Луций Корнелий Цинна
Due to the internal political struggle between Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Gaius Marius, and Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Rome had been unable to definitively defeat Pontic King Mithridates VI. In 74 BC, King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia died and, hoping to secure his kingdom from further Pontic aggression, bequeathed his kingdom to Rome. The Senate immediately voted to annex the kingdom as a province directly governed by the Republic.