There was no trace in him of the charm which weaves a personal bond between the general and the soldier.

Moreover, a large portion of his ablest soldiers had every reason to complain of the unmeasured prolongation of their term of service.

His two best legions were the same which Flaccus and Fimbria had led in 668 to the east;( 14) notwithstanding that shortly after the battle of Cabira they had been promised their discharge well earned by thirteen campaigns, Lucullus now led them beyond the Euphrates to face a new incalculable war--it seemed as though the victors of Cabira were to be treated worse than the vanquished of Cannae.( 15) It was in fact more than rash that, with troops so weak and so much out of humour, a general should at his own hand and, strictly speaking, at variance with the constitution, undertake an expedition to a distant and unknown land, full of rapid streams and snow-clad mountains--a land which from the very vastness of its extent rendered any lightly-undertaken attack fraught with danger.

The conduct of Lucullus was therefore much and not unreasonably censured in Rome; only, amidst the censure the fact should not have been concealed, that the perversity of the government was the prime occasion of this venturesome project of the general, and, if it did not justify it, rendered it at least excusable.
Lucullus Crosses the Euphrates The mission of Appius Claudius was designed not only to furnish a diplomatic pretext for the war, but also to induce the princes and cities of Syria especially to take arms against the great-king: in the spring of 685 the formal attack began.

During the winter the king of Cappadocia had silently provided vessels for transport; with these the Euphrates was crossed at Melitene, and the further march was directed by way of the Taurus-passes to the Tigris.
This too Lucullus crossed in the region of Amida (Diarbekr), and advanced towards the road which connected the second capital Tigranocerta,( 16) recently founded on the south frontier of Armenia, with the old metropolis Artaxata.