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On September 29, 106 BC Pompei the Great [Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus], Roman political and military leader (1st Triumvirate and Consul), born in Picenum, Italy (d. 48 BC).
"Pompey was one of the main Roman leaders during the exciting final decades of the Roman Republic. He made a political alliance with Julius Caesar, married his daughter, and then fought against him. A capable military leader, Pompey earned the title of "the Great."
Full Name: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Dates: 106 - 48 B.C.
Place of Birth: Picenum, Northern Italy
Place of Death: Egypt
Father: Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo
Occupation: Military leader, Statesman
The Start of Pompey's Career
Unlike Caesar whose Roman heritage was long and illustrious, Pompey came from a non-Latin family in Picenum (in northern Italy), with money. At 23, following in his father's footsteps, he entered the political scene by raising troops to help Sulla liberate Rome from the Marians.
[ Background: Marius and Sulla had been at odds since Marius took credit for victory in Africa that his subordinate Sulla had engineered. Their struggles led to many Roman deaths and unthinkable violations of Roman law, such as bringing an army into the city itself. Pompey was a Sullan and supporter of the Optimates. A novus homo 'new man', Marius was Julius Caesar's uncle and a supporter of the Populares.]
Pompey fought Marius' men in Sicily and Africa. Sulla labeled him "Magnus" (the Great) for this, perhaps, or by the soldiers in Africa.
Here is what Plutarch's Life of Pompey has to say about the label magnus:
"Nevertheless, the first tidings brought to Sulla were, that Pompey was up in rebellion; on which he remarked to some of his friends, "I see, then, it is my destiny to contend with children in my old age;" alluding at the same time to Marius, who, being but a mere youth, had given him great trouble, and brought him into extreme danger. But being undeceived afterwards by better intelligence, and finding the whole city prepared to meet Pompey, and receive him with every display of kindness and honor, he resolved to exceed them all. And, therefore, going out foremost to meet him, and embracing him with great cordiality, he gave him his welcome aloud in the title of 'Magnus,' or the Great, and bade all that were present call him by that name. Others say that he had this title first given him by a general acclamation of all the army in Africa, but that it was fixed upon him by this ratification of Sulla. It is certain that he himself was the last that owned the title; for it was a long time after, when he was sent proconsul into Spain against Sertorius, that he began to write himself in his letters and commissions by the name of Pompeius Magnus; common and familiar use having then worn off the invidiousness of the title."
Pompey was primarily a Roman military leader, although he also dealt with a grain shortage. He managed to end the uprising in Spain under Sertorius, took credit for defeating the forces of Spartacus, and rid Rome of the pirate menace within three months. When he invaded the country of Pontus, in Asia Minor, in 66 B.C., Mithridates, who had long been a thorn in Rome's side, fled to the Crimea where he arranged for his own death. This meant the Mithridatic wars were finally over, Pompey could take credit. On behalf of Rome, Pompey also took control of Syria in 64 B.C. and captured Jerusalem. When he returned to Rome in 61, he held a triumph.
The First Triumvirate
Along with Crassus and Julius Caesar, Pompey formed what is known as the first triumvirate, which became the dominating force in Roman politics. The liaisons between the men were personal, tenuous, and short-lived. Crassus was not happy that Pompey had taken credit for overcoming the Spartans, but with Caesar mediating, he agreed to the arrangement for political ends. When Pompey's wife (Caesar's daughter) died, one of the main links broke. Crassus, a less capable military leader than the other two, was killed in military action in Parthia.
Death
Eventually, Pompey and Caesar faced each other as enemy commanders after Caesar, defying orders from Rome, crossed the Rubicon. Caesar was the victor of their battle at Pharsalus. Later, Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was killed and his head cut off so it could be sent to Caesar."
"Pompey was one of the main Roman leaders during the exciting final decades of the Roman Republic. He made a political alliance with Julius Caesar, married his daughter, and then fought against him. A capable military leader, Pompey earned the title of "the Great."
Full Name: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Dates: 106 - 48 B.C.
Place of Birth: Picenum, Northern Italy
Place of Death: Egypt
Father: Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo
Occupation: Military leader, Statesman
The Start of Pompey's Career
Unlike Caesar whose Roman heritage was long and illustrious, Pompey came from a non-Latin family in Picenum (in northern Italy), with money. At 23, following in his father's footsteps, he entered the political scene by raising troops to help Sulla liberate Rome from the Marians.
