Pompey

People

Events

Places

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Latin: [ˈnːae̯.ʊs pɔmˈpɛjjʊs ˈmaŋnʊs] ; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey /ˈ p ɒ m p iː / or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of Rome from republic to empire. He was (for a time) a student of Roman general Sulla as well as the political ally (and later enemy) of Julius Caesar.

A member of the senatorial nobility, Pompey entered into a military career while still young. He rose to prominence serving the dictator Sulla as a commander in the civil war of 83–82 BC. Pompey's success as a general while young enabled him to advance directly to his first Roman consulship without following the traditional cursus honorum (the required steps to advance in a political career). He was elected as Roman consul on three occasions. He celebrated three Roman triumphs, served as a commander in the Sertorian War, the Third Servile War, the Third Mithridatic War, and in various other military campaigns. Pompey's early success earned him the cognomen Magnus – "the Great" – after his boyhood hero Alexander the Great. His adversaries gave him the nickname adulescentulus carnifex ("teenage butcher") for his ruthlessness.[2]

In 60 BC, Pompey joined Crassus and Caesar in the military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Pompey married Caesar's daughter, Julia, which helped secure this partnership. After the deaths of Crassus and Julia, Pompey became an ardent supporter of the political faction the optimates— a conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then began contending for leadership of the Roman state in its entirety, eventually leading to Caesar's Civil War. Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and he sought refuge in Ptolemaic Egypt, where he was assassinated in a plot by the courtiers of Ptolemy XIII.

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.

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,[3] or by having been struck by lightning.[4][5][6] His twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates and the loyalty of his legions.[7] [8]

Pompey served under his father's command during the final years of the Social War.[9] When his father died, Pompey was put on trial due to accusations that his father stole public property.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12] 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."[13]

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."[14] 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.[15] Cicero wrote that the divorce was strongly approved.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18]

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."[19] His opponents dubbed him adulescentulus carnifex (adolescent butcher).[20] 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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

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.[24][25]

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.[26][27][28][25]

Quintus Sertorius, the last survivor of the Cinna-Marian faction (Sulla's main opponents during the civil wars of 88-80 BC), waged an effective guerrilla war against the officials of the Sullan regime in Hispania. He was able to rally the local tribes, particularly the Lusitanians and the Celtiberians, in what came to be called the Sertorian War (80-72 BC). Sertorius's guerrilla tactics wore down the Sullans in Hispania; he even drove the proconsul Metellus Pius from his province of Hispania Ulterior. Pompey, who had just successfully assisted the consul Catulus in putting down the rebellion of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, asked to be sent to reinforce Metellus. He had not disbanded his legions after squashing the rebels and remained under arms near the city with various excuses until he was ordered to Hispania by the senate on a motion of Lucius Philippus. A senator asked Philippus if he "thought it necessary to send Pompey out as proconsul. 'No, indeed!' said Philippus, 'but as proconsuls,' implying that both the consuls of that year were good for nothing."[29] Pompey's proconsular mandate was extra-legal, as a proconsulship was the extension of the military command (but not the public office) of a consul. Pompey, however, was not a consul and had never held public office. His career seems to have been driven by desire for military glory and disregard for traditional political constraints.[30]

Pompey recruited an army of 30,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, its size evidence of the seriousness of the threat posed by Sertorius.[31][32] On Pompey's staff were his old lieutenant Afranius, D. Laelius, Petreius, C. Cornelius, probably Gabinius and Varro.[33] Gaius Memmius, his brother-in-law, who was already serving in Spain under Metellus, was transferred to his command and served him as a quaestor.[33] On his way to Hispania, he opened a new route through the Alps and subdued tribes that had rebelled in Gallia Narbonensis.[34][35] Cicero later describes Pompey leading his legions to Spain through a welter of carnage in a transalpine war during the autumn of 77 BC.[36] After a hard and bloody campaign, Pompey wintered his army near the Roman colony of Narbo Martius.[33] In the spring of 76 BC, he marched on and entered the Iberian peninsula through the Col de Petrus.[37] He would remain in Hispania from 76 BC to 71 BC. Pompey's arrival gave the men of Metellus Pius new hope and led to some local tribes, which were not tightly associated with Sertorius, to change sides. According to Appian, as soon as Pompey arrived, he marched to lift the siege of Lauron, where he suffered a substantial defeat at the hands of Sertorius himself.[38] It was a serious blow to Pompey's prestige. Pompey spent the rest of 76 BC recovering from the defeat and preparing for the coming campaign.[39]

