Lucullus
- a family name in the gens Licinia. The most celebrated is L. Licinius Lucullus, the conqueror of Mithridates, famous for his great wealth and luxury, Cic. Imp. Pomp. 8, 20 sq.; id. Ac. 2 (Luc.), 1 sq.; Hor. Ep. 1, 6, 40; 2, 2, 26 saep.—Hence,
- A Lūcullānus, a, um, adj., Lucullan: ager, Front. Aquaed. 5: carinae, the fleet of Mithridates, defeated by Lucullus, Sid. Carm. 2, 54.—
- B Lūcullēus, a, um, adj., Lucullan: marmor, a sort of marble found on an island in the Nile, and of which Lucullus was particularly fond, Plin. 36, 2, 2, § 6; 36, 6, 8, § 49: lancea, Suet. Dom. 10—
- C Lūculliānus, a, um, adj., Lucullan: horti, Tac. A. 11, 32: villa, Suet. Tib. 73; cf. Varr. R. R. 1, 2 and 13.
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…hic multas res et magnas sine imperatore gesserit, nullam sine hoc imperator. atque haec quamquam praesente L. Lucullo loquor, tamen ne ab ipso propter periculum nostrum concessam videamur habere licentiam fingendi, publicis litteris testata sunt omnia…
Cicero, pro Murena
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…est ne forte ea vobis quae diligentissime providenda sunt contemnenda esse videantur. atque ut omnes intellegant me L. Lucullo tantum impertire laudis quantum forti viro et sapienti homini et magno imperatori debeatur, dico eius adventu maximas Mithridati copias…
Cicero, pro Lege Manilia
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…, ascribi se in eam civitatem voluit idque, cum ipse per se dignus putaretur, tum auctoritate et gratia Luculli ab Heracliensibus impetravit. data est civitas Silvani lege et Carbonis si qui foederatis civitatibus ascripti fuissent, si tum…
Cicero, pro Archia
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…Armenius, excepit diffidentemque rebus suis confirmavit et adflictum erexit perditumque recreavit. cuius in regnum postea quam L. Lucullus cum exercitu venit, plures etiam gentes contra imperatorem nostrum concitatae sunt. erat enim metus iniectus eis nationibus quas…
Cicero, pro Lege Manilia
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…credemus illi, etiam si multa mutata in tam exiguo temporis spatio vix credas ; quae quidem videmus differre inter Lucullum et Academicos III et IV, exceptis scilicet iis quae testium vel librariorum incuria effecta sunt, pleraque ad dialogi…
M. Tullius Cicero, Academica
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…, consentientibus in aspiratione codicibus tantum p .,. ., ., .,. . omisi in Luculli adnotatione nomen Philonis saepe detortum in philio, ilionis similia. in Ciceronis verbis scribendis ea admisi quae viderentur in…
M. Tullius Cicero, Academica
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…debuisse, cum praetor esset, suum negotium agere aut mentionem facere hereditatis. maximas audio tibi, L. Luculle, qui de L. Flacco sententiam laturus es, pro tua eximia liberalitate maximisque beneficiis in tuos venisse hereditates…
Cicero, pro Flacco
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…M. Aemilio, vivebat cum Q. Catulo et patre et filio, a L. Crasso colebatur, Lucullos vero et Drusum et Octavios et Catonem et totam Hortensiorum domum devinctam consuetudine cum teneret, adficiebatur summo honore ,…
Cicero, pro Archia
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…Q. Mucio magnificentissima aedilitate functus est, deinde C. Claudius App. f ., multi post, Luculli, Hortensius, Silanus ; omnes autem P. Lentulus me consule vicit superiores ; hunc est Scaurus imitatus ;…
M. Tullius Cicero, De Officiis
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…fecit nostris legibus, et adiit hereditates civium Romanorum, et in beneficiis ad aerarium delatus est a L. Lucullo pro consule. quaere argumenta, si quae potes ; numquam enim hic neque suo neque amicorum iudicio revincetur .…
Cicero, pro Archia
A Roman celebrated as the conqueror of Mithridates. He fought on the side of Sulla in the Civil Wars with the Marian party, was praetor B.C. 77, and consul in 74. In the latter year he received the conduct of the war against Mithridates, which he carried on for eight years with great success (see Mithridates), but being unable to bring the war to a conclusion in consequence of the mutinous disposition of his troops, he was superseded in the command by Acilius Glabrio, B.C. 67. Glabrio, however, never took the command; but in the following year (66) Lucullus had to resign the command to Pompey, who had been appointed by the Manilian law to supersede both him and Glabrio. On his return to Rome, Lucullus devoted himself to a life of indolence and luxury, and lived in a style of extraordinary magnificence. He died in B.C. 57 or 56. He was the first to introduce cherries into Italy, which he had brought with him from Cerasus in Pontus.
The name of Lucullus became and has continued proverbial for extravagant and studied luxury. His gardens in the suburbs of the city were extraordinary for their splendour; his villas at Tusculum and Naples were laid out with such lavish disregard of expense in constructing fishponds (piscinae), cutting through hills and rocks, and throwing out moles into the sea, that Pompey called him, in derision, “the Roman Xerxes.” His domestic service was on a scale of equal magnificence. A single dinner cost him $10,000.
Lucullus was not, however, a mere sensualist. He collected a fine library, which was open to the public; he enjoyed the conversation of philosophers and scholars, and himself wrote a work on the history of the Marsic War, composed in Greek. He was also the patron of the poet Archias, the friend of Cicero. His life was written by Plutarch, and in it may be found many curious anecdotes of this very remarkable and interesting man.