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. He delighted to fill his palaces with statuary, pictures, and the surroundings of culture, yet in his relations with rivals and subjects he was a typical Oriental despot, — jealous, cruel, and implacable. He would put to death even the members of his own family for slight reasons; to protect himself against secret enemies, it is said that he commenced early in life to take poisons in small quantities, that his system might become inured to them. As a general, if he may not be compared with Alexander and Caesar, he may at any rate be mentioned along with the great Oriental conquerors, - Tiglath-Pileser, Cyrus, and Darius; for with the troops at his command, numerous indeed, but of poor fighting quality, he was able to destroy several Roman armies, and to fight against Rome for almost thirty years. As a hater of the Romans he was second only to Hannibal. Mithridates commenced to reign when very young. After he had established himself firmly upon the throne, he entered upon a career of conquest. He annexed Lesser Armenia and Colchis, and crossed the Caucasus range. Having been requested by the Greek cities of Olbia and Chersonesus to chastise the marauding tribes north of the Euxine Sea, he sent his generals over the country as far as the Tyras River (now Dniester), and made the whole subject to himself. But on the west side of his kingdom opportunity for extension was checked by the bounds of the Roman province of Asia. This at first comprised the portion of Asia Minor west of Bithynia, Phrygia, and Lycia, which had been bequeathed to the Roman people by Attalus III., the last king of Pergamus, in B. C. 133. The states lying between Pontus and the province, particularly Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Cappadocia, were nominally independent, but were on good terms with the Romans, and really under a Roman protectorate. A collision between the two aggressive powers - Rome, ever impatient of rivals, and Mithridates, fired with the spirit of conquest was inevitable; but the first provocation came from the Romans. Early in the reign of Mithridates they took from him Phrygia, which had been under the rule of his father. Biding his time, he increased his resources as rapidly as possible, and formed an alliance with Tigranes, king of Armenia, to whom he gave a daughter in marriage. He made various attempts to get control of Cappadocia, and would have been successful had not the Roman Senate - in 92 B. C. - placed the Cappadocian Ariobarzanes on the throne. The Romans also obliged him to evacuate Paphlagonia, which, he claimed, belonged to him by inheritance. Not yet willing openly to break with Rome, he instigated Tigranes to drive Ariobarzanes out of Cappadocia. About the same time he was instrumental in bringing about the expulsion of Nicomedes III. from Bithynia, supporting against the lawful king a claimant of the throne friendly to himself. Both the exiled princes appealed to Rome. She reinstated them without a protest from Mithridates, who had apparently supposed that the disturbances of the Social War would make the Romans forgetful of their interests in the East. Nicomedes, at the instigation of the Roman embassador, now assumed the offensive, and invaded Pontus. Mithridates sent to Rome to demand satisfaction, but received none. He at once prepared for hostilities. Thus began the first Mithridatic war, which lasted from 88 to 84 B. C. Mustering an army of 250,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry, in one season, B. c. 88, he overran Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the greater part of the Roman province of Asia. He defeated the Romans at every point, and gained control of all the western part of Asia Minor, with the exception of a few cities. He poured molten gold down the throat of the Roman governor, M'. Aquillius, in mockery of the man's avarice. He made Pergamus the place of royal residence. From Ephesus he sent |