In 75 BC, Sertorius decided to take on Metellus while he left the battered Pompey to two of his legates (Perpenna and Herennius). In a battle near Valentia, Pompey defeated Perpenna and Herennius and regained some of his prestige.[40] Sertorius, hearing of the defeat, left Metellus to his second-in-command, Hirtuleius, and took over the command against Pompey. Metellus then promptly defeated Hirtuleius at the Battle of Italica and marched after Sertorius.[39][40][41] Pompey and Sertorius, both not wanting to wait for the arrival of Metellus (Pompey wanted the glory of finishing off Sertorius for himself and Sertorius did not relish fighting two armies at once), hastily engaged in the indecisive Battle of Sucro.[39][40] On Metellus’ approach, Sertorius marched inland. Pompey and Metellus pursued him to a settlement called "Seguntia" (certainly not the more known Saguntum settlement on the coast, but one of the many Celtiberian towns called Seguntia, since Sertorius had withdrawn inland), where they fought an inconclusive battle. Pompey lost nearly 6,000 men and Sertorius half of that.[42] Memmius, Pompey's brother-in-law and the most capable of his commanders, also fell. Metellus defeated Perpenna, who lost 5,000 men. According to Appian, the next day, Sertorius attacked Metellus' camp unexpectedly, but he had to withdraw because Pompey was approaching.[42] Sertorius withdrew to Clunia, a mountain stronghold in present-day Burgos, and repaired its walls to lure the Romans into a siege and sent officers to collect troops from other towns. He then made a sortie, passed through the enemy lines and joined his new force. He resumed his guerrilla tactics and cut off the enemy's supplies with widespread raids, while pirate tactics at sea disrupted maritime supplies. This forced the two Roman commanders to separate. Metellus went to Gaul, and Pompey wintered among the Vaccaei and suffered shortages of supplies. When Pompey spent most of his private resources on the war, he asked the senate for money, threatening to go back to Italy with his army if this was refused. The consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus, canvassing for the command of the Third Mithridatic War, believing that it would bring glory with little difficulty and fearing that Pompey would leave the Sertorian War to take on the Mithridatic one, ensured that the money was sent to keep Pompey.[43][44] Pompey got his money and was stuck in Hispania until he could convincingly beat Sertorius. The "retreat" of Metellus made it seem like victory was further away then ever and led to the joke that Sertorius would be back in Rome before Pompey.[45]

In 73 BC, Rome sent two more legions to Metellus. He and Pompey then descended from the Pyrenees to the river Ebro. Sertorius and Perpenna advanced from Lusitania again. According to Plutarch, many of the senators and other high-ranking men who had joined Sertorius were jealous of their leader. This was encouraged by Perpenna, who aspired to the chief command. They secretly sabotaged him and meted out severe punishments on the Hispanic allies, pretending that this was ordered by Sertorius. Revolts in the towns were further stirred up by these men, which caused Sertorius to kill some allies and sell others into slavery.[46] Appian wrote that many of Sertorius' Roman soldiers defected to Metellus. Sertorius reacted with severe punishments and started using a bodyguard of Celtiberians instead of Romans. Moreover, he reproached his Roman soldiers for treachery. This aggrieved the soldiers, because they felt that they were blamed for the desertion of other soldiers and, since this was happening while they were serving under an enemy of the regime in Rome, in a sense, they were betraying their country through him. Moreover, the Celtiberians treated them with contempt as men under suspicion. These facts made Sertorius unpopular; only his skill at command kept his troops from deserting en masse.

Metellus took advantage of his enemy's poor morale, bringing many towns allied to Sertorius under subjection. Pompey besieged Palantia until Sertorius showed up to relieve the city. Pompey set fire to the city walls and retreated to Metellus. Sertorius rebuilt the wall and then attacked his enemies who were encamped around the castle of Calagurris, which led to the loss of 3000 men. In 72 BC, there were only skirmishes. However, Metellus and Pompey advanced on several towns, some of them defecting and some being attacked. Appian wrote that Sertorius fell unto "habits of luxury," drinking and consorting with women. He was defeated continually. He became hot-tempered, suspicious and cruel in punishment. Perpenna began to fear for his safety and conspired to murder Sertorius.[47] Plutarch, instead, thought that Perpenna was motivated by ambition. He had gone to Hispania with the remnants of the army of Lepidus in Sardinia and had wanted to fight this war independently to gain glory. He had joined Sertorius reluctantly because his troops wanted to do so when they heard that Pompey was coming to Hispania, but, in all reality, he wanted to take over the supreme command.[48]

When Sertorius was murdered, the formerly disaffected soldiers grieved for the loss of their commander whose bravery had been their salvation and were angry with Perpenna. The native troops, especially the Lusitanians, who had given Sertorius the greatest support, were angry too. Perpenna responded with the carrot and the stick: he gave gifts, made promises and released some of the men Sertorius had imprisoned, while threatening others and killing some men to strike terror. He secured the obedience of his troops, but not their true loyalty. Metellus left the fight against Perpenna to Pompey. The two skirmished for nine days. Then, as Perpenna did not think that his men would remain loyal for long, he marched into battle, but Pompey ambushed and defeated him. Frontinus wrote about the battle in his stratagems:

