Pompey the Great A Political Biography

by Seager, Robin

• ISBN13: 9780631227212
• ISBN10: 0631227210
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-13
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Pompey the Great was one of the most important military commanders and politicians in the history of the Roman republic. Ruthless and manipulative -- moderate in everything but seeking domination, according to the historian Sallust -- he also inspired devotion from his soldiers and friends. His achievements -- including the defeat of Rome's most dangerous enemy, the conquest of large territories in the Near East, and the suppression of piracy in the Mediterranean - made him worthy of comparison with his namesake, Alexander the Great. This clearly written and dynamic biography is ideal for readers interested in the last generation of the Roman republic, the age of Lucullus, Crassus, Cato, Cicero and Julius Caesar. The book features a substantial introduction providing the historical background essential for understanding Pompey's career. Its afterword assesses the most up-to-date scholarship on the age of Pompey. A chronological table and glossary orient newcomers to Roman history. Pompey the Great gives readers a look inside the political and military world of ancient Rome and at one of the characters that shaped its destiny.

Author Biography

Robin Seager is Reader in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Liverpool. He has previously lectured at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of New England, Armidale and Langford Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University. His previous books include Tiberius (1972) and Ammianus Marcellinus, Seven Studies in His Language and Thought (1986).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Preface to the First Edition	ix
Abbreviations	x
Map 1 Italy in the Late Republic	xii
Map 2 Latium	xiii
Map 3 Spain in the Time of Pompeius and Caesar	xiv
Map 4 Asia Minor	xv
Map 5 The East	xvi
Introduction: The Historical Background---from the Gracchi to Sulla	1	(19)
Cn. Pompeius Strabo	20	(5)
Pompeius, Cinna and Sulla	25	(5)
The Rise to the Consulship	30	(10)
The Commands against the Pirates and Mithradates	40	(13)
Pompeius in the East	53	(10)
Rome in the Absence of Pompeius	63	(12)
The Return of Pompeius	75	(11)
The Consulship of Caesar	86	(15)
The Exile of Cicero	101	(9)
The Conference of Luca	110	(10)
The Second Consulship and the Growth of Anarchy	120	(13)
The Third Consulship and the Approach of Civil War	133	(19)
The Civil War	152	(17)
Conclusion	169	(4)
Afterword	173	(11)
Appendix 1 Chronological Table	184	(5)
Appendix 2 The Chronology of Caesar's Legislation in 59	189	(2)
Appendix 3 The Terminal Date of Caesar's Gallic Command	191	(3)
Notes	194	(53)
Glossary	247	(5)
Select Bibliography	252	(8)
Index	260