ἀμέλει δὲ καὶ τὰ ἔργα ταχέως αὑτὸν ἀπεκάλυπτε, πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἐκτιθεὶς διαγράμματα τοὺς στρατιώτας ἀνεκαλεῖτο καὶ μετεπέμπετο τοὺς ὑπηκόους δυνάστας καὶ βασιλεῖς ὡς ἑαυτόν, ἐπιών τε τὴν χώραν οὐδὲν ἀκίνητον εἴα τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Λευκόλλου γεγονότων, ἀλλὰ καὶ κολάσεις ἀνῆκε πολλοῖς καὶ δωρεὰς ἀφείλετο καὶ πάντα ὅλως ἔπραττεν ἐπιδεῖξαι τὸν ἄνδρα φιλονεικῶν τοῖς θαυμάζουσιν οὐδενὸς ὄντα κύριον.
And certainly his actions soon unmasked him. For he sent out edicts in all directions calling the soldiers to his standard, and summoned the subject potentates and kings into his presence. Moreover, as he traversed the country, he left nothing undisturbed that Lucullus had done, but remitted punishments in many cases, and took away rewards, and did everything, in a word, with an eager desire to show the admirers of that general that he was wholly without power.
ἐγκαλοῦντος δʼ ἐκεῖνον διὰ τῶν φίλων, ἔδοξε συνελθεῖν εἰς ταὐτό· καὶ συνῆλθον περὶ τὴν Γαλατίαν. οἷα δὲ μεγίστων στρατηγῶν καὶ μέγιστα κατωρθωκότων δάφναις ἀνεστεμμένας ἔχοντες ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰς ῥάβδους οἱ ὑπηρέται ἀπήντων ἀλλὰ Λεύκολλος μὲν ἐκ τόπων χλοερῶν καὶ κατασκίων προσῄει, Πομπήϊος δὲ πολλὴν ἄδενδρον καὶ κατεψυγμένην ἔτυχε διεληλυθώς.
Lucullus expostulated through his friends, and it was decided that they should have a meeting; they met, therefore, in Galatia. And since both were very great and very successful generals, their lictors had their rods alike wreathed with laurel when they met; but Lucullus was advancing from green and shady regions, while Pompey chanced to have made a long march through a parched and treeless country.
ἰδόντες οὖν οἱ τοῦ Λευκόλλου ῥαβδοφόροι τὸν Πομπηΐου τὰς δάφνας ἀθαλλεῖς καὶ μεμαραμμένας παντάπασιν, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων προσφάτων οὐσῶν μεταδιδόντες ἐπεκόσμησαν καὶ κατέστεψαν τὰς ἐκεῖνον ῥάβδους. ὃ σημεῖον ἔδοξεν εἶναι τοῦ τὰ Λευκόλλου νικητήρια καὶ τὴν δόξαν οἰσόμενον ἔρχεσθαι Πομπήϊον.
Accordingly, when the lictors of Lucullus saw that Pompey’s laurels were withered and altogether faded, they took some of their own, which were fresh, and with them wreathed and decorated his rods. This was held to be a sign that Pompey was coming to rob Lucullus of the fruits of his victories and of his glory.
ἦν δὲ Λεύκολλος μὲν ἐν ὑπατείας τε τάξει καὶ καθʼ ἡλικίαν πρεσβύτερος, τὸ δὲ τὸν Πομπηΐου μεῖζον ἀξίωμα τοῖς δνσὶ θριάμβοις. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ τὴν πρώτην ἔντευξιν ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα πολιτικῶς καὶ φιλοφρόνως ἐποιήσαντο, μεγαλύνοντες ἀλλήλων τὰ ἔργα καὶ συνηδόμενοι τοῖς κατορθώμασιν ἐν δὲ τοῖς λόγοις πρὸς οὐδὲν ἐπιεικὲς οὐδὲ μέτριον συμβάντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ λοιδορήσαντες, ὁ μὲν εἰς φιλαργυρίαν τὸν Λεύκολλον, ὁ δὲ εἰς φιλαρχίαν ἐκεῖνον, ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων μόλις διελύθησαν.
