=Lucullus.=--Lucullus, the type of the new Roman, was born in 145 of a
noble and rich family; thus he entered without difficulty into the
course of political honors. From his first campaigns he was notable
for his magnanimity to the vanquished. Become consul, he was placed at
the head of the army against Mithradates. He found the inhabitants of
Asia exasperated by the brigandage and the cruelties of the publicans,
and gave himself to checking these excesses; he forbade, too, his
soldiers pillaging conquered towns. In this way he drew to him the
useless affection of the Asiatics and the dangerous hate of the
publicans and the soldiers. They intrigued to have him recalled; he
had then defeated Mithradates and was pursuing him with his ally, the
king of Armenia; he came with a small army of 20,000 men to put to
rout an immense multitude of barbarians. His command was taken from
him and given to Pompey, the favorite of the publicans.
Lucullus then retired to enjoy the riches that he had accumulated in
Asia. He had in the neighborhood of Rome celebrated gardens, at Naples
a villa constructed in part in the sea, and at Tusculum a summer
palace with a whole museum of objects of art. He spent the beautiful
season at Tusculum surrounded by his friends, by scholars and men of
letters, reading Greek authors, and discussing literature and
philosophy.
Many anecdotes are told of the luxury of Lucullus. One day, being
alone at dinner, he found his table simpler than ordinary and
reproached the cook, who excused himself by saying there was no guest
present. "Do you not know," replied his master, "that Lucullus dines
today with Lucullus?" Another day he invited Cæsar and Cicero to dine,
who accepted on condition that he would make no change from his
ordinary arrangements. Lucullus simply said to a slave to have dinner
prepared in the hall of Apollo. A magnificent feast was spread, the
guests were astonished. Lucullus replied he had given no order, that
the expense of his dinners was regulated by the hall where he gave
them; those of the hall of Apollo were to cost not less than $10,000.
A prætor who had to present a grand spectacle asked Lucullus if he
would lend him one hundred purple robes; he replied by tendering two
hundred.
Lucullus remained the representative of the new manners, as Cato of
the old customs. For the ancients Cato was the virtuous Roman,
Lucullus the degenerate Roman. Lucullus, in effect, discarded the
manners of his ancestors, and so acquired a broader, more elevated,
and more refined spirit, more humanity toward his slaves and his
subjects.
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