During the Third Mithridatic War between Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Romans under Lucullus
Roman victory at the Rhyndacus forced Mithridates VI to abandon his siege of Cyzicus and retreat from Bithynia during the Third Mithridatic War.
Key Facts
- Date
- 73 BC
- Roman commander
- Proconsul Lucius Licinius Lucullus
- Pontic commander
- Neoptolemus (brother of Archelaus)
- Pontic prisoners captured
- 15,000 men and 6,000 horses
- Roman force size
- Ten cohorts plus auxiliaries and cavalry
- Context
- Part of the Third Mithridatic War
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Mithridates VI of Pontus had besieged Roman proconsul Marcus Aurelius Cotta at Cyzicus. Lucullus marched north to relieve him and laid a counter-siege, trapping the Pontic army on the Cyzicus peninsula. As winter set in and supplies ran low, Mithridates dispatched his sick, wounded, and cavalry eastward into Bithynia under the command of Neoptolemus.
In the midst of a snowstorm along the banks of the Rhyndacus River, Lucullus intercepted the retreating Pontic column with ten cohorts and a small advance force of auxiliaries and cavalry on the opposite bank. The combined Roman forces launched a coordinated attack. Despite fierce Pontic resistance, the Romans prevailed, capturing approximately 15,000 men and 6,000 horses according to Plutarch and Appian.
The defeat at the Rhyndacus, compounded by famine and plague ravaging his main army at Cyzicus, compelled Mithridates to completely abandon his campaign. He sailed north while his army retreated overland. Lucullus pursued and routed the Pontic forces again at the confluence of the Aesepus and Granicus Rivers, inflicting heavy casualties and ending Mithridates' offensive in the region.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Lucius Licinius Lucullus.
Side B
1 belligerent
Neoptolemus.