Now, Lucullus had been consul before Pompey, and was older than he; but Pompey’s two triumphs gave him a greater dignity. At first, however, their interview was conducted with all possible civility and friendliness, each magnifying the other’s exploits and congratulating him on his successes; but in the conferences which followed they could come to no fair or reasonable agreement, nay, they actually abused each other, Pompey charging Lucullus with love of money, and Lucullus charging Pompey with love of power, and they were with difficulty separated by their friends.
καὶ Λεύκολλος μὲν ἐν Γαλατίᾳ διέγραψε χώρας τῆς αἰχμαλώτου καὶ δωρεὰς ἄλλας οἷς ἐβούλετο, Πομπήϊος δὲ μικρὸν ἀπωτέρω στρατοπεδεύσας ἐκώλυε προσέχειν αὐτῷ, καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἅπαντας ἀφείλετο πλὴν χιλίων ἑξακοσίων, οὓς ἐνόμιζεν ὑπʼ αὐθαδείας ἀχρήστους μὲν ἑαυτῷ, τῷ Λευκόλλῳ δὲ δυσμενεῖς εἶναι.
Furthermore, Lucullus, remaining in Galatia, assigned parts of the conquered territory and made other gifts to whom he pleased; while Pompey, encamped at a little distance from him, tried to prevent any attention to his commands, and took away all his soldiers from him, except sixteen hundred, whose mutinous spirit made them, as he thought, useless to himself and hostile to Lucullus.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις διασύρων τὰ ἔργα ἐμφανῶς ἔλεγε τραγῳδίαις καὶ σκιαγραφίαις πεπολεμηκέναι βασιλικαῖς τὸν Λεύκολλον, αὑτῷ δὲ πρὸς ἀληθινὴν καὶ σεσωφρονισμένην τὸν ἀγῶνα λείπεσθαι δύναμιν, εἰς θυρεοὺς καὶ ξίφη καὶ ἵππους Μιθριδάτου καταφεύγοντος, ἀμυνόμενος δὲ ὁ Λεύκολλος εἰδώλῳ καὶ σκιᾷ πολέμου τὸν Πομπήϊον ἔφη μαχούμενον βαδίζειν, εἰθισμένον ἀλλοτρίοις νεκροῖς, ὥσπερ ὄρνιν ἀργόν, ἐπικαταίρειν καὶ λείψανα πολέμων σπαράσσειν.
Besides this, he would belittle the achievements of Lucullus, declaring that he had waged war against mimic and shadowy kings only, while to himself there was now left the struggle against a real military force, and one disciplined by defeat, since Mithridates had now betaken himself to shields, swords, and horses. To this Lucullus retorted that Pompey was going forth to fight an image and shadow of war, following his custom of alighting, like a lazy carrion-bird, on bodies that others had killed, and tearing to pieces the scattered remnants of wars.
οὕτω γὰρ αὑτὸν ἐπιγράψαι Σερτωρίῳ, Λεπίδῳ, τοῖς Σπαρτακείοις, τὰ μὲν Κράσσου, τὰ δὲ Μετέλλου, τὰ δὲ Κάτλου κατωρθωκότος. ὅθεν οὐ θαυμάζειν εἰ τῶν Ἀρμενιακῶν καὶ Ποντικῶν πολέμων ὑποβάλλεται τὴν δόξαν, ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν εἰς δραπετικὸν θρίαμβον ἁμῶς γέ πως ἐμβαλεῖν μηχανησάμενος.
For it was in this way that he had appropriated to himself the victories over Sertorius, Lepidus, and the followers of Spartacus, although they had actually been won by Metellus, Catulus, and Crassus. Therefore it was no wonder that he was trying to usurp the glory of the Pontic and Armenian wars, a man who had contrived to thrust himself in some way or other into the honour of a triumph for defeating runaway slaves.
ἐκ τούτου Λεύκολλος μὲν ἀπῆρε, Πομπήϊος δὲ τῷ στόλῳ παντὶ τὴν μεταξὺ Φοινίκης καὶ Βοσπόρου θάλασσαν ἐπὶ φρουρᾷ διαλαβών, αὐτὸς ἐβάδιζεν ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτην, ἔχοντα τρισμυρίους πεζοὺς ἐν φάλαγγι καὶ δισχιλίους ἱππεῖς, μάχεσθαι δὲ μὴ θαρροῦντα.
