Empires: Rome - Pandora's Box Part Four

When Mithridates crossed into the province of Asia, he found it protected weakly. The Greek cities were eager to see him as a saviour and rallied to his side. Within a small matter of weeks Roman power in the province had disappeared. Normally, the King of Pontus would not be thought of as someone the Greeks would see as a hero and follow so vigorously. However, Greek hatred of the publicani was so overwhelming that they were more than happy to pledge allegiance to a matricidal maniac who saw a lot of himself in Alexander the Great, and even used intentional Alexandrian style images of him on things such as coinage. If there was any time to throw off the hated Roman yoke it was now. In the summer of 88 BC, after Roman oppression had already been broken, the Greeks would show just how bad they had come to hate the publicani and everything Roman. With the goal of uniting the Greek cities to him for good, Mithridates wrote to them-ordering the slaughter of every Roman and Italian left in Asia. In total secrecy and with perfect coordination the Greeks adhered to his instructions with a brutal and savage efficiency. The victims of this massacre were rounded up by hired assassins, many hacked to pieces. Some of the victims were killed as they attempted to escape by way of the sea. It is estimated that eighty-thousand men, women and children were killed on that horrific night of revenge.

The effect on the Roman economy from the night of revenge was tremendous. However, the humbling of Rome in the eyes of the world wasn't over yet. Always a genius in the use of propaganda, Mithridates not only used the Sibyl's prophecies, but made some of his own; this in order to make himself as a great 'king of the East' that had been predicted. A king who would humble the greedy superpower, so filled with hubris and arrogance. The mass slaughter of the Roman businessmen and their families was only one way Mithridates set out to show the world that he could take on Rome. Another statement was made with the execution of Manius Aquillius, the Roman who had prodded Mithridates into war in the first place. Aquillius had become sick at the most unfortunate time, for himself anyway, this allowed him to be captured. The soldiers of Mithridates brought him back to Pergamum. Aquillius was tied to an ass and paraded through jeering crowds. After this, Mithridates ordered some gold to be melted down. When this had been done, Aquillius's head was jerked back, his mouth forced open and the molten metal poured down his throat. Manius Aquillius died choking on gold. "Warmongers against every nation, people and king under the sun, the Romans share only one abiding motive-greed, deep seated, for empire and riches." This was the prounouncement Mithridates had made against the Republic. In Manius Aquillius, the Republic's legate in Asia, he had exacted symbolic revenge.

Rome's trouble's in the East were not the only ones that vexed her during this time. Late in 91 BC, the Samnites, a rustic mountain people had also started to fight Roman oppression. There was a history between the Samnites and the Romans. In 321 BC the Samnites had humiliated a Roman army, and this had been a fatal misunderstanding of the Roman enemy. Peace was not understood by Romans unless they were the ones dictating the terms of it. Despite the peace treaty between Rome and Samnium, the Romans found a way to break it and returned to attack and conquer Samnium. The Romans also never forgot that the Samnites were the last people to challenge them for control of the Italian peninsula. This rebellion was taking place in extreme proximity to Campania, the jewel of Italy. Campania was literally the playground of Rome's wealthy and influential citizens. Also in close range of the rebellion were the spendidly luxurious cities of Naples, Capua and Nola.

The Romans had been caught completely off guard by the fury about to be unleashed and had only the slightest military presence in the area. The biggest prize of all was Nola, due to the city's strategic location. After a very brief siege, the commander of the garrison was invited to join the rebel forces. The invitation was refused and those inside the garrison were starved to death. The city was strengthened and provisioned and soon Nola became a mighty bulwark of the rebel cause against Rome. The cause was not isolated to the Samnites alone. The forces that had delivered Nola into the Rebels hands, also gave them Pompeii, a city only a few miles from Naples and along the slope of Vesuvius (the same Pompeii made famous in later history when Vesuvius erupted). In many other towns and villages in Italy, people and tribes were taking up arms against Rome. The last time these same peoples had warred against Roman was so far in the past that it seemed like a hazy legend. The main focus of the rebellion was along the Appenines. This mountainous territory was poverty stricken and its peoples, like the Samnites, were considered backwards and barbaric by the Romans. There was a level of viciousness in the attacks by the rebels that was attributed to living under brutal poverty.

However, the hatreds of the peasant would not have amounted to anything if they had not had the blessing of the oligarchies that ruled over the different Italian states. These wealthy rulers had their own reasons for going against Rome. For centuries it had been Roman policy to flatter and bribe the ruling classes of her allies. This policy had been extremely successful in the past, and it was this policy more than any other that ensured Italians' loyalty to the Republic. However, with the passage of time those who had the power to influence their cities had started to find themselves at odds with Rome. Their problems with the Republic came in many forms. They had an inferior position in regard to Roman law. A higher proportion of their men had to fight in wars Rome started. The largest grudge against Rome came from the fact that the Italians had not only helped to build Rome's empire, but they had lent their whole-hearted support into exploiting its wealth also. In the provinces the Italian allies had rights and privileges almost indistinguishable from full Roman citizens. Now they were wanting these full rights of citizenship and self-determination at home. However, the leaders of this revolt had no wish to turn back the clock to the small divided city-states of the Italian peninsula ages before. They wanted to produce a new, powerful centralized state of their own.
I hope to have the next post in this series here very soon. I have been working hard to get to the point to discuss not only interesting events and people in Roman history -but others as well. It may still take some time as I feel Rome is so important in so many categories of imperial histories. I will definitely keep trying to work on posts of different subjects. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!