Sextus Pompey - Wikipedia Sextus Pompey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Roman politician and general "Sextus Pompeius" redirects here. For other uses, see Sextus Pompeius (disambiguation). Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompey in an aureus dated from later in life Native name Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius Born c. 67 BC[1] Died 35 BC (aged c. 32) Miletus, Asia, Roman Republic Branch Roman army and navy Commands held Prefect of the fleet and the coast Governor of Sicily and Sardinia Battles/wars Caesar's civil war Sicilian revolt Children Pompeia Relations Pompey (father) Mucia Tertia (mother) Gnaeus Pompeius (brother) Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius (c. 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader and politician who throughout his life upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against the dictator Julius Caesar and his supporters, during the last civil wars of the Roman Republic. He formed the last organized opposition to the Second Triumvirate, in defiance of which he succeeded in establishing an independent state in Sicily for several years. Contents 1 Biography 2 Family connections 3 Chronology 4 Historiographical readings 5 Dramatic representations 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Biography[edit] Denarius by Sextus Pompeius. 44–43 BC. AR Denarius (3.85 g, 3h). Massilia (Gaul) mint. Q. Nasidius, moneyer. Bare head of Pompey the Great right; trident before, dolphin below / Ship sailing right; star above. Sextus Pompeius was the younger son of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)[1] 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 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.[2] On the 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. A Sextus Pompeius denarius, minted for his victory over Octavian's fleet. On the obverse is the Pharos of Messina, on the reverse the monster Scylla. Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who committed suicide.[3] 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.[4] Gnaeus Pompeius was executed, but young Sextus escaped once more, this time to Sicily, and thereafter raised another dissident army in Spain.[5] 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”.[6] Early in 43, the Senate commended Marcus Aemelius Lepidus for forging an alliance with Sextus against the Caesarians;[7] but thereafter Lepidus joined the Second Triumvirate formed by Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus and Marcus Antonius, 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 and committed suicide in 42 BC. After this, the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus. Sicilian revolt, campaign of 38/37 BC.  Sextus Pompeius' possessions (territories that went over to Octavianus before the war with Menodorus are painted in pink and beige) ↗ — actions of Octavianus and his admirals; ↗ — actions of Sextus' admirals. 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 Menas, seized Sardinia from Octavian's governor Marcus Lurius.[1] In 39 BC, Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum.[8] 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 [Octavian] had cheated Sextus Pompeius by a spurious peace treaty"[9] 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. Sicilian revolt, campaign of 36 BC. ↗ — actions of Octavianus and his commanders; ↗ — actions of Sextus Pompeius and his commanders. 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 (37 BC), so he now turned to his friends Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa 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.[10] 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,[1] Agrippa destroyed the remainder of Sextus' fleet. Sextus escaped to Asia Minor[1] and, by abandoning Sicily, lost his only base of support. Sextus Pompeius was finally captured in 35 BC, and executed without trial in Miletus by Marcus Titius, whom Sextus had once spared; either by his own initiative or possibly on the orders of Antony or Plancus[11] [12]. 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[edit] Sextus Pompey in an aureus dated 42–40 BC. The reverse reads praefectus classis. 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[edit] 48 BC – in Egypt with his father, who is assassinated 47/45 BC – resistance in Africa 45 BC – defeated in Munda 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 (Sicily) 35 BC – captured and executed in Asia Minor (Miletus) Historiographical readings[edit] 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.[13] Dramatic representations[edit] Shakespeare had Sextus Pompey as a major character in his play Antony and Cleopatra (1606–07). Sesto (Italian for Sextus) appears as main character in 1682. opera titled Pompeo by Italian baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti. Sextus ("Sesto" in Italian) appears in George Frideric Handel's 1724 opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto ("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. British actor Donald Sumpter portrayed Sextus Pompey in the BBC Shakespeare television production of Antony and Cleopatra (1981). American actor Walter Koenig portrayed Sextus Pompey in the Bard Productions television production of Antony and Cleopatra (1983). References[edit] ^ a b c d e Jones, Tom B (1976). "Pompeius Magnus, Sextus". In William D. Halsey (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. 19. Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 234. ^ Sextus Pompeius ^ Sextus Pompeius ^ R Warner transl., Plutarch: Fall of the Roman Republic (Penguin 1958) p. 263 ^ Sextus Pompeius ^ D R Shakleton Bailey trans., Cicero’s Letters to his Friends (Atlanta 1988) p. 489 ^ D R Shakleton Bailey trans., Cicero’s Letters to his Friends (Atlanta 1988) p. 550 ^ Sextus Pompeius ^ Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome (Pengun 1966) p. 36 ^ J Griffin ed., The Oxford History of the Classical World (Oxford 1986) p. 533 ^ Appian, Bellum Civile, 5.14.144 ^ Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution, pg. 232. Oxford University Press, 2002 reprint ^ B Breed, Citizens of Discord (2010) p. 279-80 Further reading[edit] M Hadas, Sextus Pompeius (New York 1930) External links[edit] Media related to Sextus Pompeius at Wikimedia Commons Sextus Pompey - biography at unrv.com Coins of Sextus Pompeius Authority control BIBSYS: 13028852 BNE: XX1575202 GND: 118595652 ISNI: 0000 0003 5773 9896 LCCN: nr94014650 NTA: 073668508 SUDOC: 081537778 VIAF: 199933907 WorldCat Identities: lccn-nr94014650 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sextus_Pompey&oldid=993696829" Categories: 60s BC births 35 BC deaths 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Roman generals Children of Pompey Executed ancient Roman people Pompeii (gens) Roman consuls designate Roman governors of Hispania Roman governors of Sardinia Roman governors of Sicily Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Commons link is on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Year of birth uncertain Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Български Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara Français 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Italiano עברית Latina Lietuvių Magyar مصرى Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Română Русский Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 12 December 2020, at 00:31 (UTC). 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