Page 55.
Ch. 11.
12. bellum Crēticum: the war was in reality directed against the pirates who made Crete their headquarters.
Ch. 12.
20. Cn. Pompēiō: by the Gabinian law Pompey was invested with absolute authority, both by sea and by land, as far as fifty miles into the interior, over the whole eastern Mediterranean for three years.
quod … cōnfēcit: in the space of forty days he had swept the whole western tract of the Mediterranean Sea, and had driven the enemy into the opposite quarter. He drove the pirates from the sea, and compelled them to take refuge in their strongholds in the Cilician coast. These he speedily surrounded and captured. He burnt over 1300 of their vessels, and destroyed all their hostile magazines and arsenals. In ninety days he had terminated the contest.
22. eī … Tigrānēn: by the Manilian law the authority he had already wielded against the pirates was extended over all the East.
24. nocturnō proeliō: Mithradates at first attempted to procure peace, but Pompey would hear of nothing but unconditional surrender. He started to retire slowly but was pursued by Pompey, and was overtaken in a narrow pass on the Lycus, where the city of Nicopolis was afterward built. Mithradates escaped with a few horsemen and fled to Tigranes, who refused to receive him.
quadrāgintā mīlia: cf. centum ferē mīlia, Ch. 6.
27. Pharnacis: Pompey had been active in fostering intrigues in the family of Mithradates. He had caused Pharnaces to revolt and to ally himself with the Romans, and had proclaimed him king at Panticapaeum.