After this, Lucullus withdrew from those parts, and Pompey, having distributed his whole fleet so as to guard the sea between Phoenicia and the Bosporus, himself marched against Mithridates, who had a fighting force of thirty thousand foot and two thousand horse, but did not dare to offer battle.
καὶ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοῦ καρτερὸν ὄρος καὶ δύσμαχον, ἐν ᾧ στρατοπεδεύων ἔτυχεν, ὡς ἄνυδρον ἐκλιπόντος, αὐτὸ τοῦτο κατασχὼν ὁ Πομπήϊος, καὶ τῇ φύσει τῶν βλαστανόντων καὶ ταῖς συγκλινίαις τῶν τόπων τεκμαιρόμενος ἔχειν πηγὰς τὸ χωρίον, ἐκέλευσεν ἐκβαλεῖν πανταχοῦ φρέατα, καὶ μεστὸν ἦν εὐθὺς ὕδατος ἀφθόνου τὸ στρατόπεδον, ὥστε θαυμάζειν εἰ τῷ παντὶ χρόνῳ τοῦτο Μιθριδάτης ἠγνόησεν.
To begin with, the king was strongly encamped on a mountain which was difficult of assault, but abandoned it, supposing that it had no water. Pompey took possession of this very mountain, and judging by the nature of the vegetation and by the channels in the slopes that the place had springs, ordered his men to sink wells everywhere. At once, then, his camp was abundantly supplied with water, and men wondered that in all the time of his encampment there Mithridates had been ignorant of this possibility.
ἔπειτα περιστρατοπεδεύσας περιετείχιζεν αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ πέντε καὶ τετταράκοντα πολιορκηθεὶς ἡμέρας ἔλαθεν ἀποδρὰς μετὰ τῆς ἐρρωμενεστάτης δυνάμεως, κτείνας τοὺς ἀχρήστους καὶ νοσοῦντας. εἶτα μέντοι περὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην καταλαβὼν αὐτὸν ὁ Πομπήϊος παρεστρατοπέδευσε· καὶ δεδιὼς μὴ φθάσῃ περάσας τὸν Εὐφράτην, ἐκ μέσων νυκτῶν ἐπῆγεν ὠιτλισμένην τὴν στρατιάν·
Next, he invested the king’s camp and walled him in. But after enduring a siege of forty-five days, Mithridates succeeded in stealing off with his most effective troops; the sick and unserviceable he killed. Then, however, Pompey overtook him near the Euphrates river, and encamped close by; and fearing lest the king should get the advantage of him by crossing the Euphrates, he put his army in battle array and led it against him at midnight.
καθʼ ὃν χρόνον λέγεται τὸν Μιθριδάτην ὄψιν ἐν ὕπνοις ἰδεῖν τὰ μέλλοντα προδηλοῦσαν. ἐδόκει γὰρ οὐρίῳ πνεύματι πλέων τὸ Ποντικὸν πέλαγος ἤδη Βόσπορον καθορᾶν καὶ φιλοφρονεῖσθαι τοὺς συμπλέοντας, ὡς ἄν τις ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ σαφεῖ καὶ βεβαίῳ χαίρων ἄφνω δὲ ἀναφανῆναι πάντων ἔρημος ἐπὶ λεπτοῦ ναυαγίου διαφερόμενος. ἐν τοιούτοις δὲ αὐτὸν ὄντα πάθεσι καὶ φάσμασιν ἐπιστάντες ἀνέστησαν οἱ φίλοι, φράζοντες ἐπιέναι Πομπήϊον.
At this time Mithridates is said to have seen a vision in his sleep, revealing what should come to pass. He dreamed that he was sailing the Pontic Sea with a fair wind, and was already in sight of the Bosporus, and was greeting pleasantly his fellow-voyagers, as a man would do in his joy over a manifest and sure deliverance; but suddenly he saw himself bereft of all his companions and tossed about on a small piece of wreckage. As he dreamed of such distress, his friends came to his couch and roused him with the news that Pompey was advancing to the attack.
