Name Siege Cyzicus Role Attack | Date 73 BC | |
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The Siege of Cyzicus was fought in 73 BC between armies of Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Roman-allied citizens of Cyzicus in Mysia and Roman Republican forces under Lucius Licinius Lucullus. It was a decisive Roman victory.
After his victory against Marcus Aurelius Cotta at Chalcedon, Mithridates besieged the Roman-allied town of Cyzicus. The town held out long enough for the consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus to arrive with another Roman army and establish a counter-siege. (The tide turned in the Romans' favor when "corpses that were thrown out unburied in the neighborhood brought on a plague.") Mithridates attempted to convince the Cyzicans that the Roman army was his own reserves, but Lucullus was able to convince them otherwise by secretly sending a messenger into the city.
With the onset of winter, Mithridates's forces faced starvation. The king fled by sea while his army made its way along the coast to the port of Lampsacus. Along the way, they were attacked and destroyed near Cabira along the Rhyndacus River.