Mithridatic Wars
The three are called Mithridatic Wars in the years 89 to 63 BC. Between the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Pontus . They owe their name to the Pontic king Mithridates VI. , whose expansion efforts after his accession to the throne around 120 BC BC brought him into conflict with the Roman allies of Asia Minor. The most important source of conflict was the dispute over the succession to the throne in the Kingdom of Cappadocia , which became the plaything of Mithridates and the Bithynian king Nicomedes III. had become. Rome found itself forced to intervene militarily in the conflict, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the First Mithridatic War.
After the Pontic king's initial successes, which were favored by Rome's internal political conflicts, the wars ended with Mithridates' defeat and the consolidation of Roman power in the eastern Mediterranean. The most important fighting took place in Greece , Asia Minor and the Caucasus region . The victorious Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus redesigned the region according to his ideas and added several new provinces to the Roman Empire .
prehistory
Establishment of the Roman province of Asia
In the spring of 133 BC King Attalus III died. and left his Pergamene empire , located in the west of Asia Minor, to Rome by will. Before Rome could take on its inheritance, however, the rebellion of Aristonikos had to be put down, who pretended to be the son of the former king Eumenes II and as Eumenes III. took control of large parts of the empire. Aristonikos was born in 129 BC. Defeated in BC and parts of the empire then incorporated into the Roman Empire under the name Asia as the first Roman province east of the Aegean Sea . The non-provincial parts of the empire were divided among the kingdoms of Asia Minor who had supported Rome in the fight against Aristonikos. Thus parts of the Phrygia region in the central part of Pergamon were divided between Mithridates V of Pontus and Nicomedes II of Bithynia . The southeastern regions of Pisidia , Lycaonia and Pamphylia fell to King Ariarathes VI. from Cappadocia to.
In the previous decades Rome had shown little interest in what was happening in Asia Minor, had good relations with the Pergamene Empire, and had avoided interfering in conflicts. Even in the decades after the establishment of the province of Asia up to the outbreak of the First Mithridatic War, Rome adhered to this cautious policy and limited its military presence in Asia to little more than a legion . However, the escalating rivalry between the kingdoms of Asia Minor soon forced Rome to intervene.
Pontic expansion and dispute over the succession to the Cappadocian throne
After Mithridates' death in 120 BC. His son Mithridates VI. the first years of his reign in exile; Pontus was ruled by his mother, who preferred her younger son. Not until 111 BC He gained complete control of Pontus and had his family locked up. Mithridates continued the expansion of the empire that had begun under his father and extended the Pontic borders along the eastern coast of the Black Sea to over the Crimea and within Asia Minor to Armenia Minor . Between 108 and 103 BC Mithridates and Nicomedes III fell. together in Paphlagonia and divided the kingdom among themselves. The alliance between the two kings broke up shortly afterwards in the parallel dispute over the succession to the throne in Cappadocia.
Ariarathes VI. , King of Cappadocia , was married to Mithridates' sister Laodike at the beginning of the Pontic expansion . To increase his influence, he probably left it around 111 BC. Assassinated by a Cappadocian nobleman named Gordios . Nicomedes seized this opportunity to invade Cappadocia, marry the widowed Laodike, and thus take control of the kingdom. Mithridates, in turn, responded with an invasion, dethroning the couple and installing his nephew Ariarathes VII , a son of Laodice, on the throne instead . When Ariarathes VII defied his orders, Mithridates murdered him with his own hands and now left his own eight-year-old son under the name Ariarathes IX. to succeed to the throne. The Cappadocian nobility resisted this interference and proclaimed another son of Laodikes, Ariarathes VIII. , To be king. The two kings ruled Cappadocia under divided rule for an unknown period until Ariarathes VIII was driven out by Mithridates' army. Nicomedes finally sent his wife, Laodike, to Rome with a supposed third son to solicit support from the Senate. Mithridates responded in turn with an embassy under Gordios, claiming a family connection between his son Ariarathes IX. and the former King Ariarathes V. However, the Roman Senate rejected both requests as illegitimate usurpation attempts and declared the Kingdom of Cappadocia "free". This decision did not satisfy the nobility of the kingdom; she asked the Senate to appoint a king. The decision was left to the nobility who chose Ariobarzanes I as king. In the year 96/95 BC Finally Rome sent a small army under Lucius Cornelius Sulla , who was governor in Cilicia at the time , to secure Ariobarzanes' rule. Mithridates had to bow to the Roman will and withdrew from Cappadocia. The exact chronology and dating of this long throne dispute are disputed.
As a result of the increasingly degenerating conflict between Nicomedes and Mithridates, Rome was forced to intervene in Asia Minor for the first time since the rebellion of Aristonikos over 30 years earlier. However, this incident did not change the passivity of Roman politics. Although an example was made of Mithridates when he was stripped of control of the Phrygian possessions his father had received after the rebellion of Aristonicus, Rome saw order in the region as restored and did not expect any further disregard for his supremacy .