ἦν οὖν ἐξ ἀνάγκης μαχητέον ὑπὲρ τοῦ χάρακος, καὶ προαγαγόντες οἱ στρατηγοὶ τὴν δύναμιν ἔταξαν, αἰσθόμενος δὲ τὴν παρασκευὴν αὐτῶν ὁ Πομπήϊος ὤκνει κατὰ σκότος εἰς κίνδυνον ἐλθεῖν, καὶ κύκλῳ μόνον ᾤετο δεῖν περιελαύνειν, ὅπως μὴ φεύγοιεν, ἡμέρας δὲ κρείττους ὄντας ἐπιχειρεῖν. οἱ δὲ πρεσβύτατοι τῶν ταξιαρχῶν δεόμενοι καὶ παρακαλοῦντες ἐξώρμησαν αὐτόν οὐδὲ γὰρ σκότος ἦν παντάπασιν, ἀλλὰ ἡ σελήνη καταφερομένη παρεῖχεν ἔτι τῶν σωμάτων ἱκανὴν ἔποψιν. καὶ τοῦτο μάλιστα τοὺς βασιλικοὺς ἔσφηλεν.
He was therefore compelled to give battle in defence of his camp, and his generals led out their troops and put them in array. But when Pompey perceived their preparations to meet him, he hesitated to hazard matters in the dark, and thought it necessary merely to surround them, in order to prevent their escape, and then to attack them when it was day, since they were superior in numbers. But his oldest officers, by their entreaties and exhortations, prevailed upon him to attack at once; for it was not wholly dark, but the moon, which was setting, made it still possible to distinguish persons clearly enough; indeed, it was this circumstance that brought most harm to the king’s troops.
ἐπῄεσαν μὲν γὰρ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι κατὰ νώτου τὴν σελήνην ἔχοντες· πεπιεσμένου δὲ περὶ τὰς δύσεις τοῦ φωτός, αἱ σκιαὶ πολὺ τῶν σωμάτων ἔμπροσθεν προϊοῦσαι τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐπέβαλλον, οὐ δυναμένοις τὸ διάστημα συνιδεῖν ἀκριβῶς ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐν χερσὶν ἤδη γεγονότων τοὺς ὑσσοὺς ἀφέντες μάτην οὐδενὸς ἐφίκοντο.
For the Romans came to the attack with the moon at their backs, and since her light was close to the horizon, the shadows made by their bodies were thrown far in advance and fell upon the enemy, who were thus unable to estimate correctly the distance between themselves and their foes, but supposing that they were already at close quarters, they hurled their javelins to no purpose and hit nobody.
τοῦτο συνιδόντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι μετὰ κραυγῆς ἐπέδραμον, καὶ μηκέτι μένειν τολμῶντας, ἀλλʼ ἐκπεπληγμένους καὶ φεύγοντας ἔκτεινον, ὥστε πολὺ πλείονας μυρίων ἀποθανεῖν, ἁλῶναι δὲ τὸ στρατόπεδον. αὐτὸς δὲ Μιθριδάτης ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ὀκτακοσίοις ἱππεῦσι διέκοψε καὶ διεξήλασε τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, ταχὺ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων σκεδασθέντων ἀπελείφθη μετὰ τριῶν.
The Romans, seeing this, charged upon them with loud cries, and when the enemy no longer ventured to stand their ground, but fled in panic fear, they cut them down, so that many more than ten thousand of them were slain, and their camp was captured. Mithridates himself, however, at the outset, cut and charged his way through the Romans with eight hundred horsemen; but the rest were soon dispersed and he was left with three companions.
ἐν οἷς ἦν Ὑψικράτεια παλλακίς, ἀεὶ μὲν ἀνδρώδης τις οὖσα καὶ παράτολμος· Ὑψικράτην γοῦν αὐτὴν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκάλει· τότε δὲ ἀνδρὸς ἔχουσα Πέρσου στολὴν καὶ ἵππον οὔτε τῷ σώματι πρὸς τὰ μήκη τῶν δρόμων ἀπηγόρευσεν οὔτε θεραπεύουσα τοῦ βασιλέως τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸν ἵππον ἐξέκαμεν, ἄχρι ἧκον εἰς χωρίον Σίνωρα χρημάτων καὶ κειμηλίων βασιλικῶν μεστόν.
