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7As a result he lent no aid to Tigranes and no longer took any hostile measures against Phraates, offering the excuse that no such expedition had been assigned to him and that Mithridates was still in arms. He declared himself satisfied with what had been accomplished and did not wish [to undertake further risks], lest in striving for additional results he might impair the successes already won by some reverse, as Lucullus had done. 2Such was his philosophy, and he maintained that covetousness was a dangerous thing, and to aim at the possessions of others unjust,—now that he was no longer able to make use of them. For he feared the forces of the Parthian and dreaded the uncertain issue of events, and so did not undertake this war, although many urged him to do so. As for the barbarian’s complaints, he made light of them, 3offering no answer, but asserting that the dispute which the prince had with Tigranes concerned some boundaries, and that three men should decide the case for them. These he actually sent, and they were enrolled as bona fide arbitrators by the two kings, who then settled all their mutual complaints. For Tigranes was angry at not having obtained the desired aid, 4and Phraates wished the Armenian ruler to survive, so that in case of need he might some day have him as an ally against the Romans. For they both well understood that whichever of them should conquer the other would simply help along matters for the Romansand would himself become easier for them to subdue. For these reasons, then, they were reconciled.
5Pompey passed this winter likewise in Aspis, winning over the districts that were still resisting, and taking also Symphorion, a fort which Stratonice betrayed to him. She was the wife of Mithridates, and in her anger against him because she had been left there she sent out the garrison, ostensibly to collect supplies, and then let the Romans in, although her child was with . . .
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