Sulla

When these agreements had been made, Sulla turned back and proceeded by way of Thessaly and Macedonia towards the Hellespont, having Archelaüs with him, and in honour. And when Archelaüs fell dangerously ill at Larissa, Sulla stopped his march, and cared for him as if he had been one of his own commanding officers.

This raised the suspicion that the action at Chaeroneia had not been fairly fought, as well as the fact that Sulla released the other friends of Mithridates whom he had taken captive, but put to death Aristion the tyrant alone, by poison, who was at enmity with Archelaüs; the strongest ground for the suspicion, however, was his gift to the Cappadocian of about two thousand acres of land in Euboea, and his bestowing upon him the title of friend and ally of the Romans. At any rate, on these points Sulla defends himself in his Memoirs.

At this time also ambassadors from Mithridates arrived, and when they declared that he accepted the other terms, but demanded that Paphlagonia be not taken away from him, and that as to the ships no agreement whatsoever should be made, Sulla flew into a passion and said: What say ye? Mithridates maintains his claim to Paphlagonia, and refuses to give the ships, when I thought he would prostrate himself humbly before me if I should leave him but that right hand of his, with which he took the lives of so many Romans?

However, he will quickly talk in another strain after I have crossed into Asia; now he sits in Pergamum and directs a war which he has not seen. The ambassadors, accordingly, were frightened, and held their peace; but Archelaüs entreated Sulla, and tried to soften his anger, laying hold of his right hand and weeping. And finally he obtained Sulla’s consent to send him in person to Mithridates; for he said that he would have the peace ratified on Sulla’s terms, or, if he could not persuade the king, would kill himself.

Upon these assurances Sulla sent him away, and then himself invaded the country of the Maedi, and after ravaging the most of it, turned back again into Macedonia, and received Archelaüs at Philippi. Archelaüs brought him word that all was well, but that Mithridates insisted on a conference with him.

Fimbria was chiefly responsible for this, who, after killing Flaccus, the consul of the opposite faction,[*](See chapter xii. 8 and note.) and overpowering the generals of Mithridates, was marching against the king himself. For this terrified Mithridates, and he chose rather to seek the friendship of Sulla.