ii. THE SPEECH ON POMPEY'S COMMISSION. I. OCCASION AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF DELIVERY. The country of Pontus lay in the eastern part of Asia Minor, south of the Black Sea. It was bounded on the west by Paphlagonia and Galatia, on the south by Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia, and on the east by Greater Armenia and Colchis. When Xenophon the Athenian passed through this region, in 400 B. C., it was inhabited by a number of barbarous tribes, which were in nominal subjection to Persia. In less than a century afterwards it was the seat of an independent monarchy, whose reigning house traced its descent back to a former Persian governor. In the earlier part of the second century B. C. Pharnaces I. brought the adjoining portions of Paphlagonia under his rule; and Sinope, a colony of the Greek city Miletus, became the place of royal residence. The last and greatest of the kings of Pontus was Mithridates VI., who came to the throne about 120 B. c., and proved to be a formidable antagonist of Rome. The reverses suffered by the Romans at his hands led Manilius to bring forward a bill granting Pompey extraordinary powers. This was the immediate occasion of Cicero's famous speech 'For the Bill of Manilius,' or 'On Pompey's Commission,' which, however, cannot be understood without a more detailed examination of the circumstances leading up to it. Mithridates VI. is one of the most striking characters of ancient history. Possessed of a large and powerful frame, he was endowed also with a mind of great strength and alertness, indomitable courage, and a consuming ambition. He could converse in twenty-five languages, so that he needed no interpreter in dealing with the different peoples under his sway. |