licia, and took up a position at the foot of Mount Taurus. Next
came news that Antioch was besieged. On hearing this he broke up his
camp, crossed the Taurus range by forced marches, and occupied the
passes into Syria. The Parthians raised the siege of Antioch, and
suffered considerably at the hands of Cassius during their retreat.

Though Cicero never crossed swords with the Parthians, he found or
contrived an opportunity of distinguishing himself as a soldier. The
independent mountaineers of the border were attacked and defeated;
Cicero was saluted as "Imperator" on the field of battle by his
soldiers, and had the satisfaction of occupying for some days the
position which Alexander the Great had taken up before the battle of
Issus. "And he," says Cicero, who always relates his military
achievements with something like a smile on his face, "was a somewhat
better general than either you or I." He next turned his arms against
the Free Cilicians, investing in regular form with trenches, earthworks,
catapults, and all the regular machinery of a siege, their stronghold
Pindenissum. At the end of forty-seven days the place surrendered.
Cicero gave the plunder of the place to his host, reserving the horses
only for public purposes. A considerable sum was realized by the sale of
slaves. "Who in the world are these Pindenissi? who are they?" you will
say. "I never heard the name." "Well, what can I do? I can't make
Cilicia another Aetolia, or another Macedonia." The campaign was
concluded about the middle of December, and the governor, handing over
the army to his brother, made his way to Laodicea. From this place he
writes to Atticus in language that seems to us self-glorious and
boastful, but still has a ring of honesty about it. "I left Tarsus for
Asia (the Roman province so called) on June 5th, followed by such
admiration as I cannot express from the cities of Cilicia, and
especially from the people of Tarsus. When I had crossed the Taurus
there was a marvelous eagerness to see me in Asia as far as my
districts extended. During six months of my government they had not
received a single requisition from me, had not had a single person
quartered upon them. Year after year before my time this part of the
year had been turned to profit in this way. The wealthy cities used to
pay large sums of money not to have to find winter quarters for the
soldiers. Cyprus paid more than L48,000 on this account; and from this
island--I say it