Pompey put troops here and there, in places where they could attack from ambush. Then, pretending fear, he pulled back drawing the enemy after him. Then, when he had the enemy exposed to the ambuscade, he wheeled his army about. He attacked, slaughtering the enemy to his front and on both flanks.[49]

Pompey won against a poor commander and a disaffected army. Perpenna hid in a thicket, fearing his troops more than the enemy, and was eventually captured. Perpenna offered to produce letters to Sertorius from leading men in Rome who had invited Sertorius to Italy for seditious purposes. Pompey, fearing that this might lead to an even greater war, had Perpenna executed and burned the letters without even reading them.[50] Pompey remained in Hispania to quell the last disorders and settle affairs. He showed a talent for efficient organisation and fair administration in the conquered province. This extended his patronage throughout Hispania and into southern Gaul.[51] His departure from Hispania was marked by the erection of a Triumphal monument at the summit off the pass over the Pyrenees. On it, he recorded that, from the Alps to the limits of Further Spain, he had brought 876 towns under Roman sway.[52][53]

While Pompey was in Hispania, the rebellion of the slaves led by Spartacus (the Third Servile War, 73–71 BC) broke out. Crassus was given eight legions and led the final phase of the war. He asked the senate to summon Lucullus and Pompey back from the Third Mithridatic War and Hispania, respectively, to provide reinforcements, "but he was sorry now that he had done so, and was eager to bring the war to an end before those generals came. He knew that the success would be ascribed to the one who came up with assistance, and not to himself."[54] The senate decided to send Pompey, who had just returned from Hispania. On hearing this, Crassus hurried to engage in the decisive battle, and routed the rebels. On his arrival, Pompey cut to pieces 6,000 fugitives from the battle. Pompey wrote to the senate that Crassus had conquered the rebels in a pitched battle, but that he himself had extirpated the war entirely.[55][56]

Pompey was granted a second triumph for his victory in Hispania, which, again, was extra-legal. He was asked to stand for the consulship, even though he was only 35 and thus below the age of eligibility to the consulship, and had not held any public office, much less climbed the cursus honorum (the progression from lower to higher offices). Livy noted that Pompey was made consul after a special senatorial decree, because he had not occupied the quaestorship, was an equestrian and did not have senatorial rank.[57] Plutarch wrote that "Crassus, the richest statesman of his time, the ablest speaker, and the greatest man, who looked down on Pompey and everybody else, had not the courage to sue for the consulship until he had asked the support of Pompey." Pompey accepted gladly. In the Life of Pompey, Plutarch wrote that Pompey "had long wanted an opportunity of doing him some service and kindness..."[58] In the Life of Crassus, he wrote that Pompey "was desirous of having Crassus, in some way or other, always in debt to him for some favor".[59] Pompey promoted his candidature and said in a speech that "he should be no less grateful to them for the colleague than for the office which he desired."[59][58]

Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls for the year 70 BC. Plutarch wrote that, in Rome, Pompey was looked upon with both fear and great expectation. About half of the people feared that he would not disband his army, seize absolute power by arms and hand power to the Sullans. Pompey, instead, declared that he would disband his army after his triumph and then "there remained but one accusation for envious tongues to make, namely, that he devoted himself more to the people than to the senate..."[60] When Pompey and Crassus assumed office, they did not remain friendly. In the Life of Crassus, Plutarch wrote that the two men differed on almost every measure, and by their contentiousness rendered their consulship "barren politically and without achievement, except that Crassus made a great sacrifice in honour of Hercules and gave the people a great feast and an allowance of grain for three months."[61] Towards the end of their term of office, when the differences between the two men were increasing, a man declared that Jupiter told him to "declare in public that you should not suffer your consuls to lay down their office until they become friends." The people called for a reconciliation. Pompey did not react, but Crassus "clasped him by the hand" and said that it was not humiliating for him to take the first step of goodwill.[62][63]

Neither Plutarch nor Suetonius[64] wrote that the acrimony between Pompey and Crassus stemmed from Pompey's claim about the defeat of Spartacus. Plutarch wrote that "Crassus, for all his self-approval, did not venture to ask for the major triumph, and it was thought ignoble and mean in him to celebrate even the minor triumph on foot, called the ovation (a minor victory celebration), for a servile war."[65] According to Appian, however, there was a contention for honours between the two men—a reference to the fact that Pompey claimed that he had ended the slave rebellion led by Spartacus, whereas in fact Crassus had done so. In Appian's account, there was no disbanding of armies. The two commanders refused to disband their armies and kept them stationed near the city, as neither wanted to be the first to do so. Pompey said that he was waiting the return of Metellus for his Spanish triumph; Crassus said that Pompey ought to dismiss his army first. Initially, pleas from the people were of no avail, but eventually Crassus yielded and offered Pompey the handshake.[66]