Outbreak of war
Mithridates, however, continued his plans indirectly. Around 92 BC He entered into an alliance with the Armenian king Tigranes II and offered him his daughter Cleopatra as his wife. Thereupon, at the request of his new father-in-law, he invaded neighboring Cappadocia, dethroned Ariobarzanes I and set Ariarathes IX. re-enter the rule. Around the same time, the Bithynian king Nicomedes III was. died, and his son Nicomedes IV had succeeded him to the throne. His half-brother Socrates Chrestos claimed the throne and, supported by Mithridates, drove Nicomedes from Bithynia, who then fled to Rome and appealed to the Roman Senate for help. But Ariarathes, who had fled Cappadocia, also asked for Rome's support. The Senate therefore sent in 91 BC A delegation under the leadership of Manius Aquillius with the order to Asia Minor to restore the power of the two kings. Mithridates was instructed to support this endeavor. It was only when Aquillius, together with the proconsul of the province of Asia, Gaius Cassius , marched into Cappadocia and Bithynia with an army raised in the region, that Mithridates gave up his support for Chrestus and Ariarathes, so that Nicomedes and Ariobarzanes 90 BC. BC were able to take control of their kingdoms again.
The responsibility for the outbreak of the war in the following year is mainly attributed to Aquillius by Appian , the most important historical source. According to Appian's tradition, Aquillius is said to have urged Nicomedes to invade and plunder neighboring regions of the Pontic kingdom. As leverage, Aquillius is said to have asserted the great guilt that Nicomedes had against him due to the previous restoration of his power. Aquillius is said to have exceeded the powers assigned to him by the Senate and to have consciously instigated Nicomedes to an open war with Mithridates. This description of the events has been recognized by large parts of modern research, but has also met with decided contradiction. Mithridates initially reacted to this aggression through diplomatic channels. He asked the Senate for Rome's neutrality and permission to settle the conflict between himself and Nicomedes without Rome's interference. However, the Roman response forbade him to respond to Nicomedes' aggression and ordered both kings to cease fighting. However, the Senate made no effort to carry out its will, so that Nicomedes could continue his raids undisturbed. Mithridates then had in the summer of 89 BC His son Ariarathes IX. invade Cappadocia and dethrone Ariobarzanes I again.
First Mithridatic War (89-85 BC)
Pontic offensive in Asia Minor
The Roman generals reacted to the renewed invasion of Cappadocia by raising several armies and preparing an invasion to restore Ariobarzanes' rule. Mithridates 'generals, Archelaus and Neoptolemus, quickly took the initiative, brought Nicomedes' army into Paphlagonia and defeated him. They pursued their aggressive strategy and defeated a second army under Manius Aquillius. A third army under the leadership of the propaetor Quintus Oppius tried unsuccessfully to defend fortified cities in southern Phrygia, while a fourth unit under Gaius Cassius withdrew to Apamea and was disbanded without a fight. The inexperienced militias raised in the region had proven to be no match for the battle-hardened troops of Mithridates. This opened the way to the province of Asia for Mithridates, and the isolated resistance of Greek cities continued until the spring of 88 BC. Dejected by his generals. The sea power Rhodes was now the only remaining hostile power factor in the region. Mithridates began the summer siege of the island, which remained loyal to Rome and was famous for its strong navy. Although he failed to take the island, the Rhodian naval units were bound to the local theater of war by a Pontic sea blockade for the remainder of the war and were thus unable to support Rome militarily. Mithridates was thus in control of the Aegean Sea. Encouraged by ongoing domestic political conflicts in Rome, he prepared the invasion of the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece in the autumn .
The massacre of 88 BC Chr.
Probably in the spring of 88 BC. BC, the exact date remains disputed, there was a coordinated massacre of Romans and Italians in the province of Asia. According to ancient estimates, 80,000 to 150,000 people died in the process, but modern historians consider these numbers to be significantly exaggerated. This event, known as Vespers of Ephesus , was ordered by Mithridates and had the immediate strategic goal of gaining the loyalty of the Greek cities in the region. After such an act, the Greeks could hardly expect mild treatment from the Romans in the event of Mithridates' defeat, which ensured him their constant support. The motivation of Greek cities to take part in this act can be found on the one hand in the fear of Mithridates, who represented a concrete threat with his military presence, but also in an increased aversion to the Romans, who had financially exploited the province since its establishment. In addition, the Greek cities benefited directly from the confiscated wealth of the victims.
Course of the war in Greece
In the autumn of 88 BC BC Archelaus crossed over to Attica with a small vanguard and established his military base on the island of Euboea . The Roman military presence was largely limited to the regions further north of the province of Macedonia under the administration of the propaetor Gaius Sentius . Archelaus advanced north to Thessaly , but encountered Roman resistance under Quintus Bruttius , a legate of Sentius. After a series of unsuccessful skirmishes, Archelaus withdrew to the port of Athens , Piraeus , to wait for reinforcements to arrive from Asia Minor. Athens had defected to the Pontic side after the arrival of its army, after an anti-Roman faction within the city had grown in influence over the course of the year.
