 Appian wrote that Lucius Licinius Lucullus was greedy for fame and money and attacked the Vaccaei because he was ‘in straitened circumstances'.This was despite the fact that the senate had not declared war on them and this tribe had never attacked the Romans.He crossed the River Tagus and encamped near the town of Cauca (Coca) The inhabitants asked him what he had come for and what the reason for war was.