[ Background: Marius and Sulla had been at odds since Marius took credit for victory in Africa that his subordinate Sulla had engineered. Their struggles led to many Roman deaths and unthinkable violations of Roman law, such as bringing an army into the city itself. Pompey was a Sullan and supporter of the Optimates. A novus homo 'new man', Marius was Julius Caesar's uncle and a supporter of the Populares.]
Pompey fought Marius' men in Sicily and Africa. Sulla labeled him "Magnus" (the Great) for this, perhaps, or by the soldiers in Africa.
Here is what Plutarch's Life of Pompey has to say about the label magnus:
"Nevertheless, the first tidings brought to Sulla were, that Pompey was up in rebellion; on which he remarked to some of his friends, "I see, then, it is my destiny to contend with children in my old age;" alluding at the same time to Marius, who, being but a mere youth, had given him great trouble, and brought him into extreme danger. But being undeceived afterwards by better intelligence, and finding the whole city prepared to meet Pompey, and receive him with every display of kindness and honor, he resolved to exceed them all. And, therefore, going out foremost to meet him, and embracing him with great cordiality, he gave him his welcome aloud in the title of 'Magnus,' or the Great, and bade all that were present call him by that name. Others say that he had this title first given him by a general acclamation of all the army in Africa, but that it was fixed upon him by this ratification of Sulla. It is certain that he himself was the last that owned the title; for it was a long time after, when he was sent proconsul into Spain against Sertorius, that he began to write himself in his letters and commissions by the name of Pompeius Magnus; common and familiar use having then worn off the invidiousness of the title."
Pompey was primarily a Roman military leader, although he also dealt with a grain shortage. He managed to end the uprising in Spain under Sertorius, took credit for defeating the forces of Spartacus, and rid Rome of the pirate menace within three months. When he invaded the country of Pontus, in Asia Minor, in 66 B.C., Mithridates, who had long been a thorn in Rome's side, fled to the Crimea where he arranged for his own death. This meant the Mithridatic wars were finally over, Pompey could take credit. On behalf of Rome, Pompey also took control of Syria in 64 B.C. and captured Jerusalem. When he returned to Rome in 61, he held a triumph.
The First Triumvirate
Along with Crassus and Julius Caesar, Pompey formed what is known as the first triumvirate, which became the dominating force in Roman politics. The liaisons between the men were personal, tenuous, and short-lived. Crassus was not happy that Pompey had taken credit for overcoming the Spartans, but with Caesar mediating, he agreed to the arrangement for political ends. When Pompey's wife (Caesar's daughter) died, one of the main links broke. Crassus, a less capable military leader than the other two, was killed in military action in Parthia.
Death
Eventually, Pompey and Caesar faced each other as enemy commanders after Caesar, defying orders from Rome, crossed the Rubicon. Caesar was the victor of their battle at Pharsalus. Later, Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was killed and his head cut off so it could be sent to Caesar."
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In this video, I look at how Pompey earned his cognomen and became one of the greatest men in Roman history. In the near future, I hope to release more video...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that September 29 is the anniversary of the birth of Roman political and military leader (1st Triumvirate and Consul) Pompey the Great [Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]. He would probably be insulted to realize that his name is remembered primarily because the city named in his honor was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Images: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus General Marcus Licinius Crassus; Pompey the Great Bust; Sextus Pompey coin front and back
Background from
"Pompey
Definition by James Lloyd published on 27 January 2013
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a military leader and politician during the fall of the Roman Republic. He was born in 106 BCE and died on 28th September 48 BCE. His father was Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo.
Pompey’s life can be easily split into four phases: his early career (106- 71 BCE), his consulship until the triumvirate (70- 60 BCE), his later career in Rome (59- 50 BCE) and the Civil War (49-48 BCE).