The Roman counteroffensive was delayed due to several internal political conflicts until the spring of 87 BC. BC Rome was since 91 BC. Chr. In the Social War v known military confrontation with its Italian allies who until early 88th And made it difficult to raise an army for a war in the east. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who had distinguished himself in the war, was elected consul for the year 88 and was given command of five legions to oppose Mithridates. The ongoing conflict between the various interests within Roman politics, however, led to his command being withdrawn shortly afterwards in favor of his old rival Gaius Marius . Sulla then marched with his army on Rome and expelled Marius from the city. He spent the year in Rome, had his political enemies executed and through several laws limited the influence of various institutions that had removed him from his command. Not until the beginning of 87 BC He crossed the Adriatic Sea to Greece with his army . After landing in Dyrrachium or Apollonia , he marched along the Via Egnatia through Macedonia and tried to raise Archelaus's army before it could reach its full strength. Archelaus avoided a direct confrontation and withdrew to Piraeus, where he was besieged by Sulla. Thanks to its port, the city formed an important basis for the Pontic maritime sovereignty and was also directly connected to Athens by the Long Walls . The besieged Athenians could be regularly supplied with supplies by the Pontic ships, which Sulla at the end of 87 BC. Chr. To instruct his quaestor Lucius Licinius Lucullus with the establishment of a fleet. After several months, Sulla was able to succeed on March 1, 86 BC. First take Athens and in the following weeks Piraeus. Archelaus managed to withdraw with the rest of his army.
Already in the summer of 87 BC A second Pontic army of about 60,000 men under Mithridates' son Arkathias had sailed from Asia across the Hellespont , marched through Thrace and conquered Macedonia. The two Pontic armies united in Thessaly. Sulla took up the chase and eventually defeated the combined army in the summer of 86 BC. Near the city of Chaironeia despite their numerical superiority devastating. Since the Pontic fleet still held the sea sovereignty, Sulla could hardly profit strategically from this victory and soon had to face a third army of comparable size that had sailed from Asia over the Aegean and landed in Greece. In the same year Sulla also defeated this army and the survivors of Chaironeia in the battle of Orchomenos . After this defeat Archelaus declared himself ready for the first peace negotiations.
Peace of Dardanos
Rome, meanwhile, had sunk into the chaos of a civil war, during which Gaius Marius and his allies regained control of the city and declared Sulla an enemy of the state. Marius was elected consul and was supposed to take control of the command in the east again, but died in early 86 BC. A natural death. Instead, Lucius Valerius Flaccus was elected suffect consul and was given command of two legions. Together with his legate Gaius Flavius Fimbria , he marched through Macedonia and Thrace to the Bosporus in autumn and retook parts of Bithynia. The unpopular Flaccus fell victim to a revolt under Fimbria's leadership, who took command and continued until the summer of 85 BC. BC defeated the scattered Pontic armies in Asia and pursued Mithridates to the port of Pitane on the coast of the province. Lucullus appeared at this time with his fleet, but refused to support his general's rival. Mithridates then managed to retreat to Mytilene .
After Sulla's victory in the Battle of Orchomenos, the remaining Pontic troops withdrew across the Aegean to Asia. Sulla marched with his army north to cross the Hellespont to Asia and in the meantime negotiated the terms of a peace treaty with Archelaus. Even if Mithridates was defeated militarily, Sulla was in a bad negotiating position: the Pontic king could still rely on his sea sovereignty after Lucullus' arrival, in Rome Sulla had been declared an enemy of the state and Fimbria, who was hostile to him, stood with two legions Asia. Sulla wanted to return to Rome as quickly as possible in order to devote himself to his political enemies and therefore accepted unusually mild conditions. Mithridates had to cede part of his fleet to Sulla, pay a small tribute and in return was granted control of his kingdom and all conquests before the outbreak of war as well as the status of "friend and ally" of Rome. Nicomedes IV and Ariobarzanes I were supposed to take control of Bithynia and Cappadocia again.
Mithridates and Sulla finally met at the end of 85 BC. Personally in the city of Dardanos to approve the peace treaty. The peace of Dardanos was rejected by Sulla's soldiers. In their eyes, Mithridates escaped just punishment for the massacre of 88, and they had hoped for the plunder of the wealthy regions of the Pontic kingdom. Sulla initially defended the peace in front of his soldiers with the threat of Fimbria; in his memoirs he later named the necessity of a quick return to Rome to devote himself to his political enemies as the main reason for the mild conditions. Sulla did not have the terms of the peace recorded in writing and made no attempt in the following years to have the unpopular treaty officially ratified by the Roman Senate.
Reorganization by Sulla
Following the peace of Dardanos, Sulla had to devote himself to the legate Fimbria, who could claim a not inconsiderable share in the victory over Mithridates and therefore represented a threat to Sulla, who gained fame and political influence from his successes for the impending confrontation hoped in Rome. Fimbria had withdrawn with his two legions to Thyatira , where he was besieged by Sulla. His call to surrender was rejected, but the two legions defected to Sulla, which ultimately drove Fimbria to suicide.
