Triangolare). Not far off, and to the north of the great theatre, | smaller theatre is computed to have been capable of containing stood a small temple, which, as we learn from the inscription fifteen hundred spectators, while the larger could accommodate still remaining, was dedicated to Isis, and was rebuilt by a certain five thousand. Popidius Celsinus at the age of six (really of course by his parents), after the original edifice had been reduced to ruin by the great earthquake of 63. Though of small size, and by no means remarkable in point of architecture, it is interesting as the only temple that has come down to us in a good state of preservation of those dedicated to the Egyptian goddess, whose worship became so popular under the Roman Empire. The decorations were of somewhat gaudy stucco. The plan is curious, and deviates much from the ordinary type; the internal arrangements are adapted for the performance of the peculiar rites of this deity. Close to this temple was another, of very small size, commonly known as the temple of Aesculapius, but probably dedicated to Zeus Milichius. More considerable and important was a temple which stood at no great distance from the forum at the point where the so-called Strada di Mercurio was crossed by the wide line of thoroughfare (Strada della Fortuna) leading to the gate of Nola. We learn from an inscription that this was dedicated to the Fortune of Augustus (Fortuna Augusta), and was erected, wholly at his own cost, by a citizen of the name of M. Tullius. This temple appears to have suffered very severely from the earthquake, and at present affords little evidence of its original architectural ornament; but we learn from existing remains that its walls were covered with slabs of marble, and that the columns of the portico were of the same material. The fifth temple, that of Venus Pompeiana, lay to the west of the basilica; traces of two earlier periods underlie the extant temple, which was in progress of rebuilding at the time of the eruption. Before the earthquake of 63 it must have been the largest and most splendid temple of the whole city. It was surrounded by a large colonnade, and the number of marble columns in the whole block has been reckoned at 296.. | Adjoining the theatres is a large rectangular enclosure, surrounded by a portico, at first the colonnade connected with the theatres, and converted, about the time of Nero, into the barracks of the gladiators, who were permanently maintained in the city with a view to the shows in the amphitheatre. This explains why it is so far from that building, which is situated at the south-eastern angle of the town, about 500 yds. from the theatres. Remains of gladiators' armour and weapons were found in some of the rooms, and in one, traces of the stocks used to confine insubordinate gladiators. The amphitheatre was erected by the same two magistrates who built the smaller theatre, C. Quinctius Valgus and M. Porcius (the former the fatherin-law of that P. Servilius Rullus, in opposition to whose bill relating to the distribution of the public lands Cicero made his speech, De lege agraria), at a period when no permanent edifice of a similar kind had yet been erected in Rome itself, and is indeed the oldest structure of the kind known to us. But apart from its early date it has no special interest, and is wholly wanting in the external architectural decorations that give such grandeur of character to similar edifices in other instances. Being in great part excavated in the surface of the hill, instead of the seats being raised on arches, it is wanting also in the picturesque arched corridors which contribute so much to the effect of those other ruins. Nor are its dimensions (460 by 345 ft.) such as to place it in the first rank of structures of this class, nor are there any underground chambers below the arena, with devices for raising wild beasts, &c. But, as we learn from the case of their squabble with the people of Nuceria, the games celebrated in the amphitheatre on grand occasions would be visited by large numbers from the neighbouring towns. The seating capacity was about 20,0002 (for illustration see AMPHITHEATRE). Adjoining the amphitheatre was found a large open space, nearly square in form, which has been supposed to be a forum boarium or cattle-market, but, no buildings of interest being discovered around it, the excavation was filled up again, and this part of the city has not been since examined. Between the entrance to the triangular forum (so-called) and the temple of Isis is the Palaestra, an area surrounded by a colonnade; it is a structure of the pre-Roman period, intended for boys, not men. All the temples above described, except that ascribed to Hercules, which was approached by steps on all four sides, agree in being raised on an elevated podium or basement-an arrangement usual with all similar buildings of Roman date. Neither in materials nor in style does their architecture exceed what might reasonably be expected in a second-rate provincial town; and the same may be said in general of the other public buildings. Among these the most