Pompey

Pompey was born in Picenum (a region of Ancient Italy) to a local noble family. His father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was the first of his branch of the gens Pompeia to achieve senatorial status in Rome, despite his provincial origins. The Romans referred to Strabo as a novus homo (new man). Pompeius Strabo ascended the traditional cursus honorum, becoming quaestor in 104 BC, praetor in 92 BC and consul in 89 BC.

A view of Monte Conero in Marche, Italy (formerly Picenum), birthplace of Pompey

Pompey's father acquired a reputation for greed, political double-dealing, and military ruthlessness. He fought the Social War against Rome's Italian allies, and was granted a triumph. Strabo died during the siege of Rome by the Marians, in 87 BC—either as a casualty of an epidemic,[2] or by having been struck by lightning.[3][4][5] His twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates and the loyalty of his legions.[6] [7]

Roman statue putatively depicting Pompey, at the Villa Arconati a Castellazzo di Bollate (Milan, Italy), brought from Rome in 1627 by Galeazzo Arconati

Pompey served under his father's command during the final years of the Social War.[8] When his father died, Pompey was put on trial due to accusations that his father stole public property.[9] As his father's heir, Pompey could be held to account. He discovered that the theft was committed by one of his father's freedmen. Following his preliminary bouts with his accuser, the judge took a liking to Pompey and offered his daughter Antistia in marriage, and so Pompey was acquitted.[10]

Another civil war broke out between the Marians and Sulla in 84–82 BC. The Marians had previously taken over Rome while Sulla was fighting the First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) against Mithridates VI in Greece.[11] In 84 BC, Sulla returned from that war, landing in Brundisium (Brindisi) in southern Italy. Pompey raised three legions from his father's veterans and his own clients in Picenum to support Sulla's march on Rome against the Marian regime of Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and Gaius Marius. Cassius Dio described Pompey's troop levy as a "small band."[12]

Sulla defeated the Marians and was appointed as Dictator. He admired Pompey's qualities and thought that he was useful for the administration of his affairs. He and his wife, Metella, persuaded Pompey to divorce Antistia and marry Sulla's stepdaughter Aemilia. Plutarch commented that the marriage was "characteristic of a tyranny, and benefitted the needs of Sulla rather than the nature and habits of Pompey, Aemilia being given to him in marriage when she was with a child by another man." Antistia had recently lost both her parents. Pompey accepted, but "Aemilia had scarcely entered Pompey's house before she succumbed to the pangs of childbirth."[13] Pompey later married Mucia Tertia, but there's no record of when this took place, the sources only mentioning Pompey's divorce with her. Plutarch wrote that Pompey dismissed with contempt a report that she had had an affair while he was fighting in the Third Mithridatic War between 66 and 63 BC. However, on his journey back to Rome, he examined the evidence more carefully and filed for divorce.[14] Cicero wrote that the divorce was strongly approved.[15] Cassius Dio wrote that she was the sister of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer and that Metellus Celer was angry because he had divorced her despite having had children by her.[16] Pompey and Mucia had three children: the eldest, Gnaeus Pompey (Pompey the Younger); Pompeia Magna, a daughter; and Sextus Pompey, the younger son. Cassius Dio wrote that Marcus Scaurus was Sextus’ half-brother on his mother's side. He was condemned to death, but later released for the sake of his mother Mucia.[17]

The survivors of the Marians, those who were exiled after they lost Rome and those who escaped Sulla's persecution of his opponents, were given refuge on Sicily by Roman general Marcus Perpenna Vento. Papirius Carbo had a fleet there, and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus had forced entry into the Roman province of Africa. Sulla sent Pompey to Sicily with a large force. According to Plutarch, Perpenna fled and left Sicily to Pompey. While the Sicilian cities had been treated harshly by Perpenna, Pompey treated them with kindness. However, Pompey "treated Carbo in his misfortunes with an unnatural insolence," taking Carbo in fetters to a tribunal he presided over, examining him closely "to the distress and vexation of the audience," and finally, sentencing him to death. Pompey treated Quintus Valerius "with unnatural cruelty."[18] His opponents dubbed him adulescentulus carnifex (adolescent butcher).[19] While Pompey was still in Sicily, Sulla ordered him to the province of Africa to fight Gnaeus Domitius, who had assembled a large force there. Pompey left his brother-in-law, Gaius Memmius, in control of Sicily and sailed his army to Africa. When he got there, 7,000 of the enemy forces went over to him. Domitius was subsequently defeated at the battle of Utica and died when Pompey attacked his camp. Some cities surrendered, some were taken by storm. King Hiarbas of Numidia, who was an ally of Domitius, was captured and executed. Pompey invaded Numidia and subdued it in forty days, restoring Hiempsal II to the throne. When he returned to the Roman province of Africa, Sulla ordered him to send back the rest of his troops and remain there with one legion to wait for his successor. This turned the soldiers who had to stay behind against Sulla, but Pompey said that he would rather kill himself than go against Sulla. When Pompey returned to Rome, everyone welcomed him. To outdo them, Sulla saluted him as Magnus (the Great), after Pompey's boyhood hero Alexander the Great, and ordered the others to give him this cognomen.[20]

Pompey asked for a triumph, but Sulla refused because the law allowed only a consul or a praetor to celebrate a triumph, and said that if Pompey—who was too young even to be a senator—were to do so, he would make both Sulla's regime and his honor odious. Plutarch commented that Pompey "had scarcely grown a beard as yet." Pompey replied that more people worshiped the rising sun than the setting sun, implying that his power was on the increase, while Sulla's was on the wane. According to Plutarch, Sulla did not hear him directly but saw expressions of astonishment on the faces of those that did. When Sulla asked what Pompey had said, he was taken aback by the comment and cried out twice "Let him have his triumph!" Pompey tried to enter the city on a chariot drawn by four of the many elephants he had captured in Africa, but the city gate was too narrow and he changed over to his horses. His soldiers, who had not received as much of a share of the war booty as they expected, threatened a mutiny, but Pompey said that he did not care and that he would rather give up his triumph. Pompey went ahead with his extra-legal triumph.[21] Sulla was annoyed, but did not want to hinder his career and kept quiet. However, in 79 BC, when Pompey canvassed for Lepidus and succeeded in making him a consul against Sulla's wishes, Sulla warned Pompey to watch out because he had made an adversary stronger than him. He omitted Pompey from his will.[22]

Marble bust of Pompey at the Louvre, Paris

After Sulla's death in 78 BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus tried to revive the fortunes of the populares. He became the new leader of the reformist movement silenced by Sulla. He tried to prevent Sulla from receiving a state funeral and from having his body buried in the Campus Martius. Pompey opposed this and ensured Sulla's burial with honours. In 77 BC, when Lepidus had left for his proconsular command (he was allocated the provinces of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul), his political opponents moved against him and he was recalled from his proconsular command. When he refused to return, they declared him an enemy of the state, and, when Lepidus did move back to Rome, he did so at the head of an army.

The Senate passed a Consultum Ultimum (the Ultimate Decree) which called on the interrex Appius Claudius and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus to take necessary measures to preserve public safety. Catulus and Claudius persuaded Pompey, who had several legions' worth of veterans in Picenum (in the northeast of Italy) ready to take up arms at his command, to join their cause. Pompey, invested as a legate with propraetorial powers, quickly recruited an army from among his veterans and threatened Lepidus, who had marched his army to Rome, from the rear. Pompey penned up Marcus Junius Brutus, one of Lepidus's lieutenants, in Mutina.

