4. CAECILIA, No. 3.] We have no express mention of the
period of his birth or of his age, but Plutarch tells us that he was older than Pompey (Lucull. 36, Pomp. 31); he must therefore have been born
before Acad. pr. 2.1.)
While yet quite a young man, he served with distinction in the Marsic or Social War; and at
this time attracted the attention of Sulla, whom he afterwards accompanied as his quaestor
into Greece and Asia on the breaking out of the Mithridatic war, Sull. 11; Appian,
Peace with Mithridates followed shortly after, and Sulla hastened to return to Rome. It was
a fortunate circumstance for Lucullus that he did not accompany his leader at this time, being
left behind in the charge of various public duties in Asia, by which means he escaped all
participation in the of scenes of horror that ensued, at the same time that he retained the
high place he already enjoyed in the favour of the all-powerful Sulla. Nor do we find that he
took any part in the aggressions of Murena, and the renewed war against Mithridates. [MURENA.] During the whole time that he continted in Asia he appears to
have been occupied with civil and pacific employments, especially with the coining of money,
and the exaction of the heavy sums imposed by Sulla upon the Asiatic cities as a penalty for
their late revolt. In the discharge of this last duty he displayed the utmost kindness and
liberality, and endeavoured to render the burthen as little onerous as possible; at the same
time that the promptitude and vigour with which he punished the revolt of the Mytilenaeans
showed that he was fully prepared to put down all open resistance. (Acad. pr. 2.1.)
Lucullus remained in Asia apparently till near the close of the year 80, when he returned to
Rome to discharge the office for the following year of curule aedile, to which he had been
elected in his absence, together with his younger brother Marcus. According to Plutarch, he
had, from affection for his brother, forborne to sue for this office until Marcus was of
sufficient age to hold it with him. The games exhibited by the two brothers were distinguished
for their magnificence, and were rendered remarkable by the introduction, for the first time,
of elephants combating with bulls. (Acad. pr. 2.1; de Off: 2.16 ; Acad. pr. 2.1; Aur. Vict. de Vir.
Illust. 74;
Of the political conduct of Lucullus during his consulship almost the only circumstance
recorded to us is the determined and effectual opposition offered by him to the attempts of L.
Quinctius to overthrow the constitutional laws of Sulla. (Hist. iii. fragm. 22, p. 234, ed.
Gerlach.)
But the eyes of all at Rome were now turned towards the East, where it was evident that a
renewal of the contest with Mithridates was become inevitable : and the command in this
impending war was the darling object of the ambition of Lucullus. At first indeed fortune did
not seem to befriend him : in the division of the provinces, Bithynia (which had been lately
united to the Roman dominions after the death of Nicomedes III., and which was evidently
destined to be the first point assailed by Mithridates), fell to the lot Cotta, while Lucullus
obtained only Cisalpine Gaul for his province. But just at this juncture Octavius, the
proconsul of Cilicia, died; and Lucullus, by dint of intrigues, succeeded in obtaining the
appointment as his successor, to which the conduct of the war against Mithridates was then
added by general consent. Cotta, however, still retained the government of Bithynia, and the
command of the naval force. (pro Muren.
15;
Both consuls now hastened to Asia, where they arrived before the close of the year 74.
Lucullus took with him only one legion from Italy; but he found four others in Asia, two of
which, however, had formed part of the army of Finmbria; and though brave and hardy veterans,
had been accustomed to licence and rapine, and were ever prone to sedition. Hence the first
business of the new general was to restore the discipline of his own army, a task which he
appears to have for a time easily accomplished; and he now took the field with a force of
30,000 infantry, and 2500 horse. (Epit.
xcv.;
pro. Leg. Manil. 8, pro Muren. 15; Orelli, Inscr. 545.)
The great army of Mithridates, on the equipment and preparation of which he had bestowed all
his care, was now annihilated; but he was still master of the sea; and placing the remains of
his shattered forces on board the fleet, he gave the command of it to Varius, with orders to
maintain possession of the Aegaean, while he himself returned by sea to Bithynia. Lucullus did
not deem it prudent to advance further into Asia while his communications were thus
threatened, and he despatched his lieutenants, Voconius and Triarius, in pursuit of
Mithridates, while he occupied himself in assembling a fleet at the Hellespont. Contributions
quickly poured in from all the Greek cities of Asia; and Lucullus soon found himself at the
head of a considerable naval force, with which he defeated a squadron of the enemy off Ilium,
and soon afterwards engaged and almost entirely destroyed their main fleet, near the island of
Lemnos, taking prisoner Varius himself, together with his two colleagues in the command.