Sulla restricted the independence of the Greek cities in the province of Asia, and quite a few had to pay regular tribute to Rome for the first time. In addition, payments totaling 20,000 silver talents were imposed on them for their participation in the massacre at the beginning of the war. The most important supporters of the rebellion were also executed in Ephesus . The high toll and the billeting of the Roman army for the winter meant financial ruin for most cities in the region. Sulla left the restoration of Nicomedes 'and Ariobarzanes' rule to his legate Gaius Scribonius Curio . The administration of the province was transferred to another legate, Lucius Licinius Murena , who was given command of the two legions of Fimbria for this task. Sulla had taken little time to restore order in Asia Minor or to actively enforce the terms of the peace treaty. Instead, he went in the spring of 84 BC. On the way back to Rome. Immediately after Sulla's departure from the province, Mithridates refused to completely relinquish control of Cappadocia.
Second Mithridatic War (83-81 BC)
Murena showed little interest in the administration of the province of Asia and instead used Mithridates' refusal to cede Cappadocia completely to Ariobarzanes as an excuse to wage war and secure a triumph . In the summer of 83 BC He marched through Cappadocia to invade Pontos from the south and advanced to Komana . Mithridates responded to Murena's aggression with a diplomatic embassy invoking the peace of Dardanos. Murena denied the existence of a peace treaty, pointing out that there was no written document in which the terms were formally recorded. In the winter of 83/82 BC Mithridates complained officially in Rome. In the summer Murena marched a second time through Pontus, a military reaction by Mithridates failed again. Murena also ignored a senatorial order to cease attacks on Pontic territory and continued his raids into the second half of the year. Mithridates was now finally forced to counterattack, defeated Murena's troops at an unknown location and drove the remaining Roman garrisons from Cappadocia.
Sulla was in the spring of the year 83 BC. Arrived in Italy and won control of Rome in a civil war against the remnants of the Marian faction . He let himself be appointed dictator for an indefinite period of time and carried out extensive proscriptions that killed thousands of his real and perceived political enemies. Sulla also sought a triumph over Mithridates, which he could not take due to the ongoing fighting. He then sent an ambassador to Asia Minor and ordered the parties to the conflict to end the war. Murena was ordered back to Rome and a young daughter of Mithridates was to be offered to Ariobarzanes as wife. Mithridates used the marriage to expand his influence over Cappadocia. Nevertheless, the Second Mithridatic War came to an end, so that Sulla at the end of January 81 BC. Could celebrate his triumph over Mithridates.
Between the wars
Restoration of Roman rule
The end of the Second Mithridatic War brought radical changes. The regions of Pamphylia, Pisidia and Lycaonia in the south of Asia Minor were established from 80 BC onwards. BC under the name of Cilicia again subordinated to the military command of a propaetor and later a proconsul. The region had previously been used repeatedly as a base of operations for the fight against pirates or to support Ariobarzanes, without being incorporated into the Roman Empire as a province. Around the same time, Ariobarzanes complained in Rome about the continued occupation of parts of his kingdom by Mithridates. He was instructed to withdraw and confirmed his obedience in 78 BC. BC by a diplomatic mission to Rome, which on this occasion also pushed for the ratification of the peace of Dardanos. Sulla had already died at this point and the consuls in Rome did not allow the diplomats a hearing, which effectively declared the peace of Dardanos null and void.
At the same time Publius Servilius Vatia reached the new province for his office as proconsul for the years 78 to 74 BC. To compete. The latent threat posed by Mithridates, the problem of piracy in the eastern Mediterranean, and the state of open rebellion in which parts of Asia Minor had been left behind since the end of the war, prompted the Senate to place two more legions at his disposal in addition to the two now exhausted legions of Fimbria put. The summers of 78 and 77 BC He spent in the fight against the pirates and drove them successfully from several cities in the region and the waters of Pamphylia. He spent the following years conquering Isauria and building a road through the Taurus Mountains , through which the only direct route from southern Cilicia to Cappadocia led. As a result, after Servilius' proconsulate, Cilicia was perceived as the most important starting point for any future operation against Mithridates.
Another outbreak of war
Mithridates had not been idle in the years after the end of the war and was preparing for another war. The aftermath of the civil war between Marius and Sulla was still evident in the rebellion of Quintus Sertorius , who had built a counter-government in Spain. Mithridates closed around 74 BC. An alliance with Sertorius and ships to him in exchange for a staff of military advisers. Deserters from the ranks of the Fimbrian legions contributed to Mithridates' planned realignment of the army, which was now equipped and trained according to the Roman model. The Pontic fleet was rebuilt and now even surpassed its former strength. After Servilius' return to Rome, Lucius Octavius became the new proconsul of Cilicias, but he died unexpectedly shortly after his arrival in the spring of 74 BC. Around the same time, Nicomedes IV of Bithynia died without leaving a rightful heir. To protect his empire from Mithridates' interference, he had given it to Rome. After the claim to the throne of an illegitimate son had been rejected, Marcus Iunius Iuncus , at that time Proconsul Asias, took over the provincialization of the empire. The annexation of Bithynia moved the borders of the Roman Empire closer to the core of the Pontic kingdom, which prompted Mithridates to occupy the eastern part of Paphlagonia in order to be able to react more quickly to a possible Roman aggression.
