ὁρμήσας δὲ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ὁ Πομπήϊος ἐλαύνειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ὑρκανίαν καὶ Κασπίαν θάλασσαν, ὑπὸ πλήθους ἑρπετῶν θανασίμων ἀπετράπη τριῶν ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν ἀποσχών, εἰς δὲ τὴν μικρὰν Ἀρμενίαν ἀνεχώρησε.
After the battle, Pompey set out to march to the Hyrcanian and Caspian Sea, but was turned back by a multitude of deadly reptiles when he was only three days march distant, and withdrew into Lesser Armenia.
καὶ τῷ μὲν Ἐλυμαίων καὶ Μήδων βασιλεῖ πέμψασι πρέσβεις ἀντέγραψε φιλικῶς, τὸν δὲ Πάρθον, εἰς τὴν Γορδυηνὴν ἐμβεβληκότα καὶ περικόπτοντα τοὺς ὑπὸ Τιγράνῃ, πέμψας μετὰ Ἀφρανίου δύναμιν ἐξήλασε διωχθέντα μέχρι τῆς Ἀρβηλίτιδος. ὅσαι δὲ τῶν Μιθριδάτου παλλακίδων ἀνήχθησαν, οὐδεμίαν ἔγνω, πάσας δὲ τοῖς γονεῦσι καὶ οἰκείοις ἀνέπεμπεν. ἦσαν γὰρ αἱ πολλαὶ θυγατέρες καὶ γυναῖκες στρατηγῶν καὶ δυναστῶν.
Here the kings of the Elymaeans and the Medes sent ambassadors to him, and he wrote them a friendly answer; but against the Parthian king, who had burst into Gordyene and was plundering the subjects of Tigranes, he sent an armed force under Afranius, which drove him out of the country and pursued him as far as the district of Arbela. Of all the concubines of Mithridates that were brought to Pompey, he used not one, but restored them all to their parents and kindred; for most of them were daughters and wives of generals and princes.
Στρατονίκη δέ, ἣ μέγιστον εἶχεν ἀξίωμα καὶ τὸ πολυχρυσότατον τῶν φρουρίων ἐφύλαττεν, ἦν μέν, ὡς ἔοικε, ψάλτου τινὸς οὐχ εὐτυχοῦς τἆλλα, πρεσβύτου δὲ θυγάτηρ, οὕτω δὲ εὐθὺς εἷλε παρὰ πότον ψήλασα τὸν Μιθριδάτην, ὥστε ἐκείνην μὲν ἔχων ἀνεπαύετο, τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτην ἀπέπεμψε δυσφοροῦντα τῷ μηδὲ προσρήσεως τυχεῖν ἐπιεικοῦς.
But Stratonice, who was held in highest esteem by the king and had the custody of the richest of his fortresses, was, it would seem, the daughter of a humble harpist, an old man, and poor besides; but she made such a swift conquest of Mithridates as she once played for him at his wine, that he took her with him to his bed, but sent the old man away in great displeasure at not getting so much as a kindly greeting.
ὡς μέντοι περὶ ὄρθρον ἐγερθεὶς εἶδεν ἔνδον ἐκπωμάτων μὲν ἀργυρῶν καὶ χρυσῶν τραπέζας, ὄχλον δὲ θεραπείας πολύν, εὐνούχους δὲ καὶ παῖδας ἱμάτια τῶν πολυτελῶν προσφέροντας αὐτῷ, καὶ πρὸ τῆς θύρας ἵππον ἑστῶτα κεκοσμημένον ὥσπερ οἱ τῶν φίλων τοῦ βασιλέως, χλευασμὸν εἶναι τὸ χρῆμα καὶ παιδιὰν ἡγούμενος ὥρμησε φεύγειν διὰ θυρῶν.
In the morning, however, when the old man rose and saw in his house tables loaded with gold and silver beakers, a large retinue of servants, and eunuchs and pages bringing costly garments to him, and a horse standing before his door caparisoned like those of the king’s friends, he thought the thing a mockery and a joke, and tried to run out of doors.
