Editing Lucullus (section)

{{Short description|Roman politician and general (118–57/56 BC)}}
{{about|the consul of 74 BC and conqueror of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus|Mithridates]]|other Romans with the same name|Lucius Licinius Lucullus (disambiguation){{!}}Lucius Licinius Lucullus}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person
|image      = Lukullus wiki.png
|caption    = Engraving of a marble bust traditionally<ref>"The bust in the Hermitage, No. 77, published in ''Arch. Zeit''. 1875, PI. Ill, is not a portrait of L. Licinius Lucullus or even of an admiral, but of a [[lictor]]. The relief at the base represents a lictor's axe, and the costume is that of the lictors on the Arch of Trajan at Beneventum," observed G. Hauser, in ''Jahrbuch der Oesterreichisches Archiv I.'' '''10''' 1907, pp. 153–56, reported in ''American Journal of Archaeology'' '''12''' 1908, p 236.</ref> said to be Lucullus ([[Hermitage Museum]])
|birth_date = 118 BC
|birth_place= 
|death_date = 57/56 BC (aged 61 or 62)
|death_place= 
|nationality   = Roman
|known for  = 
| office    = [[Roman consul|Consul of Rome]] (74 BC)
|spouse     = Claudia<br>[[Servilia (wife of Lucullus)|Servilia]]
|children   = 
|father     = [[Lucius Licinius Lucullus (praetor 104 BC)|Lucius Licinius Lucullus]]
|mother     = Caecilia Metella
| module        = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| serviceyears  = 91–66 BC
| serviceyears_label = Years
| battles       = {{ubl|[[Social War (Italian)|Social War]]|[[First Mithridatic War]]|[[Third Mithridatic War]]}}
| battles_label = Conflicts}}
}}

'''Lucius Licinius Lucullus''' ({{IPAc-en|lj|uː|ˈ|k|ʌ|l|ə|s}}; 118<ref>The only comprehensive discussion of his birthdate is that of {{harvnb|Sumner|1973|pp=113–14}} who settles on 118 BC as the most likely year, with 117 a marginal possibility.</ref>–57/56 BC) was a [[Ancient Romans|Roman]] [[List of Roman generals|general]] and [[Politician|statesman]], closely connected with [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]]. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingdoms in the course of the [[Third Mithridatic War]], exhibiting extraordinary generalship in diverse situations, most famously during the [[Siege of Cyzicus]] in 73–72 BC, and at the [[Battle of Tigranocerta]] in Armenian Arzanene in 69 BC. His command style received unusually favourable attention from ancient military experts, and his campaigns appear to have been studied as examples of skillful generalship.<ref>Cassius Dio XXXVI. In captured correspondence of Mithradates VI Eupator, Lucullus was rated as the outstanding general since Alexander (Cicero ''Acad.Pr''.II)</ref>

Lucullus returned to Rome from the east with so much captured booty that the vast sums of treasure, jewels, priceless works of art, and slaves could not be fully accounted for. On his return Lucullus poured enormous sums into private building projects, [[animal husbandry|husbandry]] and even [[aquaculture]] projects, which shocked and amazed his contemporaries by their magnitude. He also patronised the arts and sciences lavishly, transforming his hereditary estate in the highlands of [[Tusculum]] into a hotel-and-library complex for scholars and philosophers. He built the famous ''[[horti Lucullani]]'' (Palace and gardens of Lucullus) on the [[Pincian Hill]] in Rome, and became a cultural innovator in the deployment of imperial wealth. His achievements led [[Pliny the Elder]] to refer to him as "Xerxes in a Toga". He died during the winter of 57–56 BC<ref>Bennett 1972, p. 314</ref> and was buried at the family estate near Tusculum.

The conquest ''[[agnomen]]'' of ''Ponticus'' is sometimes incorrectly appended to his name in modern texts. In ancient sources it is attributed only to his consular colleague [[Marcus Aurelius Cotta (consul 74 BC)|Marcus Aurelius Cotta]] after the latter’s capture and brutal destruction of [[Heraclea Pontica]] during the Third Mithridatic War.