I hope everyone enjoys this, its my first RTW story. Please R&R!
Forging a Legend and an Empire
Chapter I - A Challenge by the King of Kings
He was called Wolfshead, not because he had once slain a wolf with his bare hands, and then worn it upon his head as trophy (which might have been true of his cousin), or because of the outline of his head that might have resembled a wolf of the northern steppes. No. He was called Wolfshead by his people because of the brutality of his acts, his lack of mercy towards his prisoners and the ravages his army acted on in his many campaigns.
He was Mithridates VI. No, not the Pontic king who defied Roman generals and massacred Roman citizens in Asia Minor. This man was the ruler in the vast realm of the Kingdom of the Parthians, his rule extending from the eastern boundary that is the Indus and the western boundary that is the Euphrates. He was not the Pontic legend, but saw himself in another light. He would be the new master of Asia, bringing together all the provinces of the east under his divine and enlightened rule. At least, that was what the Zoroastrian priest told him when he inquired on the prophecies of his rule.
"A fruitful one, your Majesty. One regaled in legend."
The fool said that to all the Parthian kings. It was more lip service than truth. His grand-uncle received one, and for his pains had his hair pulled by ropes tied to wild horses while they dragged his body to the ground. Then there was his grandfather, who was slain by daggers by his own daughters. A cousin killed by a Roman agent. A brother lynched by an angry mob… the list was endless.
Mithridates VI Wolfshead did not like to dwell on family history. His life was one more symbol of the trying times of his kingdom. A Roman General, by the name of Marcus Fonteius, who was not really distinguished in his native Rome, or even related to the ruling families of the City, had been governing the province of Cilicia. At that time, Mithridates' father, King Vologases III, invaded Asia Minor. Fonteius, realizing that the other Roman garrisons had fallen hard and fast against the onslaught of the Parthian cavalry, decided to forego the governor of Asia Minor, and inflicted a sound thrashing of Vologases. Stung, but not defeated, the Parthian king bribed the Galatian king, Deiotarus I, to war with the Roman general. He, himself, lay siege to a greater part of Asia Minor, and was at the point of expelling the Roman armies there.
Then things became confusing, as it tended to be with that ridiculous Roman tribe. The command of the Roman armies was given to two men, Marcus Fonteius and Sextus Flavius Gallicus. Since the latter was still busy overthrowing a Gallic invasion in Arretium, Fonteius was left to deal with both the Galatian traitors and the Parthian invaders. Conscripting in all cities throughout Asia Minor, Fonteius soundly defeated Deiotarus in an engagement nigh to the Galatian capital of Sinope, and then defeated Vologases in three separate engagements in the Anatolian Mountains. Forced back, the Parthian king thought this was a more serene yet deflating journey home. He was wrong. Taking the route to Armenia, he learned that the Roman Senate finally gave Fonteius the command of the armies in Asia Minor, and even ordered the Syrian governor to hand two legions to the Cilician governor. This was disheartening news, but even more so when the unpredictable Fonteius had appeared with his army at the king's rear.
"Clearly, this Roman does not know the ways of the desert," observed Vologases, and ordered his army to form up. His cavalry threw a hail of missiles at the advancing Roman infantry, which started to break. Percieving that Fonteius was done, he ordered his cataphracts to charge the small gaps in the Roman line. Thinking that this was it, Vologases ordered the rest of his army to destroy the small Roman group.
He rued that day and the days that followed as long as he lived, for the King of Kings, thinking that he had outwitted the Roman, saw from the distance the shape of what appeared to be Roman standards, running-- no, charging-- at their position. They were cavalry, and they had come from the Syrian governor. Along with two more legions, that no sooner had the cavalry emerged from the sands that they began to march on the same horizon, beating their swords at their shields. Vologases ordered the trumpet to sound, and reorganize, but the stalwart troops of Marcus Fonteius, overthrowing the mercenary armies, now pounced on the withdrawing royal cataphracts of the king. "Get back! Get them back, you sand-crawlers!" Vologases rallied, but the men were too busy trying to push back the counter attack made by Fonteius on his army.
Finally, the day lost, and the King's safety the only priority, Vologases ordered his train to retreat, with what was left of his royal guard. They left behind a trail of gold and women that took too much time in dragging, and arrived at his elder son's capital, Artaxata.
