The Second Mithridatic War (83–81 BC) was one of three

wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

fought between

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

and the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. This war was fought between King

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator (; 135–63 BC) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an effective, ambitious, and r ...

and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena.

History

At the conclusion of the

First Mithridatic War The First Mithridatic War /ˌmɪθrəˈdædɪk/ (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

had come to a hasty agreement with Mithridates because Sulla had to return to Rome to deal with his political enemies. The peace treaty allowed Mithridates to remain in control of his

Kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin, which may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

, but he had to relinquish his claim to

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

and respect pre-war borders. Murena, as Sulla's legate, was stationed in Asia as commander of the two legions formerly under the command of

Gaius Flavius Fimbria Gaius Flavius or Gaius Flavius Fimbria may refer to: * Gaius Flavius Fimbria (cavalry prefect) Gaius Flavius Fimbria (c. 115 – 85 BC) was a Roman general. Born to a recently distinguished senatorial family, he became one of the most violent a ...

. From Appian's work on this war (The Mithridatic Wars), we can deduce that it was put in command over

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

, which had been annexed to the

Attalid kingdom The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; ). The ...

in 188 BC, and, possibly,

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, which was an ally of Rome. Appian wrote that Murena marched across

and attacked Comana, a town which belonged to Mithridates, because of suspicions that the latter was preparing for war against the Romans. Mithridates was fitting a fleet and raising an army to deal with a rebellion by the

Colchians In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...

and the tribes around the Cimmerian Bosphorus (the

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and up ...

). It was the scale of these preparations and the fact that Mithridates had not restored the whole of Cappadocia to their king, Ariobarzanes I, who was a Roman ally, which led to this impression. Mithridates sent envoys to invoke the peace treaty. Murena replied that he did not see any treaties because Sulla had not written it down before he returned to Greece. He then began looting and then returned to Cappadocia to winter there. Mithridates sent envoys to Rome to complain. In 82 BC Murena seized 400 villages which belonged to Mithridates, who did not try to counter this, preferring to wait for the return of the ambassadors. Murena returned to

and

Galatia Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here ...

loaded with plunder. He was reached by a messenger of the senate who told him that the senate ordered him to leave Mithridates alone as he had not broken the treaty. However, he did not bring a decree and he was seen talking to Murena alone. Murena invaded Mithridates’ territory. The latter thought that this was done under the orders of Rome and sent Gordius, his commander, to retaliate on Roman villages. Gordius seized a large number of animals and property and advanced against Murena. When Mithridates arrived there, a tough battle was fought and Murena was defeated. Murena fled to Phrygia, harassed by the enemy. This led many states in Asia Minor which had sided with Rome to switch allegiance. Mithridates drove all the Roman garrisons out of Cappadocia. Sulla disapproved of a war against Mithridates because he had not broken the treaty. Aulus Gabinius was sent to tell Murena that the order not to fight Mithridates was to be taken seriously. Gabinius then arranged a conference with Mithridates and Ariobarzanes I to reconcile them. Mithridates betrothed his four-year-old daughter to Ariobarzanes and stipulated that Ariobarzanes was to retain the part of Cappadocia he held at the time and also have another part. Murena was recalled to Rome.
Mennon wrote that when Mithridates sent his envoys to Murena, he ignored them because they were mostly Greek philosophers who disparaged Mithridates. He installed Ariobarzanes as king of Cappadocia and founded the city of Licinia near the border with Pontus. Meanwhile, Murena and Mithridates both sent envoys to the Heracleians to bid for their alliance. These replied that they could hardly protect themselves and could not help others. Some of Murena's advisers said that he should attack Sinope and then march on the capital of Pontus. If he seized it, other towns could be won over. Mithridates protected Sinope with a large force and prepared for war. At first he had the advantage, but then the battle was even. This blunted the two sides' appetite for war. Mithridates went further east and Murena returned to Asia.Memnon, History of Heracleia, 26 This war was followed by the

Third Mithridatic War The Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC), the last and longest of the three Mithridatic Wars, was fought between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman Republic. Both sides were joined by a great number of allies, dragging the entire east of th ...

References

Ancient sources

* Appian: The Roman History: (The Foreign Wars and The Civil Wars), Independently published, 2017; * Karl Müller (ed.) ''Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum'', 1841–1870 (FHG) *

Felix Jacoby Felix Jacoby (; 19 March 1876 – 10 November 1959) was a German classicist and philologist. He is best known among classicists for his highly important work '' Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', a collection of text fragments of ancient ...

(ed. & critical commentary), '' Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', 1923–1959, unfinished (FGrH) * Granius Licinianus fragmenta post-Hadrian annalist survives in retrieved fragments, from books XXVI, XXVIII, XXXIII, XXXV and XXXVI of his history, in 5th century uncials of African origin at the bottom of a ''ter scriptus'' manuscript palimpsest: see L. D. Reynolds (ed.) ''Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics'' (Oxford, 1983).
– ed. Michael Flemisch ''Grani Liciniani quae supersunt'' (G.B. Teubner, Stuttgart, 1904; reprint 1967)
– ed. N. Crinti (Leipzig, 1981) * Memnon of Herakleia Pontike epitome 9th century epitome in the ΒΙΒΛΙΟΘΗΚΗ of Photius of Byzantium (codex 224)
– René Henry (ed.), ''Photius Bibliothèque'' Tome IV: Codices 223–229 (Association Guillaume Budé, Paris, 1965), pp. 48–99: Greek text with French translation
– K. Müller (ed.) ''FHG III'', 525: Greek text with Latin translation
– F. Jacoby (ed.) ''FGrH'' no.434: Greek text, detailed commentary in German * Phlegon of Tralles fragmenta – K. Müller (ed) ''FHG III'', 602ff.
– F. Jacoby (ed.) ''FGrH'' no.257
– English translations and commentary by William Hansen, ''Phlegon of Tralles' Book of Marvels'', University of Exeter Press, 1996

Modern works

;Abbreviations ''RE'' = ''Real-Encyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft'', eds. Pauly, Wissowa, Kroll ;Major studies * Gelzer, M., "L. Licinius Lucullus cos.74", ''RE'' vol.XIII (1926), s. v. Licinius no.104, colls.376–414. * Van Ooteghem, J., ''Lucius Licinius Lucullus'', Brussels, 1959 * Keaveney, A., ''Lucullus. A Life.'', London/New York, Routledge, 1992; . ;Shorter articles and summaries * Scardigli, B., "Sertorio: Problemi cronologici", ''Athenaeum'' 49 (1971), 229–270 * Glew, Dennis G., "Between the Wars: Mithridates Eupator and Rome, 85–73 B.C.", ''Chiron'' 11 (1981), 109-130

History

References

Ancient sources

Modern works

Further reading