The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

G r e at S o l d i e r s a n d B at t l e s 277
The salient points of the four-year eastern war revolve around the delicate
balance of power between the various smaller kingdoms and Rome’s relationship
with Pa rt h i a . Al t h o u gh the war against Mi t h rad a tes theoreti c a lly concerned
only the kingdom of Pontus and the territories invaded by the king, in
fact the fighting and the diplomatic activity extended much beyond these areas.
The po l i tical and military con trol of Arm enia was alw ays disputed bet ween
Parthia and Rome, but Armenia was more directly involved in this war because
its ruler, Tigranes, had married the daughter of Mithradates, who now chose to
t a ke ref u ge with his son - i n - l aw. Lu c u llus had ach i eved early su ccesses aga i n s t
them both, but failed to contain the two kings, who soon won back the territories
and the influence that they had lost. At this point Pompey took over, and after
lingering for a while trying to win over his troops, an embittered Lucullus
went home.
Pom pey immed i a tely came to an arra n gem ent with the Pa rthians under
their king Phraates, encouraging them at best to attack Armenia or at worst to
ref rain from attacking the Romans while the campaign went ahead aga i n s t
Mi t h rad a te s . Just as he had done in Spain, Pom pey needed to isolate Mi t h radates
and persuade his existing and potential allies that cooperation with Rome
was more adva n t a geo u s . He ch a s ed Mi t h rad a tes back to his own kingdom ,
avoiding pitched battles. Failing to catch him, he turned away from the pursuit
into Lesser Armenia, to find supplies for his army, hoping at the same time to
lure Mithradates into battle on more favorable ground, but the old king was too
well-versed in military tactics to engage. At one point, Mithradates used the old
trick of slipping away at night while leaving the campfires burning, but Pompey’s
scouts reported that he had gone, and Pompey managed to get ahead of
the en emy troops and ambush them by gaining con trol of the high gro u n d
flanking a narrow pass. Many of Mithradates’s soldiers were killed, but the king
e s c a ped . This ti m e , h owever, Arm enia was cl o s ed to him, and his son - i n - l aw
even put a price on his head to underline his refusal to take him in and risk war
with the Romans. Indeed, he was already at war with his own son, also called
Mi t h rad a te s , who had tri ed to usu rp him with Pa rthian hel p. Pom pey temporarily
gave up chasing Mithradates, persuaded the Parthians to withdraw, and
tu rn ed the squ a bbles of the Arm enian royal house to Roman adva n t a ge and
prof i t . He re s tored the old kingdom within its form er limits to the el der
Tigranes for an indemnity of 6,000 talents, gave small territories to the younger
Ti gra n e s , and dated Roman dom i n a ti on of Syria from this mom ent wh en he
wrested it from Armenian control. As added security, Pompey placed one of his
legates, Lucius Afranius, in Armenia, with a watching brief. The next potential
war broke out when Phraates extended Parthian control over Armenia’s neighboring
territories, attacking Gordyene, but Pompey soon expelled the Parthians
and sent Afranius to take over Gordyene.
The states that had been all i ed to Mi t h rad a tes attacked Pom pey in wi n ter