Then, the Armenian king and ungrateful son declared for the Romans, barring his father at the gates and ordering his soldiers to arrest him. He was taken to Marcus Fonteius, who asked among the humiliating conditions of this Parthian defeat, that his son, Mithridates, be taken hostage as a token of Parthian goodwill. "I shall see to my son, then," Vologases had replied, but that was not all. The Roman general, his noble excellency Marcus Fonteius wanted the Parthian king to walk in his triumph.
Apparently, it was a symbol of great might and fame to have the King of Kings bound and humbled, to appear before the lesser Roman people! Marcus Fonteius became senior consul at that time, and Vologases died at the pits of Tullianum, where he was strangled by a hired slave.
Mithridates, meanwhile, was put on a baggage train with his nurses and the last King's high priest by his uncle, and sent to the Roman general. Fonteius wanted to rear him up as a Roman nobleman, another of the Roman illusions of "culturing" the cultured nations of the east. Along the way, in Athens, the son was suddenly attacked by Greek assassins, and after much interrogation Fonteius learned that the uncle had hired assassins as far as Rome itself to kill this child, this would-be heir of the Kingdom of the Parthians.
With much reluctance, he was given to a Greek family, to be reared in secret until the opportunity would pass for Fonteius again. The Roman general left the city, and proceeded to Brundisium, and hence to Rome where he was greeted with a well-deserved triumph.
For Mithridates, it was both a painful and learning experience. His Greek foster father wanted to inculcate to him the values of philosophy, of the teachings of Socrates and Aristotle and Plato. Mithridates was more inclined, even at the age of five, to watch the Thracian gladiators, whose building was near where their home was. Mithridates kept sneaking out to the gladiatoral school, and the master there, a Lucius Cummeius, wanted nothing more than to entertain the young rascal.
Stipho, the Greek father, confronted Lucius Cummeius of encouraging the boy at an early age to violence. "This boy is the would-be King of Parthia! I will not teach him the values of the sword, like his countrymen; but the learned virtue of philosophy, and wit."
Which was, Mithridates thought now, a good thing as his "father" taught him the value of good administration, debate, and forum. This did not stop him from continuing to see the gladiatoral fights, and Stipho at length permitted the prince to take part in the training there. Lucius Cummeius (who was also a past Roman legionnary) taught him the different ways of combat-- unarmed, with sword, and horsed. Other gladiators who delighted at the boy's enthusiasm at the brutal sport, taught him lessons in strategy, as some of them were once Numidian cavalrymen, or a Gallic warrior-prince.
So by the age of twenty, Mithridates VI had grown into two contrasting backgrounds: the sweat and blood filled world of the Gladiators, and the perfumed one of the philosophies of Athens. He had, after defying his foster father, enrolled in the gladiator school, and was at the point of participating in a match when he was pulled back by an aged Marcus Fonteius--- Gaius Julius Fonteianus, as his adopted name now was.
The Roman Senate had been approached at that time by a Parthian delegation. The uncle of Mithridates had become insufferable and oppressive. They turned to Rome to find them a new king, to whom the nobles promised to rally to. Gaius Fonteianus lost no time in convincing Rome that this was a plea that should not be shunned, and a war whose only general could be him. Led by the able Lucius Antonius, the Senate put forth a division within the House, and though the decision was heavily contested, those who elected Fonteianus to the war won. So, he immediately sailed to Asia Minor to take four legions from the governor, a thousand and half horsemen from the Galatian king (Deiotarus was apparently still king, but only by the whim of Rome), and four legions to be dispatched by the Syrian governor.
Like Vologases, Orodes, the uncle of Mithridates, met the Roman army at the Anatolian Mountains. The aging Roman, though still cunning and skilled, had become less of a man than he was before, and he was forced back by the Parthian army. At the Ionian region, however, Deiotarus came with his Galatian cavalry, and attacked the left flank of the Parthian Army. While Orodes was distracted, Gaius Fonteianus took an extra legion from the governor of Asia Minor, hiding it from the prying eyes of the Parthians. As the Parthians routed the Galatian cavalry, they advanced towards the Roman garrison near Ancyra. The Romans went into field and at the first few hours seemed disheartened, positioning themselves with their shields concealing the extra Roman men. When Orodes, seeing the Roman positions start to waver, ordered his cataphracts and the rest of his army at the Roman position (in much the same way as his brother), the shields suddenly parted. The extra soldiers, with spears ready, lanced at the cataphracts, aiming for the horse's eyes. With a yell, the Romans charged at Orodes' army with all their might, conveniently stemming the tide of battle in their favor. Orodes was not in sight; he had left early and not to Armenia, but across the Euphrates, into the longer route towards Ctesiphon.