Plutarch's reference to Pompey's "devot[ing] himself more to the people than to the senate" was related to a measure regarding the plebeian tribunes, the representatives of the plebeians. As part of the constitutional reforms Sulla carried out after the civil war, he revoked the power of the tribunes to veto the senatus consulta (the written advice of the senate on bills, which was usually followed to the letter), and prohibited ex-tribunes from ever holding any other office. Ambitious young plebeians had sought election to this tribunate as a stepping stone for election to other offices and to climb up the cursus honorum. Therefore, the plebeian tribunate became a dead end for one's political career. He also limited the ability of the plebeian council (the assembly of the plebeians) to enact bills by reintroducing the senatus auctoritas, a pronouncement of the senate on bills that, if negative, could invalidate them. The reforms reflected Sulla's view of the plebeian tribunate as a source of subversion that roused the "rabble" (the plebeians) against the aristocracy. Naturally, these measures were unpopular among the plebeians, the majority of the population. Plutarch wrote that Pompey "had determined to restore the authority of the tribunate, which Sulla had overthrown, and to court the favour of the many" and commented that "there was nothing on which the Roman people had more frantically set their affections, or for which they had a greater yearning, than to behold that office again."[67] Through the repeal of Sulla's measures against the plebeian tribunate, Pompey gained the favour of the people.

In the Life of Crassus, Plutarch did not mention this repeal and, as mentioned above, he only wrote that Pompey and Crassus disagreed on everything and that, as a result, their consulship did not achieve anything. Yet, the restoration of tribunician powers was a highly significant measure and a turning point in the politics of the late Republic. This measure must have been opposed by the aristocracy, and it would have been unlikely that it would have been passed if the two consuls had opposed each other. Crassus does not feature much in the writings of the ancient sources. Unfortunately, the books of Livy, otherwise the most detailed of the sources which cover this period, have been lost. However, the Periochae, a short summary of Livy's work, records that "Marcus Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey were made consuls... and reconstituted the tribunician powers."[57] Suetonius wrote that, when Julius Caesar was a military tribune, "he ardently supported the leaders in the attempt to reestablish the authority of the tribunes of the commons [the plebeians], the extent of which Sulla had curtailed."[68] The two leaders are presumed to have been the two consuls, Crassus and Pompey.

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.[69]

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.[70]

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."[71] 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.[72] 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.[73] The optimates in the Senate remained suspicious of Pompey—this seemed yet another extraordinary appointment.[74] 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."[75] 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."[72]

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."[76][77]

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.[78]

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.[79]

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.[80]

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.[81]

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.[82]

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.

Lucius Licinius Lucullus was conducting the Third Mithridatic War (73–63 BC) against Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, and Tigranes the Great, the king of Armenia. He was successful in battle; however, the war was dragging on and he opened a new front in Armenia. In Rome, he was accused of protracting the war for "the love of power and wealth" and of plundering royal palaces as if he had been sent "not to subdue the kings, but to strip them." Some of the soldiers were disgruntled and were incited by Publius Clodius Pulcher not to follow their commander. Commissioners were sent to investigate and the soldiers mocked Lucullus in front of the commission.[83]

In 68 BC, the province of Cilicia was taken from Lucullus and assigned to Quintus Marcius Rex. He refused a request for aid from Lucullus because his soldiers refused to follow him to the front. According to Cassius Dio, this was a pretext.[84] One of the consuls for 67 BC, Manius Acilius Glabrio, was appointed to succeed Lucullus. However, when Mithridates won back almost all of Pontus and caused havoc in Cappadocia, which was allied with Rome, Glabrio did not go to the front, but delayed in Bithynia.[85]

Another plebeian tribune, Gaius Manilius, proposed the lex Manilia. It gave Pompey command of the forces and the areas of operation of Lucullus, and, in addition to this, Bithynia, which was held by Acilius Glabrio. It commissioned him to wage war on Mithridates and Tigranes, allowing him to retain his naval force and his dominion over the sea granted by the lex Gabinia. Therefore, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, Upper Colchis, Pontus and Armenia, as well as the forces of Lucullus, were added to his command. Plutarch noted that this meant the placing of Roman supremacy entirely in the hands of one man.