EARLY CAREER
Pompey’s military career started in the Social Wars (91- 89 BCE) when he served under his father’s army at Asculum (89 BCE). In 83 BCE Pompey procured a private army of three legions, taken from his father’s veterans and clients, in order to fight for Sulla. After this Pompey was sent as pro praetor (a magistrate sent in place of a praetor) to Sicily and then Africa to put down dissidents. It was in 81 BCE that Sulla gave Pompey a triumph, on the 12th March, despite the fact that Pompey was still only an equites, and as such, not officially eligible for a triumph, it was also around this time that Pompey took the name Magnus, Great, which clearly echoed the great Macedonian general, Alexander the Great. After the death of his first wife Aemilia, Pompey married Sulla’s step daughter Mucia Tertia, which like most marriages of the time, was probably a political move. Despite this fact, Sulla still felt it necessary to remove Pompey from his will when in 78 BCE and he supported Lepidus for the consulship; it seems that by the next year Pompey had learnt his lesson, and instead supported Quintus Lutatius Catulus, this was also because Lepidus now spoke of revoking the Sullan laws. In 77 BCE Pompey was sent pro consule in order to assist in the struggle against Sertorius in Spain. Sertorius was an opponent of Sulla who had been active in that area since c. 83 BCE. Pompey returned from there in 71 BCE, wiping out the scattered bands of slaves who had fought under the now defeated Spartacus. In doing so, Pompey tried to take credit for ending the Slave War, when in fact it was Crassus who had been the main Roman protagonist in the war. As a result of Pompey’s victories he was granted his second triumph on the 29th December 71 BCE.
FROM CONSUL TO THE TRIUMVIRATE
Pompey, an experienced man by 70 BCE, was, however, illegible for the consulship since he was too young and had not held the positions of quaestor or praetor inline with the cursus honorum. Despite this, the rules were waived, and Pompey took the consulship for that year with Crassus. After his consulship Pompey did not take a province under his control, as was standard. Instead, the Gabinian Law of 67 BCE gave Pompey the power and authority to oppose and dispose of the increasing problem of piracy in the Mediterranean, which posed a threat to Rome’s corn supply.
[Q. Lutatius Catulus] speaking against the [Gabinian] law said in an informal harangue that Pompey was certainly an outstanding man, but that he was too eminent for comfort in a free res publica and that all power should not be placed in the hands of one man.
(Velleius II, 32, I)
POMPEY SUCCESSFULLY DEALT WITH THE MEDITERRANEAN PIRATES WITHIN THREE MONTHS.
Pompey successfully dealt with the pirates within his first three months of control, despite the fact that the Gabinian Law granted him command for three years, and in 66 BCE a further law was passed which gave him the command of the Roman army against Mithridates VI of Pontus. This law forms Cicero’s Pro lege Manilia, his first purely political speech which speaks in favour of the law, despite there being strong opposition towards the law from the optimate factions of Rome at the time. After defeating Mithridates VI, Pompey turned Bithynia, Pontus, and Syria into Roman provinces, paving the way for Rome’s later advances into the East. It was in 62 BCE that Pompey returned to Italy, and disbanded his army, finally entering Rome on his birthday, 30th September 61 BCE. Upon returning, Pompey celebrated a triumph the likes of which Rome had never seen before, one that lasted a whole two days!
He celebrated the triumph in honour of all his wars at once, including in it many trophies beautifully decked out to represent each of his achievements, even the smallest; and after them all came one huge one, decked out in costly fashion and bearing an inscription stating that it was a trophy of the inhabited world. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, 37.21.2)
He was awarded a triumph exceeding in brilliance any that had gone before… it occupied two successive days, and many nations were represented in the procession from Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, Cilicia and all Syria, besides Albanians, Heniochi, Achaeans of Scythia, and Eastern Iberians. (Appian, Mithridatic Wars, 116)
Among these peoples no less than 1,000 strongholds had been captured, according to the inscriptions, and cities not much under 900 in number, besides 800 piratical ships, while 39 cities had been founded… but that which most enhanced his glory and had never been the lot of any roman before, was that he celebrated third triumph over the third continent. For others before had celebrated three triumphs; but he celebrated his first over Libya, his second over Europe, and this his last over Asia, so that he seemed in a way to have included the whole world in his three triumphs. (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 45.1-5)
However, not all was as Pompey had hoped for, the senate denied his proposals for land-grants for his disbanded army and they denied ratification of Pompey’s eastern settlements too; this decision was headed by Cato the Younger (the great grandson of Cato the Elder). Then, with Caesar’s return from Spain in 60 BCE, Pompey formed the first triumvirate(which in itself is a modern, rather than ancient term) with Caesar and Crassus, arguably the three most politically influential and powerful men in Rome (especially when their efforts were combined).
