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Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a general and politician of the late Roman republic. He is much less known than contemporaries like Marius, Sulla, Pompey or Caesar, but showed himself to be an excellent commander in the field, probably better than the others named here.
Lucullus was born in 118 BCE in the influential family of the Luculli. He is known to have served well as a tribune under Sulla during the Social War, but only really got into view when Sulla sent him to Greece to fight Mithridates, king of Pontus, an arch-enemy of Rome who seemed to have nine lives. Lucullus started out in 86 BCE with a fleet of just six light ships, sneaking through pirates and enemies in bad weather. He won allies in Crete and Cyrene by diplomacy and when sufficiently strong, drove the fleet of Pontus out of the Mediterranean.
In 84 BCE Sulla defeated Pontus and a peace was made. Sulla went back to Italy, but Lucullus stayed behind, collecting taxes for Sulla without resorting to extortion and force like his patron did. From 80 BCE to 74 BCE he served as aedile and praetor in Rome and was stationed in Africa for two years. It seems that in this period he was occupied with unglamorous administrative duties, from which he did not shy away, unlike for instance Pompey. Lucullus acquired a reputation as a traditional, just and generous ruler and a lover of Greek culture.
When Sulla died his will dictated that Lucullus was to be made master of his memoirs and guardian of his children. He also became consul in 74 BCE. His terrain of operations again became the east, where he improved the discipline and morale of the legions and continued his repair of the local economy. Within a year Mithridates reopened the war by invading Bithynia, though its king had bequeathed it to Rome. Lucullus first relieved the siege of Cotta, then raised a fleet and defeated Mithridates' fleet at Tenedos and Lemnos, the first time by speed and surprise and the second time by combining ships with artillery from land. Then he started breaking down the ring of fortified cities that protected Pontus, one by one, culminating in the siege of Cyzicus and battle of Cabira in 73 BCE. Mithridates fled to his son-in-law Tigranes, king of neighboring Armenia. Lucullus demanded Mithridates to be handed over.
Tigranes refused to back down, so in 69 BCE Lucullus invaded Armenia. Tigranes rushed to defense but was beaten in the Battle of Tigranocerta. In the winter both sides tried to ally themselves with the Parthians, who chose Rome over Armenia. Still Mithridates did not give up, appealing to the citizens of Pontus and Armenia to oust the invaders. The next year Lucullus also defeated the next Armenian army, but then the weather turned cold and he faced a rebellion. The soldiers were fed up with the long campaigns and lack of booty, because Lucullus did not let them plunder the already weakened cities. He marched south to Nisbis, in a night attack stormed the city and used it as winter quarters. Later he used a small force to attack Syria, but in his rear his main army again rebelled. In the meanwhile Mithridates in the northwest managed to defeat the Roman garrison at Ziela and win his kingdom back. Lucullus' troops remained unruly and he was forced to retreat. In 66 BCE, the senate relieved him of his command and sent Pompey to take over, who spent the next years hunting Mithridates down and then gained vast wealth from heavy taxes that Lucullus had always refused to impose.
Pompey, less just but more cunning, also worked behind the scenes to take custody of Sulla's children, deny Lucullus a triumph and keep him out of Rome's daily politics. Left adrift, the latter retired into a life of extravagant luxury, arts and literature and used his vast wealth to build splendid gardens and villas. He finally got his triumph in 63 BCE and died six years later.