19 



POMPEII^ CNF.IUS. 



POMPF-lfS CNF.IUS. 



senate that Cratsus bad Indeed gained the victory, but that he had 

 rooted out the wir. Crassus felt thia arrogance the more keenly, as 

 he wished to obtain the consulship with Pumpey, and was obliged to 

 make UK of the influence which Pompey had gained at his cost 

 Pompey. though absent from Rome, was a candidate for the consul- 

 ship, and aa prudent enough to recommend Crassus as his colleague. 

 A Pompey had not yet held any of the minor civil olliccs, he could 

 not legally be a candidate for the consulship. But the senate, not 

 wishing to hare the two most powerful men in the state their enemies, 

 was obliged to suspend the laws in favour of Pompey, and lie and 

 Crassus were elected consuls for the year B.C. 70. 



Pompey bad now little difficulty in obtaining a second ttiumph, 

 especially as he had become a great favourite with the people, and 

 had declared that he would restore the tribnnician power which was 

 abolished by Sulla, and wuuld do all he could to stop the abuse which 

 the aristocratic party made of their judicial power. The two consuls 

 elect and Hetellus stood with their armies before Rome, aud on the 

 31st of December B.C. 71 Crassus entered the city in an ovation, and 

 Pompey and Metellus in triumph, lioth consuls now did their utmost 

 to gain the favour of the people, and Pompey began to fulfil his pro- 

 mises. The question concerning the restoration of the tribunician 

 power had been agitated for many years, but without success ; the 

 people were now in a state of great excitement, for the abuse of their 

 power by the senatorial party had become intolerable. When Pompey 

 brought his rogation before the senate, the opposition was not so strong 

 as might have been expected. Supported by his troops, which were 

 (till in the neighbourhood of Rome, by Crassus, and the exasperation 

 of the people, Pompey carried his bill. This measure, which at the 

 time gained him general popularity, was soon followed by another 

 proposed by the tribune Aurelius Cotta, which deprived the senators 

 of their exclusive possession of the judicia publica, and divided the 

 judicial power equally among the senators, the knights, and the people, 

 the last being represented by the tribuni Aerarii. This measure was 

 productive of little improvement, for moral corruption was not peculiar 

 to any one class, but pervaded the whole nation. 



After the expiration of his consulship Pompey refused to go into a 

 province, but he dismissed his army, and remained at Rome for two 

 years without holding any office. During this time he seldom appeared 

 in public, and never without a numerous train, which was well calcu- 

 lated to impress the people with his importance. He foresaw that the 

 time was not far distant when his powerful arm would again be required 

 to save Rome from destruction. The Mediterranean was about thia 

 time almost covered with pirates. They landed on all parts of the 

 coast, and even in the immediate neighbourhood of Home. The high- 

 roads of Italy were not safe. Rome itself was suffering from scarcity 

 of provisions, for almost all convoys bound for the city were inter- 

 cepted by the pirates. The tribune A. Gubiuus, a man whose fortune 

 was completely ruined, brought forward a rogation that a consular 

 man should be invested with unlimited powers for three years over 

 the whole Mediterranean and its coasts to a distance of fifty miles from 

 the sea, and that all the resources of the state should be at his disposal 

 No individual was mentioned, but the eyes of the people were directed 

 to Pompey as the only man capable of saving the republic. He him- 

 self kept in the background. In the senate the rogation met with a 

 fierce opposition, but Caesar supported it, and thereby alienated Pompey 

 still more from his former party. When the day came for the measure 

 to be decided by the votes of the people, Pompey appeared in the 

 market-place entreating the people not to draw him again into the 

 field of action, and to appoint a more deserving general. This piece 

 of acting bad the desired effect, and the rogation was curried on the 

 second day, notwithstanding the most violent opposition. The price 

 of provisions immediately fell with the prospect of a speedy delivery 

 from the pirates. However contemptible the means by which Pompey 

 obtained the command, the manner in which he fulfilled his commission 

 was deserving of the highest praise. The preparations for war were 

 completed during the winter, and in the spring of the year B.C. 67 be 

 began his operations in the Mediterranean. His legates were stationed 

 in various quarters of the sea to draw forth the pirates, and to prevent 

 them from uniting their forces; he himself, with the main armament, 

 swept the sea and drove the pirates eastward. Within forty days the 

 sea between Africa, Spain, and Italy was cleared, and Rome already 

 felt the benefit of his exploit*. He then landed at Athens, where be 

 was received with divine honours, and after a short stay ho proceeded 

 on his expedition. The pirates who had not yet surrendered were at 

 last surrounded and blockaded near the coast of Cilioia, Here the first 

 and decisive battle was fought at Coracesium. The pirates were 

 defeated and took refuge in the town, which they surrendered after 

 some resistance, together with all their ships and arms. Numbers of 

 the pirates bad deserted previous to the decisive battle, aud the 

 humanity with which they bad been treated by Pompey contributed 

 not a little to indue* the rest to surrender. All the towns and former 

 strongholds of the prates opened their gates to Pompey ; most of their 

 fortress**, and everything which might enable the pirates to recover 

 their strength, were destroyed ; and they themselves were transplanted 

 to Soloeia (henceforward called Pompeiopolis) and other deserted 

 towns of Cilicia and Greece, where it was impossible for them again to 

 resume their former mode of life. The whole war did not lost above 

 three months. One hundred and twenty towns and castles were 



occupied by the Romans, and partly destroyed ; 1300 ships 

 burned, 72 were taken, and 308 others surrendered. 



