Salvius Tryphon was an aulos player who was proclaimed king by the rebelling slaves of ancient Sicily during the Second Servile War against Rome.
In 104 BC the Consul Gaius Marius was recruiting soldiers (legionaries and Italian and foreign auxiliaries) for the war against the Cimbri and Teutones in Gaul.
[1] Nerva then failed to react with decision; by false promises he was able to return one body of the rebels to slavery, while neglecting to address a more serious outbreak near Heraclea.
Athenion, another slave turned rebel, meanwhile rose in the west of Sicily, and marched to join his forces with Salvius's.
With thousands of slaves cut down in the rout, Diodorus estimates that, as night fell, around 20,000 rebels lay dead, half of Tryphon's army destroyed and Lucullus victorious.
While laying siege to the rebels stronghold Lucullus was recalled and it is alleged, spitefully cut short his campaign, retreating and burning provisions to render the task harder for his successor, Gaius Servilius.