Introduction

In 74 BC, while Pompey was still in Spain and Spartacus was a year away from his breakout, King Nicomedes of Bethinia died. The small kingdom had strategic value that far outweighed its territorial size. Rome sent Marcus Aurelius Cotta to establish a working provincial administration in the former kingdom. At the same time, Lucius Licinius Lecolis were sent to Solisia, a territory in southern Turkey as a preemptive maneuver against Mithridates.