τῶν δὲ θεραπόντων ἀντιλαμβανομένων, καὶ λεγόντων ὅτι πλουσίου τεθνηκότος ἔναγχος οἶκον αὐτῷ μέγαν ὁ βασιλεὺς δεδώρηται, καὶ ταῦτα μικραί τινες ἀπαρχαὶ καὶ δείγματα τῶν ἄλλων χρημάτων καὶ κτημάτων εἰσίν, οὕτω πιστεύσας μόλις καὶ τὴν πορφύραν ἀναλαβὼν καὶ ἀναπηδήσας ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον ἤλαυνε διὰ τῆς πόλεως βοῶν· ἐμὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἐστί.
But the servants laid hold of him and told him that the king had bestowed on him the large estate of a rich man who had recently died, and that these things were only small foretastes and specimens of the goods and chattels still remaining. In this way he was with difficulty persuaded, and putting on his purple robes and leaping upon his horse, he rode through the city, crying: All this is mine.
πρὸς δὲ τοὺς καταγελῶντας οὐ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν εἶναι θαυμαστόν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μὴ λίθοις βάλλει τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας ὑφʼ ἡδονῆς μαινόμενος, ταύτης μὲν ἦν καὶ γενεᾶς καὶ αἵματος ἡ Στρατονίκη. τῷ δὲ Πομπηΐῳ καὶ τὸ χωρίον παρεδίδου τοῦτο καὶ δῶρα πολλὰ προσήνεγκεν, ὧν ἐκεῖνος ὅσα κόσμον ἱεροῖς καὶ λαμπρότητα τῷ θριάμβῳ παρέξειν ἐφαίνετο λαβὼν μόνα, τὰ λοιπὰ τὴν Στρατονίκην ἐκέλευε κεκτῆσθαι χαίρουσαν.
To those who laughed at him he said that what he was doing was no wonder; the wonder was that he did not throw stones at those who met him, for he was mad with joy. Of such a stock and lineage was Stratonice. But she surrendered this stronghold to Pompey, and brought him many gifts, of which he accepted only those which were likely to adorn the temples at Rome and add splendour to his triumph; the rest he bade Stratonice keep and welcome.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ἰβήρων κλίνην τε καὶ τράπεζαν καὶ θρόνον, ἅπαντα χρυσᾶ, πέμψαντος αὐτῷ καὶ δεηθέντος λαβεῖν, καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς ταμίαις παρέδωκεν εἰς τὸ δημόσιον.
In like manner, too, when the king of the Iberians sent him a couch, a table, and a throne, all of gold, and begged him to accept them, he delivered these also to the quaestors, for the public treasury.
ἐν δὲ τῷ Καινῷ φρουρίῳ καὶ γράμμασιν ἀπορρήτοις ὁ Πομπήϊος ἐνέτυχε τοῦ Μιθριδάτου, καὶ διῆλθεν οὐκ ἀηδῶς αὐτὰ πολλὴν ἔχοντα τοῦ ἤθους κατανόησιν. ὑπομνήματα γὰρ ἦν, ἐξ ὧν ἐφωράθη φαρμάκοις ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν Ἀριαράθην ἀνῃρηκὼς καὶ τὸν Σαρδιανὸν Ἀλκαῖον, ὅτι παρευδοκίμησεν αὐτὸν ἵππους ἀγωνιστὰς ἐλαύνων.
In the fortress of Caenum Pompey found also private documents belonging to Mithridates, and read them with no little satisfaction, since they shed much light upon the king’s character. For there were memoranda among them from which it was discovered that, besides many others, he had poisoned to death his son Ariarathes, and also Alcaeus of Sardis, because he had surpassed him in driving race-horses.
ἦσαν δὲ ἀναγεγραμμέναι καὶ κρίσεις ἐνυπνίων, ὧν τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς ἑωράκει, τὰ δὲ ἔνιαι τῶν γυναικῶν, ἐπιστολαί τε Μονίμης πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀκόλαστοι καὶ πάλιν ἐκείνου πρὸς αὐτήν. Θεοφάνης δὲ καὶ Ῥουτιλίου λόγον εὑρεθῆναί φησι παροξυντικὸν ἐπὶ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν ἐν Ἀσίᾳ Ῥωμαίων.
Among the writings were also interpretations of dreams, some of which he himself had dreamed, and others, some of his wives. There were also letters from Monime to him, of a lascivious nature, and answering letters from him to her. Moreover, Theophanes says there was found here an address of Rutilius, which incited the king to the massacre of the Romans in Asia.