After a lengthy siege, Brutus surrendered. Plutarch wrote that it was not known whether Brutus had betrayed his army or whether his army had betrayed him. Brutus was given an escort and retired to a town by the river Po, but the next day he was apparently assassinated on Pompey's orders. Pompey was blamed for this, because he had written that Brutus had surrendered of his own accord, and then wrote a second letter denouncing him after he had him murdered.[23][24]

Catulus, who had recruited an army at Rome, now took on Lepidus, directly defeating him in a battle just to the north of Rome. After having dealt with Brutus, Pompey marched against Lepidus' rear, catching him near Cosa. Although Pompey defeated him, Lepidus was still able to embark part of his army and retreat to Sardinia. Lepidus fell ill while on Sardinia and died, allegedly because he found out that his wife had had an affair.[25][26][27][24]

A denarius of Pompey minted in 49–48 BC

Piracy in the Mediterranean became a large-scale problem, with a big network of pirates coordinating operations over wide areas with many fleets. According to Cassius Dio, the many years of war contributed to this, as a large number of fugitives joined them, since pirates were more difficult to catch or break up than bandits. The pirates pillaged coastal fields and towns. Rome was affected through shortages of imports and the supply of grains, but the Romans did not pay proper attention to the problem. They sent out fleets when "they were stirred by individual reports" and these did not achieve anything. Cassius Dio wrote that these operations caused greater distress for Rome's allies. It was thought that a war against the pirates would be big and expensive, and that it was impossible to attack or drive back all the pirates at once. As not much was done against them, some towns were turned into pirate winter quarters and raids further inland were carried out. Many pirates settled on land in various places and relied on an informal network of mutual assistance. Towns in Italy were also attacked, including Ostia, the port of Rome, with ships burned and pillaged. The pirates seized important Romans and demanded large ransoms.[68]

Cilicia had been a haven for pirates for a long time. It was divided into two parts: Cilicia Trachaea (Rugged Cilicia), a mountainous area in the west, and Cilicia Pedias (Flat Cilicia) in the east, by the Limonlu river. The first Roman campaign against the pirates was led by Marcus Antonius Orator in 102 BC, in which parts of Cilicia Pedias became Roman territory, but only a small part becoming a province. Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus was given the command of fighting piracy in Cilicia in 78–74 BC. He won several naval victories off Cilicia and occupied the coasts of nearby Lycia and Pamphylia. He received his agnomen of Isauricus because he defeated the Isauri, who lived in the core of the Taurus Mountains, which bordered on Cilicia. He incorporated Isauria into the province of Cilicia Pedias. However, much of Cilicia Pedias belonged to the kingdom of Armenia. Cilicia Trachea was still under the control of the pirates.[69]

In 67 BC, three years after Pompey's consulship, the plebeian tribune Aulus Gabinius proposed a law (lex Gabinia) for choosing "...from among the ex-consuls, a commander with full power against all the pirates."[70] He was to have dominion over the waters of the entire Mediterranean and up to fifty miles (80 km) inland for three years, empowered to pick fifteen lieutenants from the senate and assign specific areas to them, allowed to have 200 ships, levy as many soldiers and oarsmen as he needed and collect as much money from the tax collectors and the public treasuries as he wished. The use of treasury in the plural might suggest power to raise funds from treasures of the allied Mediterranean states as well.[71] Such sweeping powers were not a problem because comparable extraordinary powers given to Marcus Antonius Creticus to fight piracy in Crete in 74 BC provided a precedent.[72] The optimates in the Senate remained suspicious of Pompey—this seemed yet another extraordinary appointment.[73] Cassius Dio claimed that Gabinius "had either been prompted by Pompey or wished in any case to do him a favor... he did not directly utter Pompey's name, but it was easy to see that if, once the populace should hear of any such proposition, they would choose him."[74] Plutarch described Gabinius as one of Pompey's intimates and claimed that he "drew up a law which gave him not an admiralty, but an out-and-out monarchy and irresponsible power over all men."[71]

Cassius Dio wrote that Gabinius’ bill was supported by everybody except the senate, which preferred the ravages of pirates rather than giving Pompey such great powers, and that some senators attempted to kill Gabinius in the Senate House. This outraged the people, who set upon the senators. They all ran away, except for the consul Gaius Piso, who was arrested, but Gabinius had him freed. The optimates tried to persuade the other nine plebeian tribunes to oppose the bill, two of whom, Trebellius and Roscius, agreed to do so. Trebellius tried to speak against the bill at the Plebeian Assembly, but Gabinius postponed the vote and introduced a motion to remove him from the tribunate. After seventeen tribes had voted in favor of the motion, Trebellius backed down, keeping his office, but forced into silence. Having witnessed his colleague's humiliation, Roscius did not dare to speak, but suggested with a gesture that two commanders should be chosen. At this, the people "gave a great threatening shout", forcing Roscius to back down as well. The law was passed and the senate ratified it reluctantly. Pompey tried to appear as if he was forced to accept the command because of the jealousy that would be caused if he would lay claim to the post and the glory that came with it. Cassius Dio commented that Pompey was "always in the habit of pretending as far as possible not to desire the things he really wished."[75][76]

Plutarch did not mention Gabinius nearly being killed. He gave details of the acrimony of the speeches against Pompey, with one of the senators proposing that Pompey should be given a colleague. Only Caesar supported the law and, in Plutarch's view, he did so "not because he cared in the least for Pompey, but because from the outset he sought to ingratiate himself with the people and win their support." In his account, the people did not attack the senators, only shouted loudly, resulting in the assembly being dissolved. On the day of the vote, Pompey withdrew to the countryside, and the lex Gabinia was passed. Pompey extracted further concessions and received 500 ships, 120,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry and twenty-four lieutenants. With the prospect of a campaign against the pirates, the prices of provisions fell. Pompey divided the sea and the coast into thirteen districts, each assigned to a commander with his own forces.[77]

Appian gave the same number of infantry and cavalry, but the number of ships was 270, and the lieutenants were twenty-five. He listed them and their areas of command as follows: Tiberius Nero and Manlius Torquatus (in command of Hispania and the Straits of Hercules); Marcus Pomponius (Gaul and Liguria); Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and Publius Atilius (Africa, Sardinia, Corsica); Lucius Gellius and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus (Italy); Plotius Varus and Terentius Varro (Sicily and the Adriatic Sea, as far as Acarnania); Lucius Sisenna (the Peloponnese, Attica, Euboea, Thessaly, Macedon, and Boeotia); Lucius Lollius (the Greek islands, the Aegean sea, and the Hellespont); Publius Piso (Bithynia, Thrace, the Propontis and the mouth of the Euxine); Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos Iunior (Lycia, Pamphylia, Cyprus, and Phoenicia). Pompey made a tour of the whole area. He cleared the western Mediterranean in forty days, proceeded to Brundisium (Brindisi) and cleared the eastern Mediterranean in the same amount of time.[78]

A tetradrachm of Tigranes II the Great of Armenia, minted at Antioch, 83–69 BC

In Plutarch's account, Pompey's scattered forces encompassed every pirate fleet they came across and brought them to port, the remaining pirates escaping to Cilicia. Pompey attacked Cilicia with his sixty best ships; after that, he cleared the Tyrrhenian Sea, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Libyan Sea in forty days with the help of his lieutenants. Meanwhile, the consul Piso sabotaged Pompey's equipment and discharged his crews, and thus Pompey went back to Rome. The markets in Rome now were well-stocked with provisions again and the people acclaimed Pompey. Piso was nearly stripped of his consulship, but Pompey prevented Aulus Gabinius from proposing a bill to this effect. He set sail again and reached Athens, defeating the Cilician pirates off the promontory of Coracesium. He then besieged them and they surrendered, together with the islands and towns they controlled, the latter being fortified and difficult to take by storm. Pompey seized many ships, but he also spared the lives of 20,000 pirates. He resettled some of them in the city of Soli, which had recently been devastated by Tigranes the Great, the king of Armenia. Most were resettled in Dyme in Achaea, Greece, which was underpopulated and had plenty of good land. Some pirates were received by the half-deserted cities of Cilicia. Pompey thought that they would abandon their old ways and be softened by a change of place, new customs and a gentler way of life.[79]

In Appian's account, Pompey went to Cilicia expecting to have to undertake sieges of rock-bound citadels. However, he did not have to. His reputation and the magnitude of his preparations provoked panic and the pirates surrendered, hoping to be treated leniently because of this. They gave up large quantities of weapons, ships and shipbuilding materials. Pompey destroyed the material, took away the ships and sent some of the captured pirates back to their countries. He recognised that they had undertaken piracy due to the poverty caused by the mentioned war and settled many of them in Mallus, Adana, Epiphania or any other uninhabited or thinly populated town in Cilicia. He sent some to Dyme in Achaea. According to Appian, the war against the pirates lasted only a few days. Pompey captured 71 ships and 306 ships were surrendered. He seized 120 towns and fortresses and killed about 10,000 pirates in battles.[80]