One of these was Hypsicrateia, a concubine, who always displayed a right manly spirit and extravagant daring (for which reason the king was wont to call her Hypsicrates), and at this time, mounted and accoutred like a Persian, she was neither exhausted by the long journeys, nor did she weary of caring for the king’s person and for his horse, until they came to a place called Sinora, which was full of the king’s money and treasures.
ἐξ οὗ λαβὼν ὁ Μιθριδάτης ἐσθῆτας πολυτελεῖς διένειμε τοῖς συνδεδραμηκόσι πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς φυγῆς, ἔδωκε δὲ καὶ τῶν φίλων ἑκάστῳ φορεῖν θανάσιμον φάρμακον, ὅπως ἄκων μηδεὶς ὑποχείριος γένοιτο τοῖς πολεμίοις. ἐντεῦθεν ὥρμητο μὲν ἐπʼ Ἀρμενίας πρὸς Τιγράνην, ἐκείνου δὲ ἀπαγορεύοντος καὶ τάλαντα ἑκατὸν ἐπικηρύξαντος αὐτῷ, παραμειψάμενος τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ Εὐφράτου διὰ τῆς Κολχίδος ἔφευγε.
Thence Mithridates took costly raiment and distributed it to those who had flocked to him in his flight. He also gave each of his friends a deadly poison to carry with them, that no one of them might fall into the hands of the enemy against his will. From thence he set out towards Armenia on his way to Tigranes; but that monarch forbade his coming and proclaimed a reward of a hundred talents for his person; he therefore passed by the sources of the Euphrates and continued his flight through Colchis.
Πομπήϊος δὲ εἰς Ἀρμενίαν ἐνέβαλε τοῦ νέου Τιγράνου καλοῦντος αὐτόν ἤδη γὰρ ἀφειστήκει τοῦ πατρός, καὶ συνήντησε τῷ Πομπηΐῳ περὶ τὸν Ἀράξην ποταμόν, ὃς ἀνίσχει μὲν ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν τῷ Εὐφράτῃ τόπων, ἀποτρεπόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὰς ἀνατολὰς εἰς τὸ Κάσπιον ἐμβάλλει πέλαγος.
Pompey then invaded Armenia on the invitation of young Tigranes, who was now in revolt from his father, and who met Pompey near the river Araxes, which takes its rise in the same regions as the Euphrates, but turns towards the east and empties into the Caspian Sea.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν προῆγον ἅμα τὰς πόλεις παραλαμβάνοντες· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Τιγράνης ἔναγχος μὲν ὑπὸ Λευκόλλου συντετριμμένος, ἥμερον δέ τινα τῷ τρόπῳ καὶ πρᾷον πυθόμενος εἶναι τὸν Πομπήϊον, ἐδέξατο μὲν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια φρουράν, ἀναλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς φίλους καὶ συγγενεῖς αὐτὸς ἐπορεύετο παραδώσων ἑαυτόν.
These two, then, marched forward together, receiving the submission of the cities as they passed; King Tigranes, however, who had recently been crushed by Lucullus, but now learned that Pompey was rather mild and gentle in his disposition, received a Roman garrison into his palace, and taking with him his friends and kindred, set out of his own accord to surrender himself.
ὡς δὲ ἦλθεν ἱππότης ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα, ῥαβδοῦχοι δύο τοῦ Πομπηΐου προσελθόντες ἐκέλευσαν ἀποβῆναι τοῦ ἵππου καὶ πεζὸν ἐλθεῖν οὐδένα γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἐφʼ ἵππου καθεζόμενον ἐν Ῥωμαϊκῷ στρατοπέδῳ πώποτε ὀφθῆναι. καὶ ταῦτα οὖν ὁ Τιγράνης ἐπείθετο καὶ τὸ ξίφος αὐτοῖς ἀπολυσάμενος παρεδίδου· καὶ τέλος, ὡς πρὸς αὐτόν ἦλθε τὸν Πομπήϊον, ἀφελόμενος τὴν κίταριν ὥρμησε πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν θεῖναι, καὶ καταβαλὼν ἑαυτόν, αἴσχιστα δὴ πάντων, προσπεσεῖν αὐτοῦ τοῖς γόνασιν.
