Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius
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Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
and his supporters during the last civil wars of the Roman Republic. Sextus Pompey formed the last organized opposition to the
Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a ...
, in defiance of which he succeeded in establishing an independent state in Sicily for several years.


Biography

Sextus
Pompeius Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
was the younger son of
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
(Pompey the Great) by his third wife, Mucia Tertia. His elder brother was Gnaeus Pompeius. Both boys grew up in the shadow of their father, one of Rome's greatest generals and an originally non-conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
became a threat. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC, thus starting a civil war, Sextus' older brother Gnaeus followed their father in his escape to the East, as did most of the conservative senators. Sextus stayed in Rome in the care of his stepmother, Cornelia Metella. Pompey's army lost the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and Pompey himself had to run for his life. Cornelia and Sextus met him in the island of Lesbos and together they fled to Egypt.Sextus Pompeius
/ref> Upon arrival, Sextus watched his father being killed by treachery on September 29 of the same year. After the murder, Cornelia returned to Rome; in the following years, Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the African provinces. Together with Metellus Scipio, Cato the Younger, his brother Gnaeus and other senators, they prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end. Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who committed suicide. In 45 BC, Caesar managed to defeat the Pompeius brothers in the Battle of Munda, in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal), after what he himself described as his hardest fought victory ever. Gnaeus Pompeius would soon die in a last stand at
Lauro Lauro is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. It is located in lower Irpinia, in a woody valley. Sights include the remains of a 1st-century BC Roman ''thermae In ancient Rome, (fro ...
, but young Sextus escaped once more, this time to Sicily, and thereafter raised another dissident army in Spain. Back in Rome, Julius Caesar was killed on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus. This incident did not lead to a return to normality, but provoked yet another civil war between Caesar's political heirs and his killers. One of the latter, Decimus Brutus, wrote to M. Brutus and to Cassius that March that “we have nowhere to base ourselves, except for Sex. Pompeius”. Early in 43, the Senate commended Marcus Aemelius Lepidus for forging an alliance with Sextus against the Caesarians; but thereafter Lepidus joined the
Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a ...
formed by Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus and
Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
, with the intention of avenging Caesar and subduing all other parties. Sextus Pompeius in the Western Mediterranean certainly remained a focus of opposition, but the faction of Cassius and Brutus was the second triumvirate's first priority. Thus Sextus had the time and resources to develop an army, with the whole island of Sicily as his base, and (even more importantly) to establish a strong navy operated by Sicilian marines. Brutus and Cassius lost the twin battles of
Philippi Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colon ...
and committed suicide in 42 BC. After this, the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus. However, Sextus was by now prepared for strong resistance. In the following years, military confrontations failed to return a conclusive victory for either side, although in 40 BC Sextus' admiral, the
freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
Menas, seized Sardinia from Octavian's governor
Marcus Lurius Marcus Lurius ( 40–31 BC) was a Roman military commander who supported Octavian, the later emperor Augustus, in the civil wars of the late Republic. He saw conflict against both Sextus Pompeius and Marc Antony. In 40 BC, Lurius was serving as g ...
. In 39 BC, Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum. The reason for the peace treaty was to secure the West before the anticipated campaign against the Parthian Empire: Tacitus reports the view that "he ctavianhad cheated Sextus Pompeius by a spurious peace treaty". Antony, the leader of Rome's eastern provinces, needed a large number of legions for the coming campaign, which would take his army (ostensibly) through Mesopotamia, Armenia and Parthia. Thus, an armistice with Sextus' large forces on Sicily proved useful. The peace did not last for long. In Antony's absence, Octavian renewed the conflict against Sextus. Sextus and Octavian accused each other of violating the terms of the Pact of Misenum, but the final straw was the betrayal of Sardinia to Octavian by Menas. Octavian was defeated in the naval battle of
Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
(37 BC), so he now turned to his friends
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law, and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. He was responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildi ...
and Titus Statilius Taurus, both very talented generals. In addition, the third triumvir, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, raised 14 legions in his African provinces to help defeat Pompey. Agrippa spent the winter training a navy on land and building a fleet near Lake Avernus, from scratch. Agrippa fought Sextus at Mylae in August 36 BC, and again a month later, while Lepidus and Statilius Taurus invaded Sicily. In the Battle of Naulochus, Agrippa destroyed the remainder of Sextus' fleet. Sextus escaped to Asia Minor and, by abandoning Sicily, lost his only base of support. Sextus Pompeius was finally captured in 35 BC, and executed without trial in
Miletus Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
by
Marcus Titius Marcus Titius was a Roman politician ( suffect consul in 31 BC) and commander at the end of the Roman Republic. Descent and proscription Marcus Titius was the son of a Lucius Titius and nephew of Lucius Munatius Plancus. The offices which Lucius ...
, whom Sextus had once spared; either by his own initiative or possibly on the orders of Antony or
Plancus Lucius Munatius Plancus ( – ) was a Roman senator, consul in 42 BC, and censor in 22 BC with Paullus Aemilius Lepidus. Along with Talleyrand eighteen centuries later, he is one of the classic historical examples of men who have m ...
. Although Octavian later pretended that the execution without a trial of Sextus was illegal because Sextus was a Roman citizen, Octavian himself had declared Sextus an outlaw without citizen rights.


