23. Metellī: Genitive, depending on triumphus supplied from triumphī above.
Ch. 6.
25. annō urbis conditae: a variation for the usual expression ab urbe conditā. The year is conceived of as belonging to the city. Cf. annō ā conditā urbe, Bk. III, 10; annō … ab urbe conditā, Bk. IV, 22.
Page 53.
1. Nīcomēdēs: Nicomedes III, surnamed Philopater, was the son and successor of Nicomedes II mentioned in Bk. IV, Chs. 8, 20. He had been aided by the Romans, and was encouraged by them to encroach on the territories of Mithradates. Having no children, he left his kingdom to the Romans.
2. Mithradātēs: see note on Bk. V, 5.
4. apud Chalcēdōna: the defeat was both by land and sea.
7. Lūcullus: Lucius Licinius Lucullus fought in the Civil war on the side of Sulla, was praetor in 77 B.C., and consul in 74 B.C. For eight years he carried on the war against Mithradates with success; but on account of the mutinous spirit of his soldiers and the jealousy of certain Romans, he was unable to bring the war to a close. On his return to Rome he gave himself up to a life of indolence and luxury. He died in 57 B.C.
10. Bȳzantium: the city of Byzantium was founded by the Megarians in 658 B.C., and was a place of great importance. Constantinople was founded on the same site by the Emperor Constantine the Great in 330 A.D. It remained the capital of the Roman Empire of the East until its capture by the Turks in 1453.
13. centum ferē mīlia: sc. hominum.