assembled, not only the king's feasts, but his councils, resounded with nothing but vain bravadoes, full of insolence, pride, and barbarian menaces. Taxiles was in danger of losing his life for having ventured to oppose the advice of those who were for a battle; and Mithridates himself was openly accused of opposing it only out of envy, to deprive his son-in-law of the glory of so great a success.

In this conceit Tigranes determined to wait no longer, lest Mithridates should arrive and share with him in the honour of the victory. He therefore marched with all his forces, telling his friends, that he was only sorry on one account, and that was, his having to do with Lucullus alone, and not with all the Roman generals together. He measured his hopes of success by the number of his troops. He had about twenty thousand archers and slingers, fifty-five thousand horse, seventeen thousand of which were heavy-armed cavalry, one hundred and fifty thousand foot, divided into companies and battalions, besides workmen to clear the roads, build bridges, cleanse and turn the course of rivers, with other la bourers necessary in armies, to the number of thirty-five thousand, who, drawn up in order of battle behind the combatants, made the army appear still more numerous, and augmented its force and his confidence.

When he had passed Mount Taurus, and all his troops appeared together in the plains, the sight alone of his army was sufficient to strike terror into the most daring enemy. Lucullus, always intrepid, divided his troops. He left Murena with six thousand foot before the place, and with all the rest of his infantry, consisting of twenty-four cohorts, which together did not amount to more than ten or twelve thousand men, all his horse, and about one thousand archers and

365

slingers, marched against Tigranes, and encamped on the plain, with a large river in his front.

This handful of men made Tigranes laugh, and supplied his flatterers with great matter for pleasantry. Some openly jested upon them; others, by way of diversion drew lots for the spoils; and of all the generals of Tigranes, and the kings in his army, there was not one who did not entreat him to give the charge of that affair to him alone, and content himself with being only a spectator of the action. Tigranes himself, to appear agreeable, and a fine rallier, used an expression, which has been much admired; "If they come as ambassadors, they are a great many; but if as enemies, very few." Thus the first day passed in jesting and raillery.

The next morning at sunrise, Lucullus made his army march out of their intrenchments. That of the barbarians was on the other side of the river toward the east; and the river ran in such a manner, that a little below it turned off to the left toward the west, where it might be easily forded. Lucullus, in leading his army to this ford, inclined also to the left, toward the lower part of the river, hastening his march. Tigranes, who saw him, believed he fled; and calling for Taxiles, said to him with a contemptuous laugh, "Do you see those invincible Roman legions? You see they can run away." Taxiles replied, "I wish your majesty's good fortune may this day do a miracle in your favour; but the arms and march of those legions do not argue people running away."

Taxiles was still speaking, when he saw the eagles of the first legions move on a sudden to the right-about, by the command of Lucullus, followed by all the cohorts, in order to pass the river. Tigranes, recovering then with difficulty, like one that had been long drunk, cried out two or three times, "How! are those people coming to us? They came on so fast, that his numerous troops did not post themselves, nor draw up in battle, without great disorder and confusion. Tigranes placed himself in the centre; gave the left wing to the king of the Adiabenians, and the right to the king of the Medes. The greatest part of the heavy-armed horse covered the front of the right wing.

As Lucullus was preparing to pass the river, some of his general officers advised him not to engage upon that day, it being one of those unfortunate days which the Romans called black days; for it was the same upon which the army of Cepio* had been defeated in the battle with the Cimbri. Lucullus made them this answer, which afterwards became so famous; "I will make this a happy day for the Romans." It was the sixth of October, the day before the nones of October.

After having made that reply, and exhorted them not to be discouraged, he passed the river, and marched foremost against the enemy. He was armed with a steel cuirass, made in the form of scales, which glittered surprisingly under his coat of arms bordered all around with a fringe. He carried his naked sword in his hand, to intimate to his troops that it was necessary to join an enemy im. mediately, accustomed to fight only at a distance with their arrows, and to deprive them, by the swiftness and impetuosity of the attack, of the space required for the use of them.