In the Roman Senate, a resumption of hostilities was considered inevitable since the end of the war, the news of a Pontic alliance with Sertorius and the invasion of Paphlagonia further reinforced this position. Thereupon Lucullus secured himself after serving under Sulla in 74 BC. In the hope of a prestigious campaign against Mithridates the proconsulate in Cilicia. His counterpart Marcus Aurelius Cotta was able to claim the newly established province of Bithynia for himself. Another legion was put to the side of Lucullus before his departure, so that after his arrival in Cilicia in early 73 BC. A total of five legions were under his command. The two Roman generals had received the order to wage a preventive war against Mithridates. Lucullus concentrated his troops in northern Phrygia and prepared the invasion of Pontus. Mithridates correctly interpreted the Roman troop movements as preparations for war and reacted in the spring of 73 BC. BC with the invasion of Bithynia to forestall a Roman attack.
Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC)
Course of the war in Asia Minor
Mithridates marched with his estimated 100,000 to 150,000-strong invading army within nine days through Paphlagonia and Bithynia to the Bosphorus and occupied numerous cities of Bithynia. Cotta's army, which was only a few thousand men strong, was defeated near the city of Chalcedon and then besieged. The Roman fleet in the port of the city was completely destroyed. Mithridates expected at this time Lucullus' invasion from the south through Lycaonia and Cappadocia and for this purpose had left part of his army in Pontus for defense. However, Lucullus was already in the north of Phrygia and moved with his troops to Chalcedon to support Cotta. Mithridates marched with his army on to Kyzikos , a strategically important port city in Asia, and took up the siege. He encountered unexpectedly strong resistance and was soon surrounded by Lucullus' incoming troops. The enormous size of the Pontic army proved to be its greatest weakness in the course of the siege. Lucullus succeeded in cutting off the army on land from its supply routes, the sufficient supply of the soldiers could no longer be guaranteed by the fleet alone. Illness, hunger and the approaching winter eventually forced Mithridates to retreat. His army was by now too weakened to break through the Roman ranks and was almost completely wiped out during their long retreat to Lampsakos . Mithridates was then able to save himself with the remaining troops on the sea route to Nicomedia .
Lucullus was now preparing to march into Pontus. He ceded a small part of his troops to Cotta, who besieged the city of Herakleia , which was occupied by a Pontic garrison, to enable Lucullus to advance undisturbed through Paphlagonia. During the campaign in the summer of 72 BC Both sides avoided a direct confrontation in the 2nd century BC, and the Pontic army was only able to be raised at Cabira in the following summer . Lucullus positioned his troops on a hill opposite the fortress and saw himself exposed to repeated attacks on his supply lines, which, however, could be repulsed with heavy Pontic losses. Mithridates finally decided to retreat to Lesser Armenia again . The initially orderly withdrawal collapsed apparently due to rumors of deserting officers and enabled Lucullus to completely destroy the fleeing army. Mithridates managed to escape to his son-in-law Tigranes II in Greater Armenia . By the summer of 70 BC BC Lucullus conquered the Pontic coastal cities of Amisos and Sinope and recognized Machares , a son and regent of Mithridates in the Crimea, as a "friend and ally" of Rome. He was in control of the entire Pontic kingdom. Then he informed the Senate of the victorious conclusion of the war.
Invasion of Armenia
Lucullus was aware, however, that the war could only be finally ended by the arrest or death of Mithridates'. For this purpose he sent Appius Claudius Pulcher, one of his legates, to Armenia to demand the surrender of the Pontic king. The Armenian King Tigranes II had since his accession to the throne around 95 BC. The borders of his empire were expanded considerably through the annexation of parts of the Parthian Empire in Mesopotamia and the Seleucid Empire in northern Syria, and finally the title " King of Kings " was adopted. The gruff Appius, however, lacked the necessary sensitivity to successfully negotiate the surrender of Tigranes' father-in-law. During his stay in Armenia, he offered Zarbienus , the king of the originally Parthian region of Gordyene , the support of Rome in his planned rebellion against Tigranes. Zarbienus was later executed for his betrayal. During his meeting with Tigranes, Appius, who had become impatient after a long wait, announced that he had come to receive Mithridates or to declare war on Tigranes. Thereupon the Armenian king rejected the demand.
Lucullus believed that it would only take a brief demonstration of Roman power to get Tigranes to rethink. He left part of his troops in Bithynia and Pontus and went in the summer of 69 BC. BC with an army of about 18,000 men on the way through Cappadocia in the direction of the Armenian capital Tigranokerta, which is under construction , and was the first Roman general to cross the Euphrates . Lucullus took up the siege of the city to force Tigranes to react. Tigranes pulled together his army, estimated by ancient historians at 80,000 to 300,000 men, and marched against the Roman troops. In the resulting battle on October 7, Tigranes suffered a heavy defeat after a skilful flanking maneuver under Lucullus' leadership.