(Appian, pro Leg. Manil. 8, pro Muren. 15;
Lucullus had thus succeeded in driving back Mithridates into his own dominions, and thither
he now prepared to follow him. After joining Cotta and Triarius at Nicomedeia, he detached the
former to besiege the important town of Heracleia, while Triarius, with the fleet, was posted
at the Bosporus, in order to prevent the junction of the enemy's detached squadrons.
Meanwhile, Lucullus himself, with his main army, advanced through Galatia into the heart of
Pontus, laying waste the country on his march; and in this manner penetrated, without any
serious opposition, as far as Themiscyra. But he now began to be apprehensive lest Mithridates
should avoid a battle, and elude his pursuit by withdrawing into the wild and mountainous
regions beyond Pontus; and he therefore, instead of pushing on at once upon Cabeira, where the
king was now stationed, determined to halt and form the siege of the two important towns of
Amisus and Eupatoria. His object in so doing was in great part to draw Mithridates to their
relief, and thus bring on a general engagement; but the king contented hinself with sending
supplies and reinforcements to the two cities, and remained quiet at Cabeira, where he had
established his winter-quarters, and had assembled a force of 40,000 foot and 4000 horse.
Lucullus at first pressed the siege of Amisus with the utmost vigour; but it was defended with
equal energy and ability by Callimachus, the commander of the garrison; and after a time the
efforts of both parties gradually relaxed, and the siege was protracted throughout the whole
winter without any decisive result. With the approach of spring (Hist. ii. fr.
28, iv. fr. 12, p. 240, ed. Gerlach.)
During this interval Lucullus had devotee much of his time and attention to the settlement
of the affairs of Asia, where the provincials and cities were suffering severely from the
exactions and oppressions of the Roman revenue officers. To this evil lie effectually put an
end, by fixing one uniform and Moderate rate of interest for all arrears, and by othre
judicious regulations checked the monstrous abuses of the public farmers of the revenue. By
these measures he earned the favour and gratitude of the cities of Asia, which they displayed
in public by celebrating games in his honour, and by every demonstration of respect and
attachment. So judicious and complete indeed was the settlement of the internal affairs of
Asia now introduced by Lucullus, that it continued long after to be followed as the
established system. But by thus interposing to check the exactions of the knights who were the
farmers of the revenue, he brought upon himself the enmity of that powerful body, who were
loud in their complaints against him at Rome, and by their continued clamours undoubtedly
prepared the way for his ultimate recall. (Mithr. 83 ; Cic. Acad. pr. 2.1.)
Meanwhile Epit.
xcviii.)
The fill of Tigranocerta was now inevitable, and it was hastened by dissensions between the
Greeks and the barbarians within the city, in consequence of which the former opened the gates
to Lucullus. The city was given up to plunder, but the inhabitants were spared, and the
Greeks, who had been forcibly transplanted thither from Cilicia and Cappadocia, were all
suffered to return to their respective cities. (Plut. Lucull.29
But the discontents among his troops which had already given Lucullus so much trouble, broke
out with renewed violence in the camp at Nisibis. They were fostered by P. Clodius, whose
turbulent and restless spirit already showed itself in its full force, and encouraged by
reports from Rome, where the demagogues, who were favourable to Pompey, or had been gained
over by the equestrian party (whose bitter hostility against Lucullus had never relaxed), were
loud in their clamours against that general. They accused him of protracting the war for his
own personal objects either of ambition or avarice; and the soldiery, whose appetite for
plunder had been often checked by Lucullus, readily joined in the outcry. It was, therefore,
in vain that he endeavoured to prevail upon his mutinous army to resume operations in the
spring of the year 67; and while he remained motionless at Nisibis, Mithridates, who had
already taken advantage of his absence to invade Pontus and attempt the recovery of his own
dominions, was able to overthrow the Roman lieutenants Fabius and Triarius in several
successive actions. [MITHRIDATES.] The news of these disasters
compelled Lucullus to return in all haste to Pontus, a movement doubtless in accordance with
the wishes of his army, who appear to have followed him on this occasion without reluctance.
