- Lucullus
:"For his grandfather and namesake, see
Lucius Licinius Lucullus ."Lucius Licinius Lucullus (ca. 118-56 BC) was a military commander and a politician of the
Roman Republic , most recognized for supportingLucius Cornelius Sulla in his march on Rome as well as for winning thebattle of Tigranocerta during theThird Mithridatic War . The famousgardens of Lucullus are named after him.Biography
Born in
Rome , he was a member of the prominent "gens" Licinia, the grandson of the consulLucius Licinius Lucullus , and the son of Lucius Licinius Lucullus and wife Caecilia Metella Calva, sister ofQuintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus and of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus (who was the father of Caecilia Metella Dalmatica,Sulla 's third wife), children ofLucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus . [Plutarch, "", 1.1-6]erving under Sulla
Lucullus first began service as a military tribune, serving in the Social War under Sulla, and as a
quaestor in 88 BC he was the only officer to support Sulla's march on Rome. He also served under Sulla in theFirst Mithridatic War , raising a fleet which helped Sulla open up the seas during the siege ofAthens and then, after Lucullus had defeated the Mithridatic admiral Neoptolemus in theBattle of Tenedos , he helped Sulla cross the Aegean to Asia. After a peace had been agreed, Lucullus stayed in Asia and collected the financial penalty Sulla imposed upon the province for its revolt. Lucullus, however, tried to lessen the burden that these impositions created. [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 2.1-4.5]Lucullus returned in 80 BC and was elected
curule aedile in 79, along with his brotherMarcus Terentius Varro Lucullus , and gave splendid games. [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 1.6]Consulship
Sulla dedicated his memoirs to Lucullus, and upon his death made him guardian of his son Faustus, preferring Lucullus over
Pompey . [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 4.5] . Shortly after this, in 74, he became consul (along withMarcus Aurelius Cotta ,Julius Caesar 's uncle) [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 5.1] , and defended Sulla's constitution from the efforts ofLucius Quinctius .Initially, he drew
Cisalpine Gaul in the lots at the start of his consulship as hisproconsul ar command after his year as consul was done, but he got himself appointed governor ofCilicia after its governor died, so as to also receive the command against Mithridates VI in theThird Mithridatic War . [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 5.2-6.5]Campaigns in the east
On arrival, Lucullus set out from his province to relieve the besieged Cotta in
Bithynia . [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 7.1-36.7 - an account of his whole governorship, by far the bulk of Plutarch's "Life"] He harried the army of Mithridates and killed many of his soldiers. He then turned to the sea and raised a fleet amongst the Greek cities of Asia. With this fleet he defeated the enemy's fleet off Ilium and then offLemnos . Turning back to the land, he drove Mithridates back intoPontus . He was wary of drawing into a direct engagement with Mithridates, due to the latter's superior cavalry. But after several small battles, Lucullus finally defeated him at theBattle of Cabira . He did not pursue Mithridates immediately, but instead he finished conquering the kingdom of Pontus and setting the affairs of Asia into order. His attempts to reform the rapacious Roman administration in Asia made him increasingly unpopular among the powerfulpublicani back in Rome.He then led an attack against
Tigranes II ofArmenia , Mithridates's son-in-law and ally, and to whom Mithridates fled after Cabeira. He proceeded first against Tigranocerta and laid siege to it. This drew forth the army of Tigranes, which Lucullus defeated despite being heavily out-numbered. He then defeated Tigranes and Mithridates in theBattle of Artaxata (October 6 68 BC) but didn't proceed ontoArtaxata because of dissension among his troops. His authority over his legions was undermined by the efforts of his brother-in-lawPublius Clodius . This allowed Mithridates and Tigranes to retake much of their respective kingdoms.At the machination of the
equites and Pompeian supporters back in Rome, Lucullus was replaced byGnaeus Pompeius Magnus in 66 BC and returned to Rome.As a decadent
The opposition to him continued on his return and caused the delay of his triumph until 63 BC. Instead of returning fully to political life (although, as a friend of
Cicero , he did act in some issues [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 42.4-43.3] ), however, he mostly retired to extravagant leisure, or, in Plutarch's words,:He used the vast treasure he amassed during his wars in the East to live a life of luxury. He had splendid gardens outside the city of Rome, as well as villas around
Tusculum and Neapolis. The one near Neapolis included fish ponds and man-made extensions into the sea, [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 38.2-41.6] and was only one of many elite senators' villas around theBay of Naples .Pompey is said by Pliny to have referred often to Lucullus as "Xerxes in Roman dress". [Pliny "Natural History: Book IX" pg 279]Gastronome
So famous did Lucullus become for his banqueting that the word now means "lavish," "luxurious" and "gourmet".
Once, Cicero and Pompey succeeded in inviting themselves to dinner with Lucullus, but, curious to see what sort of meal Lucullus ate when alone, forbade him to send word ahead to his servants to prepare a meal for guests. However, Lucullus outsmarted them. He ordered that his servants serve him in the Apollo Room, and as his servants had been schooled ahead of time as to precisely what to make for each of the different dining rooms, Cicero and Pompey ate the most luxurious of all meals.
Another tale runs that one of his servants, upon hearing that he would have no guests for dinner, served only one course. Lucullus reprimanded his servant saying, "What, did not you know, then, that today Lucullus dines with Lucullus?". [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 41.1-6] He was also responsible for bringing the sweet cherry and the
apricot to Rome.Bibliophile He was a student of the philosopher
Antiochus of Ascalon and one of only a few late Republican senators (Caesar also included) who expressed interest in the idea of building a public library. [Plutarch, "Life of Lucullus", 42.1-3]Death
Lucullus is reported by
Plutarch to have lost his mind at the end and went intermittently crazy towards his elderly life. Lucullus' brother Marcus oversaw his funeral.Marriages
*
Clodia , or Claudia Pulchra Tertia; whom he married as her first husband, but divorced c.66 on his return to Rome after friction in Asia with her brother. Claudia became notorious for her love affairs, and also became a plebeian for unknown reasons, thus taking the name of Clodia.
*Servilia Caepionis Minor, the younger sister ofServilia Caepionis , also notorious for her loose morals, but mother of Lucullus's only son.Plutarch writes:
References
ources
Primary sources
*
Plutarch , " [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lucullus*.html Lucullus] "
*Plutarch "Kimon", "Sulla", "Pompeius", "Cicero"
*"Liber de viris illustribus", no.74
*Cassius Dio "Roman History", book 36
*Appian "Roman History", book 12: "Mithridateios"
*Photian summary of Memnon's local history of Herakleia Pontike
*Cicero "Lucullus"; also known as "Academica Prior", book 1
*Cicero "pro Archia poeta"
*Cicero "de imperio Cn.Pompeii"
*Cicero "pro L.Murena"
*Cicero "ad Atticum", book 1
*Julius Frontinus "Stratagems"
*The elogium of Lucullus from Arretium, "ILS" 60 (ed.H.Dessau)econdary sources
*Keaveney, Arthur. "Lucullus. A Life." London/New York: Routledge, 1992. ISBN 0-415-03219-9.
*Ooteghem, J. van. "Lucius Licinius Lucullus", 1959
*Badian, Ernst. s.v.Lucullus(2), p.624 in "The Oxford Classical Dictionary", 2nd edition, 1970.
*Dix, T.Keith. "The Library of Lucullus", "Athenaeum" 88 (2000), 441-464External links
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=1999.04.0062.fig00972 Bust of Lucullus]
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