In Cassius Dio's brief account, Pompey and his lieutenants patrolled "the whole stretch of sea that the pirates were troubling," and his fleet and his troops were irresistible both on sea and land. The leniency with which he treated the pirates who surrendered was "equally great" and won over many pirates, who went over to his side. Pompey "took care of them" and gave them land which was empty or settled them in underpopulated towns so that they would not resort to crime due to poverty. Soli was among these cities. It was on the Cilician coast and had been sacked by Tigranes the Great. Pompey renamed it Pompeiopolis.[81]

Metellus, a relative of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, with whom Pompey had fought in Hispania, had been sent to Crete, which was the second source of piracy before Pompey assumed command. He hemmed in and killed many pirates, besieging the remnants. The Cretans called on Pompey to come to Crete, claiming that it was under his jurisdiction. Pompey wrote to Metellus to urge him to stop the war and sent one of his lieutenants, Lucius Octavius. The latter entered the besieged strongholds and fought with the pirates. Metellus persisted, captured and punished the pirates, and sent Octavius away after insulting him in front of the army.

Pompey went back to Amisus, where he found many gifts from Pharnaces and many dead bodies of the royal family, including that of Mithridates. Pompey could not look at Mithridates' body and sent it to Sinope. Before he departed for Rome, Pompey paid his army. The sum distributed amounted, we are told, to 16,000 talents (384,000,000 sesterces).[127] He then travelled in greater pomp. On his way to Italy, he went to Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, and decided to build a theater in Rome modelled on that of this city. In Rhodes, he listened to the sophist philosophers and gave them money. He also gave rewards to philosophers in Athens and gave the city money towards its restoration (it had been damaged by Lucius Cornelius Sulla during the First Mithridatic War). In Rome, there were rumors that Pompey would march his army against the city and establish a monarchy. Crassus secretly left with his children and money, yet Plutarch thought that it was more likely he did this because he wanted to give credibility to the rumors rather than through genuine fear. However, Pompey disbanded his army when he landed in Italy. He was cheered by the inhabitants of the cities he passed on his way to Rome and many people joined him. Plutarch remarked that, if he arrived in Rome with such a large crowd, he would not have needed an army for a revolution.[128]

18th-century depiction of the third triumph

In the Senate, Pompey was probably equally admired and feared. On the streets, he was as popular as ever. His eastern victories earned him his third triumph, which he celebrated on his 45th birthday in 61 BC,[129] seven months after his return to Italy. Plutarch wrote that it surpassed all previous triumphs, taking place over an unprecedented two days. Much of what had been prepared would not find a place and would have been enough for another procession. Inscriptions carried in front of the procession indicated the nations he defeated (the Kingdom of Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Media, Colchis, Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Judaea and Nabataea) and claimed that 900 cities, 1,000 strongholds, 800 pirate ships and 1,000 pirates were captured and that 39 cities were founded. Some also claimed that his conquests were adding 85 million drachmas to the 30 million drachmas of the public revenues from taxes[130] and that he brought 20,000 drachmas in silver and gold. The captives led in the triumph were the leaders of the pirates; the son of Tigranes the Great with his wife and daughter; a wife of Tigranes the Great; a sister and five children of Mithridates VI; Aristobulus II, the king of the Jews; hostages from the Caucasian Albanians and the Caucasian Iberians; and the king of Commagene.[131]

Appian gave the names of the paraded children of Mithridates VI. They were the sons Artaphernes, Cyrus, Oxathres, Darius, and Xerxes, and the daughters Orsabaris and Eupatra. He specified that there were three Iberian chiefs and two Albanian ones. Olthaces, the chief of the Colchians; the tyrants of the Cilicians; the female rulers of the Scythians and Menander the Laodicean, the commander of Mithridates' cavalry, were also paraded. In total, 324 people were paraded. The procession included images of Tigranes and Mithridates, who were not present, and the sons and daughters of Mithridates who had died. The image of Mithridates was made of gold and was four meters high. There was a tablet with the inscription "Ships with brazen beaks captured, 800; cities founded in Cappadocia, 8; in Cilicia and Coele-Syria, 20; in Palestine, the one which is now Seleucis. Kings conquered: Tigranes the Armenian; Artoces the Iberian; Oroezes the Albanian; Darius the Mede; Aretas the Nabataean and Antiochus of Commagene." There were two-horse carriages and litters laden with gold or ornaments, including the couch of Darius; the son of Hystaspes; and the throne and scepter of Mithridates. There were 75,100,000 drachmas of silver coin and 700 ships brought to the port. Appian also related that "Pompey himself was borne in a chariot studded with gems, wearing, it is said, the cloak of Alexander the Great, if anyone can believe that. It seems to have been found among the possessions of Mithridates that the inhabitants of Kos had received from Cleopatra VII of Egypt."[132]

Pliny the Elder wrote that Pompey displayed "a chessboard made of two precious stones, three feet in width by two in length..." and remarked that his displays were "...more the triumph of luxury than the triumph of conquest."[129] Plutarch wrote "That which most enhanced his glory and had never been the lot of any Roman before, was that he celebrated his third triumph over the third continent."[131] His triumphs were for victories in Africa, Hispania and Asia. Only Scipio Aemilianus had celebrated triumphs for victories in two continents (in Africa and Hispania). Cassius Dio wrote that Pompey displayed his "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". He also noted that he did not add any title to his name, as he was happy with his appellation as Magnus (the Great), and that he did not contrive to receive any other honor.[133]

Pompey increased the state's income by 70 percent (from 200 million sesterces to 340 million sesterces per annum), and the value of the booty handed over to the treasury was a further 480 million sesterces.[134] Pompey never gave an insight into his own personal fortune, but it must have been vast. Many speculated that Pompey had surpassed Crassus in wealth.

From left to right: Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Pompey the Great

When Pompey returned to Rome from the Third Mithridatic War, he asked the Roman senate to ratify the acts of his settlements with the cities, kings and princes in the east. This was opposed by the senators, particularly the optimates, who were suspicious of the power Pompey had acquired with the lex Gabinia and the lex Manilia and the popularity he gained with his military successes. They saw him as a threat to their supremacy and as a potential tyrant. In 60 BC, the optimates also defeated a bill that would have distributed farmland to Pompey's veterans, and to some of the landless urban poor of Rome, who relied on a grain dole distributed by the state to survive. The consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer opposed the bill very effectively. The other consul, Afrianius, whose election had been sponsored by Pompey, was of no assistance. According to Cassius Dio, he "understood how to dance better than to transact any business."[16] In the end, lacking support, Pompey let the matter drop. The Pompeian camp proved to be inadequate to respond the obstructionism of the optimates.[135]

Midsummer of 60 BC saw the return to Rome of Julius Caesar, flushed with success from his campaign in Hispania and determined to win the consulship. Caesar was a skilled and energetic politician and exactly the man Pompey was looking for. Caesar also enjoyed the support of Marcus Licinius Crassus, allegedly Rome's wealthiest man and a political force on his own, who had also seen his agenda blocked by the optimates. Caesar won the election for one of the two consulships for 59 BC, and could provide the kind of support needed for Pompey's and Crassus' bills to be passed. Caesar also pursued a policy of conciliating Crassus and Pompey, who had become rivals over the last decade.[136]

Thus, Caesar brought into being this alliance between these three men, which historians call the First Triumvirate. Together, these three men could break the resistance of the optimates. Pompey's political clout was based on his popularity as a military commander and on the political patronage and purchase of votes for his supporters and himself that his wealth could afford. He also had the support of his war veterans: "Prestige, wealth, clients, and loyal, grateful veterans who could be readily mobilized—these were the opes which could guarantee [Pompey's] brand of [power]."[137] Crassus was a property speculator and the richest man in Rome, who also had extensive patronage networks.