LATER CAREER
In 59 BCE Caesar was appointed consul, with the support of Crassus and Pompey, which enabled Pompey to fulfil the land-grants to his veteran soldiers and to also have his settlement in the east ratified. One of the most obviously political motivated events of Pompey’s life was the divorce of his wife Marcia in order to marry Caesar’s daughter, Julia. However, despite the political motivation of this marriage, Pompey did come to love Julia, and this is mentioned by contemporaries. Despite Caesar putting in place what Pompey had wanted, and the political marriage, Pompey's success was beginning to decline and in 58/7 BCE he was attacked by Publius Clodius Pulcher. In 57 BCE Pompey both managed to secure Cicero’s return from exile and secured the control of Rome’s corn supply (a very important role, that lasted for five-years and granted him proconsular imperium and fifteen legates, but no army was provided). It is interesting to note Pompey’s sudden shift to matters public and civilian, considering that he was primarily a military man; however, what this might suggest is his logistical skills as a general had been transferred to the organisation of corn supplies. However, also in this year, Pompey failed to restore the father of Cleopatra VII, Ptolemy XII Auletes, to power in Egypt. Nevertheless, the triumvirate seemed to work both ways for Pompey, and in 55 BCE, after the three men’s agreement had been reaffirmed at Luca, both Pompey and Crassus were appointed consuls again. It is interesting to note, that despite being given the two Spanish provinces to govern over, Pompey chose to have them governed by legates, so that he could stay at Rome. What becomes apparent is the sheer wealth that Pompey’s campaigns had brought to him and Rome, and this is embodied with the creation of the Theatre of Pompey just outside Rome, at the Campus Martius, which was opened with extravagant games. The theatre itself also consisted of a Temple to Venus Victrix, and a statue of Pompey himself.
Inscriptions show that whereas in the past the proceeds to that state treasury from taxation were some 50,000,000 drachmae, Pompey’s additions to the empire were now bringing in 85,000,000; and that he was adding to the state treasury in coined money and gold and silver plate 20,000 talents, and this apart from the money he had given to his soldiers, each of whom had received at least 15,000 drachmae. (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 45.3-4)
However, the next two years saw tensions build within the triumvirate, firstly Pompey dropped out from any sort of further political marriage links with Julius Caesar after Julia died in childbirth in 54 BCE, and in 53 BCE Crassus was killed in Parthia, both of these events served to increase the tension between Caesar and Pompey that would eventually spark into Civil War. When Clodius was murdered in 62 BCE, Pompey was elected sole consul for the year, and was even backed by Cato. Pompey then went on to put Titus Annius Milo on trial and created new legislation with regards to violence, bribery, and the nature of magistracies. Whilst these actions would not have perhaps been seen favourably by Caesar; that is not to say that they were not directly enacted so as to do so. However, when Pompey increased his own imperium for another five years, he seismically affected the status quo. It was also around this time that Pompey married Cornelia, his political ally Quintus Caecilius Mettelus Piso Scipio’s daughter; again, as with Julia before her, whilst being a political marriage, it was by no means a loveless marriage. There were calls for Pompey to recall Caesar, and this led to Gaius Scribonius Curio in 50 BCE calling for either both of the men, or neither of them, to put aside their command. Cicero sums up the situation succinctly:
It is a struggle between two kings, in which defeat has overtaken the more moderate king [Pompey], the one who is more upright and honest, the one whose failure means that the very name of the Roman people must be wiped out, though if he wins the victory, he will use it after the manner and example of Sulla. (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 10.7.1)
CIVIL WAR
Pompey was unable to come to terms with this situation and took over the command of the Republic’s armies in Italy in 49 BCE, the year that Caesar crossed the Rubicon and uttered the famous words, alea iacta est (the dice are thrown). He then moved the army from Brundisium to Macedonia, where he mobilised his forces. In 48 BCE Caesar arrived, and, knowing that Caesar’s force was greater than his, Pompey retreated when Caesar tried to blockade him in Dryrrachium. The passage below from Plutarch helps to make sense of this, whilst Caesar already had an experienced, battle-hardened army, Pompey had to mobilise one from scratch, one that would be less experienced than Caesar’s:
When some said that if Caesar should march upon Rome, they did not see any forces with which to defend it from him, with a smiling face and calm manner Pompey told them not to fear: “For,” he said, “in whatever part of Italy I stamp upon the ground, there will spring up armies of infantry and cavalry.” (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 57.5)
On the 9th August (the reason why he was persuaded to do so is unclear) Pompey met Caesar in pitched battle at Pharsalus in Thessaly and suffered terrible losses and a cruel defeat. Caesar had become a formidable general, having gained much valuable experience from his campaigns in Gaul. Pompey then fled to Egypt, but was stabbed to death as he disembarked at Alexandria on the 28th September 48 BCE. With the defeat of Pompey and the victory of Julius Caesar, the foundations of Imperial Rome were dug and any sentiment of a ‘democratic’ Rome was buried with it.
