Lucius Licinius Lucullus

Lucius Licinius Lucullus (118–c. 56 BC) was one of the most brilliant tactical commanders in Roman history. A patrician protégé of the dictator Sulla, Lucullus was appointed proconsul of Cilicia and commander in the Third Mithridatic War against King Mithridates VI of Pontus in 74 BC.

Through masterly logistical maneuvers, Lucullus broke the Siege of Cyzicus and drove Mithridates from Pontus. He pursued the conflict into Armenia, where at the Battle of Tigranocerta (69 BC) his small army of 16,000 legionaries routed King Tigranes the Great's colossal host of over 100,000 men. Although mutinies among his troops enabled Pompey to claim the final glory of eastern annexation, Lucullus returned to Rome to live in legendary gastronomic splendor, giving rise to the idiom 'lucullan'.