There, the Parthian nobles, seeing their chance, revolted in favor of the Roman hostage and rightful king, Mithridates. Orodes arrived home in the middle of a kingdom-wide rebellion, with the walls of Ctesiphon acting in the same way as Artaxata's did. There was no time. With what was left of his army he tried to besiege his own capital, but it was no use, no use. Meanwhile, he had learned that Gaius Fonteianus was at the point of crossing the Euphrates River. Ordering his Scythian mercenary general to get a sword, he laid the hilt between two rocks, and dashed himself to it. The rest of his soldiers deserted him, and the nobles laid their hands on the king, and tore him (literally) limb from limb. Then they threw his pitiful remains into the nearby Tigris, with many curses, and then went back to Ctesiphon to welcome the new king, Mithridates.
And what was the new king's first act upon ascending to power? All the nobles who had revolted under his uncle's reign were put to death. Every single one. A painful death, he told his generals, "to ensure that such a state of self-destruction can no longer come to pass." Of course, in a short span of six months, he was, like his uncle, hated by the rest of his kingdom, and a deputation sent to Rome, but by then the Senate had become impassive to their appeals, too involved in the Germanic-Gallic Wars in the West. Mithridates, gathering strength, put to death the families of old nobility, razing towns and cities, wherever they hid. "I no longer want a legacy of rebellion in my kingdom!" He had screamed at the prisoners. "From now on, I will trust only my generals!" With that, he appointed the vacated governorships in the satrapies (provinces) to his commanders.
It has been ten years, since that first time he received a "trial by fire" in the Parthian throne. He had amassed hundreds of wives and concubines, but his favorite was always Thesea, the daughter of the Athenian governor when he still lived in the city. By his orders she had been kidnapped and taken to his summer palace in Ecbatana, the father pensioned off with a handsome chest of treasures. He had three sons to her: Vologases IV, Mithridates VII, and poor, pathetic Phraates III.
"He cannot even ride a horse!" He once complained to Thesea. "What Parthian son cannot ride a horse!"
He had learned the culture of his father faster than he had imagined he would. He hunted with the nobles, not to appease them, but because he had loved the sport. Mithridates even inspired court combat, in the gladiator style he had first seen in Athens. But the teachings of Stipho he tried to apply to his subjects. He hired the services of Greek philosophers, and tried to pass decrees ordering the people to learn Greek as well as their native language. That way, he reasoned, the local and ethnic differences among his subjects are bridged. The plan failed miserably, and Mithridates at one point cursed his heritage and his Athenian upbringing.
So here he sat finally, Mithridates VI Wolfshead, toying with a large, towering tiara sitting on top of his head, and wondering how hard the crown would shatter if he had tipped it over.
"A fine gift, your Majesty, not to be taken lightly."
He glanced to his left, and saw his chief advisor and mentor, Eumachus. During his first few years as Parthian king, Eumachus had taught him all there was to learn about ruling. That this man was Greek did not bother him at all; and he made sure that this was a fact ignored by the Parthian nobility. A lot was owed to this man. Of course, if he ever was part of a plot against the King, he would no sooner cut his throat himself.
"Well I tire with these ceaseless gifts from my brother. You would think that he would get the point that I really cannot appreciate all these jewels."
"He does not understand your Greek upbringing, Sire."
"Which as well should be. I cannot forget his treachery to my father."
"A fact he has long regretted." Armenia's southeastern border was carved by Mithridates to give to one of his generals. His brother did not utter a bleat. "But Great and Wise King, Artavasdes comes with great tidings."
"Great and Wise King" was always Eumachus' way of introducing to the king a project he had hatched on his own and wanted Mithridates to adapt. Having a soft spot for flattery, but not for jewels, the Parthian king found it hard to refuse. "Send him in, then."
Artavasdes was the current chieftain of the Nabatean Arabs. Untidy, sporting a beard that reminded Mithridates of the style sported by the Greeks years back, he was a constant annoying presence in the Parthian court. The only significant (and surprisingly, most important) contribution he offered to the king was news of the West, and particularly of the Roman politics. He came in, three earrings to his left ear, a grin to his face with nothing more than his white robes to present himself to the king. It was always disgraceful.