When he rode up to the Roman camp, two of Pompey’s lictors came to him and bade him dismount from his horse and go on foot; for no man mounted on horseback had ever been seen in a Roman camp. Tigranes, accordingly, not only obeyed them in this, but also unloosed his sword and gave it to them; and finally, when he came into the presence of Pompey himself, he took off his royal tiara and made as if to lay it at his feet, and what was most humiliating of all, would have thrown himself down and clasped his knees in supplication.
ἀλλʼ ὁ Πομπήϊος ἔφθη τῆς δεξιᾶς αὐτοῦ λαβόμενος προσαγαγέσθαι καὶ πλησίον ἱδρυσάμενος ἑαυτοῦ, τὸν δὲ υ υἱὸν ἐπὶ θάτερα, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ἔφησε δεῖν αἰτιᾶσθαι Λεύκολλον, ὑπʼ ἐκείνου γὰρ ἀφῃρῆσθαι Συρίαν, Φοινίκην, Κιλικίαν, Γαλατίαν, Σωφηνήν, ἃ δὲ ἄχρι ἑαυτοῦ διατετήρηκεν, ἕξειν ἐκτίσαντα ποινὴν ἑξακισχίλια τάλαντα Ῥωμαίοις τῆς ἀδικίας, Σωφηνῆς δὲ βασιλεύσειν τὸν υἱόν.
But before he could do this, Pompey caught him by the hand and drew him forward, and after giving him a seat near himself, and putting his son on the other side, told him that he must lay the rest of his losses to Lucullus, who had robbed him of Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia, and Sophene; but that what he had kept up to the present time he should continue to hold if he paid six thousand talents to the Romans as a penalty for his wrongdoing; and that his son should be king of Sophene.
ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁ μὲν Τιγράνης ἠγάπησε, καὶ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἀσπασαμένων αὐτόν βασιλέα περιχαρὴς γενόμενος ἐπηγγείλατο στρατιώτῃ μὲν ἡμιμναῖον ἀργυρίου δώσειν, ἑκατοντάρχῃ δὲ μνᾶς δέκα, χιλιάρχῳ δὲ τάλαντον ὁ δʼ υἱὸς ἐδυσφόρει, καὶ κληθεὶς ἐπὶ δεῖπνον οὐκ ἔφη Πομπηΐου δεῖσθαι τοιαῦτα τιμῶντος· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἄλλον εὑρήσειν Ῥωμαίων. ἐκ τούτου δεθεὶς εἰς τὸν θρίαμβον ἐφυλάττετο.
With these terms Tigranes was well pleased, and when the Romans hailed him as King, he was overjoyed, and promised to give each soldier half a mina of silver, to each centurion ten minas, and to each tribune a talent. But his son was dissatisfied, and when he was invited to supper, said that he was not dependent on Pompey for such honours, for he himself could find another Roman to bestow them. Upon this, he was put in chains and reserved for the triumph.
καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον ἔπεμψε Φραάτης ὁ Πάρθος ἀπαιτῶν μὲν τὸν νεανίσκον, ὡς αὐτοῦ γαμβρόν, ἀξιῶν δὲ τῶν ἡγεμονιῶν ὅρῳ χρῆσθαι τῷ Εὐφράτῃ. Πομπήϊος δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο τὸν μὲν Τιγράνην τῷ πατρὶ μᾶλλον ἢ τῷ πενθερῷ προσήκειν, ὅρῳ δὲ χρήσεσθαι τῷ δικαίῳ.
Not long after this, Phraates the Parthian sent a demand for the young man, on he plea that he was his son-in-law, and a proposition that the Euphrates be adopted as a boundary between his empire and that of the Romans. Pompey replied that as for Tigranes, he belonged to his father more than to his father-in-law; and as for a boundary, the just one would be adopted.
καταλιπὼν δὲ φρουρὸν Ἀρμενίας Ἀφράνιον αὐτὸς ἐβάδιζε διὰ τῶν περιοικούντων τὸν Καύκασον ἐθνῶν ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτην. μέγιστα δὲ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἔθνη Ἀλβανοὶ καὶ Ἴβηρες, Ἴβηρες μὲν ἐπὶ τὰ Μοσχικὰ ὄρη καὶ τὸν Πόντον καθήκοντες, Ἀλβανοὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἕω καὶ τὴν Κασπίαν κεκλιμένοι θάλασσαν.
