These Were At
Sea; But With What Object Does Not Appear:
They were met, however, near
Lemnos, by a Roman squadron, and entirely defeated; thirty-two of them
being captured, and the rest sunk.
On receiving information of this
victory, the Roman senate ordered Lucullus to be paid 3000 talents to
repair and augment his fleet; but he refused them, answering, "that with
the succours he could get from their allies, he should be able to gain the
dominion of the sea, and conquer Mithridates:" at the same time he sent to
Rome 110 galleys, armed with beaks. Mithridates, however, was still
formidable at sea, and continued so, till the Romans gained another victory
over him, near the island of Tenedos, in which they took and sunk sixty
ships: after this, he was not able to fit out another fleet. As the
remainder of the war between him and the Romans was entirely confined to
land operations, we shall pass it by, and proceed to the other naval
enterprizes of the Romans about this period.
The war with Mithridates employed the attention and the resources of the
Romans so completely, that the pirates again infested the Mediterranean
seas without control. Their numbers and force were greatly augmented by the
destruction of Carthage and Corinth; for the inhabitants of these cities,
having neither a place of retreat, nor the means of subsistence, naturally
turned their thoughts to piracy, having been accustomed to sea affairs, and
to commerce. In this they were encouraged by Mithridates, and assisted by
some persons of considerable rank and wealth.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 283 of 1007
Words from 77698 to 77960
of 273188
