§23.1ἦν δὲ καὶ τὰ πρὸς Μιθριδάτην αὐτοῦ πολιτεύματα μεγαλοφροσύνης, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Σύλλαν σφάλματος ὁ Μιθριδάτης ὥσπερ εἰς πάλαισμα δεύτερον ἀνιστάμενος αὖθις ἐπεχείρησε τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, μέγα δὲ ἤδη τὸ Σερτωρίου κλέος ἐφοίτα πανταχόσε καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγων ὥσπερ φορτίων ξενικῶν οἱ πλέοντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἑσπέρας ἀναπεπλήκεσαν τὸν Πόντον, §23.2ὥρμητο διαπρεσβεύεσθαι πρὸς αὐτόν, ἐπηρμένος μάλιστα ταῖς τῶν κολάκων ἀλαζονείαις, οἳ τὸν μὲν Σερτώριον Ἀννίβᾳ, τὸν δὲ Μιθριδάτην Πύρρῳ παρεικάζοντες οὐκ ἂν ἔφασαν Ῥωμαίους πρὸς τηλικαύτας ὁμοῦ φύσεις τε καὶ δυνάμεις ἐπιχειρουμένους διχόθεν ἀντισχεῖν, τοῦ δεινοτάτου στρατηγοῦ τῷ μεγίστῳ τῶν βασιλέων προσγενομένου.
And his political dealings with Mithridates were also characteristic of his greatness of soul; for when Mithridates, rising up as if for a second wrestling match after his defeat under Sulla, once more laid hands upon Asia, and the great fame of Sertorius was already spreading everywhere, and those sailing from the West had filled the Pontus with rumors of him like foreign merchandise, the king was eager to send an embassy to him, being especially elated by the boastful flatteries of his courtiers, who, comparing Sertorius to Hannibal and Mithridates to Pyrrhus, declared that the Romans would not be able to hold out when attacked from two sides by such extraordinary talents and forces combined, now that the most formidable general had joined the greatest of kings.
§23.3πέμπει δὴ πρέσβεις ὁ Μιθριδάτης εἰς Ἰβηρίαν γράμματα Σερτωρίῳ καὶ λόγους κομίζοντας, διʼ ὧν αὐτὸς μὲν ἐπηγγέλλετο χρήματα καὶ ναῦς παρέξειν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ὑπʼ ἐκείνου δὲ ἠξίου τὴν Ἀσίαν αὐτῷ βεβαιοῦσθαι πᾶσαν, ἧς ὑπεχώρησε Ῥωμαίοις κατὰ τὰς πρὸς Σύλλαν γενομένας συνθήκας.
So Mithridates sent ambassadors to Iberia carrying letters and oral proposals to Sertorius, through which the king promised to provide money and ships for the war, while demanding that Sertorius confirm his claim to all of Asia, which he had yielded to the Romans according to the treaty made with Sulla.
§23.4ἀθροίσαντος δὲ Σερτωρίου βουλήν, ἣν σύγκλητον ὠνόμαζε, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δέχεσθαι τὰς προκλήσεις καὶ ἀγαπᾶν κελευόντων ὄνομα γὰρ καὶ γράμμα κενὸν αἰτουμένους περὶ τῶν οὐκ ὄντων ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς, ἀντὶ τούτων λαμβάνειν ὧν μάλιστα δεόμενοι τυγχάνουσιν, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο ὁ Σερτώριος, ἀλλὰ Βιθυνίαν μὲν ἔφη καὶ Καππαδοκίαν λαμβάνοντι Μιθριδάτῃ μὴ φθονεῖν, ἔθνη βασιλευόμενα καὶ μηδὲν προσήκοντα Ῥωμαίοις,
When Sertorius assembled the council, which he called a "Senate," and the others urged him to accept the proposals and be satisfied—since, they argued, those men were asking for an empty name and writing concerning things not in their power, and in return they would receive what they needed most—Sertorius would not tolerate it.
§23.5ἣν δὲ τῷ δικαιοτάτῳ τρόπῳ Ῥωμαίων κεκτημένων ἐπαρχίαν ἀφελόμενος καὶ κατασχών πολεμῶν μὲν ἐξέπεσεν ὑπὸ Φιμβρίου, σπενδόμενος δὲ πρὸς Σύλλαν ἀφῆκε, ταύτην οὐκ ἔφη περιόψεσθαι πάλιν ὑπʼ ἐκείνῳ γενομένην δεῖν γὰρ αὔξεσθαι τὴν πόλιν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ κρατοῦντος, οὐκ ἐλαττώσει τῶν ἐκείνης κρατεῖν αὐτόν γενναίῳ γὰρ ἀνδρὶ μετὰ τοῦ καλοῦ νικᾶν αἱρετόν, αἰσχρῶς δὲ οὐδὲ σῴζεσθαι.
Instead, he said he did not begrudge Mithridates taking Bithynia and Cappadocia, which were nations ruled by kings and not belonging to the Romans at all; but as for that province which the Romans had acquired in the most just manner, which Mithridates had snatched away and occupied, but from which he was driven out in war by Fimbria, and which he gave up when making peace with Sulla—this province, Sertorius said, he would not allow to come under his power again; for he said that the city ought to be made great through his victories, and not that he himself should rule through the reduction of her territories; for to a noble man, victory with honor is desirable, but to be saved with disgrace is not even to be tolerated.