Mithridates was marching to the assistaire of Ti granes, when he met him flying from the field ofebattle ; stript of all the ensigns of royalty, which he had aban doned to conceal himself, and in constant dread of fall ing into the hands of his enemies. Instead of bewailing past defeat, Mithridates encouraged him to hope for future victory ; and, instead of flying with the remain der of his army, he incited him to strengthen it with all the resources of his extensive empire, and once more to meet his enemies in the field. In consequence of this conference, the two kings again summoned all their forces, and the extensive plains on the other side of Mount Taurus again glittered with thousands in arms. Taught by past misfortune, they declined a general engagement, and harassed the small band of Lucul lus with indecisive skirmishes. Lucullus, with his usual policy, marched towards Artaxata, where the trea sure and family of Tigranes remained, as if he design ed to storm that city; and rejoiced in the success of his stratagem, when, at the small river Arsimia, he beheld the confederate kings advancing to give him battle. Here a second victory crowned the discipline and valour of the Romans, while the two kings lamented the des truction of their armies, and fled. From a long pursuit, which was marked with slaughter, the Romans returned to besiege the city ; but the fidelity and valour of the governor, alike deaf to promises or to threatenings, pre served it from their power. Though it was no later than the autumnal equinox, yet the cold, which was very severe, and the snow, which fell daily, excited the troops to demand the shelter of winter•quarters. Their request was rejected by Lucullus with disdain ; but, not%1 thstanding of his entreaties, the army sounded a retreah and, at midnight, abandoned the city. But the army, which was dead to glory, was alive to interest. The plunder of Nisibis, which Lucullus, promised them, led them, in the depth of winter, to besiege, to storm, and to pillage that opulent city.
At the return of spring, Lucullus resolved to begin his operations against the confederates, who had again invaded Cappadocia. But the flame of sedition, which was not yet extinguished, was secretly fomented by the friends of Pompey, who aspired to the command of the army, and, when the march was announced, it burst forth with irresistible Miry. When Lucullus appeared, the soldiers threw their empty purses at his feet, and in dignantly exclaimed, that as he alone had amassed the spoils of conquest, he alone might carry on the war. On account of this revolt, Lucullus was superseded, and the command was given to Pompey ; but dissension, arising between the generals when they met, kept the army in a state of inactivity. The hour of dissension and inactivity was improW by the confederates ; Cappado cia, Armenia, and a great part of Pontus, was again sub dued ; but of victory was checked by the son of Tigranes, who rebelled against his father. The field of battle decided the unnatural contest in behalf of the father, and the son fled for safety into Parthia. Phraates, king of that country, whose daughter he had married, joined his forces to the remains of the rebel army, and, conducted by the son, invaded the dominions of the father, forced him to seek shelter in the fastnesses of the mountains, and, leaving with the rebels a part of his forces, returned home. Upon this Tigranes de
scended from the mountains, routed the army of his son, who had formed the siege of Tigranocerta, and entered his capital in triumph. His son fled to Pompey, who had npw assumed the command of the Roman army, and had signalized the beginning of his administration by gaining a complete victory over 1\lithridatcs, and loading the field with 40,000 slain. Tigranes did not long enjoy the triumph of victory : he beheld his coun try invaded by Pompey, under the direction of his own son ; and trembled for his capital, which they were ready to besiege, and which he was no longer able to defend. The king of kings,—such are the vicissitudes of human fortune,—was forced, by dire necessity, to seek the camp of the Romans, to descend from horseback when he approached the entrenchments, to deliver his sword to a petty Roman officer, to take off his crown when in the presence of Pompey, and to fall prostrate at his feet. The prostration of Tigranes reflected less glory upon the character of Pompey, than did his own conduct upon this occasion. When he heard that the suppliant mo narch was approaching, he went out to meet him on foot, raised him from the ground on which he had thrown himself, embraced him with the tenderest affection, and put the crown upon his head with his own hand. Pom pey, to whose decision the difference between the father and the son was committed, restored Armenia, and al most all Mesopotamia, to Tigranes, upon his paying 6000 talents to indemnify the Romans for the expense of the war. The government of Gordyene and Sophene was assigned to the son : but as Pompey had adjudged the treasures, which were kept in the latter, to Tigranes, in order to enable him to pay the fine imposed upon him, the ambitious youth was so much disappointed, that he endeavoured to incite the Sophenians to retain the trea sure, formed a conspiracy against the life of his father, persuaded Phraates, by emissaries, to attack the Romans, and, as the reward of his restless ambition, was sent by Pompey to Rome a prisoner in chains. Tigranes, grate ful for the generosity of the Romans, who had restored to him his dominions, willingly resigned to them all the provinces which he had conquered, among which was Armenia Minor, and in return was honoured with the appellation of The friend and ally of the itoman people. Enraged, however, at Phraates, who had assisted his son in his rebellion, he entered into an unsuccessful war with the Parthians, who would have expelled him from his dominions, had they not been intimidated into a peace by the authority of Pompey. During the remainder of his reign, his friendship to the Romans was unbroken ; and, having experienced all that prosperity can bestow, and all that adversity can inflict, he died in the eighty fifth year of his age, and was succeeded by his son Ar tuasdes.