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"The Sack of Athens (86 BCE): Sulla's Retribution in the First Mithridatic War"
In the early 1st century BCE, Rome faced a formidable challenge from Mithridates VI of Pontus, a Hellenistic king who sought to expand his empire at Rome's expense. Mithridates capitalized on anti-Roman sentiment in Greece and Asia Minor, ordering the infamous "Asiatic Vespers" (88 BCE), a massacre of tens of thousands of Roman and Italian residents in the region.
Athens, under the influence of the philosopher-tyrant Aristion, allied with Mithridates, hoping to break free from Roman dominance. This defiance provoked a brutal response from Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman general tasked with crushing the rebellion.
Sulla's forces besieged Athens and its port, Piraeus, in 87 BCE. The city, fortified and supplied by Mithridates' general Archelaus, held out for months. The siege was harsh—Athenians reportedly resorted to eating boiled leather and human flesh due to starvation.
In March 86 BCE, Sulla's troops breached the walls. The Roman soldiers, enraged by the prolonged resistance, were given free rein to plunder the city. Temples, homes, and public buildings were ransacked, and many citizens were slaughtered. The Acropolis, where Aristion had taken refuge, was stormed, and its treasures—including sacred offerings—were seized to fund Sulla's war effort.
The sack of Athens was a brutal episode in the First Mithridatic War (89-85 BCE), demonstrating Rome's ruthless suppression of rebellion. While Athens remained a center of philosophy and learning, its political autonomy was forever diminished. Sulla's campaign also foreshadowed the later civil wars that would tear the Roman Republic apart.
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