Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a leading Roman general and statesman of the late Republic, active in the first century BCE. He is most famous for his command in the Third Mithridatic War, where he achieved major victories against King Mithridates VI of Pontus before being replaced. After returning to Rome, he became legendary for his immense wealth and luxurious lifestyle, which made his name a byword for opulence.

Beyond his political and military life, Lucullus was also an author. He wrote a history of the Social War, a major Italian conflict in which he fought as a young officer. He composed this work in Greek, following a tradition of Roman aristocrats writing for a Hellenistic audience. The history is now lost and survives only in fragments quoted by later writers like Plutarch.

According to modern scholars, Lucullus’s significance is twofold. He was a key figure in Rome’s eastern expansion and the turbulent politics that ended the Republic. As a writer, his firsthand account provided a valuable source for later historians, making him an example of a Roman statesman participating in Greek historical writing.