Caesar was elected, and proposed an agrarian bill to the plebeian council, which Pompey and Crassus publicly supported. The bill passed over the opposition of his colleague as consul, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, whose election had been funded by the optimates due to his opposition to Caesar and his bill. Calpurnius Bibulus subsequently retired from politics and Caesar had the acts of Pompey's settlements in the east passed.[138][139][140][141][142] A law that made Caesar governor of Gallia Cisalpina and Illyricum also passed. When the governor of Gallia Transalpina died, Caesar was given that province as well. Caesar tied Pompey to himself by marrying him to his daughter Julia, even though she was betrothed to another man.[143][144][145][146] He then left Rome to take on these governorships and got involved in his Gallic Wars, which lasted from 58 to 50 BC. Pompey and Caesar set Publius Clodius Pulcher against Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was an opponent of the triumvirate. Clodius managed to have Cicero exiled, but soon, Pompey decided to have Cicero recalled to Rome, because Clodius turned against him. A grateful Cicero stopped opposing Pompey.[147][148][149][150]

In 58 BC, food shortages in Rome caused popular unrest. Cicero persuaded the people to appoint Pompey as praefectus annonae (prefect of the provisions) in Italy and beyond for five years. This post was instituted at times of severe grain shortages to supervise the grain supply. Clodius alleged that the scarcity of grain had been engineered to support a law that boosted Pompey's power, which had been decreasing. Both Plutarch and Cassius Dio thought that the law made Pompey "the master of all the land and sea under Roman possession." Pompey sent agents and friends to various places and sailed to Sardinia, Sicily and the Roman province of Africa (the breadbaskets of the Roman empire) to collect grain. He collected it in such abundance that the markets were filled and there was also enough to supply foreigners. Appian wrote that this success gave Pompey great reputation and power. Cassius Dio also wrote that Pompey faced some delays in the distribution of grain because many slaves had been freed prior to the distribution and Pompey wanted to take a census to ensure they received it in an orderly way.[151][152][153]

In 56 BC, Caesar, who was fighting the Gallic Wars, crossed the Alps into Italy and wintered in Lucca, Tuscany. In the Life of Crassus, Plutarch wrote that Caesar met Pompey and Crassus and agreed that the two of them would stand for the consulship and that he would support them by sending soldiers to Rome to vote for them. They were then to secure the command of provinces and armies for themselves and confirm his provinces for a further five years. In the Life of Pompey, Plutarch added that Caesar also wrote letters to his friends and that the three men were aiming at making themselves the masters of the state.[154][155][156][157] Cassius Dio, who wrote the most detailed account of the period, did not mention the Lucca conference. In his version, instead, Pompey and Crassus agreed to stand for the consulship between themselves as a counterpoise to Caesar. Pompey was annoyed about the increasing admiration of Caesar due to his success in the Gallic Wars, which, he felt, overshadowed his own exploits. He tried to persuade the consuls not to read Caesar's reports from Gaul and to send someone to relieve his command. He was unable to achieve anything through the consuls, and felt that Caesar's increasing independence made his own position precarious. He began to arm himself against Caesar and got closer to Crassus because he thought he could not challenge Caesar on his own. The two men decided to stand for the consulship so that they could be more than a match for Caesar.

Once elected, Pompey and Crassus got Gaius Trebonius, a plebeian tribune, to propose a measure that gave the province of Syria and the nearby lands to one of the consuls, and the provinces of Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior to the other. They would hold the command there for five years, being able to levy as many troops as they wanted and "make peace and war with whomsoever they pleased." The supporters of Caesar were unhappy, and therefore Crassus and Pompey extended Caesar's command in Gaul. According to Cassius Dio, this was for three years, not five.[158] In the Life of Pompey, Plutarch wrote that the laws proposed by Trebonius were in accordance with the agreement made at Lucca. They gave Caesar's command a second five-year term, assigned the Roman province of Syria and an expedition against Parthia to Crassus and gave Pompey the two provinces in Hispania (where there had recently been disturbances), the whole of Africa (presumably, Plutarch meant Cyrenaica, as well as the Roman province of Africa) and four legions. Pompey lent two of these legions to Caesar for his wars in Gaul at his request.[159] According to Appian, Pompey lent Caesar only one legion, when two of Caesar's lieutenants were defeated in Gaul by Ambiorix in 54 BC.[160]

The Tusculum portrait, a bust of Julius Caesar in the Archaeological Museum of Turin, Italy

In 54 BC, Pompey was the only member of the triumvirate who was in Rome. Caesar continued his campaigns in Gaul and Crassus undertook his campaign against the Parthians. In September 54 BC, Julia, the daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompey, died while giving birth to a girl, who also died a few days later.[161][162] Plutarch wrote that Caesar felt that this was the end of his good relationship with Pompey. The news created factional discord and unrest in Rome as it was thought that the death brought the end of the ties between Caesar and Pompey. The campaign of Crassus against Parthia was disastrous. Shortly after the death of Julia, Crassus died at the Battle of Carrhae (May 53 BC), bringing the first triumvirate to an end. Plutarch thought that fear of Crassus had led Pompey and Caesar to be decent to each other and his death paved the way for the subsequent friction between these two men and the events that eventually led to civil war.[163][164] Florus wrote "Caesar's power now inspired the envy of Pompey, while Pompey's eminence was offensive to Caesar; Pompey could not brook an equal or Caesar a superior."[165] Seneca wrote that, with regard to Caesar, Pompey "would ill endure that anyone besides himself should become a great power in the state, and one who was likely to place a check upon his advancement, which he had regarded as onerous even when each gained by the other's rise: yet within three days' time he resumed his duties as general, and conquered his grief [for the death of his wife] as quickly as he was wont to conquer everything else."[166]

In the Life of Pompey, Plutarch wrote that the plebeian tribune Lucilius proposed to elect Pompey dictator. Cato the Younger, who had been the fiercest opponent of the triumvirate, opposed this, and Lucilius came close to losing his tribunate. Despite all this, two consuls for the next year (53 BC) were elected as usual. In 53 BC, three candidates stood for the consulship for 52 BC. Besides resorting to bribery, they promoted factional violence, which Plutarch saw as a civil war. There were renewed and stronger calls for a dictator. However, in the Life of Cato, Plutarch did not mention any calls for a dictator and, instead, he wrote that there were calls for Pompey to preside over the elections, which Cato the Younger opposed. In both versions, the violence among the three factions continued and the elections could not be held. The optimates favored entrusting Pompey with restoring order. Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, the former enemy of the triumvirate, proposed in the senate that Pompey should be elected as sole consul. Cato changed his mind and supported this on the ground that any government was better than no government. Pompey asked him to become his advisor and associate in governance, to which Cato replied that he would do so in a private capacity.[167][168]

Pompey married Cornelia, a daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica. Some people disliked this, because Cornelia was much younger, and thought she would have been a better match for his sons. There were also people who thought that Pompey gave priority to his wedding over dealing with the crisis in the city, and he was also seen as being partial in the conduct of some trials. However, he succeeded in restoring order and chose his father-in-law as his colleague for the last five months of the year. Pompey was granted an extension of his command in his provinces in Hispania and was given an annual sum for the maintenance of his troops. Cato warned Pompey about Caesar's manoeuvres to increase his power by using the money he made from the spoils of war to extend his patronage in Rome, and urged him to counter Caesar. Pompey hesitated, and Cato stood for the consulship in order to deprive Caesar of his military command and have him tried, but he was not elected. The supporters of Caesar argued that Caesar deserved an extension of his command so that the fruit of his success would not be lost, which triggered a debate. Pompey showed goodwill towards Caesar, claiming that he had letters from Caesar in which he said he wanted to be relieved of his command, but Pompey opined that he should be allowed to stand for the consulship in absentia. Cato opposed this and said that, if Caesar wanted this, he had to lay down his arms and become a private citizen. Pompey did not contest Cato's view, which gave rise to suspicions about his real feelings towards Caesar.[169]

A Roman bust of Pompey the Great made during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), a copy of an original bust from 70 to 60 BC, Venice National Archaeological Museum, Italy

Pompey was moving towards a power struggle with Caesar and relied on the support of the Senate and the optimates. The bone of contention between the two men was the troops they both commanded. According to Plutarch, the rift between Pompey and Cato became exacerbated when Pompey fell seriously ill in Naples in 50 BC. Upon his recovery, the people of Naples offered thanksgiving sacrifices, and the resulting celebration spread throughout Italy. He was feted in towns he travelled to on his way back to Rome. Plutarch wrote that this was said "to have done more than anything else to bring about [the subsequent civil] war. For while the public rejoicing was great, a spirit of arrogance came upon Pompey, which went beyond the calculations based upon facts, and, throwing to the winds caution... he indulged himself in unlimited confidence and contempt for Caesar's power, feeling that he would need neither an armed force to oppose him nor any irksome labor of preparation, but that he would pull him down much more easily than he had raised him up."[170] This assessment is a bit exaggerated, especially with regard to the feeling of not needing an army. However, it is likely that the display of popular support made Pompey overconfident.

