1. Introduction

Q. Pompeius (familiarly known as Pompey), until his defeat at the hands of Julius Caesar was the leading Roman of his generation. His political touch may not always have been sure but as a military commander he was outstanding. In turn he disposed of anti-Sullan rebels, Lepidus, Sertorius, the Pirates and Mithridates. The position he craved for himself was quite simple: he wished to be the first man in the state and, as such, not to act as her destroyer but saviour.

2. Birth – Family

Pompey was born on the 29 September 106 BC probably in Picenum (Piceno) where the family had large estates and an extensive clientage. His mother was Lucilia.

3. Biography

The young Pompey first saw military service in the Social War and during the civil discord which followed it in Rome (89-87 BC).¹ He served on the staff of his father Q. Pompeius Strabo, whose successful campaigns on the northern front in the Social War culminated in the capture (Nov. 89 BC) of Asculum (Ascoli Piceno). In spite of efforts by Sulla to dislodge him, he retained command of the army into 87 BC. In that year open war broke out between the consuls Cinna and Octavian and the latter summoned Strabo to aid in the defence of the city. This he did but he also made himself hated by intriguing with both sides.² His sudden death was followed by the collapse of his army and Pompey was put on trial by the victorious Cinnans on a charge of misappropriating war booty. He was acquitted and soon after married for the first time. His bride’s name was Antistia and they lived (87-83 BC) in Cinnan Rome. With Sulla’s arrival in Italy (83 BC) Pompey deserted to his side and performed so well that Sulla hailed him as ‘imperator’. The war in Italy ended in 82 BC but Cinnan resistance continued in Sicily and Africa. Pompey was sent to deal with it and (as many believe) returned in April 81 BC. An attempt to extract a triumph from Sulla was successful but led to a rift between the two. As a result, in 79 BC, Pompey supported the anti-Sullan Lepidus in his bid for the consulship. As consul Lepidus turned to insurrection and Pompey was called upon to crush him, a task he performed without much difficulty (77 BC).

He was instantly assigned a new and tougher opponent: Sertorius. Pompey fought in Spain between 77 and 71. The war was prolonged because Sertorius was a master both of the set piece battle and guerrilla warfare and knew how to take advantage of the terrain.³ Pompey returned to Rome to a triumph and the consulship of 70.⁴ The latter was a noteworthy achievement because it was actually the first public office Pompey had held. For all of his other actions he had held extraordinary commands. In co-operation with his colleague Licinius Crassus he introduced a law restoring the powers of the tribunes, which had been curbed by Sulla. A period of quiescence then followed until 67 BC and the Lex Gabinia.⁵ Piracy had long been a problem in the Mediterranean but in recent times things had worsened to the point where Rome itself was threatened with starvation due to interference with the grain ships. So the Lex Gabinia conferred wide powers on Pompey who began the so-called Pirate War. He received unlimited imperium over the Mediterranean for three years; this was to extend fifty miles inland and was to be the equal of proconsular imperium. Pompey divided the sea into thirteen regions each under the command of a legate. These legates made war on the pirates in their area. They were swept eastwards and finally congregated in Cilicia. There their power was smashed at the battle of Coracesium (Alanya). The survivors were settled by Pompey on land in Cilicia and Dyme in Achaea –a gesture whose mildness is often favourably commented on. By this time there was great dissatisfaction with the way Lucullus was conducting the 3rd Mithridatic War and now (66 BC) the Lex Manilia was passed. This gave Pompey the provinces of Cicilia, Bithynia and Pontus and the command of the war against Mithridates VI.

Pompey set to work immediately and expelled Mithridates from the Pontic Kingdom. Pompey organised an Armenian expedition and he defeated the Iberians during this war in Asia in the next year (65 BC), he made the Caucasian and Colchian peoples seek peace and occupied Gordyene. He next intervened in a dispute between Armenia and Parthia. Then (64 BC) advanced into Syria and afterwards (63 BC) to Judaea. He then wintered in Pontus. During the course of the year news of the death of Mithridates was received.⁶

During these last few years Pompey organised Asia Minor, introducing measures for the governing of the lands he had added to the empire.⁷ When he went home in 62 he had, therefore, two aims: to obtain lands for his veterans and have his measures approved. The senate (61 BC) would not accept this. In the same year Pompey, celebrated his triumph and divorced his wife Mucia. Long before (82 BC) Pompey had divorced his first wife Antistia and married a girl called Aemilia who died soon after. He had married Mucia in 80 (?). The refusal of the senate drove Pompey into the arms of Crassus and Julius Caesar with whom he formed a coalition often called “the First Triumvirate”.⁸