Pompey’s career was to some extent typical of a new type of Roman statesman that came to the fore in the late Republic, that of the ‘military dynast’, which could be seen to have had its origins in the careers of Marius and Sulla. However, in the end, Pompey tends to be seen by history as one of the great losers, which tends not to give true credit to his earlier career and what he achieved during it."
How Pompey Became Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rh5cH5m0Sc
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Images: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus General Marcus Licinius Crassus; Pompey the Great Bust; Sextus Pompey coin front and back
Background from
"Pompey
Definition by James Lloyd published on 27 January 2013
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a military leader and politician during the fall of the Roman Republic. He was born in 106 BCE and died on 28th September 48 BCE. His father was Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo.
Pompey’s life can be easily split into four phases: his early career (106- 71 BCE), his consulship until the triumvirate (70- 60 BCE), his later career in Rome (59- 50 BCE) and the Civil War (49-48 BCE).
EARLY CAREER
Pompey’s military career started in the Social Wars (91- 89 BCE) when he served under his father’s army at Asculum (89 BCE). In 83 BCE Pompey procured a private army of three legions, taken from his father’s veterans and clients, in order to fight for Sulla. After this Pompey was sent as pro praetor (a magistrate sent in place of a praetor) to Sicily and then Africa to put down dissidents. It was in 81 BCE that Sulla gave Pompey a triumph, on the 12th March, despite the fact that Pompey was still only an equites, and as such, not officially eligible for a triumph, it was also around this time that Pompey took the name Magnus, Great, which clearly echoed the great Macedonian general, Alexander the Great. After the death of his first wife Aemilia, Pompey married Sulla’s step daughter Mucia Tertia, which like most marriages of the time, was probably a political move. Despite this fact, Sulla still felt it necessary to remove Pompey from his will when in 78 BCE and he supported Lepidus for the consulship; it seems that by the next year Pompey had learnt his lesson, and instead supported Quintus Lutatius Catulus, this was also because Lepidus now spoke of revoking the Sullan laws. In 77 BCE Pompey was sent pro consule in order to assist in the struggle against Sertorius in Spain. Sertorius was an opponent of Sulla who had been active in that area since c. 83 BCE. Pompey returned from there in 71 BCE, wiping out the scattered bands of slaves who had fought under the now defeated Spartacus. In doing so, Pompey tried to take credit for ending the Slave War, when in fact it was Crassus who had been the main Roman protagonist in the war. As a result of Pompey’s victories he was granted his second triumph on the 29th December 71 BCE.
FROM CONSUL TO THE TRIUMVIRATE
Pompey, an experienced man by 70 BCE, was, however, illegible for the consulship since he was too young and had not held the positions of quaestor or praetor inline with the cursus honorum. Despite this, the rules were waived, and Pompey took the consulship for that year with Crassus. After his consulship Pompey did not take a province under his control, as was standard. Instead, the Gabinian Law of 67 BCE gave Pompey the power and authority to oppose and dispose of the increasing problem of piracy in the Mediterranean, which posed a threat to Rome’s corn supply.
[Q. Lutatius Catulus] speaking against the [Gabinian] law said in an informal harangue that Pompey was certainly an outstanding man, but that he was too eminent for comfort in a free res publica and that all power should not be placed in the hands of one man.