On his approach Mithridates withdrew into the Lesser Armenia, and thither Lucullus prepared to
pursue and attack him, when his movements were again paralysed by the open mutiny of his
soldiers. All that he could obtain from them by the most abject entreaties, was the promise
that they would not abandon his standard during the remainder of that summer, and he was
compelled to establish himself in a camp, where he spent all the rest of the season in
inactivity, while Mithridates and Tigranes were able to overrun without opposition the greater
part both of Pontus and Cappadocia. Such was the state of things, when ten legates (among whom
was Marcus, the brother of Lucullus) arrived in Asia, to settle the affairs of Pontus, and
reduce it to the form of a Roman province; and they had, in consequence, to report to the
senate that the country supposed to have been completely conquered was again in the hands of
the enemy. The adversaries of Lucullus naturally availed themselves of so favourable an
occasion, and a decree was passed to transfer to Acilius Glabrio, one of the consuls for the
year, the province of Bithynia and the command against Mithridates. But Glabrio was wholly
incompetent for the task assigned him: on arriving in Bithynia, and learning the posture of
affairs, he made no attempt to assume the command or take the field against Mithridates, but
remained quiet within the confines of the Roman province, while he still farther embarrassed
the position of Lucullus, by issuing proclamations to his soldiers, announcing to them that
their general was superseded, and releasing them from their obedience. Mithridates meanwhile
ably availed himself of this position of affairs, and Lucullus had the mortification of seeing
Pontus and Cappadocia occupied by the enemy before his eyes, and the results of all his
previous campaigns apparently annihilated, without being able to stir a step in their defence.
But it was still more galling to his feelings when, in the spring of p. Leg. Manil. 2, 5, 9, Ep. ad Att. 13.6; Pomp. 31;
Deeply mortified at this termination to his glorious career, Lucullus returned to Rome to
claim the well-merited honour of a triumph. But even this was opposed by the machinations of
his adversaries. C. Memmius, one of the tribunes, brought against him various charges for
maladministration, and it was not till an interval of nearly three years had elapsed, that
this opposition was overcome, and Lucullus at length celebrated his triumph with the greatest
magnificence, at the commencement of the year 63. (Cat. Min. 29; Cic. Acad. pr. 2.1; Pomp. 46; pro Milon. 27), and by this means, as well
as by the general course of his policy, had incurred the enmity both of Crassus and Caesar, so
that he found himself on hostile terms with all the three individuals who had now the chief
direction of affairs at Rome. Caesar even threatened him with a prosecution for his
proceedings in Asia; a danger which so much alarmed him that he had recourse to the most
humiliating entreaties in order to avert it (in Vatin. 10, Ep.
ad Att. 2.24); and in the same year he is mentioned among the judges at the trial of L.
Flaccus (Cic. pro Flacc. 34). But these two are the last occasions on
which his name appears in history. The precise period of his death is not mentioned, but he
cannot long have survived the return of Cicero from exile, as the great orator refers to him
as no longer living, in his oration concerning the consular provinces, delivered the following
year, de Prov. Cons. 9). We are
told that for some time previous to his death he had fallen into a state of complete dotage,
so that the management of his affairs was confided to his brother Marcus (de Vir. Illustr. 74).
But his death, as often happens, revived in its full force the memory of his great exploits;
and when the funeral oration was pronounced in the forum over his remains, the populace
insisted that he should be buried, as Sulla had been, in the Campus Martius, and it was with
difficulty that his brother prevailed on them to allow his ashes to be deposited, as
previously arranged, in his Tusculan villa (Plut. Ibid.).
The name of Lucullus is almost as celebrated for the luxury of his latter years as for his
victories over Mithridates. He appears to have inherited the love of money inherent in his
family, while the circumstances in which he was placed gave him the opportunity of gratifying
it without having recourse to the illegal means which had disgraced his father and
grandfather. As quaestor under Sulla, and afterwards during his residence in Asia, it is
probable that he had already accumulated much wealth: and during the long period of his
government as proconsul, and his wars against Mithridates and Tigranes, he appears to have
amassed vast treasures. These supplied him the means, after his return to Rome, of gratifying
his natural taste for luxury, and enabled him to combine an ostentatious magnificence of
display with all the resources of the most refined sensual indulgence. His gardens in the
immediate suburbs of the city were laid out in a style of splendour exceeding all that had
been previously known, and continued to be an object of admiration even under the emperors:
but still more remarkable were his villas at Tusculum, and in the neighbourhood of Neapolls.
