5 – Pompey Finishes the Job
In 68 BC, Lucullus continued his pursuit of Tigranes all the way to the old Armenian capital of Artaxata. The Battle of Artaxata is seemingly shrouded in mystery. Most modern historians suggest the Romans won and obviously, the ancient Roman sources agree. However, other sources claim a victory for Tigranes and state that Lucullus was forced to retreat to the south where he occupied Mtsbin.
Both Plutarch and Livy see things a little differently. After four fierce days of battle, Lucullus’ army ultimately routed the enemy and forced a retreat. However, the Roman legions refused to march any further into the mountains in pursuit which meant Lucullus could not decisively end the conflict. This inaction allowed Mithridates to return to Pontus and he earned a victory over his enemies at Zela in 67 BC. Lucullus had to abandon his campaign and return home, but Pompey replaced him and proceeded to end the war once and for all.
In 67 BC, Pompey was in the Mediterranean and quickly defeated the pirates that were causing havoc for Roman traders. By the end of the year, he was on the verge of fighting a Roman rival in Crete when a Tribune by the name of C. Manilius passed a law that enabled Pompey to take control of the war in the east. He replaced Lucullus and received the same powers with the bonus that he could make war and peace without consulting the Senate.
With up to ten legions, a confident Pompey offered harsh peace terms to Pontus. The kingdom had to formally surrender to Rome and hand over Roman deserters now fighting for the enemy. Mithridates refused and faced the Romans in battle once again. After over six weeks of fighting in Dasteria in 66 BC, Mithridates suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Nicopolis.
The King of Pontus might have hoped that he could rely on Tigranes, but instead, he learned that his old ally had placed a price on his head. This is probably because the Armenian king’s son fled the royal court in fear of his life and considered allying with Mithridates but chose Pompey instead. Tigranes assumed Mithridates was about to betray him, so he issued an order to kill the Pontic King.
Mithridates landed at Colchis which had yet to fall into Roman hands and moved to Crimea soon after. However, his son Pharnaces II usurped the throne in 63 BC, and Mithridates died in the same year after ordering his bodyguard to kill him. In the meantime, Pompey defeated the Albanians on their borders and enjoyed success over the Iberians in 65 BC. He invaded Albania and spent most of 64 BC organizing Pontus; this included the pleasurable task of counting the vast fortune of Mithridates; estimated at 36,000 talents of gold and silver.
Once he learned of Mithridates’ death, Pompey returned home and celebrated a triumph in 61 BC. By the end of the Mithridatic Wars, the Pontic Kingdom was dissolved while the Kingdom of Armenia became a Roman state. The last pieces of the Seleucid Empire were in Roman hands, and although the state would reign supreme for centuries, Rome had almost reached its greatest level of territorial expansion in the East.