ὃ καλῶς εἰκάζουσιν οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοήθευμα τοῦ Θεοφάνους εἶναι, τάχα μὲν οὐδὲν αὐτῷ τὸν Ῥουτίλιον ἐοικότα μισοῦντος, εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ διὰ Πομπήϊον, οὗ τὸν πατέρα παμπόνηρον ἀπέδειξεν ὁ Ῥουτίλιος ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις.
But most people rightly conjecture that this was a malicious invention on the part of Theophanes, perhaps because he hated Rutilius, who was wholly unlike himself, but probably also to please Pompey, whose father had been represented as an utter wretch by Rutilius in his histories.
ἐντεῦθεν εἰς Ἀμισὸν ἐλθὼν ὁ Πομπήϊος πάθος νεμεσητὸν ὑπὸ φιλοτιμίας ἔπαθε. πολλὰ γὰρ τὸν Λεύκολλον ἐπικερτομήσας, ὅτι τοῦ πολεμίου ζῶντος ἔγραφε διατάξεις καὶ δωρεὰς ἔνεμε καὶ τιμάς, ἃ συνῃρημένου πολέμου καὶ πέρας ἔχοντος εἰώθασι ποιεῖν οἱ νενικηκότες, αὐτὸς ἐν Βοσπόρῳ Μιθριδάτου κρατοῦντος καὶ συνειλοχότος ἀξιόμαχον δύναμιν, ὡς δὴ συντετελεσμένων ἁπάντων, ἔπραττε ταὐτά, διακοσμῶν τὰς ἐπαρχίας καὶ διανέμων δωρεάς,
From Caenum Pompey went to Amisus, where his ambition led him into obnoxious courses. For whereas he had roundly abused Lucullus because, while his enemy was still alive, he would issue edicts and distribute gifts and honours,—things which victors are wont to do only when a war has been brought to an end and finished,—yet he himself, while Mithridates was supreme in Bosporus and had collected a formidable force, just as though the whole struggle was ended, took the same course, regulating the provinces and distributing gifts;
πολλῶν μὲν ἡγεμόνων καὶ δυναστῶν, βασιλέων δὲ δώδεκα βαρβάρων ἀφιγμένων πρὸς αὐτόν, ὅθεν οὐδὲ ἠξίωσε τὸν Πάρθον ἀντιγράφων, ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποί, βασιλέα βασιλέων προσαγορεῦσαι, τοῖς ἄλλοις χαριζόμενος. αὐτὸν δέ τις ἔρως καὶ ζῆλος εἶχε Συρίαν ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ διὰ τῆς Ἀραβίας ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρυθρὰν ἐλάσαι θάλασσαν, ὡς τῷ περιϊόντι τὴν οἰκουμένην πανταχόθεν Ὠκεανῷ προσμίξειε νικῶν·
for many leaders and princes and twelve barbarian kings had come to him. Wherefore, to gratify these other kings, he would not deign, in answering a letter from the king of Parthia, to address him as King of Kings, which was his usual title. Moreover, a great and eager passion possessed him to recover Syria, and march through Arabia to the Red Sea, in order that he might bring his victorious career into touch with the Ocean which surrounds the world on all sides;
καὶ γὰρ ἐν Λιβύῃ πρῶτος ἄχρι τῆς ἐκτὸς θαλάσσης κρατῶν προῆλθε, καὶ τὴν ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ, πάλιν ἀρχὴν ὡρίσατο Ῥωμαίοις τῷ Ἀτλαντικῷ πελάγει, καὶ τρίτον ἔναγχος Ἀλβανοὺς διώκων ὀλίγον ἐδέησεν ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν Ὑρκανίαν θάλασσαν, ὡς οὖν συνάψων τῇ ἐρυθρᾷ τὴν περίοδον τῆς στρατείας ἀνίστατο. καὶ γὰρ ἄλλως τὸν Μιθριδάτην ἑώρα δυσθήρατον ὄντα τοῖς ὅπλοις καὶ φεύγοντα χαλεπώτερον ἢ μαχόμενον.
for in Africa he had been the first to carry his conquests as far as the Outer Sea, and again in Spain he had made the Atlantic Ocean the boundary of the Roman dominion, and thirdly, in his recent pursuit of the Albani, he had narrowly missed reaching the Hyrcanian Sea. In order, therefore, that he might connect the circuit of his military expeditions with the Red Sea, he put his army in motion. And, besides, he saw that it was difficult to hunt Mithridates down with an armed force, and that he was harder to deal with when he fled than when he gave battle.