Then leaving Afranius in charge of Armenia, Pompey himself proceeded against Mithridates, and of necessity passed through the peoples dwelling about the Caucasus mountains. The greatest of these peoples are the Albanians and the Iberians, of whom the Iberians extend to the Moschian mountains and the Euxine Sea, while the Albanians lie to the eastward as far as the Caspian Sea.
οὗτοι πρῶτον μὲν αἰτοῦντι Πομπηΐῳ δίοδον ἔδοσαν χειμῶνος δὲ τὴν στρατιὰν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ καταλαβόντος καὶ τῆς Κρονικῆς ἑορτῆς τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις καθηκούσης, γενόμενοι τετρακισμυρίων οὐκ ἐλάττους ἐπεχείρησαν αὐτοῖς, διαβάντες τὸν Κύρνον ποταμόν, ὃς ἐκ τῶν Ἰβηρικῶν ὀρῶν ἀνιστάμενος καὶ δεχόμενος κατιόντα τὸν Ἀράξην ἀπʼ Ἀρμενίας ἐξίησι δώδεκα στόμασιν εἰς τὸ Κάσπιον.
These latter at first granted Pompey’s request for a free passage; but when winter had overtaken his army in their country and it was occupied in celebrating the Roman festival of the Saturnalia, they mustered no less than forty thousand men and made an attack upon it. To do this, they crossed the river Cyrnus, which rises in the Iberian mountains, and receiving the Araxes as it issues from Armenia, empties itself by twelve mouths into the Caspian.
οἱ δὲ οὔ φασι τούτῳ συμφέρεσθαι τὸν Ἀράξην, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἑαυτόν, ἐγγὺς δὲ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐκβολὴν εἰς ταὐτὸ πέλαγος. Πομπήϊος δέ, καίπερ ἐνστῆναι δυνάμενος πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν τοῖς πολεμίοις, περιεῖδε διαβάντας καθʼ ἡσυχίαν εἶτα ἐπαγαγὼν ἐτρέψατο καὶ διέφθειρε παμπληθεῖς.
Others say that the Araxes makes no junction with this stream, but takes a course of its own, and empties itself close by into the same sea. Although Pompey could have opposed the enemy’s passage of the river, he suffered them to cross undisturbed; then he attacked them, routed them, and slew great numbers of them.
τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ δεηθέντι καὶ πέμψαντι πρέσβεις ἀφεὶς τὴν ἀδικίαν καὶ σπεισάμενος, ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἴβηρας ἐβάδιζε, πλήθει μὲν οὐκ ἐλάττονας, μαχιμωτέρους δὲ τῶν ἑτέρων ὄντας, ἰσχυρῶς δὲ βουλομένους τῷ Μιθριδάτῃ χαρίζεσθαι καὶ διωθεῖσθαι τὸν Πομπήϊον.
When, however, their king sent envoys and begged for mercy, Pompey condoned his wrong-doing and made a treaty with him; then he marched against the Iberians, who were not less numerous than the others and more warlike, and had a strong desire to gratify Mithridates by repulsing Pompey.
οὔτε γὰρ Μήδοις οὔτε Πέρσαις ὑπήκουσαν Ἴβηρες, διέφυγον δὲ καὶ τὴν Μακεδόνων ἀρχήν, Ἀλεξάνδρου διὰ ταχέων ἐκ τῆς Ὑρκανίας ἀπάραντος. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτους μάχῃ μεγάλῃ τρεψάμενος ὁ Πομπήϊος, ὥστε ἀποθανεῖν μὲν ἐνακισχιλίους, ἁλῶναι δὲ πλείους μυρίων, εἰς τὴν Κολχικὴν ἐνέβαλε καὶ πρὸς τὸν Φᾶσιν αὐτῷ Σερουΐλιος ἀπήντησε, τὰς ναῦς ἔχων αἷς ἐφρούρει τὸν Πόντον.
For the Iberians had not been subject either to the Medes or the Persians, and they escaped the Macedonian dominion also, since Alexander departed from Hyrcania in haste. Notwithstanding, Pompey routed this people also in a great battle, in which nine thousand of them were slain and more than ten thousand taken prisoners; then he invaded Colchis, where, at the river Phasis, Servilius met him, at the head of the fleet with which he was guarding the Euxine.