The optimates were unhappy about so much power being given to Pompey and saw this as the establishment of a tyranny. They agreed to oppose the law, but they were fearful of the mood of the people. Only Catulus spoke up, and the law was passed.[86] The law was supported by Julius Caesar and justified by Cicero in his extant speech Pro Lege Manilia.[87] Former consuls also supported the law, with Cicero mentioning Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus (consul in 72 BC), Gaius Cassius Longinus Varus (73 BC), Gaius Scribonius Curio (76 BC) and Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus (79 BC).[88] According to Cassius Dio, while this was happening, Pompey was preparing to sail to Crete to face Metellus Creticus.[89] Lucullus was incensed at the prospect of his replacement by Pompey. The outgoing commander and his replacement traded insults. Lucullus called Pompey a "vulture" who fed from the work of others, referring not merely to Pompey's new command against Mithridates, but also his claim to have finished the war against Spartacus.[90]

According to Cassius Dio, Pompey made friendly proposals to Mithridates to test his disposition. Mithridates tried to establish friendly relations with Phraates III, the king of Parthia. Pompey foresaw this, established a friendship with Phraates and persuaded him to invade the part of Armenia under Tigranes. Mithridates sent envoys to conclude a truce, but Pompey demanded that he lay down his arms and hand over the deserters. There was unrest among the scared deserters, which were joined by some of Mithridates' men, who feared having to fight without them. The king held them in check with difficulty and had to pretend that he was testing Pompey. Pompey, who was in Galatia, prepared for war. Lucullus met him and claimed that the war was over and that there was no need for an expedition. He failed to dissuade Pompey and verbally abused him. Pompey ignored him, forbade the soldiers to obey Lucullus and marched to the front.[91] In Appian's account, when the deserters heard about the demand to hand them back, Mithridates swore that he would not make peace with the Romans and that he would not give them up.[92]

Cassius Dio wrote that Mithridates kept withdrawing because his forces were inferior. Pompey entered Lesser Armenia, which was not under Tigranes' rule. Mithridates did the same and encamped on a mountain that was difficult to attack. He sent the cavalry down for skirmishes, which caused a large number of desertions. Pompey moved his camp to a wooded area for protection, setting up a successful ambush. When Pompey was joined by more Roman forces, Mithridates fled to the Armenia of Tigranes.

In Plutarch's version, the location of the mountain is unspecified and Mithridates abandoned it because he thought that it had no water. Pompey took the mountain and had wells sunk. He then besieged Mithridates' camp for 45 days, however, Mithridates managed to escape with his best men. Pompey caught up with him by the river Euphrates, lined up for battle to prevent him from crossing the river and advanced at midnight. He wanted to just surround the enemy camp to prevent an escape in the darkness, but his officers convinced him to charge. The Romans attacked with the moon at their back, confusing the enemy who, because of the shadows, thought that they were nearer. The enemy fled in panic and was cut down.[93][94]

In Cassius Dio, this battle occurred when Mithridates entered a defile. The Romans hurled stones, arrows and javelins on the enemy, which was not in battle formation, from an elevated height. When they ran out of missiles, they charged those on the outside and those in the center were crushed together. Most were horsemen and archers, and they could not respond in the darkness. When the moon rose, it was behind the Romans, creating shadows and causing confusion for the enemy. Many were killed, but many, including Mithridates, fled. He then tried to go to Tigranes. Plutarch wrote that Tigranes forbade him from coming and put a reward on him, while Cassius Dio did not mention a reward. He wrote that Tigranes arrested his envoys because he thought that Mithridates was responsible for a rebellion by his son.

In both Plutarch and Cassius Dio, Mithridates went to Colchis, on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea. Cassius Dio added that Pompey had sent a detachment to pursue him, but he outstripped them by crossing the river Phasis. He reached the Maeotis (the sea of Azov, which is connected to the north shore of the Black Sea) and stayed in the Cimmerian Bosporus. He had his son Machares, who ruled it and had gone over to the Romans, killed and recovered that country. Meanwhile, Pompey set up a colony for his soldiers at Nicopolitans in Cappadocia.[95][96]

In Appian's account, Mithridates wintered at Dioscurias in Colchis, in 66/65 BC. He intended to travel around the Black Sea, reach the strait of the Bosporus and attack the Romans from the European side while they were in Asia Minor. He also wanted to seize the kingdom of Machares, his son who had gone over to the Romans. He crossed the territory of the Scythians (partly by permission, partly by force) and the Heniochi, who welcomed him, and he made alliances with their many princes. He contemplated marching through Thrace, Macedonia and Pannonia and crossing the Alps into Italy. He gave some of his daughters in marriage to the more powerful Scythian princes. Machares sent envoys to say he had made terms with the Romans out of necessity, and then fled to the Pontic Chersonesus, burning the ships to prevent Mithridates from pursuing him. However, his father found other ships and sent them after him, and Machares eventually killed himself.[97]

In Appian, at this stage, Pompey pursued Mithridates as far as Colchis and then marched against Armenia. In the accounts of Plutarch and Cassius Dio, instead, he went to Armenia first and to Colchis later. In Appian, Pompey thought that his enemy would never reach the sea of Azov or do much if he escaped. His advance was more of an exploration of that country, which was the place of the legends of the Argonauts, Heracles, and Prometheus. He was accompanied by the neighbouring tribes. Only Oroeses, the king of the Caucasian Albanians, and Artoces, the king of the Caucasian Iberians, resisted him. Learning of an ambush planned by Oroeses, Pompey defeated him at the Battle of the Abas, driving the enemy into a forest and setting it on fire, pursuing the fugitives until they surrendered and brought him hostages. He then marched against Armenia.[98]