In 51 BC, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus proposed to send a successor to take command of Caesar's provinces before his term of office had expired, whereas Pompey said that Caesar's command should come to an end on its expiration. In Appian's opinion, this was a pretense of fairness and goodwill. Two bitter enemies of Caesar, Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus (a cousin of the previous consul) were chosen as consuls for 50 BC. Gaius Scribonius Curio, who was also opposed to Caesar, became one of the new plebeian tribunes. Caesar obtained the neutrality of Aemilius Paullus with a large sum of money, and the help of Curio by paying off his debts. When Marcellus proposed sending someone to assume command of Caesar's army, Paullus remained silent, and Curio seconded the motion, but added that Pompey should also give up his provinces and armies to remove fear of conflict, which encountered opposition. Curio maintained his stance that both men should lay down their command, because they were suspicious of each other and there would not be peace. The people praised him as the only politician who was willing to incur the enmity of both men for the good of Rome. Pompey promised to give up his governorship and armies, claiming that Caesar would do the same. According to Appian, the aim of this was to create prejudice against Caesar, who did not seem likely to give up his command, and to have a successor for Caesar's command appointed immediately, thus forcing Caesar to disband his armies, while Pompey retained his with impunity.

Curio exposed this, saying that promises were not enough and that Pompey should lay down his command immediately and that Caesar should disarm after this, because, if Caesar would do so first, Pompey, aiming at supreme power, would have no incentive to disarm. He also proposed that, unless both obeyed, both should be declared public enemies and troops should be levied against them. The Senate was suspicious of both men, but deemed Pompey to be less of a threat and hated Caesar because he had disregarded the Senate when he was consul. Some senators proposed that Caesar should disarm first, but Curio maintained that Caesar was a counterbalance to Pompey's power and that either Pompey should disarm first or both should do so simultaneously. The Senate disagreed and he dismissed the motion without coming to a resolution.[171]

Despite this impasse, the Senate did pass a decree that Caesar and Pompey should send a legion to Syria to defend it against the Parthians who had defeated Crassus. Pompey took advantage of this to recall the soldiers he had lent Caesar. Caesar gave them 250 drachmas and sent them to Rome, together with a legion of his own. According to Appian, Pompey had lent him one legion; according to Caesar, it was two legions.[172] However, the Parthian threat to Syria did not materialize and the legions were sent to Capua. Pompey's soldiers said that Caesar's troops were worn out, longed to return home, and would defect to Pompey as soon as they had crossed the Alps. Whether through ignorance or corruption, this information was wrong; Caesar's soldiers were very loyal to him. Pompey believed the reports and did not levy troops to counter Caesar's forces.[173]

Caesar crossed the Alps with a legion and arrived at Ravenna, close to the border with Italy. Curio advised him to assemble his whole army and march on Rome, but Caesar decided to negotiate. He proposed to give up his governorships and troops, but retain two legions and the provinces of Illyricum and Gallia Cisalpina until he should be elected consul. Pompey agreed, but the consuls refused. Curio went to Rome with a letter Caesar wrote to the senate and gave it to the two newly elected consuls, Gaius Claudius Marcellus and Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus. Caesar proposed that both he and Pompey lay down their arms at the same time and said that, if Pompey retained his, he would not expose himself to his enemies. Claudius Marcellus put forward the questions of sending a successor to Caesar and disarming Pompey separately. No senator voted for Pompey to give up his arms, because his troops were in the suburbs, whereas all but two voted for Caesar to disband his army. There was a false rumor that Caesar was marching on Rome, to which Claudius proposed that Caesar be declared public enemy and that the army at Capua be sent against him, but Curio opposed this on the ground that it was a false rumor. Two of the new plebeian tribunes, Mark Antony and Quintus Cassius Longinus, did not allow the motions to be ratified. This angered senators, who debated a punishment for them, and the consul Cornelius Lentulus advised them to leave the Senate, for their safety. There were detachments of Pompey standing around the senate house, that secretly went to Caesar along with Curio.[174][175]

In Plutarch's version, Curio's demands were very popular. Pompey should be required to give up his troops, and if not, Caesar should retain his. In the latter case, the two men would remain a match for each other and would not cause trouble. However, weakening one of them would double the power of the other. Claudius Marcellus called Caesar a robber and urged for him to be voted a public enemy unless he should lay down his arms. Curio, helped by Antony and Piso, prevailed, moving for a vote about Caesar laying down his arms and Pompey retaining his command, which passed. Then, he moved for a vote on both men laying down their arms and relinquishing their command, for which only twenty-two favored Pompey. Curio felt that he had won the day and rushed before the people, being applauded and "pelted with garlands and flowers." However, Claudius Marcellus declared that "since he saw ten legions already looming up in their march over the Alps, he himself also would send forth a man who would oppose them in defense of his country."[176]

According to Cassius Dio, the senators went to Pompey and gave him both funds and troops. According to Appian, Lucius Domitius was appointed as Caesar's successor, and he took to the field with 4,000 men from the active list. The Senate thought that the arrival of Caesar's army from Gaul would take time and that he would not rush with a small force, directing Pompey to levy 130,000 Italian soldiers (mainly from the veterans) and to recruit as many men as possible from the neighboring provinces. All the money from the public treasury and, if needed, from the private wealth of the senators, was to be used to pay for the soldiers. Contributions were also to be levied from the allied cities as quickly as possible. Caesar, accustomed to celerity and audacity, decided to advance with just the one legion, anticipating his enemy and seizing strategic positions in Italy.[177][178]

The Flight of Pompey after Pharsalus, by Jean Fouquet

Caesar sent a detachment to Ariminum (Rimini), the first town in Italy, and took it by surprise. He then advanced towards Rome, having crossed the river Rubicon at the boundary of Italy. On hearing of this, the consuls directed Pompey to quickly recruit more troops. The Senate, still unprepared, was panicked at Caesar's unexpected speed. Cicero proposed sending messengers to Caesar to negotiate their safety, but the frantic consuls rejected this path.[179] Therefore, Caesar marched on to Rome, winning over all the cities on the way without a fight, either because their garrisons were too weak or they preferred his cause. Pompey, after learning of this from a defector and having had no time to prepare a large enough force, sent Roman envoys to Caesar to request negotiations. Caesar agreed to negotiate, promising the envoys that no one would suffer harm at his hands and that he would call for the immediate disbandment of the troops. However, the people of Rome feared war and were already calling for both men to disarm at the same time.