διὸ τούτῳ μὲν εἰπὼν ἰσχυρότερον ἑαυτοῦ πολέμιον τὸν λιμὸν ἀπολείψειν, ἐπέστησε φυλακὰς τῶν νεῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς πλέοντας εἰς Βόσπορον ἐμπόρους· καὶ θάνατος ἦν ἡ ζημία τοῖς ἁλισκομένοις. ἀναλαβὼν δὲ τῆς στρατιᾶς τὴν πληθὺν συχνὴν προῆγε· καὶ τῶν μετὰ Τριαρίου πρὸς Μιθριδάτην ἀτυχῶς ἀγωνισαμένων καὶ πεσόντων ἐντυχὼν ἀτάφοις ἔτι τοῖς νεκροῖς, ἔθαψε λαμπρῶς καὶ φιλοτίμως ἅπαντας, ὃ δοκεῖ παραλειφθὲν οὐχ ἥκιστα Λευκόλλῳ μίσους αἴτιον γενέσθαι.
Wherefore, remarking that he would leave behind him for this fugitive a mightier enemy than himself, to wit, famine, he stationed ships to keep guard against the merchants sailing to Bosporus; and death was the penalty for such as were caught. Then taking the great mass of his army, he set out on his march, and when he came upon the still unburied bodies of those who, led by Triarius, had fallen in an unsuccessful combat with Mithridates, he gave them all an honourable and splendid burial.
χειρωσάμενος δὲ διʼ Ἀφρανίου τοὺς περὶ Ἀμανὸν Ἄραβας καὶ καταβὰς αὐτὸς εἰς Συρίαν, ταύτην μὲν ὡς οὐκ ἔχουσαν γνησίους βασιλεῖς ἐπαρχίαν ἀπέφηνε καὶ κτῆμα τοῦ δήμου Ῥωμαίων, τὴν δὲ Ἰουδαίαν κατεστρέψατο, καὶ συνέλαβεν Ἀριστόβουλον τὸν βασιλέα. πόλεις δὲ τὰς μὲν ἔκτιζε, τὰς δὲ ἠλευθέρου κολάζων τοὺς ἐν αὐταῖς τυράννους.
The neglect of this is thought to have been the chief reason why Lucullus was hated by his soldiers. After his legate Afranius had subdued for him the Arabians about Amanus, he himself went down into Syria, and since this country had no legitimate kings, he declared it to be a province and possession of the Roman people; he also subdued Judaea, and made a prisoner of Aristobulus the king. Some cities he built up, others he set free, chastising their tyrants.
τὴν δὲ πλείστην διατριβὴν ἐν τῷ δικάζειν ἐποιεῖτο, πόλεων καὶ βασιλέων ἀμφισβητήματα διαιτῶν, ἐφʼ ἃ δὲ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐξικνεῖτο, πέμπων τοὺς φίλους, ὥσπερ Ἀρμενίοις καὶ Πάρθοις περὶ ἧς διεφέροντο χώρας τὴν κρίσιν ποιησαμένοις ἐπʼ αὐτῷ τρεῖς ἀπέστειλε κριτὰς καὶ διαλλακτάς.
But most of his time he spent in judicial business, settling the disputes of cities and kings, and for those to which he himself could not attend, sending his friends. Thus when the Armenians and Parthians referred to him the decision of a territorial quarrel, he sent them three arbiters and judges.
μέγα μὲν γὰρ ἦν ὄνομα τῆς δυνάμεως, οὐκ ἔλαττον δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς καὶ πρᾳότητος· ᾧ καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἁμαρτήματα φίλων καὶ συνήθων ἀπέκρυπτε, κωλύειν μὲν ἢ κολάζειν τοὺς πονηρευομένους οὐ πεφυκώς, αὑτὸν δὲ παρέχων τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι τοιοῦτον ὥστε καὶ τὰς ἐκείνων πλεονεξίας καὶ βαρύτητας εὐκόλως ὑπομένειν.
For great was the name of his power and not less that of his virtue and clemency. This enabled him to hide away most of the transgressions of his friends and intimates, since he was not fitted by nature to restrain or chastise evil doers; but he was so helpful himself to those who had dealings with him that they were content to endure the rapacity and severity of his friends.
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