The Arab kneeled, and bowed his head. "Your Majesty, a thousand blessings on your family and all your sons."
Mithridates shook his head. The Arab never learned. "Speak up, Arab! What news do you have of the West."
Artavasdes looked up, a twinkle in his eye. "Gaius Julius Fonteianus is dead."
That got the king's attention. Artavasdes watched as Mithridates turned to Eumachus, whose head was bowed, then to him. He leaped up. "When did this happen? How did this happen? Details, man!"
The Arab smiled, knowing the weakness of his king. "It was a ruptured artery in the back of the head, Great King. He was dining with his friends at his villa near Rome, when suddenly he collapsed, dead. They say it was an omen of disaster for Rome, as he had died with a terrified look on his face, and a flash of lightning from the skies."
Mithridates did not know whether to sit or continue standing. It was tremendous news. "And what of the provinces of Asia Minor and Syria?"
"Well, for some time, Gaius Fonteianus has kept his man, Quintus Cassius, as governor of Syria. Great King, I would beg to say that you knew him?"
Who would not know the man who decimated the Parthian armies near the Armenian border? "Go on."
Artavasdes licked his lips. "Rome apparently hated Gaius Fonteianus, and the Julian faction. In fact, they have outlawed two more Julian senators, Sextus Julius and Gaius Antonius Fimbria."
The Parthian king took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The Arab always tried to give him an interest into Roman politics, but he just could not get it; he just did not care.
"The Roman Senate is doing away with the power of the Julian family, particularly its most powerful adherent, Marcus Marcellus Orator."
"A shake-up in the Senate! Is that what you mean?"
"Well, yes, Great King, but much more." Artavasdes related how the Senate, finding a way in their laws to find Marcus Marcellus unlawfully exercising his consular office when his junior colleague should have been the one doing it, as he held the fasces that month. "Irregularities in finance… that incident in Spain…"
"What incident in Spain?" Mithridates was almost exasperated with the rambling. "I grow impatient, Arab!"
"That incident in Spain," Artavasdes tried to explain, while testing the king of his weakness with the Julii, "involved gold smuggled by past Roman generals while cleaning up the pirates there. Apparently, Marcus Marcellus, travelling to that part of the world, stumbled into the gold cache and hid it from the rest of the world."
"How rich was it?"
"Enough to buy Egypt, Great King."
"Nonsense! No one can buy Egypt." Which was a subtle suggestion from the part of the Arab. Mithridates knew that he could not dare suggest the Kingdom of Parthia, and the Ptolemaic Kingdom was really no match for his vast realm, so Egypt was just another word for Parthia. "What has all this to do with Syria and Asia Minor?"
"Marcus Marcellus advocated another war with you, Great King. He thought that the only way out of Rome's debts was the wealth of your kingdom."
Which pretty much refuted the Arab's last statement. "The fool," Mithridates commented, concealing a smile.
"The Senate was more into the war with the Gauls, which spilled to their provinces in Italian Gaul."
"Italian Gaul," Mithridates said with contempt. It was a living contradiction that only Romans could dare invent. What other peoples could force a conquered nation by a sword, act as if they were the kings of the races around them, and say they were a democratic, peace-loving nation? "The stench of Rome reeks everywhere."
"So, while the Gallic war was being waged by another Julian, Sextus Cornelius Julianus, another war was being waged in the Senate, led by the able Marcus Marcellus, Gaius Fonteianus, and the tribunes of the plebs Sextus Julius and Gaius Antonius. But Fonteianus had the largest influence, and when he died, Marcus was left to advocate the Julian cause on his own. Of course, he was championed by the Plebs, but that incurred the anger of the Senate even more"
Mithridates finally sat down, enthralled for the first time at Roman politics.
"And that wrath of the Senate manifested itself in the censor, Decius. He had harassed Fonteianus almost to his death about his "improper" acts in Syria and Asia Minor, and when the senator died, he turned his attention to Marcus Marcellus. Who killed himself, rather than face charges of hoarding immense treasure from Spain."
"Amazing how Rome turns on itself so very often," remarked Eumachus.
"So now, Decius and his adherents, who called themselves Republicans after the ideal of Rome's state, turned on the other Julian family members and supporters. One by one, the senators were swayed to the side of the Decian faction, until the proposal of war with your kingdom was thrashed. As a sign of this, Quintus Cassius has been recalled from his governorship in Syria."