However, the approaching winter prevented the effective continuation of a military campaign against Tigranes, who was able to retreat north through the Taurus Mountains. Lucullus' victory at Tigranokerta therefore did not achieve the desired effect to induce Tigranes to surrender the Pontic king. Instead, Lucullus pursued the political destabilization of the Armenian Empire. He staged a public funeral for Zarbienus in Gordyene, declared him a “friend and ally” of Rome and thus drew the people of the region to his side. The governors from other satrapies also joined Lucullus. Tigranokerta was also dismantled in a symbolic act and reduced to its original size of a small town. Tigranes tried in the meantime to an alliance with the Parthian king Phraates III. and offered him the return of Gordyene and other Parthian possessions. However, Phraates entered into diplomatic contact with Lucullus and ultimately declared his neutrality.
In late summer 68 BC Lucullus moved northeast through the Taurus Mountains towards Artaxata in the hope of a quick military confrontation . His march was hindered by Armenian troops who concentrated their attacks on the Roman supply lines and avoided any direct battle. The resulting supply problems and unexpectedly cold autumn weather demotivated the Roman troops, which ultimately refused to march on. Lucullus was forced to turn back, the milder climate in the south of Armenia enabled him to take the city of Nisibis . He then carried out a military campaign in the politically unstable southern regions of Armenia to increase pressure on Tigranes, but the Armenian king continued to avoid a direct confrontation. As his situation deteriorated, Lucullus found himself unable to bring the war to a successful conclusion. In the meantime, with Tigranes' help, Mithridates was able to raise a small army and march back through Lesser Armenia to Pontus. Towards the end of the year 68 BC He inflicted several defeats on the Roman garrisons and was able to almost completely destroy the two legions under Gaius Valerius Triarius , a legate of Lucullus, in the summer of the following year in the battle of Zela .
News of the worsening situation forced Lucullus in the spring of 67 BC. To return to Asia Minor, but his arrival came too late to prevent the heavy defeat at Zela. Mithridates had already withdrawn to Lesser Armenia and was expecting reinforcements from Armenia. Lucullus tried again to end the conflict by direct military confrontation, but was hindered in his advance on Mithridates' position by the Armenian cavalry. A last attempt to march east to place the main part of the Armenian army under Tigranes before they could catch up with Mithridates failed because the legionnaires refused to continue the campaign. At this point, the news of the defeat at Zela had moved the Roman Senate to transfer the command for the war against Mithridates to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus . Lucullus had previously been accused of dragging the war unnecessarily and of invading Armenia only out of the desire for personal enrichment. The soldiers' displeasure about the comparatively small booty had also grown, because Lucullus had always prevented unbridled plundering and was now the only beneficiary of the war in the eyes of the army. Mithridates managed to renew his rule over Pontus by the end of the summer and thus negate all the successes achieved by Lucullus.
Pompey takes command
After Lucullus in 70 BC BC had announced the end of the war and the following year the news of the victory at Tigranokerta reached the Senate, the process of relieving the provinces of Asia Minor from his command and subordinating them to new governors began in Rome. Asia became 68/67 BC BC again administered by Propraetors whose identity is not completely secured. Lucullus' brother-in-law and consul of the year 68 BC BC Quintus Marcius Rex was installed as the proconsul of Cilicias and was supposed to wage war against the pirates in the region. For this he was subordinated to three legions and a fleet. Piracy was a persistent problem for the Roman Republic, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. . Was BC Mark Antony during which he has seen some success specially assigned for this purpose a proconsular command of Cilicia. Over the decades, however, the situation had visibly worsened again, so that Antonius' son of the same name in 74 BC. An extraordinary command over the entire Mediterranean had to be assigned. However, this had 72/71 BC. BC suffered a defeat in the fight against the Cretans allied with the pirates .
Finally, the tribune Aulus Gabinius put in early 67 BC. With the Lex Gabinia a law before which a further extraordinary command was to be transferred to Pompey. He was allowed to raise 120,000 legionnaires and 5000 cavalrymen and a fleet of 500 ships. Its area of command should encompass the entire Mediterranean Sea and all coastal areas up to 50 miles inland. Whether the associated authority was superior to the governors of the provinces is disputed in research. Such a concentration of power on a single person had never before occurred in the history of the republic. Despite resistance from large parts of the Senate, the law was passed under pressure from the people of Rome, whose grain supplies had suffered particularly from piracy. Pompey then achieved a complete victory over the pirates within three months. Another law of Gabinius transferred the administration of Bithynia and Pontus as well as Lucullus' command to the incumbent consul Manius Acilius Glabrio . At this point the war was considered to be effectively over, Tigranes was expected to surrender soon and the defeat at Zela was still in the future. Glabrio therefore planned no further military campaigns and was not assigned any additional troops.
