fury, violence, and I might fay even phrenzy. On the contrary, when they were fubjected to the yoke, they became bafe, timorous, fubmiffive, and creeping like flaves. But as this condition was violent, and directly contrary to the cha rafter and difpofition of the Greek nation, born and nurtured in liberty, the fenfe of which was not wholly extinguifhed in them, and only lulled afleep; they waked from time to time from their lethargy, broke their chains, and made ufe of them, if I may be admitted to ufe the expreffion, to beat down and deftroy the unjuft mafters who had impofed them.

With a fmall attention to the whole feries of the hiftory of the Syracufans, it may easily be perceived, (as Galba afterwards faid of the Romans) that they were equally incapate of bearing either entire liberty or entire fervitude. So that the ability and policy of thofe who governed them, conAfted in keeping the people to a wife medium between those two extremes, by feeming to leave them an entire freedom in their refolutions, and referving only to themfelves the care of explaining the utility, and facilitating the execution of good meafures. And in this the magiftrates and kings we have fpoken of were wonderfully fuccefsful, under whofe government the Syracufans always enjoyed peace and tranquillity, were obedient to their princes, and perfectly fubmiffive to the laws. And this induces me to conclude, that the revoJution. of Syracufe were lefs the effect of the people's levity, than the fault of thofe that governed them, who had not the art of managing their paffions, and engaging their affection, which is properly the fcience of kings, and of all who com mand others.

• Imperaturus es hominibus, qui nec totam fervitutem pati poffimt, nee totam libertatem. Tacit. Hift. 1. i. c. 16,

BOOK

BOOK THE TWENTY-SECOND.

THE

HISTORY

OF

PONTUS.

ARTICLE I..

This book includes the space- of- fixty years, which is threeyears more than the reign of Mithridates; from the year of the world 3830, to the year 39432

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SECT. I. MITHRIDATES, at twelve years old, afcends the throne of Pontus. He feixes Cappadocia and Bithynia, having first expelled their kings. The Romans re-establish them. caufes all the Romans in Afia Minor to be put to the fword in one day. Firft war of the Romans with MITHRIDATES, who bad made himself master of Afia Minor, and Greece, where he had taken Athens. SYLLA is charged with this war. befieges and retakes Athens. He gains three great battles against the generals of MITHRIDATES. He grants that prince peace in the fourth year of the war. Library of Athens, in which were the works of ARISTOTLE, SYLLA caufes it to be carried to Rome.

M

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FTHRIDATES, king of Pontus, whofe hiftory we are now beginning, and who rendered himself fo famous by the war he fupported, during almost thirty years against the Romans, was furnamed Eupator. He defcended from a house, which had given a long fucceffion of kings to the kingdom of Pontus. The firft, according to fome hiftorians, was Artabafus, one of the feven princes that flew the Magi, and fet the crown of Perfia upon the head of Darius

D 3

A

Darius Hyftafpes, who rewarded him with the kingdom of Pontus. But befides that we do not find the name of Artabafus amongst thofe Perfians, many reafons induce us to believe, that the prince of whom we speak, was the fon of Darius, the fame who is called Artabarzanes, who was competitor with Xerxes for the throne of Perfia, and was made king of Pontus either by his father or his brother, to confole him for the preference given to Xerxes. His pofterity enjoyed that kingdom during feventeen generations. Mithridates Eupator, of whom we shall treat in this place, was the fixteenth from him.

(9) He was but twelve years of age when he began to reign. His father, before his death, had appointed him his fucceffor, and had given him his mother for guardian, who was to govern jointly with him. (r) He began his reign by putting his mother and brother to death; and the fequel anfwered but too well to fuch a beginning of it. (s) Nothing is faid of the first years of his reign, except that one of the Roman generals, whom he had corrupted with money, having furrendered, and put him into poffeffion of Phrygia, it was foon after taken from him by the Romans, which gave birth to his enmity for them.

(t) Ariarathes king of Cappadocia being dead, Mithridates caufed the two fons he had left behind him to be put to death, though their mother Laodice was his own fifter, and placed one of his own fons, at that time very young, upon the throne, giving him the name of Ariarathes, and appointing Gordius his guardian and regent. Nicomedes king of Bithynia, who apprehended this increase of power would put Mithridates into a condition to poffefs himfelf alfo of his dominions in time, thought proper to fet up a certain young man (who feemed very fit for fuch a part) as a third fon of Ariarathes. He engaged Laodice, whom he had efpoufed after the death of her first husband, to acknowledge him as fuch, and fent her to Rome, to affift and fupport by her prefence the claim of his pretended fon, whom the carried thither along with her. The caufe being brought before the fenate, both parties were condemned, and a decree paffed, by which the Cappadocians were declared free. But they faid they could not be without a king. The fenate permitted them to chufe whom they thought fit. They elected Ariobar