In the construction of the latter, with its various appurtenances, its parks, fish-ponds,
&c., he had laid out vast sums in cutting through hills and rocks, and throwing out
advanced works into the sea. So gigantic indeed was the scale of these labours for objects
apparently so insignificant, that Pompey called him, in derision, the Roman Xerxes. His feasts
at Rome itself were celebrated on a scale of inordinate magnificence: a single supper in the
hall, called that of Apollo, was said to cost the sum of 50,000 denarii. Even during his
campaigns it appears that the pleasures of the table had not been forgotten; and it is well
known that he was the first to introduce cherries into Italy, which he had brought with him
from Cerasus in Pontus. (de Leg. 3.13, de Off. 1.39; de R. R. 3.4, 17; Geschichte Roms, vol. iv. pp. 169, 170, where all the ancient
authorities are referred to.) In the midst of these sensual indulgences, however, there were
not wanting pleasures of a more refined and elevated character. Lucullus had from his earliest
years devoted much attention to literary pursuits, and had displayed an enlightened patronage
towards men of letters: he had also applied part of his wealth to the acquisition of a
valuable library, which was now opened to the free use of the literary public; and here he
himself used to associate with the Greek philosophers and literati who at this time swarmed at
Rome, and would enter warmly into their metaphysical and philosophical discussions Hence the
picture drawn by Cicero at the commencement of the Academics was probably to a certain extent
taken from the reality. His constant companion from the time of his quaestorship had been
Antiochus of Ascalon, from whom he imblibed the precepts of the Academic school of philosophy,
to which he continued through life to be attached (Cic Acadl. pr. 2.2,
de Fin.
pr. Arch.
3-5); and the sculptor Arcesilaus is also said to have been one of his constant associates.
(
The character of Luctllus is one not difficult to comprehend. He had no pretension to the
name of a great man, and was evidently unable to cope with the circumstances in which he found
himself placed, and the sterner but more energetic spirits by whom he was surrounded. Yet he
was certainly a man of no common ability, and gifted in particular with a natural genius for
war. We cannot indeed receive in its full extent the assertion of Cicero (Acad. pr. 2.1), that he had received no previous military training, and came out at
once a consummate general on his arrival in Pontus, merely from the study of historical and
military writings; for we know that he had served in his youth with distinction in the Marsic
war; and as quaestor under Sulla he must have had many opportunities of acquiring a practical
knowledge of military affairs. But the talent that he displayed as a commander is not the less
remarkable. Plutarch has justly called attention to the skill with which he secured the
victory at one time by the celerity of his movements, at another time by caution and delay:
and though the far greater fame of his successor has tended to cast the military exploits of
Lucullus into the shade, there can be no doubt that the real merit of the Mithridatic war is
principally due to the latter. In one quality, however, of a great commander he was altogether
wanting--in the power of attaching to him his soldiers; and to this deficiency, as we have
seen, may be ascribed in great measure the ill fortune which clouded the latter part of his
career. We are told indeed that some of the legions placed under his command were of a very
turbulent and factious character; but these very troops afterwards followed Pompey without a
murmur, even after the legal period of their service was expired. This unpopularity of
Lucullus is attributed to a severity and harshness in the exaction of duties and punishment of
offences, which seems strangely at variance with all else that we know of his character: it is
more probable that it was owing to a selfish indifference, which prevented him from
sympathising or associating with the men and officers under his command. (Comp.
Though early withdrawn from the occupations and pursuits of the forum, which prevented his
becoming a finished orator, Lucullus was far from a contemptible speaker (Brut. 62); the same causes probably
operated against his attaining to that literary distinction which his earliest years appeared
to promise. Plutarch, however, tells us (Lucull. 1) that he composed a
history of the Marsic war in Greek; and the same work is alluded to by Cicero. (Ep. ad Att. 1.19.) It has been already mentioned that Sulla left him his
literary executor, a sufficient evidence of the reputation he then enjoyed in this respect. He
was noted for the excellence of his memory, which, Cicero tells us, was nearly, if not quite,
equal to that of Hortensius. (Acad. pr. 2.1, 2.)
Lucullus was twice married: first to Clodia daughter of App. Claudius Pulcher, whom he
divorced on his return from the Mithridatic war, on account of her licentious and profligate
conduct (Geschichte Roms, vol.
iv.)