Marius slunk away to the East, finding that his treachery had only isolated him and brought him into contempt; and there, it is said, he tried to incite Mithridates to war.

Mithridates of Pontus secretly prepares to regain by force the province of Phrygia, which the Romans took from him during his minority.

The Romans are successful against Mithridates in Asia.

Sulla defeated Mithridates with only thirty thousand men, while his adversary marshalled against him over one hundred thousand.

In spite of all these brawling senators, Will, shall, and dare attempt on Asia, And drive Mithridates from out his doors.

Mithridates at that time held him in contempt; for Arsaces, king of the Parthians, having died about this period he expected to conciliate Phraates, his successor.

Nicomedes now appealed to the Senate, and produced, as he asserted, a third nephew of Mithridates as a claimant for the crown.

SARMATIANS or SARMATS, an ancient race, embracing several warlike nomadic tribes, who spoke the Scythian language, and inhabited the shores of the Black Sea and Eastern Europe as far as the Caucasus; fought with Mithridates against the Romans; were overwhelmed by the Goths in the 4th century A.D., and afterwards gradually absorbed by the Slavs.

When urging the people to give Pompeius extraordinary powers to drive Mithridates out of reach of Roman Asia, where he had done incalculable damage, he dwells both with knowledge and feeling on the value of the province, not only to the State, but to innumerable private citizens who had their money invested in its revenues.

[Sidenote: Victory of Mithridates over Nicomedes.]

Mithridates by often use, which Pliny wonders at, was able to drink poison; and a maid, as Curtius records, sent to Alexander from King Porus, was brought up with poison from her infancy.

Sulla captures the revolted city of Athens and defeats the army of Mithridates under Archelaus.

The biting sarcasm directed by Mithridates at the army of Lucullusthat if they came as ambassadors they were too many, if as soldiers too fewwould have applied with equal force to our small party made up as it was of only four men; but strength is not always to be measured by numbers, and we had no fears that we should not be able to cope with any obstacles which might lie in our way.