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He then made war against Iadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Sophene; and when he had joined battle with him at 'the river Euphrates, he destroyed twenty thousand of his footmen, and about seven thousand of his horsemen. He also took a thousand of his chariots, and destroyed the greatest part of them, and ordered that no more than one hundred should be kept.
And when he had said thus, and had sung a hymn of praise to God, he went his way. How David Brought Under The Philistines, And The Moabites, And The Kings Of Sophene And Of Damascus, And Of The Syrians As Also The Idumeans, In War; And How He Made A League With The King Of Hamath; And Was Mindful Of The Friendship That Jonathan, The Son Of Saul, Had Borne Him.
Not only had western Asia been lost in consequence of the battle of Magnesia; the total emancipation of the two Cappadocias and the two Armenias Armenia proper in the northeast and the region of Sophene in the south-west and their conversion from principalities dependent on Syria into independent kingdoms also belong to this period.
But Pompeius prevented this by laying hold of his right hand and drawing the king towards him; he also seated Tigranes by his side, and his son on the other side, and said that Tigranes ought so far to blame Lucullus only, who had taken from him Syria, Phœnicia, Cilicia, Galatia, and Sophene, but that what he had kept up to that time, he should still have, if he paid as a compensation to the Romans for his wrongful deeds six thousand talents, and his son should be King of Sophene.
Sophene is a district on the east side of the river between the mountain range called Masius and the range called Antitaurus: the capital or royal residence was Carcathiocerta.
Cappadocia especially was the object of his attacks, and, defenceless as it was, suffered destructive blows from its too potent neighbour. Tigranes wrested the eastern province Melitene from Cappadocia, and united it with the opposite Armenian province Sophene, by which means he obtained command of the passage of the Euphrates with the great thoroughfare of traffic between Asia Minor and Armenia.
That day he tarried there, but on the next, and those that followed, he traveled through Sophene, using no manner of violence to the people who came to him and willingly received his army.
This force found no one to resist in the open field, and was therefore able to invade Sophene and lay siege to the Roman fortress of Martyropolis. Martyropolis was ill provisioned, and its walls were out of repair. The Persians must soon have taken it, had not Sittas contrived to spread reports of a diversion which the Huns were about to make as Roman allies.
Pompey now told him that the rest of his losses were chargeable upon Lucullus, by whom he had been dispossessed of Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia, and Sophene; but all that he had preserved to himself entire till that time he should peaceably enjoy, paying the sum of six thousand talents as a fine or penalty for injuries done to the Romans, and that his son should have the kingdom of Sophene.
He encamped there for that day, and on the next and the following days he advanced through Sophene without doing any harm to the people, who joined him and gladly received the soldiers; and when the soldiers were expressing a wish to take possession of a fortress, which was supposed to contain much wealth, "That is the fortress," said Lucullus, "which we must take first," pointing to the Taurus in the distance; "but this is reserved for the victors."
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