Mithridates the Great (20 page)

9. Cappadocian landscape. This view of the parched interior of Anatolia shows the difficulties of maintaining a large army in the field. Such terrain was very suitable for the delaying tactics of Mithridates in later years.

10. Asclepion (temple of Asclepius) at Pergamum. During the Pontic massacre thousands of Romans tried to shelter in temples such as these, but were cut down anyway, a sacrilege for which the cities of Asia Minor paid dearly (©Tom Brosnahan, with kind permission of
www.TurkeyTravelPlanner.com
)

11. A reconstruction of how the major features of ancient Rhodes might have looked at the time of the siege of Mithridates (montage constructed by the author from aerial photographs of modern Rhodes and architectural sites throughout Greece).

12. Merchant ship and lighthouse from a mosaic floor at Ostia Antica. So successful were the pirates sponsored by Mithridates that they managed to bring maritime traffic to a near-standstill, not only in the eastern Mediterranean but also on parts of the Italian coast (photograph©P Matyszak).

13. A warship, possibly a trireme, travelling undersail with oars shipped, from a mosaic at Ostia Antica. Note the prow shaped for ramming (photograph ©P Matyszak).

14. Drawing of a bireme by the author. These light and speedy vessels were used by all sides during the wars. They were slightly larger and heavier than the ‘Liburnian’ vessels which made up the staple of the pirate fleet, but were sometimes adopted as the pirates gained greater resources (©P Matyszak).

15. Roman auxiliary soldiers from a relief in the Vatican Museum. These soldiers sometimes differed radically from their legionary counterparts in their armour and weaponry. Note the scale armour, and apparent protection of the lower arm which seems to have been characteristic of soldiers of the western Black Sea coast (photograph ©P Matyszak).

16. A Roman (left) battles with warriors identified as Bastarnae, from the Adamklissi monument. The Bastarnae, known as ‘the bravest warriors of all’ played a key part in the capture of the harbour at Chalcedon. (photograph ©Adrian Goldsworthy, with kind permission).

17. Romans fight Sarmatian horsemen. This relief from Trajan's Column shows the Sarmatians and their horses clad in tight-fitting scale armour. It is probable that their ancestors who fought for Mithridates were similarly dressed (photograph ©Adrian Goldsworthy, with kind permission).

18. Thracian horseman. Thracians served on both sides as mercenaries during Mithridates’ wars. This cloaked figure holds a spear, but his lack of armour suggests that on this occasion his equestrian skills were deployed in hunting (photograph ©P Matyszak).

19. Scythian Cavalrymen. The range of the Pontic kingdom gave Mithridates a wide variety of cavalry which greatly contributed to the flexibility and striking power of his army. Scythian horse archers were lightly armed, but almost impossible for the more heavily-armed Romans to catch (photograph©Giovanni Lattanzi, with kind permission of the Archaeological image resource at
www.archart.it
).

Chapter 7

The Failed Peace

The post-war settlement

The peace of Dardanus was
realpolitik
at its most brutal, a peace made by two ruthless politicians because it was in their mutual interest that the killing should, temporarily, stop. In so far as both Sulla and Mithridates identified themselves with their respective countries, the settlement was good for Pontus and Rome. It certainly was not good for the cities of Asia and it was a disaster for Fimbria, though few shed tears for Fimbria’s predicament. If Mithridates’ misgovernment of the past year had caused many of the cities of Asia Minor to regret rebelling from Rome, the violence, savagery and greed of Fimbria’s army served as a reminder of why they had rebelled in the first place.

To this the people of Ilium could give eloquent testimony. The city felt it deserved a special place in Roman hearts; better known as Troy, it was the birthplace of Aeneas, founder of the Roman race. When Fimbria besieged the city, ambassadors came to inform him that Ilium had entrusted itself to Sulla. Fimbria responded that since Ilium’s citizens were already friends of the Romans, there was no reason why he should not be permitted to enter the city. Once allowed within the walls, Fimbria proved an even greater disaster to the city than Odysseus’ wooden horse had been a millennium before. The Roman allowed his army to indiscriminately rape, pillage and slaughter the inhabitants, and to burn what was not worth stealing. Those who had been in communication with Sulla were reserved for special torture, whilst those who took shelter in the temples were burned with the temples themselves. ‘Not a house, not a temple, not a statue was left standing’, reports a later Greek writer.