The Nabatean Arab delivered the news slowly, and scrutinized the reaction of the king. Which was hard not to see, as Mithridates had jumped up, and was at the point of calling a council of war. "I think we might want to listen to other news from Artavasdes."
"Nonsense!" cried Mithridates excitedly, "This is our chance! We can..."
"Think first if the Roman Senate would appoint an equally competent governor, Great and Wise King."
Mithridates snarled, then sat down.
Artavasdes went on. "When I said all the Julian positions were being recalled, I meant all. The Senate handed down an order to Sextus Cornelius, in his headquarters in Narbo Martius, that he was being recalled and replaced by Lucius Marcellus, the senior consul's brother but as ultra-conservative as those opposed to the Julii. Unfortunately for the Senate, Sextus Cornelius had, in the course of the Gallic War, amassed four full legions outside of Italy, against one raw recruit legion to guard Campania, near Rome. This was not all the problems of the Senate. When Sextus Cornelius refused to step down for his colleage Marcellus, the Senate issued an order declaring the general inimicus, or hostile. It was not passed."
"What's all this? What do you mean, not passed?"
"It was barred by the most powerful of counters against a senatorial decree. The tribunician veto. Sextus Julius and Gaius Antonius, tribunes of the plebs, shouted their veto to a cheering crowd as the Senate begged, pleaded, demanded and threatened the two to retract their veto. But the tribunes kept vetoing and vetoing, even the recalling of Quintus Cassius and the other Julian magistrates."
By now, the Parthian king was in a whirl, hand to his head. "So what does this mean? That Quintus Cassius is still governor of Syria?"
"He left weeks ago. When he arrived in Rome, he found that nobody had yet arrived in Syria because the Senate had not quite agreed on it yet. The anti-Julian senators had resorted to intimidating the tribunes, using gangs armed with clubs to attack Sextus Julius and Gaius Antonius. But the vetoes kept going."
"Finally, a group of men offered their services to the tribunes, and though they did not hear a direct yes to their offer, a war erupted between the two gangs. And the Senate, finally finding an excuse, blamed the violence on the two tribunes and declared them as outlaws. The two tribunes escaped from Rome but not to Spain where they were supposedly exiled, but to their relative Sextus Cornelius, still in Gaul."
"I cannot wait for you to finish," Mithridates remarked.
"My news gets even better, Great King. Sextus Cornelius, after refusing the first senatorial decree, was approached again, this time by two senators, who personally delivered the decree saying that he either give up his legions and his province, or be declared an enemy of Rome. They went home bruising! Apparently, Sextus' soldiers didn't like the news, and stoned them to near-death. Two legions have already been positioned to Arretium, just near the ancient boundary of Rome."
"A civil war?" The Parthian king's eyes sparkled. "Is that what you want to tell me?"
"No, Great King." Artavasdes took a deep breath, saw Mithridates' hands trembling in excitement. "Lucius Calpurnius, a member of the Republican coalition, has been ordered to command the legions in Italy. I mean, Great King, the legions recently taken out of Syria and Asia Minor."
His eyes widened. He clutched his heart and tried to breathe. "How many legions?"
"One is left in Asia Minor, two in Syria. They think it is enough to keep the peace."
"Ha! Fine news, Arab! Worthier than your person!" Mithridates darted to his advisor. "Eumachus! Assemble the generals! We will seize the eastern provinces from Roman hands. The time has come to humble the great Roman Senate!"
The chief advisor bowed, went to a nearby room. "Let me go, Father." The Parthian king turned, and saw his eldest, Vologases IV, standing near the Nabatean Arab. "You told me the next war would have me as general. This is the next war, Father! Let me prove my worth."
"What more worth is there than being my son?" Mithridates placed a hand on his son's shoulders. "But a man you have become. I am proud to have you lead my army."
They hugged, and Mithridates turned to the Arab. "Artavasdes, I want you to approach the Jews. I know they've been itching to revolt against Rome, and this is their chance."
"What of Armenia, Father?"
"My brother is my brother." The Parthian king turned to his son. He was almost like him now, but more cultured, more used to the Greco-Parthian breeding that the king wanted of his subjects so badly. "He supported Rome inasmuch as his interests lie. But now Rome is weak; I do not think he can resist sharing in the spoils."
"Parthia!" Mithridates VI Wolfshead, King of Kings, ruler of the Kingdom of Parthia, shouted at the hallow halls. "Make haste! We go to war!"
To Be Continued...