[11] Mithridates himself did not give way under his disasters, but trusting more in his will than in his power,
especially while Pompey was lingering in Syria, planned to reach the Ister through Scythia, and from that point
to invade Italy. As he was by nature given to great projects and had experienced many failures and many successes,
he regarded nothing as beyond his ability to venture or to hope. If he missed he preferred to perish conjointly
with his kingdom, with pride unblemished, rather than to live deprived of it in inglorious humility. On this idea
he grew strong. For in proportion as he wasted away through weakness of body, the more steadfast did he grow in
strength of mind, so that he even revived the infirmity of the former by the reasonings of the latter.
The rest who were his associates, as the position of the Romans kept getting always more secure and that of Mithridates weaker, —
among other things
the greatest earthquake that had ever occurred destroyed many of their cities — became estranged;
the military also mutinied and unknown persons kidnapped some of his children, whom they conveyed to Pompey.
