Rebellions
•Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey) and Publius Licinius Crassus became two incredibly important political figures after Pompey’s dictatorship. Crassus had been important in the victory at the Colline Gate and Pompey was a young military commander who Sulla had asked to remove the Marian forces in Africa. Pompey then demanded a triumph from Sulla for his achievements with the support of his troops, who gave him the title ‘Magnus’ (‘the great’), and marched to Italy. However, Sulla granted him this despite the fact that he was only twenty-four and had held no political office at this point.
•In 77 BC, Lepidus, who was a populares, attempted to overthrow the reforms made by Sulla but he failed when he took up arms.
•In 77 BC, Lepidus, who was a populares, attempted to overthrow the reforms made by Sulla but he failed when he took up arms.
Sertorius
Sertorius, another supporter of Marius, had fled to Hispania when Sulla had returned to Italy. Here, he built up a large support base and allied himself with Spanish tribes who saw him as their leader. Attempts had been made to defeat him but they had all failed, including an attempt by Pompey in 77 BC. Mithridates began to negotiate with Sertorius in 74 BC to re-start the war. However, Sertorius was assassinated just two years later and Pompey was easily able to defeat the remaining Marian/Sertorian forces. Pompey gained credit for this victory in Hispania.
Mithridates
Mithridates supported a ‘false pretender’ in his claim for the throne of Bithnyia following king Nicomedes’ death in 74 BC, who had left his kingdom to the people of Rome. The consul, Cotta, failed to succeed against Mithridates so Lucius Lucullus, one of Sulla’s trusted allies, was dispatched. Despite having a weak force, Lucullus was able to defeat Mithridates within a year, who fled to Pontus and then to king Tigranes of Armenia. Pontus was subjugated by 70 BC. Lucullus also noted the large scale of debt in the Asiatic provinces, due to the requirement of paying too large a tribute. Many of these had to borrow money from Roman moneylenders so Lucullus simply cut the debt total from 140,000 talents to just 40,000 talents. This earnt him great support in the east but also dislike from those Roman moneylenders who had been profiting greatly. The following year, he attacked into Armenia in an attempt to capture Mithridates but in 68 BC, his troops were mutinous so he withdrew.
Third Slave War
In 73 BC, Spartacus led a slave-rebellion against the Romans having broken out from a gladiator school in Capua. The number of slaves in his rebellion swelled quickly, many of whom were gladiators. In the following year, he was able to destroy two consular armies. In 71 BC, Crassus led six legions against him, eventually defeating him. However, five thousand of the rebels managed to escape by battling their way through Crassus’ lines but they ran into Pompey who was returning from Spain. He quickly routed the remaining resistance and claimed the victory in the Third Slave War himself. Crassus, who saw value in Pompey, did not protest too much against this.