In 59, Caesar as consul obtained for Pompey that which he wanted, land for his veterans and ratification for his eastern settlement. In that year, too, Pompey married his daughter Julia. There also occurred the obscure event generally known as the Vettius affair. Vettius, a hardened informer, claimed to have discovered details of a plot against Pompey’s life and implicated a number of prominent men. Before he could be interrogated further Vettius was murdered in prison and the matter ended there. Pompey’s first public appointment since the Mithridatic command was bestowed on him in 57 when he was given the task of ensuring Rome’s corn supply. This was to be performed under an imperium pro consule. By now rifts were appearing in the ‘triumvirate’ so a meeting was held at Luca (56 BC) to renew the alliance. It was agreed that Caesar’s command in Gaul, which had followed on his consulship in 59, should be renewed for another five years. Crassus and Pompey were to be consuls in 55 and were to have as their provinces Syria and Spain. The elections were carried out by violence but, once elected, Pompey dedicated a series of public buildings and gave lavish public games. In the following year Julia died and Crassus was killed invading Parthia. These two events had the effect of loosening the ties which bound Pompey to Caesar and he gradually drifted to the side of the senate.

The senators cared for neither Pompey nor Caesar but hated the former less and were prepared to use him to get rid of the latter. Pompey’s drift is symbolised by his marriage in 52. His new bride was Cornelia daughter of Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica one of the noblest men in Rome.⁹ Pompey did not go to Spain but administered the province through the agency of legates. As anarchy and violence increased in the City –Pompey himself had in the past suffered from the attentions of P. Clodius– Pompey was chosen as sole consul for 52 and took a number of measures to remedy the situation. By now the problem of Caesar was becoming acute. When his Gallic command expired Caesar wished to hold another consulship. He did not, however, wish for any time lapse between the two because he feared prosecution. Unsurprisingly the senate was not willing to grant this. Efforts were made over a number of years to resolve the situation in which Pompey himself played a part but to no avail. An ultimatum to Caesar to vacate his province by a certain date led him, in 49, to invade Italy. The senate would not grant Pompey supreme command but allowed him to exercise his Spanish imperium in Italy and elsewhere. Pompey retreated to Greece before Caesar’s advance and gathered an army there.

4. Death

In 48 BC, Pompey was defeated by Caesar at Pharsalus and fled to Egypt through Attaleia in Pamphylia. On the 28^th September he was murdered by his hosts as he came ashore.

5. Physical Appearance, Behaviour and Character

The best physical description of him comes from Plut. Pomp. 2 (Penguin trans.), ‘...he was attractive certainly, but part of his attractiveness lay in a kind of dignity and sweetness of his position; and at the height and flower of this youthful beauty there was apparent at the same time the majesty and the kingliness of his nature. His hair swept back in a wave from his forehead’. This should be read in conjunction with a reproduction of the head in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek. For the next one is described (Pomp.1) as ‘easy, tactful and gracious’. A different impression could, perhaps, be gained from the pages of Cicero.

6. Evaluation and Judgements

For most of his life Pompey was considered a great warrior. Very early in his life we have the testimony of Sulla who considered him worthy of the titles of imperator and Magnus. And at the time of his maturity we possess Cicero’s fulsome speech, Pro lege Manilia. His popularity with the people is not in question either. When he fell seriously ill at Naples prayers were said for him all over Italy and universal rejoicing greeted his recovery.¹⁰ This contrasts with the rather awkward and tactless figure whom we find in Cicero’s Letters.

Later writers also praise his integrity but some suspect him of aiming at a monarchy. A useful antidote to this last is Lucan’s poem Pharsalia which portrays him as a great republican hero. Modern studies tend towards this view. They do not believe Pompey sought to overthrow the republic. Rather he wished to be its leading citizen, the one to whom Rome could turn in moments of difficulty. However, it also seems to be agreed, that in acting in this fashion, Pompey strained the Roman constitution to its limits and ultimately to its detriment. It has certainly not escaped notice that many of the powers he enjoyed prefigured those of the emperors.¹¹