THE ORATOR ARISTION
Mithridates, the king against whom Sulla went to fight in 87 B.C., was
a brave and skilful commander. His kingdom, Cappadocia Pontica, was a
district on the south shore of the Black Sea.
The king who ruled before Mithridates came to the throne had tried to
enlarge his kingdom, but more than once the Romans had thwarted his
ambitious plans.
When Mithridates began to reign in 111 B.C., he knew that no one save
the Romans would be strong enough to keep him from adding to his
kingdom.
The king proved himself so strong and so good a general that the Greek
towns in Asia Minor resolved to throw aside the friendship of Rome and
ally themselves with the King of Pontus. It was this revolt that Sulla,
with his five legions, went to Greece to subdue.
It was ungrateful of Athens to forsake Rome, for she had been treated
most honourably by her in the past, and still was enjoying many
privileges when she rebelled.
But the Athenians wished their city to be more glorious in the future
than she had been even in the past, and they believed that Mithridates
would help them to achieve this better than Rome. So an ambassador
named Aristion was sent to the King of Pontus to offer him the
friendship of Athens.
The king received Aristion with great respect, and gave to him gifts of
gold. Above all, when he took leave of Mithridates, he was presented
with a ring, on which was engraved a portrait of the king himself.
When the ambassador returned to Athens and showed the gifts which he
had received, the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds. He was
escorted by crowds to the Peiræus, the port of Athens. Here, in the
citadel, he was asked to tell what had taken place at the court of the
king.
Now Aristion was a great orator, and he knew that his words would
influence the people to do as he wished.
So first he reminded them of all the wrongs that Athens had suffered
from the Romans, and if these wrongs were not all real, Aristion made
them seem so by his eloquence.
Then he spoke of Mithridates, and of the king he had nothing but
good to tell, while the magnificence of his court, Aristion modestly
declared, baffled even his powers of description.
Before Aristion had finished his oration, the magistrates of Athens had
determined to proclaim their republic restored, and to form an alliance
with Mithridates. Aristion was appointed chief minister of war, and you
shall hear how sadly he failed to do his duty when trouble befell the
city.
Sulla having landed with his army at Epirus, at once marched to Athens,
for by this time both the city and the Peiræus were strongly fortified,
and held by Archelaus, the general of Mithridates.
The Roman commander determined to besiege the citadel, and to surround
Athens with soldiers, to prevent the citizens from escaping, or
provisions from being sent to their relief.
As he had neither money nor material for the siege, Sulla robbed the
temples of Greece of their treasures.
Timber was brought from far and near in carts drawn by mules, ten
thousand, it is said, in number. When even this was found not to be
enough, Sulla ordered the sacred groves to be cut down, as well as the
trees which surrounded the famous academy of Athens.
But, in spite of the forts he built and the trenches he dug, Sulla
could not take the Peiræus.
As they worked, the Roman soldiers were often interrupted by Archelaus,
who with his troops would sally out of the citadel to attack them.
At length Sulla was convinced that without a fleet he need not hope
to take the citadel, for the harbour was commanded by the ships of
Mithridates.