(Velleius II, 32, I)
POMPEY SUCCESSFULLY DEALT WITH THE MEDITERRANEAN PIRATES WITHIN THREE MONTHS.
Pompey successfully dealt with the pirates within his first three months of control, despite the fact that the Gabinian Law granted him command for three years, and in 66 BCE a further law was passed which gave him the command of the Roman army against Mithridates VI of Pontus. This law forms Cicero’s Pro lege Manilia, his first purely political speech which speaks in favour of the law, despite there being strong opposition towards the law from the optimate factions of Rome at the time. After defeating Mithridates VI, Pompey turned Bithynia, Pontus, and Syria into Roman provinces, paving the way for Rome’s later advances into the East. It was in 62 BCE that Pompey returned to Italy, and disbanded his army, finally entering Rome on his birthday, 30th September 61 BCE. Upon returning, Pompey celebrated a triumph the likes of which Rome had never seen before, one that lasted a whole two days!
He celebrated the triumph in honour of all his wars at once, including in it many trophies beautifully decked out to represent each of his achievements, even the smallest; and after them all came one huge one, decked out in costly fashion and bearing an inscription stating that it was a trophy of the inhabited world. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, 37.21.2)
He was awarded a triumph exceeding in brilliance any that had gone before… it occupied two successive days, and many nations were represented in the procession from Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, Cilicia and all Syria, besides Albanians, Heniochi, Achaeans of Scythia, and Eastern Iberians. (Appian, Mithridatic Wars, 116)
Among these peoples no less than 1,000 strongholds had been captured, according to the inscriptions, and cities not much under 900 in number, besides 800 piratical ships, while 39 cities had been founded… but that which most enhanced his glory and had never been the lot of any roman before, was that he celebrated third triumph over the third continent. For others before had celebrated three triumphs; but he celebrated his first over Libya, his second over Europe, and this his last over Asia, so that he seemed in a way to have included the whole world in his three triumphs. (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 45.1-5)
However, not all was as Pompey had hoped for, the senate denied his proposals for land-grants for his disbanded army and they denied ratification of Pompey’s eastern settlements too; this decision was headed by Cato the Younger (the great grandson of Cato the Elder). Then, with Caesar’s return from Spain in 60 BCE, Pompey formed the first triumvirate(which in itself is a modern, rather than ancient term) with Caesar and Crassus, arguably the three most politically influential and powerful men in Rome (especially when their efforts were combined).
LATER CAREER
In 59 BCE Caesar was appointed consul, with the support of Crassus and Pompey, which enabled Pompey to fulfil the land-grants to his veteran soldiers and to also have his settlement in the east ratified. One of the most obviously political motivated events of Pompey’s life was the divorce of his wife Marcia in order to marry Caesar’s daughter, Julia. However, despite the political motivation of this marriage, Pompey did come to love Julia, and this is mentioned by contemporaries. Despite Caesar putting in place what Pompey had wanted, and the political marriage, Pompey's success was beginning to decline and in 58/7 BCE he was attacked by Publius Clodius Pulcher. In 57 BCE Pompey both managed to secure Cicero’s return from exile and secured the control of Rome’s corn supply (a very important role, that lasted for five-years and granted him proconsular imperium and fifteen legates, but no army was provided). It is interesting to note Pompey’s sudden shift to matters public and civilian, considering that he was primarily a military man; however, what this might suggest is his logistical skills as a general had been transferred to the organisation of corn supplies. However, also in this year, Pompey failed to restore the father of Cleopatra VII, Ptolemy XII Auletes, to power in Egypt. Nevertheless, the triumvirate seemed to work both ways for Pompey, and in 55 BCE, after the three men’s agreement had been reaffirmed at Luca, both Pompey and Crassus were appointed consuls again. It is interesting to note, that despite being given the two Spanish provinces to govern over, Pompey chose to have them governed by legates, so that he could stay at Rome. What becomes apparent is the sheer wealth that Pompey’s campaigns had brought to him and Rome, and this is embodied with the creation of the Theatre of Pompey just outside Rome, at the Campus Martius, which was opened with extravagant games. The theatre itself also consisted of a Temple to Venus Victrix, and a statue of Pompey himself.
