XXXII. Lucullus[254] now retired, and Pompeius after distributing his whole naval force over the sea between Phœnicia and the Bosporus to keep guard, himself marched against Mithridates, who had thirty thousand foot soldiers of the phalanx and two thousand horsemen, but did not venture to fight. First of all, Mithridates left a strong mountain which was difficult to assault, whereon he happened to be encamped, because he supposed there was no water there; but Pompeius, after occupying the same mountain, conjectured from the nature of the vegetation upon it and the hollows formed by the slopes of the ground that the place contained springs, and he ordered wells to be dug in all parts: and immediately the whole army had abundance of water, so that it was a matter of surprise that Mithridates had all along been ignorant of this. Pompeius then surrounded Mithridates with his troops and hemmed him in with his lines. After being blockaded forty-five days Mithridates succeeded in stealing away with the strongest part of his army, after having first massacred those who were unfit for service and were sick. Next, Pompeius overtook him on the Euphrates and pitched his camp near him; and fearing lest Mithridates should frustrate his design by crossing the river, he led his army against him in battle order at midnight, at which very hour it is said that Mithridates had a vision in his sleep which forewarned him of what was going to happen. He dreamed that he was sailing on the Pontic sea with a fair wind, and was already in sight of the Bosporus, and congratulating his fellow voyagers, as a man naturally would do in his joy at a manifest and sure deliverance; but all at once he saw himself abandoned by everybody and drifting about upon a small piece of wreck. While he was suffering under this anguish and these visions, his friends came to his bed-side and roused him with the news that Pompeius was attacking them. The enemy accordingly must of necessity fight in defence of their camp, and the generals leading their forces out put them in order of battle. Pompeius, seeing the preparations to oppose him, hesitated about running any risk in the dark, and thought that he ought only to surround the enemy, to prevent their escape, and attack them when it was daylight, inasmuch as their numbers were greater. But the oldest centurions by their entreaties and exhortations urged him on; for it was not quite dark, but the moon which was descending in the horizon still allowed them to see objects clear enough. And it was this which most damaged the king's troops. For the Romans advanced with the moon on their backs, and as the light was much depressed towards the horizon, the shadows were projected a long way in front of the soldiers and fell upon the enemy, by reason of which they could not accurately estimate the distance between them and the Romans, but supposing that they were already at close quarters they threw their javelins without effect and struck nobody. The Romans perceiving this rushed upon the enemy with shouts, and as they did not venture to stand their ground, but were terror-struck and took to flight, the Romans slaughtered them to the number of much more than ten thousand, and took their camp. Mithridates at the commencement with eight hundred horsemen cut his way through the Romans, but the rest were soon dispersed and he was left alone with three persons, one of whom was his concubine Hypsikratia,[255] who on all occasions showed the spirit of a man and desperate courage; and accordingly the king used to call her Hypsikrates. On this occasion, armed like a Persian and mounted on horseback, she was neither exhausted by the long journeys nor ever wearied of attending to the King's person and his horse, till they came to a place called Inora,[256] which was filled with the King's property and valuables. Here Mithridates took costly garments and distributed among those who had flocked to him after the battle. He also gave to each of his friends a deadly poison to carry about with them, that none of them might fall into the hands of the Romans against his will. Thence he set out towards Armenia to Tigranes, but Tigranes forbade him to come and set a price of a hundred talents upon him, on which Mithridates passed by the sources of the Euphrates and continued his flight through Colchis.[257] XXXIII. Pompeius invaded Armenia at the invitation of young Tigranes,[258] who had now revolted from his father, and he met Pompeius near the river Araxes,[259] which rises in the same parts with the Euphrates, but turns to the east and enters the Caspian Sea.