630 



POMPEY. 



to meet him, and received him with acclamation. 

 His cluim of a triumph was admitted without oppo- 

 sition; and never had Rome yet witnessed such a 

 splendid display as on the two days of his triumphal 

 procession. Captive kings and nobles walked be- 

 fore his chariot, and the spoils which were poured 

 into the public treasury amounted to an enormous 

 sum. After the triumph, Pompey allowed all the 

 captives to return to their country, except Tigranes 

 and Aristobulus. 



His plan now was, under the appearance of a 

 private individual, to maintain the first place in the 

 state; but he found obstacles on several sides. Ln- 

 cullus and Crassus were superior to him in wealth; 

 the zealous republicans looked upon him with sus- 

 picion ; Caesar was laying the foundations of his 

 future greatness. Pompey was therefore driven to 

 artifices of all sorts, and attached the profligate 

 Clodius to his interest. Caesar, on his return from 

 Spain, aspired to the consulship. To effect his pur- 

 pose, he reconciled Pompey and Crassus with each 

 other, and united with them in forming the coalition 

 which is known under the name of the first trium- 

 virate. He was chosen consul (B. C. 59), and, by 

 the marriage of his daughter Julia with Pompey, 

 seemed to have secured his union with that general. 

 From this time Pompey countenanced measures 

 which, as a good citizen, he should have opposed 

 as subversive of freedom. He allowed his own 

 eulogist, Cicero, to be driven into banishment by 

 the tribune Clodius; but, having afterwards himself 

 quarrelled with Clodius, he had the former recalled. 

 He supported the illegal nomination of Caisar to a 

 five years' command in Gaul ; the fatal consequen- 

 ces of this compliance afterwards appeared. To 

 maintain their power, Pompey and Crassus were a 

 second time candidates for the consulship, which 

 they obtained, though not without violence (B. C. 

 55). After the expiration of their year, Crassus 

 went to his government in Asia, while Pompey, to 

 whom Spain was assigned, remained at Rome, and 

 exhibited shows to the people. Yet he did not 

 entirely trust to the popular favour, but maintained 

 an army to keep the citizens in awe. The fall of 

 Crassus in Parthia left but two masters to the Ro- 

 man world ; and, on the death of Julia in childbed, 

 these friends became rivals. Pompey, however, 

 still retained so much good will towards Caesar, 

 that lie sent him two legions to supply his losses. 



As the troubles increased in the capital, it was 

 the wish of some that Pompey should be named 

 dictator ; but Cato proposed, as a more regular 

 mode of proceeding, to name him sole consul, which 

 was done B. C. 52. As Caesar's reputation as a 

 general and his favour with the people continually 

 increased, Pompey endeavoured to strengthen his 

 influence by a union with the principal families. 

 With this view, he married Cornelia, widow of the 

 young Crassus, and daughter of Metellus Scipio, 

 whom he made his colleague in the consulship ; 

 and he procured a rejection by the senate of Caesar's 

 request for a continuation of his command in Gaul. 

 The most important offices were filled, by his influ- 

 ence, with the enemies of Cjcsar, and he recalled 

 the two legions which he had lent him. It was now 

 proposed that both should lay down their com- 

 mands ; but Pompey's adherents objected that Cae- 

 sar's time had already expired, while Pompey's had 

 not. It was soon evident that they were suspicious 

 of each other, and that neither was inclined to re- 

 turn to a private station. Lucan, who in his senti- 

 ments was a Pompeian, says that Pompey could not 

 bear an equal, nor Ca:sar a superior. The former 

 had certainly the forms of the law on his side, since 

 the senate had recalled Casar, and confirmed Pom- 



pey in his command. In actual strength, the two 

 rivals w;re very unequal. Poir pey had never been 

 equal iu ability to Ctcsar, and was now but the 

 shadow of a great name. He himself was not con- 

 scious of this decline of his influence; and when 

 Cicero, who found him deaf to all proposals of ac- 

 commodation, asked him how he thought to oppose 

 Caesar, he replied, " I have only to stamp with my 

 foot, and an army will arise out of the ground." 



Caesar had already (B. C. 49) laid siege to Ra- 

 venna, and was declared an enemy to his country 

 by the senate, which, but too late for the activity 

 of his rival, committed to Pompey the defence of 

 the state. Caesar passed the Rubicon, and ap- 

 proached the city. In sixty days, he subdued all 

 Italy. Pompey, besieged in Brundusium, fled to 

 Greece, where he collected a numerous army. Csesar 

 followed him, first offering terms of accommodation, 

 then battle. Pompey declined both, and encamped 

 before Dyrrachium. Caesar surrounded him, but 

 he broke through the enemy and escaped, though 

 with a heavy loss. They finally met near Pharsalus, 

 in Macedonia ^B. C. 48). Pompey had been forced 

 by his officers to engage, and showed himself un- 

 worthy of his fame. When he saw his troops thrown 

 into disorder he retired to his tent, and remained in 

 a state of stupefaction till the approach of the con- 

 querors aroused him to attend to his safety. He 

 fled through Larissa to the sea, and sailed to Les- 

 bos. Here he found his faithful Cornelia, with 

 whom and some friends he coasted along the shores 

 of Asia. At Cyprus a council was held in regard 

 to his future course. Pompey wished to go to Par- 

 thia, but, on the proposition of the Greek Theo- 

 phanes, he proceeded towards Egypt, where he 

 might expect a favourable reception from the young 

 Ptolemy, whose father had received benefits from 

 his hands. As soon as his approach to Egypt was 

 known, the base ministers of the youthful king de- 

 termined to possess themselves of his person, and 

 put him to death. On his arrival, a boat was ac- 

 cordingly sent, with Achillas, the Egyptain general, 

 and some Roman fugitives, inviting him to land. 

 Pompey feared treachery, but it was now too -late to 

 recede. After tenderly taking leave of his wife 

 and his son, he stepped into the boat. A numerous 

 multitude on the shore awaited his approach; but 

 before, lie iiad landed, the murderers struck him 

 down. Covering his head with his toga, he ex- 

 pired without a groan. His head was separated 

 from his body, and the trunk was left naked on the 

 shore. A faithful freedman and a Roman soldier, 

 who had served under Pompey, collected some 

 wood, and burned the sad remains of him who had 

 once been the master of Rome. When Csesar arrived 

 in Egypt, the head of his enemy was shown to him; 

 but he turned away from the sight with tears, 

 punished his murderers, caused the head to be 

 solemnly interred, and over his grave erected a 

 temple to Nemesis. 



Pompey was fifty-nine years old at the time of 

 his death ; his name is among the most celebrated 

 of antiquity (clarum et venerabile nomen gentibus). 

 He was moderate in pleasure, free from extrava- 

 gant luxury, and, in the highest pitch of his fortune, 

 kind, mild, and humane, when not carried away by 

 party spirit. His genius was various, and his mind 

 was cultivated by philosophy and letters. If he was 

 not a true patriot, his ambition was not to be the 

 destroyer of freedom, but the chief of a free com- 

 moi wealth ; or, as Lucan says of him, rector sena- 

 tus, sed regnantis. Incapable of sustaining himself 

 at the height which he had reached, he fell rapidly, 

 and lost some of his fame by the manner of his fall. 

 Pompey left two sons, Cneius and Sextus. The for 



