usand talents which Sulla had laid on Asia as a
contribution, and twice this amount was repaid to the lenders, though
they had indeed now brought the debt up to the amount of one hundred
and twenty thousand talents by means of the interest. The lenders,
however, considered themselves very ill used, and they raised a great
outcry against Lucullus at Rome, and they endeavoured to bribe some of
the demagogues to attack him; for the lenders had great influence, and
had among their debtors many of the men who were engaged in public
life. But Lucullus gained the affection of the cities which had been
favoured by him, and the other provinces also longed to see such a man
over them, and felicitated those who had the good luck to have such a
governor.

XXI. Appius Clodius,[383] who was sent to Tigranes (now Clodius was
the brother of the then wife of Lucullus), was at first conducted by
the king's guides through the upper part of the country, by a route
unnecessarily circuitous and roundabout, and one that required many
days' journeying; but, as soon as the straight road was indicated to
him by a freedman, a Syrian by nation, he quitted that tedious and
tricky road, and, bidding his barbarian guides farewell, he crossed
the Euphrates in a few days, and arrived at Antiocheia,[384] near
Daphne. There he waited for Tigranes, pursuant to the king's orders
(for Tigranes was absent, and still engaged in reducing some of the
Phoenician cities), and in the meantime he gained over many of the
princes who paid the Armenian a hollow obedience, among whom was
Zarbienus, King of Gordyene,[385] and he promised aid from Lucullus to
many of the enslaved cities, which secretly sent to him--bidding them,
however, keep quiet for the present. Now the rule of the Armenians was
not tolerable to the Greeks, but was harsh; and what was worse, the
king's temper had become violent and exceedingly haughty in his great
prosperity; for he had not only everything about him which the many
covet and admire, but he seemed to think that everything was made for
him. Beginning with expectations which were slight and contemptible,
he had subdued many nations, and humbled the power of the Parthians as
no man before him had done; and he filled Mesopotamia with Greeks,
many from Cilicia and many from Cappadocia, whom he removed and
settled. He also removed from their abodes the Skenite Arabians,[386]
and settled them near him, that he might with their aid have the
be