However, Glabrio did not arrive in Asia Minor until after the Battle of Zela and was overwhelmed by the unexpected situation. This heavy defeat and Pompey's outstanding performance in the fight against the pirates prompted the tribune of the people Gaius Manilius in early 66 BC. To submit the Lex Manilia , a law that should give Pompey the supreme command of all operations in the fight against Mithridates and Tigranes. In addition, all provinces of Asia Minor were subordinated to him and the right to conclude alliances without the approval of the Senate was granted. The powers assigned to him under the Lex Gabinia also remained. Several influential senators spoke out in favor of the law, which was also popular among the population, and secured its passage. Pompey was already in Pamphylia and eventually took command of the troops of Lucullus, Glabrio and Marcius Rex.
Final Roman victory
Pompey gathered his army, now estimated to be 45,000 strong, and prepared an invasion of Pontus. First, however, he took diplomatic contact with Phraates III. up again and secured an alliance. The Parthian king was assured control of the former Parthian possessions Gordyene, Adiabene and Mesopotamia in southern Armenia. In return, Phraates should take part in the war against Tigranes'. While Pompey was struggling with Mithridates in Lesser Armenia, Phraates began the invasion of Greater Armenia. Tigranes was able to repel the Parthian invasion with some success, but was unable to support Mithridates at the same time. After six weeks of skirmishes along the Lycus , Mithridates retreated further east towards the Armenian kingdom, where he suffered a heavy defeat in an unknown location, probably in the vicinity of the city of Nicopolis , which was later founded by Pompey . His army, which had originally grown to around 30,000 men, was largely wiped out. Mithridates was able to flee again and retreated to Colchis on the east coast of the Black Sea , the last region of the Pontic Empire still under his control. In the spring of 65 BC He moved on to the Bosporan Empire in the Crimea to assert himself against his defected son Machares.
Pompey quickly gave up the pursuit and instead devoted himself to 66 BC. The submission of Armenia. Tigranes recognized his hopeless position, submitted to Pompey and laid his diadem at his feet at a meeting. Pompey soon recognized him as a “friend and ally” of Rome, but he had to give up all conquests of his thirty years of reign. Subsequently, Pompey began a campaign against the Caucasian empires of the Iberians and Albanians, allied with Tigranes and Mithridates . In the winter of 66/65 BC The Albanian leader Oroises attacked the three Roman camps on the Kura River and suffered a defeat. The following spring Pompey triumphed against the troops of the Iberian King Artokes and made a peace with the Iberians. In late summer, Pompey continued his campaign against the Albanians and defeated the supposedly 72,000-strong Albanian army at an unknown river crossing. At the end of the year Pompey returned to Lesser Armenia. Mithridates had reached the Crimea in the summer and was preparing to defend the ports against an expected Roman attack by sea. Machares had to flee and shortly afterwards committed suicide. Two years later, however, Mithridates fell victim to a revolt by his son Pharnakes II and was finally killed by a loyal bodyguard. Mithridates' body was handed over to Pompey and Pharnakes was recognized as king of the Bosporan Empire.
Consequences of war
Reorganization of the East
After Tigranes' surrender, Phraates saw the opportunity to renew his rule over the former Parthian possessions in Greater Armenia. By the end of the year 65 BC He succeeded in subjugating Gordyenes and Adiabenes. Aulus Gabinius, now a legate under Pompey, marched at the same time through Armenia towards Mesopotamia, which prompted Phraates to make clear to Pompey his claim to the region again. In return, however, this demanded the task of Gordyene and sent another legate, Lucius Afranius, to subordinate the region to Tigranes again, who was now recognized as a "friend and ally" of Rome. Phraates then withdrew without a fight and demanded that Pompey recognize the Euphrates as a natural border between Rome and Parthia. Pompey also rejected this request and also refused to recognize Phraates' title "King of Kings". In the summer of 64 BC Phraates finally tried to enforce his claim militarily and attacked the south of Armenia again. The conflict ultimately resulted in a stalemate and opened up the possibility for Pompey to offer himself as a mediator. Gordyene was given to Tigranes while Mesopotamia fell to Phraates. As a buffer zone between Parthia and Rome, Osrhoene , a region in the western part of Mesopotamia, was from then on under the rule of client king Abgar II.
The winter of 65/64 BC BC Pompey spent in an unknown fortress in Lesser Armenia. The year 64 saw the union of Bithynia with the western parts of the Pontic Kingdom in the province of Bithynia et Pontus . For this purpose, the former Pontic area was administratively divided into eleven municipalities. Cilicia was formally provincialized and now also included the regions further east, which had previously been under the rule of Tigranes. In Syria, the remnants of the Seleucid Empire that had been conquered by Tigranes, there was a dispute over the succession to the throne after his loss of power in the course of Lucullus' invasion. Pompey, however, had already committed himself to annexing the region before every meeting with possible heir apparent, probably to curb Parthian interests in the region. When he finally came to terms with Antiochus XIII. met he saw himself confirmed in his decision to place the region under direct Roman control. Antiochus appeared to him as a weak ruler who could not assert himself against his rivals or defend the country against attacks from outside. Pompey was finally able to incorporate the empire as the province of Syria without any military resistance.
