ENEMIES OF ROME 5.9 - Mithridates - The wild goose chase goes on

herverisson (70)in #history • 7 years ago

Against all odds, Mithridates had once again dodged the metaphorical bullet and managed to get back on his throne. However pugnacious and die-hard was Mithridates, it had more to do about Roman political issues than for his own skills and craft.

Pompey takes command

There are several reasons why Rome could not commit all its forces to crush once and for all the pesky Mithridates: first there was the war in Spain against Sertorius, then there were slave revolts in Italy (I am Spartacus!) and last, there were the Cilician pirates controlling the sea. At least two of these threats were dealt with by one man: Pompey the Great.

When the Romans could no longer endure the damage and disgrace, they made Gnaeus Pompey, commander by law for three years, with absolute power over the whole sea within the Pillars of Hercules, and of the land for a distance of 75 kilometers from the coast.

Dividing the sea between several subalterns, Pompey managed to clear the Mediterranean in record time and finished it up by wiping out the Pirate bases in Cilicia itself:

while he was still in Cilicia they chose him commander of the war against Mithridates, giving him the same unlimited powers as before, to make war and peace as he liked, and to proclaim nations friends or enemies according to his own judgment.

Pompey hurriedly agreed, intent on winning a hat-trick of victories for his immaculate CV.

Invasion

In 66 BC, Pompey sent cynical peace offerings to Mithridates (Deliver up all our deserters and surrender at discretion) which were odious to the Pontic king, more resolved to fight to the death. Too much aware of the inadequacy of his troops to fight an open battle, Mithridates let Pompey cross into his territory, hoping to starve him, but Pompey had studied Lucullus campaign and made sure to have fresh supplies.

Eventually, Pompey managed to catch up with the retreating army and Mithridates took up a defensive position on a rocky hill. As happened often before, a skirmish broke out between Pontic soldiers and Romans, and an irrational panic seized the troops of Mithridates:

They threw down their arms and fled as though their own camp had already been captured on the other side. As there was no road out of the place they fell foul of each other in the confusion, until finally they leaped down the precipices.

New plans

Yet again, Mithridates managed to escape and regroup. He first darted to Armenia, but Tigranes had learned his lesson and refused to welcome or shelter the fugitive king, who turned north, crossed the Caucasus and passed into Colchis (modern day Georgia), drawing up (according Appian) new creative ways to continue the war:

Mithridates here made no small plans, nor yet plans suitable for a fugitive, but conceived the idea of making the circuit of the whole Pontic coast, passing from Pontus to the Scythians around the Sea of Azov and thus arriving at the Bosphorus. He intended to take away the kingdom of Machares, his ungrateful son, and confront the Romans once more; wage war against them from the side of Europe while they were in Asia

Modern day view of the Caucasus across which Mithridates fled [Source]

Once he reached the kingdom of Bosporus (65 BC), his son committed suicide, and he took over his throne and drew up more fantastical plans to exact revenge on the Romans, with the help of Scythian tribes:

He formed alliances with them in contemplation of other and more novel exploits, such as marching through Thrace to Macedonia, through Macedonia to Pannonia, and passing over the Alps into Italy.

Last stand ?

Pompey had chases Mithridates as far as Colchis but didn’t deem worthy of him to go farther north and complacently assumed that Rome’s foe was neutralized for good, consigned to the Scythian steppes. After touring the country, he marched south, to regions which were more critical to Roman power:

On his return from that quarter Pompey marched against Armenia, making it a cause of war against Tigranes that he had assisted Mithridates.

Tigranes agreed to everything Pompey asked. Pompey then kept going:

Pompey then passed over Mount Taurus and made war against Antiochus, the king of Commagene, until the latter entered into friendly relations with him. [...] He made war against the Nabataean Arabs, whose king was Aretas, and against the Jews (whose king, Aristobulus, had revolted), until he had captured their holiest city, Jerusalem.

At last, Pompey woke up to the fact that Mithridates was still alive and kicking when some of his ambassadors arrived: