Plutarch Lucullus 6

[1] At this time there came tidings of the death of Octavius, the governor of Cilicia. There were many eager applicants for the province, and they paid court to Cethegus as the man best able to further their designs. Of Cilicia itself Lucullus made little account, but in the belief that, if he should get this province, which was near Cappadocia, no one else would be sent to conduct the war against Mithridates, he strained every nerve to keep the province from being assigned to another.

[2] And finally, contrary to his natural bent, he was driven by the necessities of the case to adopt a course which was neither dignified nor praiseworthy, it is true, but conducive to his end. There was a certain woman then in Rome, Praecia by name, whose fame for beauty and wit filled the city. In other respects she was no whit better than an ordinary courtesan, but she used her associates and companions to further the political ambitions of her friends, and so added to her other charms the reputation of being a true comrade, and one who could bring things to pass. She thus acquired the greatest influence.

[3] And when Cethegus also, then at the zenith of his fame and in control of the city, joined her train and became her lover, political power passed entirely into her hands. No public measure passed unless Cethegus favoured it, and Cethegus did nothing except with Praecia’s approval. This woman, then, Lucullus won over by gifts and flatteries, and it was doubtless a great boon for a woman so forward and ostentatious to be seen sharing the ambitions of Lucullus. Straightway he had Cethegus singing his praises and suing for Cilicia in his behalf.

[4] But as soon as he had obtained this province, there was no further need of his soliciting the aid of Praecia, or of Cethegus, for that matter, but all were unanimous and prompt in putting into his hands the Mithridatic war, assured that no one else could better bring it to a triumphant close. Pompey was still engaged in his war with Sertorius, Metellus had now retired from active service by reason of his age, and these were the only men who could be regarded as rivals of Lucullus in any dispute about this command.

[5] Cotta, however, his colleague in the consulship, after fervent entreaties to the Senate, was sent with some ships to guard the Propontis, and to protect Bithynia.