In the south of Syria, Pompey got involved in the conflict between the Jews in Judea and the Arabs of the kingdom of Nabataea . In Judea there was a dispute over the office of high priest and the succession to the throne between the brothers Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. When Pompey's legate Marcus Aemilius Scaurus in 64 BC. Hyrcanus had made a picture of the situation with the help of the expansionist Nabatean king Aretas III. gained the upper hand. Pompey prepared an attack on Aretas, after which he wanted to offer himself as a mediator of the conflict. However, when Pompey at the beginning of 63 BC BC learned of an unauthorized mobilization of troops by Aristobulus, he marched instead against the Jewish prince, who then withdrew to Jerusalem. Pompey managed to arrest him there, but the temple area in the center of the city was occupied by his supporters and could only be conquered after a three-month siege at the beginning of October. Hyrcanus was made high priest and ethnarch of Judea. The northern areas of his empire and the coastal cities of Gaza and Jaffa became part of the Syria Province.
During his stay in the region, Pompey demonstrated an unprecedented independence in the mediation of regional conflicts and the reorganization of Roman hegemony in the east on the basis of the authority he had been granted by the Lex Manilia. With Syria, Cilicia and Bithynia et Pontus, new provinces were created and a buffer zone of client kingdoms and allies along the Roman borders was established. More recent research indicates, however, that Pompey probably did not pursue a comprehensive plan for the redesign, so that his decisions arose rather spontaneously from the various circumstances with which he was confronted in the course of his campaigns.
literature
- David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume I , Princeton University Press, Princeton 1950
- AN Sherwin-White : Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1984, ISBN 0-8061-1892-X
- Brian C. McGing: The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus , Brill, Leiden 1986, ISBN 90-04-07591-7
- John GF Hind: Mithridates In: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume IX. The Last Age of the Roman Republic. 146-43 BC , 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 129-164, ISBN 0521256038
- AN Sherwin-White: Lucullus, Pompey and the East In: The Cambridge Ancient History Volume IX. The Last Age of the Roman Republic. 146-43 BC , 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, pp. 229-273, ISBN 0521256038
- Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , University of California Press, Berkeley 1995, ISBN 978-0520080751
- Adrienne Mayor: The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy , Princeton University Press, Princeton 2010, ISBN 978-0691126838
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, p 109
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 88-90
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 97-98
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 91-92, 118-119
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 102
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 104-105
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 105
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 105-107
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp 248-249, 355-360
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 240-242, 249-250
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp 249-250
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp 250-251
- ^ AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 111
- ↑ Appian, Mithridatica , 11-17
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 251-260, sees the outbreak of war as the result of a miscalculation, not a deliberate escalation; Brian C. McGing: Mithridates VI Eupator: Victim or Aggressor? In: Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom. Aarhus University Press, Aarhus 2009, pp. 203–216, believes Kallet-Marx is in parts convincing and sees both parties equally as aggressors.
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 121
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 121-125
- ↑ Valerius Maximus , 9.2 speaks of 80,000 victims; Plutarch , Sulla , 24.4 puts the number of dead at 150,000.
- ^ Peter Brunt : Italian Manpower, 225 BC – AD 14. Oxford 1971, pp. 224–227
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, p 157; David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 , Princeton 1950, p. 217
- ^ David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 , Princeton 1950, p. 217
- ↑ For an estimate of the number of troops involved, see AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 128, 139, the one for the Pontic invasion of Greece by two armies of approx. 60,000 men each another 60,000 goes out to Chaironeia.
- ^ AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 139-140
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 141
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 143-145
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp 262-264
- ^ David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 , Princeton 1950, pp. 232-233
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 265-266
- ^ David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 , Princeton 1950, pp. 237-238
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 274-276
- ^ David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 , Princeton 1950, pp. 233, 240
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, p 262
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 148
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 149-151
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 151
- ↑ Robert Kallet Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Empire in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, p 263
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 292-294
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 294-295
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 152-154, 157
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 154-158
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar , 2.6
- ^ AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 159-166
- ↑ Ancient estimates: Appian, Mithridatica , 69 speaks of 156,000 soldiers; Plutarch, Lucullus , 7.4 names 136,000.
- ↑ Modern estimates: David Magie: Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume I , Princeton 1950, p. 323, accepts Plutarch's estimate of 136,000 men; AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 168, considers a three to four-fold superiority over Lucullus' army of 30,000 men plus auxiliary troops to be realistic.
- ^ AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 166-170
- ^ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp 170-173
- ↑ Memnon , 38.4 gives the more moderate estimate of 80,000; Appian, Mithridatica , 85 speaks of 250,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry; a precise estimate is difficult to make, but Memnon's figures are seen as much more realistic, see AN Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, p. 179
- ^ Robin Seager: Pompey the Great. A Political Biography , 2nd Edition, Blackwell, Oxford 2002, pp. 45-46, 176
- ↑ TO Sherwin-White: Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 , Norman 1984, pp. 187-188
- ↑ Robert Kallet-Marx: Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC , Berkeley 1995, pp. 320–321
- ^ Robin Seager: Pompey the Great. A Political Biography , 2nd Edition, Blackwell, Oxford 2002, pp. 176-177