Rome's Great Eastern War: Lucullus, Pompey and the Conquest of the East, 74–62 BC

330 Pages·2021·23.979 MB·English

by  Gareth C Sampson

Rome’s Great Eastern War
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Dedication
In loving memory of Geoff Sampson (1947–2019)
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Rome’s Great
Eastern War
Lucullus, Pompey and the
Conquest of the East, 74–62 bc
Gareth C Sampson
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First published in Great Britain in 2021 by
Pen & Sword Military
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Yorkshire – Philadelphia
Copyright © Gareth C Sampson 2021
ISBN 978 1 52676 268 9
The right of Gareth C Sampson to be identified as Author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Illustrations viii
Maps & Diagrams ix
Introduction – The War that Forged Rome’s Eastern Empire xxi
Timeline of the Great Eastern War xxiv
Notes on Roman Names xxvi
Part I R ome and the Hellenistic East – From Periphery to
Hegemony (323–74 bc) 1
Chapter 1 R ome and the Rise and Fall of the Hellenistic World
Order (323–80 bc) 3
Chapter 2 Th e Powderkeg and the Spark: Roman Expansion in the
East (80–74 bc) 26
Part II Th e Early Campaigns – The Pontic and Civil Wars
(74–71 bc) 45
Chapter 3 The Pontic Invasion of Bithynia and Asia (73 bc) 47
Chapter 4 Th e Roman Invasion of Bithynia and Pontus (72–71 bc) 73
Part III E scalation – The Armenian & Pontic Wars (70–66 bc) 97
Chapter 5 A New Aggression: Lucullus and the Romano-
Armenian War (70–69 bc) 99
Chapter 6 S natching Defeat – From Victory to Collapse
(68–67 bc) 125
Chapter 7 A Fresh Impetus – The Pompeian Campaign (66 bc) 150
Part IV Th e Rise of Rome’s Eastern Empire (66–62 bc) 173
Chapter 8 F orging an Eastern Empire: Armenia and the
Caucasus (66–65 bc) 175
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vi Rome’s Great Eastern War
Chapter 9 F orging an Eastern Empire: Syria and Judea (64–62 bc) 196
Chapter 10 Th e Final Years: The Judean and Nabataean Wars
(63–62 bc) 215
Appendix I: B etween the Wars – Rome’s Eastern Campaigns (61–58 bc)
and the Duumviral Masterplan (57–55 bc) 235
Appendix II: The Parthian Civil War (c.91–64 bc) – An Overview 249
Appendix III: The Letter of Mithridates to the Parthians 254
Appendix IV: Kings, Consuls and Promagistrates 258
Notes 263
Bibliography 277
Index 288
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Acknowledgements
he first and greatest acknowledgement must go out to my wonderful
Twife Alex, without whose support none of this would be possible. Next
must come Thomas and Caitlin, who always provide a grounding in
the real world.
Special thanks go out to my parents, who always encouraged a love of books
and learning (even if they did regret the house being filled with books). My
father Geoff died recently, and he will be greatly missed by all of us.
There are a number of individuals who through the years have inspired my
love of Roman history and mentored me along the way: Michael Gracey at
William Hulme, David Shotter at Lancaster and Tim Cornell at Manchester.
My heartfelt thanks go out to them all.
A shout goes out to the remaining members of the Manchester diaspora:
Gary, Ian, Jason, Sam. Those were good days.
As always, my thanks go out to my editor Phil Sidnell, for his patience and
understanding.
It must also be said that as an independent academic, the job of researching
these works is being made easier by the internet, so Alumnus access to JSTOR
(Manchester and Lancaster) and Academia.edu must get a round of thanks
too.
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List of Illustrations
Ancient map of the world.
Possible bust of C. Marius.
Bust of L. Cornelius Sulla.
Bust of Cn. Pompeius Magnus.
Possible bust of M. Licinius Crassus.
Bust of C. Iulius Caesar.
Possible coin issued by Lucullus.
Bust of Antiochus III.
Bust of Mithridates VI.
Modern statue of Tigranes II.
Coin of Mithradates II of Parthia.
Coin of Sinatruces of Parthia.
Coin of Phraates III of Parthia.
Coin of Tigranes II of Armenia.
Coin of Nicomedes IV of Bithynia.
Coin of Pharnaces II of the Bosphorus Kingdom.
Coin of Aretas III of the Nabataean Kingdom.
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Maps & Diagrams
Map 1 The Ancient World in the Mid-3rd Century x
Map 2 The Near East After Apamea xi
Map 3 The Pontic and Armenian Empires (80s bc) xii
Map 4 The Mediterranean World in 75 bc xiii
Map 5 Asia Minor xiv
Map 6 The Pontic Empire in 73 bc xv
Map 7 The Campaigns of 73 bc xvi
Map 8 The Campaigns of 72–71 bc xvii
Map 9 The Campaigns of 69–68 bc xviii
Map 10 The Campaigns of 66–65 bc xix
Map 11 The Mediterranean World in 62 bc xx
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