Pompey knew that any negotiations would soon leave him inferior to Caesar rather than an equal partner. Therefore, before his envoys could return, Pompey planned his flight to Campania to pursue the war from there. He ordered the senators and officials to go with him, and to seize the public treasury to pay for the troops they needed to recruit. However, after hearing exaggerated reports about Caesar not being conciliatory, the senators disobeyed and hurriedly left Rome to their own estates without touching the money. The flight from Rome was disorderly. As Pompey rushed away, he hastily levied troops from the Italian cities on the road, setting up garrisons as he went.[180]

Caesar stopped his march on Rome and claimed that he was fighting against his opponents and in defense of Rome. He sent letters throughout Italy that challenged Pompey, who responded with a letter campaign himself and tried to make Caesar look as if he had turned down reasonable terms. In response, Caesar ordered his lieutenants to advance; Picenum, Etruria, and Umbria were taken. Caesar was joined by his 12th legion, which increased his numbers in Italy to two legions. Pompey did not want to send his newly recruited green forces against Caesar's battle-hardened veterans, so he decided to abandon Italy and called on all loyalist commanders to retreat south.

Meanwhile, Caesar had set out against Corfinium, in central Italy, which was occupied by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. Domitius had thirty-one cohorts at Corfinium and decided to make a stand, probably figuring that, outnumbering Caesar three to two, he had a chance to halt the Caesarian advance. Caesar quickly took the neighboring town of Sulmo, garrisoned by seven cohorts. His eighth legion had arrived, increasing the number of his veteran legions to three, and Curio had brought up twenty-two cohorts of recruits. Caesar now outnumbered Domitius five to three and started building siegeworks all around the city. Realizing that escape for the whole army was impossible and that no relief was on its way, Domitius apparently decided to attempt to save himself and tried to escape the siege. His troops, however, found out his plans, seized Domitius as he was trying to escape, and took him to Caesar, who let Domitius go and even let him take his money with him. Domitius' soldiers, however, were made to swear a new oath of loyalty (to Caesar) and were added to Caesar's army. They were eventually sent to Sicily under the command of Asinius Pollio and helped him take the island from Marcus Porcius Cato.[181]

Pompey hastened to Nuceria and then to Brundisium, the main port for crossing to Greece. He had finally decided to abandon Italy and to complete his war preparations in Greece. He wrote to the governors of the provinces, and also to the kings and cities he had won over in the Third Mithridatic War, asking them to send aid. Pompey knew he could not reach his troops in Hispania because Caesar controlled Gaul and, therefore, blocked the land route into the Iberian peninsula. He believed Caesar would be unable to pursue him to Greece because there were too few ships, and the winter, which made the Mediterranean difficult to sail, was approaching. Possibly because of the change of plan, there were only enough transports for thirty out of his fifty cohorts. Pompey decided he should let the consuls and their new recruits cross over to Dyrrhachium first, and they left by 8 March. On 9 March, after sixteen days of hard marching, Caesar's army arrived at Brundisium and proceeded to set up camp outside the town walls. The city was difficult to seize, and Caesar tried to negotiate peace and resume his friendship with Pompey, who merely said that he would relay that to the consuls. Caesar then besieged and attacked the city, and Pompey repelled him until the ships returned, setting sail at night. After this, Caesar seized the city and captured two ships full of men.[182][183][184][185]

From Dyrrhachium, Pompey marched to Macedonia, where he set up a training area and a camp at Beroea, a town in the lower Haliacmon valley, sixty kilometers west of Thessalonica. Pompey rapidly proceeded to build his new army. He already had with him the five legions he brought from Italy, and to these were added four more; the veteran settlers in Macedonia and Crete provided one, the remains of the two legions which formed the permanent garrison of Cilicia provided one; and the consul Lentulus, now governor of Asia, recruited two more. Furthermore, Metellus Scipio, the governor of Syria, was ordered to bring his two legions to Greece, but he had some difficulty bringing them across the Amanus range and got no further than Pergamum before deciding to put his men into winter quarters. Pompey also sent instructions to all the client rulers of the East to provide troops and therein Galatia, Cappadocia, Lesser Armenia, Lycia, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Paphlagonia, Pontus, Greater Armenia, Commagene and Egypt all sent contingents. The infantry was distributed among the legions; there also were 3,000 archers, 1,200 slingers, and, the pride of the army, 7,000 cavalry.[186][187][188]

Pompey also gathered a fleet, estimated by Plutarch at 500 fighting ships with many more transports and other craft, but probably nearer 300 fighting ships. They were under the supreme command of Marcus Bibulus and divided into five flotillas commanded by: Gnaeus Pompey (60 ships from Egypt); Laelius and Triarius (the Asiatic fleet); Gaius Cassius Longinus (70 ships from Syria); Marcellus and Coponius (20 ships from Rhodes); and Marcus Octavius and Scribonius Libo (the fleets from Achaea and Liburnia). The task of the grand fleet was to maintain a patrol along the whole eastern coast of the Adriatic, to prevent corn from reaching the Italian ports, safeguard the transport of essentials to the Pompeian forces and their supply bases and, most importantly, keep Caesar from crossing over. Sixteen ships were sent to assist Massilia, which was under siege by Caesar's forces.[189][190][187][188]

Caesar went to Rome, after which he embarked on an astonishing 27-day forced march to Hispania and defeated the troops Pompey had there. Caesar then returned to Italy, crossed the Adriatic Sea and landed in what is now southern Albania, even though the Pompeian fleet controlled this sea.[191] There, he advanced on Oricum, which the commander of the garrison handed to him. Two lieutenants of Pompey, who were guarding merchant ships loaded with wheat for Pompey's troops, sank them with their warships to prevent them from falling into Caesar's hands. Caesar marched on Apollonia, and the inhabitants handed him the city. Straberius, the commander of the garrison, abandoned the city.

Caesar then headed for Dyrrhachium (Durrës, Albania), where Pompey had an arsenal. Pompey hurried to defend Dyrrhachium and arrived there first. The opposing forces fought the Battle of Dyrrhachium. Pompey's troops heavily outnumbered the enemy. He built a fortified camp south of the city, so Caesar started to build a circumvallation to besiege it. At the same time, Pompey extended his own fortifications to force Caesar to stretch out his. Six attempts to break through by Pompey were repulsed. Caesar's troops suffered food shortages, while Pompey's were supplied by ships, as his camp was near the sea. However, Pompey held a limited amount of land, which created shortages of fodder for his animals. Water was also scarce, because Caesar had cut off the local streams. When harvest time came close, Caesar's troops were going to have plenty of grain.

Pompey needed to break the siege. Two deserters from Caesar's camp told him about a gap in Caesar's fortifications where two palisades near the sea had not been joined. Pompey's troops attacked it and broke through, however, Mark Antony and Caesar brought in reinforcements and pushed them back. Pompey entrenched a camp near this spot to gain land for fodder. He also occupied a small camp Caesar had abandoned and added an entrenchment so that the two camps were joined, and gained access to a stream.[192]

Caesar attacked these new fortifications. However, he was outnumbered, and Pompey sent a large cavalry force to outflank Caesar's troops, which made Caesar withdraw and give up the siege. Pompey could have destroyed Caesar's retreating army by pursuing it, but did not. Caesar thought that victory was unexpected for Pompey, because, a little earlier, his troops were fleeing from their camp, and Caesar thought Pompey suspected an ambush. Moreover, Pompey's cavalry was hindered by the narrow passages of the fortifications, many of which were occupied by Caesar's troops. Plutarch wrote that Caesar said to his friends: "Today, victory would have been with the enemy if they had had a victor in command."[193]

Caesar went to Apollonia to leave his wounded men there, pay his army, encourage his allies, and leave garrisons in the towns. He sent off the baggage train at night, and, during the day, he left for Asparagum (also in Illyria). Pompey pursued him and encamped nearby. The next day, Caesar marched on, sending the baggage train off at night again and then eluding Pompey. After four days, Pompey gave up this fruitless pursuit.

Caesar marched speedily. He was in a hurry to join his lieutenant, Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, to prevent him from being blindsided by Pompey's arrival. Caesar considered three contingencies:

1. to draw Pompey away from the coast and from his stores at Dyrrhachium, and fight him in equal conditions;
2. to go to Italy with his army and that of Gnaeus Domitius' via Illyria, should Pompey cross back to Italy;
3. to blockade Metellus Scipio, one of Pompey's lieutenants, to force Pompey to move to his aid, should Pompey try to besiege Apollonia and Oricum to cut Caesar off the coast.