In Plutarch's account, Pompey was invited to invade Armenia by Tigranes’ son (also named Tigranes), who rebelled against his father. The two men received the submission of several towns. When they got close to Artaxata (the royal residence), Tigranes, knowing Pompey's leniency, surrendered and allowed a Roman garrison in his palace. He went to Pompey's camp, where Pompey offered the restitution of the Armenian territories in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia, and Sophene, which Lucullus had taken. He demanded an indemnity and ruled that the son should be king of Sophene, which Tigranes accepted. His son was not happy with the deal and remonstrated, for which he was put in chains and reserved for Pompey's triumph. Soon after this, Phraates III, the king of Parthia asked to be given the son in exchange for an agreement to set the river Euphrates as the boundary between Parthia and Rome, but Pompey refused.[99]

In the version of Cassius Dio, the son of Tigranes fled to Phraates. He persuaded the latter, who had a treaty with Pompey, to invade Armenia and fight his father. The two reached Artaxata, causing Tigranes to flee to the mountains. Phraates then went back to his land, and Tigranes counterattacked, defeating his son. The younger Tigranes fled and at first wanted to go to Mithridates. However, since Mithridates had been defeated, he went over to the Romans and Pompey used him as a guide to advance into Armenia. When they reached Artaxata, the elder Tigranes surrendered the city and went voluntarily to Pompey's camp. The next day, Pompey heard the claims of father and son. He restored the hereditary domains of the father, but took the land he had invaded later (parts of Cappadocia, and Syria, as well as Phoenicia and Sophene) and demanded an indemnity, assigning Sophene to the son. This was the area where the treasures were, and the son began a dispute over them. He did not obtain satisfaction and planned to escape, so Pompey promptly put him in chains. The treasures went to the old king, who received far more money than had been agreed.[100]

Appian gave an explanation for the young Tigranes turning against his father. Tigranes killed two of his three sons, the first one in battle and the other while hunting, because, instead of helping him when he was thrown off his horse, he put a diadem on his head. Following this incident, he gave the crown to the third son, Tigranes. However, the latter was distressed about the incident and waged war against his father. He was defeated and fled to Phraates. Because of all this, Tigranes did not want to fight any more when Pompey got near Artaxata. The young Tigranes took refuge with Pompey as a suppliant with the approval of Phraates, who wanted Pompey's friendship. The elder Tigranes submitted his affairs to Pompey's decision and made a complaint against his son. Pompey called him for a meeting. He gave 6,000 talents for Pompey, 10,000 drachmas for each tribune, 1,000 for each centurion, and fifty for each soldier. Pompey pardoned him and reconciled him with his son.

In Appian's account, Pompey gave the latter both Sophene and Gordyene. The father was left with the rest of Armenia and was ordered to give up the territory he has seized in the war: Syria (west of the river Euphrates) and part of Cilicia. Armenian deserters persuaded the younger Tigranes to make an attempt on his father, so Pompey arrested and chained him. He then founded a city in Lesser Armenia where he had defeated Mithridates, calling it Nicopolis (City of Victory).[101]

In Appian's account, after Armenia (still in 64 BC), Pompey turned west, crossed Mount Taurus and fought Antiochus I Theos, the king of Commagene, until the two made an alliance. He then fought Darius the Mede, and put him to flight. This was because he had "helped Antiochus or Tigranes before him."[102] According to Plutarch and Cassius Dio, instead, it was at this point that Pompey turned north. The two writers provided different accounts of Pompey's operations in the territories on the Caucasus Mountains and Colchis. He fought in Caucasian Iberia (inland and to the south of Colchis) and Caucasian Albania (or Arran, roughly corresponding with modern Azerbaijan).

In Plutarch, the Albanians at first granted Pompey free passage, but in the winter they advanced on the Romans who were celebrating the festival of the Saturnalia with 40,000 men. Pompey let them cross the river Cyrnus and then attacked them and routed them. Their king begged for mercy and Pompey pardoned him. He then marched on the Iberians, who were allies of Mithridates. He routed them, killing 9,000 of them and taking 10,000 prisoners. Then, he invaded Colchis and reached Phasis on the Black Sea, where he was met by Servilius, the admiral of his Euxine fleet. However, he encountered difficulties there and the Albanians revolted again, so Pompey turned back. He had to cross a river whose banks had been fenced off, made a long march through a waterless area and defeated a force of 60,000 badly-armed infantry and 12,000 cavalry led by the king's brother. He pushed north again, but turned back south because he encountered a great number of snakes.[103]

