Battle of Cabira

The Battle of Cabira was fought in 72 or 71 BC between forces of the Roman Republic under proconsul Lucius Licinius Lucullus and those of the Kingdom of Pontus under Mithridates VI. It was a decisive Roman victory.

Background

Rome had already fought two major conflicts with King Mithridates of Pontus; the so called First and Second Mithridatic Wars. During the first war, after taking the Roman province of Asia, Mithridates had slaughtered 80,000 Roman and other Italian civilians (called Asian Vespers), setting the stage was set for another conflict with Rome. When, in 74 BC, the Kingdom of Bithynia was bequeathed to the Roman Republic after the death of King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, matters came to a head. Mithridates, anticipating a war with Rome, had invaded the country in 73 BC, defeating the proconsul Marcus Aurelius Cotta, the Roman governor of Bithynia, in battle and besieging him in the city of Chalcedon. Lucullus, Cotta's consular partner, had also anticipated war and had used his influence to get the command against Mithridates, he had also obtained the proconsular governorship of the Roman province of Cilicia from which he wanted to invade Pontus. Lucullus had just arrived in Roman Asia when he got word of Cotta's plight. After taking command of all Roman forces in Asia Minor, he marched his army north to relieve Cotta, who was still besieged at Chalcedon.

Mithridates left Cotta under siege at Chalcedon and headed westward to the city of Cyzicus, then allied to Rome, which he hoped to take before Lucullus arrived. After assembling an army and a war fleet Lucullus marched north and established a counter-siege trapping Mithridates's army on the Cyzicus peninsula.