Inscriptions show that whereas in the past the proceeds to that state treasury from taxation were some 50,000,000 drachmae, Pompey’s additions to the empire were now bringing in 85,000,000; and that he was adding to the state treasury in coined money and gold and silver plate 20,000 talents, and this apart from the money he had given to his soldiers, each of whom had received at least 15,000 drachmae. (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 45.3-4)
However, the next two years saw tensions build within the triumvirate, firstly Pompey dropped out from any sort of further political marriage links with Julius Caesar after Julia died in childbirth in 54 BCE, and in 53 BCE Crassus was killed in Parthia, both of these events served to increase the tension between Caesar and Pompey that would eventually spark into Civil War. When Clodius was murdered in 62 BCE, Pompey was elected sole consul for the year, and was even backed by Cato. Pompey then went on to put Titus Annius Milo on trial and created new legislation with regards to violence, bribery, and the nature of magistracies. Whilst these actions would not have perhaps been seen favourably by Caesar; that is not to say that they were not directly enacted so as to do so. However, when Pompey increased his own imperium for another five years, he seismically affected the status quo. It was also around this time that Pompey married Cornelia, his political ally Quintus Caecilius Mettelus Piso Scipio’s daughter; again, as with Julia before her, whilst being a political marriage, it was by no means a loveless marriage. There were calls for Pompey to recall Caesar, and this led to Gaius Scribonius Curio in 50 BCE calling for either both of the men, or neither of them, to put aside their command. Cicero sums up the situation succinctly:
It is a struggle between two kings, in which defeat has overtaken the more moderate king [Pompey], the one who is more upright and honest, the one whose failure means that the very name of the Roman people must be wiped out, though if he wins the victory, he will use it after the manner and example of Sulla. (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 10.7.1)
CIVIL WAR
Pompey was unable to come to terms with this situation and took over the command of the Republic’s armies in Italy in 49 BCE, the year that Caesar crossed the Rubicon and uttered the famous words, alea iacta est (the dice are thrown). He then moved the army from Brundisium to Macedonia, where he mobilised his forces. In 48 BCE Caesar arrived, and, knowing that Caesar’s force was greater than his, Pompey retreated when Caesar tried to blockade him in Dryrrachium. The passage below from Plutarch helps to make sense of this, whilst Caesar already had an experienced, battle-hardened army, Pompey had to mobilise one from scratch, one that would be less experienced than Caesar’s:
When some said that if Caesar should march upon Rome, they did not see any forces with which to defend it from him, with a smiling face and calm manner Pompey told them not to fear: “For,” he said, “in whatever part of Italy I stamp upon the ground, there will spring up armies of infantry and cavalry.” (Plutarch, Life of Pompey the Great, 57.5)
On the 9th August (the reason why he was persuaded to do so is unclear) Pompey met Caesar in pitched battle at Pharsalus in Thessaly and suffered terrible losses and a cruel defeat. Caesar had become a formidable general, having gained much valuable experience from his campaigns in Gaul. Pompey then fled to Egypt, but was stabbed to death as he disembarked at Alexandria on the 28th September 48 BCE. With the defeat of Pompey and the victory of Julius Caesar, the foundations of Imperial Rome were dug and any sentiment of a ‘democratic’ Rome was buried with it.
Pompey’s career was to some extent typical of a new type of Roman statesman that came to the fore in the late Republic, that of the ‘military dynast’, which could be seen to have had its origins in the careers of Marius and Sulla. However, in the end, Pompey tends to be seen by history as one of the great losers, which tends not to give true credit to his earlier career and what he achieved during it."
How Pompey Became Great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rh5cH5m0Sc
FYI LTC Jeff ShearerSGT Philip Roncari Lt Col Jim CoeCWO3 Dennis M.SGT (Join to see)PO3 Bob McCordSGT Jim Arnold Sgt Albert Castro PO3 Phyllis Maynard Maj Robert Thornton 1SG Carl McAndrews SPC Douglas Bolton Cynthia Croft PO1 H Gene Lawrence SGT Brent Scott CW5 John M. CMSgt (Join to see) PO2 Kevin Parker SGT James Murphy
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Very interesting share. Thanks for posting it. The Romans were pretty advanced in their thinking considering how long ago it was. They had some great leaders and dominated the world for a long time.
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Got a double dose of Pompey in high school, first Latin class then Ancient History class.
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