(q) A. M. 3880. Ant. J. C. 124. Photii, c. xxxii.

zanes

(r) Memnon in Excerptis

() Appian. in Mithrid. p. 177, 178. (†) A. M. 3913. An. J. C. 91.

zanes, a nobleman of their nation. Sylla, upon his quitting the office of prætor, was charged with the commiffion of establishing him upon the throne. That was the pretext for this expedition; but the real motive of it was, to check the enterprizes of Mithridates, whofe power daily augmenting, gave umbrage to the Romans. (u) Sylla executed his commiflion the following year; and after having defeated a great number of Cappadocians, and a much greater of Armenians, who came to their aid, he expelled Gordius, with the pretended Ariarathes, and fet Ariobarzanes in his place.

Whilft Sylla was encamped upon the banks of the Euphrates, a Perfian, named Orebafus, arrived at his camp from king Arfaces, to demand the alliance and amity of the Romans. Sylla received him at his audience, caufed three feats to be placed in his tent, one for Ariobarzanes, who was prefent, another for Orobafus, and that in the midft for himfelf. The Parthian king afterwards, offended at his deputy, for having acquiefced in this inftance of the Roman pride, caufed him to be put to death. This is the first time the Parthians had any commerce with the Romans.

Mithridates did not dare at that time to oppose the eftablishment of Ariobarzanes; but diffembling the mortification that conduct of the Romans gave him, he refolved to take an opportunity of being revenged upon them. In the mean while, he applied himself in cultivating good alliances for the augmentation of his ftrength, and began with Tigranes king of Armenia, a very powerful prince. (x) Armenia had at first appertained to the Perfians; it came under the Macedonians afterwards, and upon the death of Alexander, made part of the kingdom of Syria. Under Antiochus the Great, two of his generals, Artaxius and Zadriades, with that prince's permifion, established themselves in this province, of which it is probable they were before governors. After the defeat of Antiochus they adhered to the Romans, who acknowledged them as kings. They had divided Armenia into two parts: Tigranes, of whom we now speak, defcended from Artaxius. He poffeffed himself of all Armenia, fubjected feveral neighbouring countries by his arms, and thereby formed a very powerful kingdom. Mithridates gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, and engaged him to enter fo far into his project against the Romans, that they agreed Mithridates fhould have the cities and countries D 4 they

f) A. M. 3914. An. Dom. 90.

(x) Strab. I. xi. p. 53, 532.

*This was Mithridates II.

they fhould conquer for his fhare, and Tigranes the people, with all the effects capable of being carried away.

(y) The first enterprize and act of hoftility was committed by Tigranes, who deprived Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia, of which the Romans had put him into poffeffion, and re-established Ariarathes, the fon of Mithridates, in it. Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, happened to die about this time: His eldest fon, called alfo Nicomedes, ought naturally to have fucceeded him, and was accordingly proclaimed king. But Mithridates fet up his younger brother Socrates against him, who deprived him of the throne by force of arms. The two dethroned kings went to Rome, to implore aid of the fenate, who decreed their re-establishment, and fent Manius Aquilius and M. Altinius to put that decree in execution.

They were both re-inftated. The Romans advifed them to make irruptions into the lands of Mithridates, promifing them their fupport; but neither the one nor the other dared to attack fo powerful a prince fo near home. At length, however, Nicomedes, at the joint inftances of the ambaffadors, to whom he had promifed great fums for his re-establishment, and of his creditors, Roman citizens fettled in Afia, who had lent him very confiderably for the fame effects, could no longer refift their folicitations. He made incurfions upon the lands of Mithridates, ravaged all the flat country as far as the city Amaftris, and returned home laden with booty, which he applied in difcharging part of his debts.

Mithridates was not ignorant by whofe advice Nicomedes had committed this irruption. He might easily have repulfed him, having a great number of good troops on foot, but he did not take the field. He was glad to place the wrong on the fide of the Romans, and to have a juft caufe for declaring war against them. He began by making remonftrances to their generals and ambaffadors. Pelopidas was at the head of this embaffy. He complained of the various contraventions of the Romans to the treaty of alliance fubfifting between them and Mithridates, and in particular, of the protection granted by them to Nicomedes, his declared enemy. The ambaffadors of the latter replied with complaints on their fide of Mithridates. The Romans, who were unwilling to declare themselves openly at prefent, gave them an answer in loofe and general terms; that the Roman people had no intention that Mithridates and Nicomedes fhould injure each other.

(y) A. M. 3915. Ant. J. C. 89.

Mith