Siege of Mytilene

Siege of Mytilene
Location of Mytilene within Greece
Date 81 BC Location Mytilene, Lesbos Result Decisive Roman Republic victory
Belligerents
Roman Republic	Mytilene
Commanders and leaders
Marcus Minucius Thermus Lucius Licinius Lucullus	Unknown

The Siege of Mytilene occurred in 81 BC on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea. Mytilene had been in revolt against Rome and was suspected of actively or tacitly aiding so called pirates in the region.^[1] Suetonius credits Marcus Minucius Thermus with the victory,^[2] but the siege may have been conducted by or in coordination with Lucius Licinius Lucullus.

Julius Caesar began his military service during the siege after his pardon by Sulla during the proscriptions of 82 BC.^[3]

References

1. Philip de Souza, Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 123 online.
2. Harold B. Mattingly, "C. Verres and the Pirates," in From Coins to History: Selected Numismatic Studies (University of Michigan Press, 2004). p. 180, note 10 online.
3. Matthias Gelzer, Caesar: Politician and Statesman, trans. Peter Needham (Oxford: Blackwell, 1968), ISBN 0-631-10430-5