Pompey remained in ADM, bin object now being to be invested with 

 the command against Mithridstes. The war against this king had 

 long been carried on with varying success, but no decisive advantage 

 bad yet been gained. The people at Rome had now the most 

 unbounded confidence in Pompey, and when C. Manilius produced a 

 bill (Cicero, 'Pro Lego Manilla') for giving to Pompey the conduct of 

 the war against Mitbridates, with unlimited power over the fleet and 

 the army in the east, and with the rights of a proconsul in all parts 

 of Asia, it was carried notwithstanding the opposition of Catulus and 

 Hortensius. The intelligence of this decree was received by Pompey 

 in his usual manner, with apparent dissatisfaction with those who, 

 as he said, would allow him no peace, and would expose him to the 

 greatest dangers in order to get rid of him. (Dion COM., xxx\ . 

 Plut, ' Pomp.,' 80.) Notwithstanding this, he immediately set out 

 (ac. 06) to take tho place of Lucullus, whom he treated with arrogance 

 and the neglect of all common civility. 



The power of Mitbridates had been to a great extent broken before 

 Pompey undertook the command, but it is nevertheless certain that 

 he acted with great energy and prudence, so that the expectations of 

 the people at Rome were fully justified. He sent his fleet round the 

 coast from Syria to the Thracian Bosporus (Plut., ' Pomp.,' 31, 3ii), 

 and hastened from Crete to QaUtia, where lie assembled his land- 

 troops. Proposals which he made to tho king were rejected. Pompey 

 allowed Pbrnates, king of Parthia, to make an attack on Armenia, and 

 thereby made him his friend and ally. Mithridates, seeing liimstlf 

 thus deprived of his hope of receiving succours from Parthia (Appian, 

 'Mithrid.,' 87; Dion Cass., xxxvi., p. 24), sued for peace; but the 

 negotiation failed. Pompey then marched through Lesser Armenia 

 across the Euphrates to Acilisene, in order to separate .Mithridates 

 from Tigranes. The king took the same direction. The hostile armies 

 met, and after some skirmishes Mitbridates retreated to save his men ; 

 but he was attacked by the Romans at night in a narrow pass, where 

 10,000 of his army were slain and an equal number made prisoners, 

 while Pompey only lost a small number. The king himself escaped 

 with some horsemen to the Tauric Chersonese (Crimea). Pompey, 

 being unable to overtake him, took, up his winter-quarters in Colchis, 

 and founded the town of Nicopolis on tho field of battle in Armenia. 

 He then advanced against Artaxata, the capital of Tigranes, who, being 

 abandoned by his son, and discouraged at the approach of the enemy, 

 appeared as a suppliant before Pompey, who, pleased with his sub- 

 mission, called him the friend of the Romans, left him in the possession 

 of his kingdom of Armenia, and only required a contribution of 6000 

 talent*, and his son as a hostage. A part of the Roman army remained 

 under L. Afraniua in the country between the Euphrates aud Araxes, 

 while Pompey with the rest marched towards the north and took up 

 his quarters on the river Cyrus (Kur), as the season was too for 

 advanced to approach nearer the Caucasus. Here the Humans were 

 attacked by Orceses, king of Albania (Shirvau and Doghistan), with a 

 numerous army, but Pompey defeated him ; and when the king sued 

 for peace, it was granted him on condition that he should allow the 

 Romans a free passage through his territory. 



In the year B.C. 65 the Romans bad again to sustain an attack from 

 a king of the Iberians, between Albania and Colchis ; but the barbarians 

 were routed and put to flight, and the king sent both money and bis 

 sons as hostages to the Roman general Pompey now proceeded to 

 the mouth of the river Phasis (Faz, or Rion), where he was joined by 

 his legate Servilius, who had the command of the fleet in the Euxine. 

 From him ho learned that it would be useless to force his way through 

 the Caucasian regions to the Crimea, where his army might easily bo 

 destroyed ; aud therefore, on receiving information of an insurrection 

 of tho Albanians, he returned to the river Cyrus. The barbarians 

 were easily routed, and Pompey again granted peace to their king : 

 ho determined at the some time to abandon Mithridates to his own 

 fate, and to seek richer laurels, and which were more easily to be 

 gained, in Syria. He received ambassadors from several eastern 

 princes, who saw, or thought they saw, that their fate was in bis bands ; 

 and even the nearest relations of Mithridates joined the Romans, aud 

 threw open to them their fortresses. Pompey, thus assured of his 

 own good fortune, gave to Pontus tho constitution of a Roman pro- 

 vince : bis fleet however was ordered to cruise in tho Euxino, and to 

 prevent provisions being conveyed to the king in the Crimea. 



On his march southward he passed the bills of Zela, where, throe 

 years before, a legate of Lucullus had been defeated by Mithridates. 

 Pompey ordered the bones of the slain, which still lay scattered over 

 tho field, to bo solemnly buried. On his arrival in Syria be dethroned 

 Antiochus XI., and made bis country, together with Phoenicia, a 

 Roman province. In Palestine be found a more resolute opposition. 

 Jerusalem, was distracted by a civil war between the two brothers 

 Hyrcanus and Aristobulus: Pompey declared himself in favour of 

 Hyrcauus, and besieged Jerusalem. Tho town coon capitulated, but 

 the Temple held out rather more than three months. Pompey 

 entered the sanctuary, but did not allow his soldiers to destroy any- 

 thing. AristobuluH was sent to Rome as prisoner, and Judua recog- 

 nised the supremacy of Rome by on annual tribute. In Syria, Pompey 

 was again complimented by ambassadors from various Eastern princes : 

 Mithridates also sent envoys, and mode a last attempt at negociation ; 