Caesar informed Gnaeus Domitius about his plans, left garrisons at Apollonia, Lissus and Oricum, and began a march through Epirus and Athamania. Pompey decided to hurry to Metellus Scipio to back him up or, should Caesar decide not to leave the coast, to attack Gnaeus Domitius himself. Both men marched quickly with light equipment. Pompey was marching towards Candavia, a mountain district in Illyria.

Gnaeus Domitius and Metellus Scipio had been encamped close to each other. The former left to forage and moved towards Candavia, thus exposing himself to an attack by Pompey. Caesar was not aware of this, however, some Gallic scouts who had defected from Caesar to Pompey spotted some of Domitius' Gallic scouts and informed them about the situation after Dyrrhachium. Domitius, who was only a four-hour march away, avoided the danger and joined Caesar, who was on his way to Aeginium, a town just past the border of Thessaly. Domitius arrived at Gomphi, the first town in Thessaly, from which envoys had offered their resources to Caesar and asked him for a garrison.

However, Pompey had spread exaggerated rumors about Caesar's defeat, and the governor of Thessaly cast his lot with Pompey. He ordered the gates of the city to be closed, and asked Pompey to come help, because the town could not withstand a long siege. However, although Metellus Scipio had already brought his troops to Larissa, the capital of Thessaly, Pompey had not yet arrived. Caesar besieged Gomphi to gain its resources and to frighten the neighboring areas, taking it by storm in one day and quickly going to Metropolis. This town also closed its gates, but surrendered when they heard about the fall of Gomphi. All Thessalian towns not held by Metellus Scipio's troops submitted to Caesar.[194]

The two forces fought the Battle of Pharsalus. They were encamped near each other. With the joining of Pompey and Metellus Scipio's large armies, Pompey's supporters were confident of victory, and encouraged him to take to the field against Caesar rather than follow a strategy of attrition. Caesar lined up his men close to Pompey's camp to test him. In the next few days, he pushed his lines closer to the hill where Pompey's camp was. He got lightly-armed young foot soldiers to intermix with the cavalry to get used to this kind of fighting, and to prepare for confronting a cavalry force seven times larger.

Pompey always lined up on the lower spurs of the hill, on uneven ground that was unfavorable to Caesar, and would not be drawn into battle. Caesar kept moving his camp and was always on the march, so that he could get supplies from various places and wear out Pompey's army. One day, Pompey drew up his men further from the rampart of his camp. Caesar thought this looked like a chance to fight on more advantageous ground, and he prepared for battle. Pompey's army outnumbered Caesar's, by almost two to one. Pompey tried to have his numerically superior cavalry outflank Caesar's left wing and rout his army. However, Caesar placed six select cohorts at the rear to stop this cavalry. It worked, and Caesar's men defeated the enemy.

Pompey left the field and went to his camp. When his men were driven within the rampart, Caesar attacked the camp. The camp guards fought hard, but the men who had fled from the battlefield without arms were more keen on escaping than fighting. The men posted on the rampart could not withstand the shower of javelins and left their positions. Pompey rode away from the camp and went to Larissa. From there, he reached the coast with a retinue of 30 cavalry and boarded a grain ship.[195]

Roman bust of Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt, mid-1st century BC, Altes Museum, Antikensammlung Berlin, showing Cleopatra with a "melon" hairstyle and Hellenistic royal diadem worn over the head

Caesar pursued Pompey to prevent him from gathering other forces to renew the war. Pompey had stopped at Amphipolis, where he held a meeting with friends to collect money. An edict was issued in his name that all the youth of the province of Macedonia (i.e. Greece), whether Greeks or Romans, were to take an oath. It was not clear whether Pompey wanted new levies to fight or whether this was concealment of a planned escape.

When he heard that Caesar was approaching, Pompey left and went to Mytilene, on the island of Lesbos, to take on board his wife Cornelia and his son. Pompey then set sail and stopped over only when he needed to get food or water. He reached Attaleia (Antalya) in Pamphylia, where some warships from Cilicia had been assembled for him. There, Pompey heard that Cato the Younger was sailing to Africa. Pompey blamed himself for not having used his superior navy and not having stationed at a place where he could have had naval backup if he had been defeated on land instead of fighting far from the coast. He asked the cities in the area for money to man his ships and looked for a temporary refuge in case the enemy caught up with him.

According to Plutarch, Pompey considered going to Parthia, but was advised Parthia's king, Arsaces, was untrustworthy and the place unsafe for Pompey's wife. This last point put Pompey off. He was advised to go instead to Egypt, which was only three days' sail away, and whose king, Ptolemy XIII, although only a boy, was indebted by the friendship and the help Pompey had given to his father, Ptolemy XII.[196]

According to Caesar, Pompey went from Mytilene to Cilicia and Cyprus. There, he learned that the inhabitants of Antioch and the Romans resident there had taken up arms to prevent him from going there. The same action had been taken in Rhodes against Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, the consul of the previous year, and Publius Lentulus, an ex-consul, who were also escaping. They reached the island and were barred from the port, with the islanders having been informed that Caesar was approaching. Pompey gave up on going to Syria. He took funds from the tax collectors, borrowed money to hire soldiers, and armed 2,000 men. He boarded a ship with many bronze coins.[197]

Pompey set sail from Cyprus with warships and merchant ships. He heard that Ptolemy was in Pelusium with an army and that he was at war with his sister Cleopatra VII, whom he had deposed. The camps of the opposing forces were close, thus Pompey sent a messenger to announce his arrival to Ptolemy and to request his aid.

Potheinus the eunuch, who was the boy king's regent, held a council with Theodotus of Chios, the king's tutor and Achillas, the head of the army, amongst others. According to Plutarch, some advised driving Pompey away, and others welcoming him. Theodotus argued that neither option was safe: if welcomed, Pompey would become a master and Caesar an enemy, while, if turned away, Pompey would blame the Egyptians for rejecting him and Caesar for making him continue his pursuit. Instead, assassinating Pompey would eliminate fear of him and gratify Caesar.[198]

Caesar thought this was decided because Ptolemy's forces included many of Pompey's soldiers who had been taken to Alexandria from Syria by Aulus Gabinius to restore Ptolemy XII when he had been deposed. These soldiers had subsequently remained in Egypt as part of the Ptolemaic army. Caesar therefore assumed that the king's advisors had decided to murder Pompey in case he tried to manipulate the Roman contingent of the Egyptian forces, in order to seize power.[199]

Theodotus shows Caesar the head of Pompey; etching, 1820

On 28 September, Achillas went to Pompey's ship on a fishing boat together with Lucius Septimius, who had once been one of Pompey's officers, and a third assassin, Savius. Pompey's associates saw this lack of pomp with suspicion, and advised Pompey to put back out to open sea, out of reach of the Egyptians' missiles. Achillas claimed that the sea's sandy bottom and shallows had not allowed him to approach with a ship. However, the royal ships were seen taking crews on board, and there were soldiers on the shore.

Cornelia thought Pompey was going to be killed, but he boarded the boat. The lack of friendliness on the boat prompted Pompey to tell Septimius that he was an old comrade, the latter merely nodding. He thrust a sword into Pompey, and then Achillas and Savius stabbed him with daggers. The people on Pompey's ship could see this and, horrified, fled. Because the wind was favorable, the Egyptians did not pursue them.

Pompey's head was severed, and his unclothed body was thrown into the sea. Philip, one of Pompey's freedmen who had boarded the boat, wrapped it with his tunic and made a funeral pyre on the shore. Pompey died the day before his 58th birthday.[200]

When Caesar arrived in Egypt a few days later, he was appalled. He turned away, loathing the man who brought Pompey's head. When Caesar was given Pompey's seal ring, he cried.[201] Theodotus left Egypt and escaped Caesar's revenge. Pompey's remains were taken to Cornelia, who gave them burial at his Alban villa.[202]

Pompey's military glory was second to none for two decades, yet his skills were occasionally criticized by some of his contemporaries. Sertorius or Lucullus, for instance, were especially critical.[203] Pompey's tactics were usually efficient, albeit not particularly innovative or imaginative, and they could prove insufficient against greater tacticians. However, Pharsalus was his only decisive defeat.[204] At times, he was reluctant to risk an open battle. While not extremely charismatic, Pompey could display tremendous bravery and fighting skills on the battlefield, which inspired his men.[204] While being a superb commander, Pompey also earned a reputation for stealing other generals' victories.[205]

On the other hand, Pompey is usually considered an outstanding strategist and organizer, who could win campaigns without displaying genius on the battlefield, but simply by constantly outmaneuvering his opponents and gradually pushing them into a desperate situation.[204] Pompey was a great forward planner, and had tremendous organizational skill, which allowed him to devise grand strategies and operate effectively with large armies.[206] During his campaigns in the east, he relentlessly pursued his enemies, choosing the ground for his battles.