Perceiving that the heavy-armed cavalry, upon whom the enemy very much relied, were drawn up at the foot of a little hill, the summit of which was flat and level, and the declivity of not more than five hundred paces, not much broken nor very difficult, he saw at first view what use he had to make of it. He commanded his Thracian and Gallatian horse to charge that body of the enemy's cavalry in flank, with orders only to turn aside their lances with their swords. For the principal, or rather whole force of those heavy-armed horse, consisted in their lances, which, when they had not room to use, they could do nothing either against the enemy or for themselves; their arms being so heavy, stiff, and cumbersome, that they could not turn themselves, and were almost immoveable.

The Greek text says, the army of Scipio, which Monsieur de Thou has justly corrected in the margin of his Plutarch, the army of Cepio.

While his cavalry marched to execute his orders, he took two cohorts of foot, and went to gain the eminence. The infantry followed courageously, excited by the example of their general, whom they saw marching foremost on foot, and ascending the hill. When he was at the top he showed himself from the highest part of it; and seeing from thence the whole order of the enemy's battle, he cried out," the victory is ours, fellow soldiers, the victory is ours." At the same time, with his two cohorts he advanced against that heavy-armed cavalry, and ordered his troops not to make use of their pikes, but join those horse, sword in hand, and strike upon their legs and thighs, which were the only unarmed parts about them. But his soldiers had not so much trouble with them. That cavalry did not wait their coming on, but shamefully took to flight; and howling as they fled, fell with their heavy unwieldly horses into the ranks of their foot, without joining battle at all, or so much as making a single thrust with their lances. The slaughter did not commence until they began to fly, or rather to attempt to fy; for they could not do so, being prevented by their own battalions, whose ranks were so close and deep, that they could not break their way through them. Tigranes, that king so lofty and brave in words, had taken to flight at the commencement, with a few followers; and seeing his son, the companion of his fortune, he took off his diadem, weeping, and giving it him, exhorted him to save himself as well as he could, by another route. That young prince was afraid to put the diadem upon his head, which would have been a dangerous ornament at such a time, and gave it into the hands of one of the most faithful of his servants, who was taken a moment after, and carried to Lucullus.

It is said, that in this defeat, more than one hundred thousand of the enemy's foot perished, and that very few of their horse escaped. On the side of the Romans, only five were killed and one hundred wounded. They had never engaged in a pitched battle so great a number of enemies with so few troops; for the victors did not amount to the twentieth part of the vanquished. The greatest and most able Roman generals, who had seen most wars and battles, gave Lucullus particular praises, for having defeated two of the greatest and most powerful kings in the world, by two entirely different methods, delay and expedition; for, by protracting and spinning out the war, he exhausted Mithridates when he was strongest and most formidable; and ruined Tigranes, by making haste, and not giving him time to look about him. It has been remarked, that few captains have known how, like him, to make slowness active, and haste sure.

It was this latter conduct that prevented Mithridates from being present in the battle. He imagined Lucullus would use the same precaution and protraction against Tigranes, as he had done against himself. So that he marched but slowly, and by small day's journeys, to join Tigranes. But having met some Armenians on the way, who fled with the utmost terror and consternation, he suspected what had happened; and afterwards meeting a much greater number, was fully informed of the defeat, and went in search of Tigranes. He found him at length, abandoned by all the world, and in a very deplorable condition. Far from returning his ungenerous treatment, and insulting Tigranes in his misfortunes as he had done him, he quitted his horse, lamented their common disgraces, gave him the guard that attended, and the officers that served him, consoled, encouraged him, and revived his hopes so that Mithridates, upon this occasion, showed himself not entirely void of humanity. Both applied themselves to raising new troops on all sides.

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In the mean time a furious sedition arose at Tigranocerta; the Greeks having mutinied against the barbarians, and determined at all events to deliver the city to Lucullus. That sedition was at the highest when he arrived there. He took advantage of the occasion, ordered the assault to be given, took the city, and after having seized all the king's treasures, abandoned it to be plundered by the soldiers; who, besides other riches, found in it eight thousand talents of coined silver. Besides this plunder, he gave each soldier eight hundred drachmas, which, with all the booty they had taken, did not suffice to satisfy their insatiable avidity.