Family connections

Sextus had married Scribonia, a distant relative. She was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo, consul of 34 BC and the niece of another Scribonia, the second wife of Octavian. Sextus and Scribonia had a daughter, their only child, called Pompeia Magna. As an affine to both Sextus and Octavian, Scribonius Libo had played a role in brokering peace between Sextus and the Triumviri, and had very reluctantly abandoned Sextus in 36/35, in return for which he had received the consulship.


Chronology

*48 BC – in Egypt with his father, who is assassinated *47/45 BC – resistance in Africa *45 BC – his brother, Gnaeus, is defeated at Munda, Sextus continues resistance *42 BC – controls Sicily with a powerful navy *39 BC – pact of Misenum with Octavianus and Antony *37 BC – defeats Octavian off Messina *36 BC **August, defeats Octavian **September, defeated by Agrippa off
Naulochus Naulochus, Naulochos, Naulochoi, or Naulocha ( it, Nauloco; Greek: in Silius Italicus, in Suetonius, in Appian, meaning ''safe ship-sheltering'Inductive scrutinies: Focus on Joyce'' by Fritz Senn and Christine O'Neill, p. 115, ), was an anc ...
(Sicily) *35 BC – captured and executed in Asia Minor (Miletus)


Historiographical readings

Where Plutarch gives Sextus only a minor role in the confused events surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic, Appian sees him as a more central figure, who might even have emerged as the final victor, so as to establish a dynasty of Pompeys, not Caesars.B Breed, ''Citizens of Discord'' (2010) p. 279-80


Dramatic representations

* Shakespeare had Sextus Pompey as a major character in his play ''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
'' (1606–07). ** British actor
Donald Sumpter Donald Sumpter (born 13 February 1943) is an English actor who has appeared in film and television since the mid-1960s. Career One of his early television appearances was the 1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Wheel in Space'' with Patrick Troug ...
portrayed Sextus Pompey in the 1981
BBC Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
television production of ''Antony and Cleopatra''. ** American actor Walter Koenig portrayed Sextus Pompey in the 1983 Bard Productions television production of the play. * Sesto (Italian for Sextus) appears as main character in 1682 opera titled '' Il Pompeo'' by Italian baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti. * Sextus ("Sesto" in Italian) appears in
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
's 1724 opera ''
Giulio Cesare in Egitto ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music (company), Royal ...
'' ("Julius Caesar in Egypt"). The opera attributes to Sextus the killing of the Egyptian King Ptolemy XIII, who had killed his father Pompey. This is not historically attested.


References


Further reading

*


External links


''Sextus Pompey''
- biography at unrv.com
Coins of Sextus Pompeius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pompeius, Sextus 60s BC births 35 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Roman generals Ancient Roman admirals Children of Pompey Executed ancient Roman people
Sextus Sextus is an ancient Roman '' praenomen'' or "first name". Its standard abbreviation is Sex., and the feminine form would be Sexta. It is one of the numeral ''praenomina'', like Quintus ("fifth") and Decimus ("tenth"), and means "sixth". Althoug ...
Roman consuls designate Roman governors of Hispania Roman governors of Sardinia Roman governors of Sicily