Above all, he was often able to adapt to his enemies. On many occasions, he acted very swiftly and decisively, as he did during his campaigns in Sicily and Africa, or against the Cilician pirates. During the Sertorian war, on the other hand, Pompey was beaten several times by Sertorius. Therefore, he decided to resort to a war of attrition, in which he would avoid open battles against his chief opponent but instead try to gradually regain the strategic advantage by capturing his fortresses and cities and defeating his junior officers.[204] In some instances, Sertorius showed up and forced Pompey to abandon a siege, only to see him strike somewhere else.[207] This strategy was not spectacular, but it led to constant territorial gains and did much to demoralize the Sertorian forces. By 72 BC, the year of his assassination, Sertorius was already in a desperate situation and his troops were deserting. Against Perpenna, a tactician far inferior to his former commander-in-chief, Pompey decided to revert to a more aggressive strategy and he scored a decisive victory that effectively ended the war.

Against Caesar too, his strategy was sound. During the campaign in Greece, he managed to regain the initiative, join his forces to that of Metellus Scipio (something that Caesar wanted to avoid) and trap his enemy. His strategic position was hence much better than that of Caesar and he could have starved Caesar's army to death.[206] However, he was finally compelled to fight an open battle by his allies, and his conventional tactics proved no match to those of Caesar (who also commanded the more experienced troops).

The head of Pompey on a denarius minted in 40 BC by his son Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius

For the historians of his own and later Roman periods, Pompey fit the trope of the great man who achieved extraordinary triumphs through his own efforts, yet fell from power and was, in the end, murdered through treachery.

He was a hero of the Republic, who once seemed to hold the Roman world in his palm, only to be brought low by Caesar. Pompey was idealized as a tragic hero almost immediately after Pharsalus and his murder.

Plutarch portrayed Pompey as a Roman Alexander the Great, pure of heart and mind, destroyed by the cynical ambitions of those around him. This portrayal of him survived into the Renaissance and Baroque periods, for example, in Pierre Corneille's play The Death of Pompey (1642).

Despite his war against Caesar, Pompey was still widely celebrated during the imperial period as the conqueror of the Orient. For example, pictures of Pompey were carried at Augustus' funeral procession. And, as a triumphator, he had numerous statues in Rome, one of which was on the forum of Augustus. Although the imperial power did not honour Pompey as much as it did his arch enemy, who was considered a god, his reputation among many aristocrats and historians was equal, or even superior, to that of Caesar.[208]

Pompey has appeared as a character in multiple modern works.

• Pompey's first wife was Antistia;
• His second wife was Aemilia, Sulla's stepdaughter;
• His third wife was Mucia Tertia, whom he divorced for adultery, according to Cicero's letters. The two had three children:
  • Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, executed in 45 BC, after the Battle of Munda;
  • Pompeia Magna, married to Faustus Cornelius Sulla, with descendants;
  • Sextus Pompey, who would rebel in Sicily against Augustus.
• His fourth wife was Julia, daughter of Caesar, who died giving birth to a child of Pompey who was born prematurely and lived only a few days. The gender of the child is unknown, because the sources are contradictory;
• His fifth and last wife was Cornelia Metella, daughter of Metellus Scipio.

Christian Settipani has speculated that he may have had another daughter.[209]

After returning from his campaigns in the east, Pompey spent a large part of his new wealth on building projects. The grandest of these was a great stone theater complex, on the Campus Martius and the lower slopes of the Pincian Hill in northern Rome. Based, so it was said, on that of Mytilene, it was Rome's first stone theater and a landmark in the history of Roman architecture.[210]

Pompey commissioned and collected hundreds of paintings and statues to decorate the theater. Pliny records the names of several "old masters" whose works were acquired, and there is evidence that Pompey patronized at least two contemporary Italian sculptors, Pasiteles and Coponius.[211][212]

On 12 August 55 BC, the Theater of Pompey was inaugurated. Containing seats for an estimated 10,000 spectators, it had a temple of Venus (Pompey's patron goddess) constructed at the back of the cavea, or auditorium, in such a way that the tiers of the seats formed the steps leading up to the front of the temple. Attached to the southeast side of the theater was a great porticus or rectangular garden, measuring approximately 180 by 135 meters, with covered colonnades running around the sides, providing shelter for the spectators in the event of rain. The walls of the colonnades were decorated with paintings gathered from the art collections of the Roman world. Either in the porticus or the theater itself were numerous statues, the arrangement of which was entrusted to Cicero's good friend Atticus. They included fourteen statues, representing the nations which Pompey had conquered, and one of Pompey himself was placed in a large hall attached to the porticus, where meetings of the Senate could be held.[213]

Plutarch tells us that Pompey built himself a house in the vicinity of the theater, "like a dinghy behind a yacht," more splendid than his old house on the Carinae but not extravagant enough to incite envy.[214]

• 29 September 106 BC – Born in Picenum;
• 89 BC – Serves under his father at Asculum (during the Social War);
• 83 BC – Aligns with Sulla, after his return from the First Mithridatic War against King Mithridates VI of Pontus, raising a legion and cavalry in hopes of joining him;[215]
• 82 BC – Marriage to Aemilia at the behest of Sulla, but Aemilia is already pregnant and eventually dies during childbirth;[216]
• 82–81 BC – Defeats Gaius Marius' allies in Sicily and Africa;
• 81 BC – Returns to Rome and celebrates first triumph;
• 80 BC – Pompey marries Mucia, of the Mucii Scaevolae family;[216]
• 79 BC – Pompey supports the election of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who openly revolts against the Senate a few months later. Pompey suppresses the rebellion with an army raised from Picenum and puts down the rebellion, killing the rebel Marcus Junius Brutus, father of Brutus, who would go on to assassinate Julius Caesar;[217]
• 76–71 BC – Campaign in Hispania against Sertorius;
• 71 BC – Returns to Italy and participates in the suppression of a slave rebellion led by Spartacus, obtaining his second triumph;
• 70 BC – First consulship (with Marcus Licinius Crassus);
• 67 BC – Defeats the pirates and goes to the province of Asia;
• 66–61 BC – Defeats King Mithridates of Pontus, ending the Third Mithridatic War;
• 64–63 BC – Marches through Syria, the Levant, and Judea;
• 29 September 61 BC – Third triumph;
• April 59 BC – The first triumvirate is constituted. Pompey allies with Julius Caesar and Crassus, marrying Caesar's daughter Julia (wife of Pompey);
• 58–55 BC – Governs Hispania Ulterior by proxy, while the Theater of Pompey is constructed;
• 55 BC – Second consulship (with Marcus Licinius Crassus), and the Theater of Pompey is finally inaugurated;
• 54 BC – Julia dies, and the first triumvirate ends;
• 52 BC – Serves as sole consul for an intercalary month,[218] but has a third ordinary consulship with Metellus Scipio for the rest of the year, marrying his daughter Cornelia Metella;
• 51 BC – Forbids Caesar (in Gaul) to stand for consulship in absentia;
• 50 BC – Falls dangerously ill with fever in Campania, but is saved "by public prayers";[219]
• 49 BC – Caesar crosses the Rubicon river and invades Italy, while Pompey retreats to Greece with the conservatives;
• 48 BC – Caesar defeats Pompey's army near Pharsalus, Greece. Pompey retreats to Egypt and is killed at Pelusium.