In Cassius Dio, Pompey wintered near the river Cyrnus. Oroeses, the king of the Albanians, who lived beyond this river, attacked the Romans during the winter, partly to favour the younger Tigranes, who was a friend, and partly because he feared an invasion. He was defeated and Pompey agreed to his request for a truce, even though he wanted to invade their country, desiring to postpone the war until after the winter. In 65 BC, Artoces, the king of the Iberians, who also feared an invasion, prepared to attack the Romans. Pompey learned of this and invaded his territory, catching him unaware. He seized an impregnable frontier pass and got close to a fortress in the narrowest point of the river Cyrnus, leaving Artoces with no chance to array his forces. He withdrew, crossed the river and burned the bridge, making the fortress surrender. When Pompey was about to cross the river, Artoces sued for peace. However, he then fled to the river. Pompey pursued him, routed his forces and hunted down the fugitives. Artoces fled across the river Pelorus and made overtures, but Pompey would agree to terms only if he sent his children as hostages. Artoces delayed, but l, when the Romans crossed the Pelorus in the summer, he handed over his children and concluded a treaty.

Pompey moved on to Colchis and wanted to march to the Cimmerian Bosporus against Mithridates. However, he realised that he would have to confront unknown hostile tribes and that a sea journey would be difficult because of a lack of harbors. Therefore, he ordered his fleet to blockade Mithridates and turned on the Albanians. He went to Armenia first to catch them off guard and then crossed the river Cyrnus. He heard that Oroeses was coming close and wanted to lead him into a conflict. At the Battle of the Abas, he hid his infantry and got the cavalry to go ahead. When the cavalry was attacked by Oroeses, it withdrew towards the infantry, which then engaged, letting the cavalry through its ranks. Some of the enemy forces, which were in hot pursuit, also ended up through their ranks and were killed, with the rest being surrounded and routed. Pompey then overran the country, granting peace to the Albanians and concluding truces with other tribes on the northern side of the Caucasus.[104]

Pompey withdrew to Lesser Armenia. He sent a force under Afrianius against Phraates, who was plundering the subjects of Tigranes in Gordyene. Afrianius drove him out and pursued him as far as the area of Arbela, in northern Mesopotamia.[105] Cassius Dio gave more details. Phraates renewed the treaty with Pompey because of his success and because of the progress of his lieutenants. They were subduing Armenia and the adjacent part of Pontus, and, in the south, Afrianius was advancing to the river Tigris; that is, towards Parthia. Pompey demanded the cession of Corduene, which Phraates was disputing with Tigranes, and sent Afrianius there, who occupied it unopposed and handed it to Tigranes before receiving a reply from Phraates. Afrianius also returned to Syria through Mesopotamia (a Parthian area), contrary to the Roman-Parthian agreements. Pompey treated Phraates with contempt, so the king sent envoys to complain about the suffered wrongs. In 64 BC, when he did not receive a conciliatory reply, Phraates attacked Tigranes, accompanied by the son of the latter. He lost a first battle, but won another, and Tigranes asked Pompey for help. Phraates brought many charges against Tigranes and many insinuations against the Romans. Pompey did not help Tigranes, stopped being hostile to Phraates and sent three envoys to arbitrate the border dispute. Tigranes, angry about not receiving help, reconciled with Phraates in order not to strengthen the position of the Romans.[106]

Stratonice, the fourth wife of Mithridates, surrendered Caenum, one of the most important fortresses of the king. Pompey also received gifts from the king of the Iberians. He then moved from Caenum to Amisus (modern Samsun, on the north coast of Anatolia). Pompey then decided to move south because it was too difficult to try to reach Mithridates in the Cimmerian Bosporus and thus, he did not want to "wear out his own strength in a vain pursuit," content with preventing merchant ships reaching the Cimmerian Bosporus through his blockade, and preferred other pursuits. He sent Afrianius to subdue the Arabs around the Amanus Mountains (in what was then on the coast of northern Syria). He went to Syria with his army, annexing the country because it had no legitimate kings. He spent most of his time settling disputes between cities and kings or sending envoys to do so, gaining prestige as much for his clemency as for his power. By being helpful to those who had dealings with him, he made them willing to put up with the rapacity of his friends and was thus able to hide this. The king of the Arabians at Petra, Aretas III of Nabataea, wanted to become a friend of Rome. Pompey marched towards Petra to confirm this, and was criticized because this was seen as an evasion of the pursuit of Mithridates. He was urged to turn against him, since there were reports that Mithridates was preparing to march on Italy via the river Danube. However, while Pompey was encamped near Petra, a messenger brought the news that Mithridates was dead. Pompey left Arabia and went to Amisus.[107]

Cassius Dio wrote that Pompey "arbitrated disputes and managed other business for kings and potentates who came to him. He confirmed some in possession of their kingdoms, added to the principalities of others, and curtailed and humbled the excessive powers of a few." He united Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, which had been ravaged by the Arabians and Tigranes.[108] Antiochus XIII Philadelphus (one of the last rulers of Syria) asked for them back, to no avail, and Pompey put them under Roman jurisdiction.[109]

