Lucius Licinius Murena was a Roman soldier and politician. He was notable for playing an important role in the Roman victory against the forces of

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...

at the Battle of Chaeronea in 86 BC during the

First Mithridatic War The First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule were led by Mithridates ...

and for engaging in another war, the

Second Mithridatic War The Second Mithridatic War (83–81 BC) was one of three wars fought between Pontus and the Roman Republic. This war was fought between King Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman general Lucius Licinius Murena. History At the conclusion of t ...

(83–81 BC), against Mithridates in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

without the authorisation of the

Roman senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

Life

Murena was a

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

probably in 88 BC. was a lieutenant of

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had t ...

during the

(89–85 BC) with

. He participated in the Battle of Chaeronea of 86 BC. Sulla encamped near Chaeronea, close to the camp of Archelaus, the commander of the enemy. He left Murena behind with one legion and two cohorts to face the enemy, should they prepare for battle, and went to Chaeronea, where the Romans had a garrison. Some of the townsfolk offered to go and cut off the enemy at nearby Thurium. Sulla agreed, returned to his camp and prepared for battle, putting Murena in charge of the left wing. The Chaeroneans were routed and Murena received some of the fugitives. During the battle Murena was attacked and Sulla sent four cohorts to help him. Later in the battle he set out to help him himself. However, Murena had already gained the upper hand and Sulla joined him in the pursuit of the fugitives. In a note on Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Pseudo-Aurelius Victor wrote that he gained the fleet of Mithridates and king Ptolemy of Egypt for Sulla through Murena. Presumably the Ptolemy in question was

Ptolemy IX Ptolemy IX Soter II Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII. ( el, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτή ...

. At the end of that war, Sulla left Murena in

as a ''

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

'' to watch over the region. He was put in charge of the Valerian legions, two legions formerly controlled by

Gaius Flavius Fimbria Gaius Flavius Fimbria (c. 115 – 85 BC) was a Roman general. Born to a recently distinguished senatorial family, he became one of the most violent and bloodthirsty partisans of the consul Cornelius Cinna and his ally, Gaius Marius, in the civ ...

. We can deduce from

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...

's account of this war in his ''The Mithridatic Wars'', that Murena had been given the command of

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

, which had been annexed to the

Kingdom of Pergamon The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστε ...

in 188 BC,

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...

, a client state of Rome, and the

kingdom of Cappadocia Cappadocia ( el, Καππαδοκία) was a Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom centered in the historical region of Cappadocia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). It developed from the former Achaemenid satrapy of Cappadocia, and it was founded by ...

, which was a Roman ally. Under the terms of the

Treaty of Dardanos The Treaty of Dardanos (85 BC) was a treaty between Rome and Pontus signed between Lucius Cornelius Sulla of Rome and King Mithridates VI of Pontus. It ended the First Mithridatic War. Defeat of Mithridates Due the victories over Mithridates by ...

, Sulla had left Mithridates in control of his

kingdom of Pontus Pontus ( grc-gre, Πόντος ) was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty (of Persian origin), which possibly may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemeni ...

. Murena undertook an unauthorised war against Mithridates, the

(83–81 BC). In 83 BC Murena attacked Comana, a town which belonged to Mithridates, because of suspicions that the latter was preparing for war against the Romans. Mithridates was fitting a fleet and raising an army to deal with a rebellion by the

Colchians In Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the Colchians are generally though ...

and the tribes around the

Cimmerian Bosphorus The Kerch Strait, uk, Керченська протока, crh, Keriç boğazı, ady, Хы ТӀуалэ is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west fr ...

. It was the scale of these preparations and the fact that he had not restored the entirety of Cappadocia to its king, Ariobarzanes I, who was a Roman ally, which led to this impression. Mithridates sent envoys to invoke the peace treaty. Murena replied that he did not see any treaties because Sulla had not written it down before he returned to Greece. Murena then began looting and then returned to Cappadocia to winter there. Mithridates sent envoys to Rome to complain. In 82 BC Murena seized 400 villages which belonged to Mithridates, who chose to wait for the return of the ambassadors, rather than retaliate. Murena returned to Phrygia and Galatia loaded with the plunder. He was reached by, Calidius, a messenger of the senate who ordered him to stop the hostilities because Mithridates had not broken the peace treaty. Murena ignored this and invaded Mithridates’ territory. The latter thought that this was done under the order of Rome and retaliated. Roman villages were attacked and loot was taken. Murena was then defeated by Mithridates in battle near the River Halys and fled to

. Mithridates drove all the Roman garrisons out of Cappadocia.

Aulus Gabinius Aulus Gabinius (by 101 BC – 48 or 47 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. He was an avid supporter of Pompey who likewise supported Gabinius. He was a prominent figure in the latter days of the Roman Republic. Career In 67 BC, when tribune ...

was sent to reinforce the order to stop fighting and to meet Mithridates and Ariobarzanes I to reconcile them. Murena was recalled to Rome. Murena was awarded a triumph for a victory over king Mithridates in 81 BC.''Fasti Triumphales'' (Degrassi, 1954). His son, also called Lucius Licinius Murena, became consul in 62 BC.

Notes

References

* *

, The Roman History, Vol. 1, The Foreign Wars, Digireads.com, 2011; *

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, The correspondence of M. Tullius Cicero : arranged according to its chronological order, with a revision of the text, a commentary and introductory essays, 1885; scanned by FQ Legacy Publishing, 2013; ASIN: B00B3KKY20 *Cicero: Pro Murena, Bloomsbury 3PL; reprint edition, 2013; * Fatham, E., ''Cicero’s Pro L. Murena Oratio.'' American Philological Association texts and commentaries series (Society for Classical Studies Texts & Commentaries), Oxford University Press USA, 2013; *

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, Lives, vol. 7, Demosthenes and Cicero. Alexander and Caesar (Loeb Classical Library) Loeb, 1919; ASIN: B00E6TGP8C *Plutarch, Lives, vol. 8, Sertorious and Eumenes, Phocion and Cato and Younger(Loeb Classical Library). Loeb, 1989: *Plutarch, Lives, Vol. 4, Alcibiades and Coriolanus Lysander and Sulla v. 4 (Loeb Classical Library) Loeb, 1989; {{DEFAULTSORT:Licinius Murena, Lucius 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Roman generals Murena, Lucius Mithridatic Wars Roman Republican praetors Roman triumphators