ἡ μὲν οὖν Μιθριδάτου δίωξις ἐνδεδυκότος εἰς τὰ περὶ Βόσπορον ἔθνη καὶ τὴν Μαιῶτιν ἀπορίας εἶχε μεγάλας· Ἀλβανοὶ δὲ αὖθις ἀφεστῶτες αὐτῷ προσηγγέλθησαν. πρὸς οὓς ὑπʼ ὀργῆς καὶ φιλονεικίας ἐπιστρέψας τόν τε Κύρνον μόλις καὶ παραβόλως πάλιν διεπέρασεν ἐπὶ πολὺ σταυροῖς ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἀποκεχαρακωμένον,
Now, the pursuit of Mithridates, who had thrown himself among the peoples about the Bosporus and the Maeotic Sea, was attended with great difficulties; besides, word was brought to Pompey that the Albanians had again revolted. Turning back against these in resentment and wrath, he crossed the Cyrnus again with great difficulty and hazard, since the Barbarians had fenced off its banks with long stretches of palisades;
καὶ μακρᾶς αὐτὸν ἐκδεχομένης ἀνύδρου καὶ ἀργαλέας ὁδοῦ, μυρίους ἀσκοὺς ὕδατος ἐμπλησάμενος ἤλαυνεν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους, καὶ κατέλαβε πρὸς Ἄβαντι ποταμῷ παρατεταγμένους ἑξακισμυρίους πεζοὺς καὶ δισχιλίους ἱππεῖς ἐπὶ μυρίοις, ὡπλισμένους δὲ φαύλως καὶ δέρμασι θηρίων τοὺς πολλούς, ἡγεῖτο δὲ αὐτῶν βασιλέως ἀδελφὸς ὄνομα Κῶσις.
then, since he must make a long march through a waterless and difficult country, he ordered ten thousand skins to be filled with water, and with this provision advanced upon the enemy. He found them drawn up on the river Abas, sixty thousand foot and twelve thousand horse, but wretchedly armed, and clad for the most part in the skins of wild beasts. They were led by a brother of the king, named Cosis,
οὗτος ἐν χερσὶ τῆς μάχης γενομένης ἐπὶ τόν Πομπήϊον ὁρμήσας αὐτὸν ἔβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θώρακος ἐπιπτυχὴν ἀκοντίσματι, Πομπήϊος δὲ ἐκεῖνον ἐκ χειρὸς διελάσας ἀνεῖλεν. ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ μάχῃ λέγονται καὶ Ἀμαζόνες συναγωνίσασθαι τοῖς βαρβάροις, ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ τόν Θερμώδοντα ποταμὸν ὀρῶν καταβᾶσαι. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν μάχην σκυλεύοντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι τοὺς βαρβάρους πέλταις Ἀμαζονικαῖς καὶ κοθόρνοις ἐνετύγχανον, σῶμα δὲ οὐδὲν ὤφθη γυναικεῖον.
who, as soon as the fighting was at close quarters, rushed upon Pompey himself and smote him with a javelin on the fold of his breastplate; but Pompey ran him through the body and killed him. In this battle it is said that there were also Amazons fighting on the side of the Barbarians, and that they came down from the mountains about the river Thermodon. For when the Romans were despoiling the Barbarians after the battle, they came upon Amazonian shields and buskins; but no body of a woman was seen.
νέμονται δὲ τοῦ Καυκάσου τὰ καθήκοντα πρὸς τὴν Ὑρκανίαν θάλασσαν, οὐχ ὁμοροῦσαι τοῖς Ἀλβανοῖς, ἀλλὰ Γέλαι καὶ Λῆγες οἰκοῦσι διὰ μέσου· καὶ τούτοις ἔτους ἑκάστου δύο μῆνας εἰς ταὐτὸ φοιτῶσαι περὶ τόν Θερμώδοντα ποταμὸν ὁμιλοῦσιν, εἶτα καθʼ αὑτὰς ἀπαλλαγεῖσαι βιοτεύουσιν.
The Amazons inhabit the parts of the Caucasus mountains that reach down to the Hyrcanian Sea, and they do not border on the Albani, but Gelae and Leges dwell between. With these peoples, who meet them by the river Thermodon, they consort for two months every year; then they go away and live by themselves.
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