Cassius Dio also mentioned that Mithridates planned to reach the river Danube and invade Italy. However, he was aging and becoming weaker. As his position became weaker and that of the Romans stronger, a series of incidents happened. Some of his associates became estranged, a massive earthquake destroyed many towns, there was a mutiny by the soldiers and some of his sons were kidnapped and taken to Pompey. All of this contributed to him becoming unpopular. Mithridates was mistrustful and had his wives and some of his remaining children killed. One of them, Pharnaces II, plotted against him. He won over both the men who were sent to arrest him and then the soldiers who were sent against him afterwards. In 64 BC, he obtained the voluntary submission of Panticapaeum, the city where Mithridates was staying. Mithridates tried to poison himself, but failed because he was immune, due to taking "precautionary antidotes in large doses every day." He was killed by the rebels. Pharnaces embalmed his body and sent it to Pompey as proof of his surrender, for which he was granted the kingdom of Bosporus and listed as an ally.[110]

Syria had once been the heart of the vast Seleucid Empire, but, after the death of Antiochus IV in 164 BC, it had become increasingly unstable. Continuous civil wars had weakened central authority. By 163 BC, the Maccabean Revolt established the independence of Judea. The Parthians gained control of the Iranian Plateau. In 139 BC, they defeated the Seleucid king Demetrius II, and took Babylon from the Seleucids. The following year, they captured the king. His brother Antiochus VII gained the support of the Maccabees, regained the submission of the once vassal kingdoms of Cappadocia and Armenia, drove back the Parthians and retook Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Media. However, he was killed in battle and the Seleucids lost all of their gains. By 100 BC, the Seleucid Empire was reduced to a few cities in western Syria. It still had to put up with countless civil wars, surviving only because none of its neighbors took it over. In 83 BC, invited by a faction in one of the civil wars, Tigranes II of Armenia invaded Syria and virtually ended Seleucid rule. When Lucius Licinius Lucullus defeated Tigranes in the Third Mithridatic War in 69 BC, a rump Seleucid kingdom was restored. However, the civil wars continued.

Pompey was concerned about the political instability to the southeast of Rome's new provinces in Asia Minor. Both Syria and Judea were lacking stability. In Syria, the Seleucid state was disintegrating, and in Judea, there was a civil war. Pompey's actions in Syria and Judea are known through the work of Josephus, the ancient Jewish-Roman historian. In 65 BC, Pompey sent two of his lieutenants, Metellus and Lollius, to Syria, to take possession of Damascus. During the winter of 64/63 BC, Pompey had wintered his army at Antioch, Seleucid Syria's capital. There, he received many envoys and had to arbitrate in countless disputes.[111] At the beginning of the campaigning season of 63 BC, Pompey left Antioch and marched south. He took and destroyed two strongholds being used by brigands: Lysias, ruled over by a Jewish brigand named Silas, and Syria's old military capital, Apameia.[112] He then took on the robber gangs of the Libanus range and the coast north of Sidon.[112] He executed a brigand chief named Dionysius of Tripolis, and took over the country of Ptolemy of Chalcis.[112][113] Ptolemy was hated in Syria, Phoenicia and Judea; Pompey, however, let him escape punishment in exchange for 1,000 talents (24,000,000 sesterces).[112] This vast sum was used by Pompey to pay his soldiers, vividly illustrating the attractions of piracy and brigandage in the poorly controlled country.[112] He also took Heliopolis. The Pompeian army then crossed the Anti-Lebanon mountains, took Pella and reached Damascus, where he was met by ambassadors from all over Syria, Egypt and Judea. This completed the takeover of Syria.[114] From this time onward, Syria was to be a Roman province.

A conflict between the brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II over the succession to the Hasmonean throne began in Judea in 69 BC, in which Aristobulus deposed Hyrcanus. Then, Antipater the Idumaean became the advisor to the weak-willed Hyrcanus and persuaded him to contend for the throne, advising him to escape to Aretas III, the king of the Arabian Nabataean Kingdom. Hyrcanus promised Aretas that, if he restored him to the throne, he would give him back twelve cities his father had taken from him. Aretas besieged Aristobulus in the Temple in Jerusalem for eight months (66–65 BC). The people supported Hyrcanus, with only the priests supporting Aristobulus. Meanwhile, Pompey, who was fighting Tigranes the Great in Armenia, sent Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (who was a quaestor) to Syria. Since two of Pompey's lieutenants, Metellus and Lollius, had already taken Damascus, Scaurus proceeded to Judea. The ambassadors of Aristobulus and Hyrcanus asked for his help, both offering Scaurus bribes and promises. He sided with Aristobulus because he was rich and because it was easier to expel the Nabateans, who were not very warlike, than to capture Jer