causes exercised their influence. In after days, the Armenians, since the spread of the Christian religion among them, became very important allies to the Christian Emperors against the Magians of Persia; and still later they distinguished themselves by their enthusiasm for the Paulician tenets. Lucullus went on as far as Mesopotamia, and took up his head-quarters at Nisibis, the Zobah of the 2d book of Samuel[2] (in the Vulgate, the 2d book of Kings), the seat of the Syrian kings in that country; which from the times of Diocletian became the border fortress of the Romans against Persia. Here Lucullus seems chiefly to have employed his power as proconsul for the purpose of enriching himself. At Nisibis, a mutiny broke out among his soldiers, headed by his brother-in-law, P. Clodius: (Lucullus had married one of his sisters.) This outbreak originated with the Valerian soldiers, who had obtained a promise at Rome, that those who had served twenty years should have their discharge. The actual period of service was in those days more and more prolonged, whilst in the times of the younger Scipio not more than six years of uninterrupted military service were exacted: the Valerians therefore had a very good right to demand their discharge. Yet Lucullus would not part with them; perhaps because he had not received the necessary reinforcements, and was not able to let them go. Clodius on this occasion played the mutineer, as he did during the whole of his life. Lucullus, thus checked in his progress, was obliged to retreat to Cappadocia: thither Mithridates again broke in, and he routed C. Valerius Triarius, and reconquered the greater part of Pontus. An outcry had already been raised against Lucullus, that he wanted to protract the war for the sake of enriching himself; and now that the campaign was unfavourable, he was compelled to yield the command to Pompey.