conspicuous are the theatres, of which there were two, placed, as was usual in Greek towns, in close juxtaposition with one another. The largest of these which was partly Among the more important public buildings of Pompeii excavated in the side of the hill, was a building of considerable were the public' baths (thermae). Three different establishments magnificence, being in great part cased with marble, and fur- of this character have been discovered, of which the first, excanished with seats of the same material, which have, however, vated in 1824, the baths near the forum, built about 80 B.C., was been almost wholly removed. Its internal construction and for a long time the only one known. Though the smallest of arrangements resemble those of the Roman theatres in general, the three, it is in some respects the most complete and interesting; though with some peculiarities that show Greek influence, and and it was until of late years the principal source from which we we learn from an inscription that it was erected in Roman times derived our knowledge of this important branch of the economy by two members of the same family, M. Holconius Rufus and of Roman life. At Pompeii the baths are so well preserved as M. Holconius Celer, both of whom held important municipal, to show at a glance the purpose of all the different parts-while offices at Pompeii during the reign of Augustus. It appears, they are among the most richly decorated of all the buildings however, from a careful examination of the remains that their in the city. We trace without difficulty all the separate apartwork was only a reconstruction of a more ancient edifice, the datements that are described to us by Roman authors-the apodyof the original form of which cannot be fixed; while its first terium, frigidarium, tepidarium, caldarium, &c. together with the alteration belongs to the "tufa" period, and three other periods apparatus for supplying both water and heat, the places for dein its history can be traced. Recent investigations in regard to positing the bather's clothes, and other minor details (see BATHS). the vexed question of the position of the actors in the Greek The greater thermae (the so-called “Stabian" baths), which theatre have as yet not led to any certain solution. The smaller were originally built in the 2nd century B.C., and repaired about theatre, which was erected, as we learn from an inscription, by 80 B.C., are on a much more extensive scale than the others, two magistrates specially appointed for the purpose by the and combine with the special purposes of the building a palaestra decuriones of the city, was of older date than the large one, and in the centre and other apartments for exercise or recreation. must have been constructed a little before the amphitheatre, soon The arrangements of the baths themselves are, however, almost after the establishment of the Roman colony under Sulla. We similar to those of the lesser thermae. In this case an inscription learn also that it was permanently covered, and it was probably records the repair and restoration of the edifice after the used for musical entertainments, but in the case of the larger 2 The interest taken by the Pompeians in the sports of the theatre also the arrangements for the occasional extension of an amphitheatre is shown by the contents of the numerous painted awning (velarium) over the whole are distinctly found. The and scratched inscriptions relating to them which have been found in Pompeii-notices of combats, laudatory inscriptions, including 1 See A. Mau, Pompeii in Leben und Kunst (Leipzig, 1908), pp. 150 even references to the admiration which gladiators won from the fair sex, &c. sqq. earthquake of 63. It appears, however, that these two establish- | perfect model of a complete Roman house of a superior class. ments were found inadequate to supply the wants of the inhabitants, and a third edifice of the same character, the socalled central baths, at the corner of the Strada Stabiana and the Strada di Nola, but on a still more extensive scale, intended for men only, while the other two had separate accommodation for both sexes, was in course of construction when the town was overwhelmed. Great as is the interest attached to the various public buildings of Pompeii, and valuable as is the light that they have in some instances thrown upon similar edifices in other ruined cities, far more curious and interesting is the insight afforded us by the numerous private houses and shops into the ordinary life and habits of the population of an ancient town. The houses at Pompeii are generally low, rarely exceeding two storeys in height, and it appears certain that the upper storey was generally of a slight construction, and occupied by small rooms, serving as garrets, or sleeping places for slaves, and perhaps for the females of the family. From the mode of destruction of the city these upper floors were in most cases crushed in and destroyed, and hence it was long believed that the houses for the most part had but one storey; but recent researches have in many cases brought to light incontestable evidence of the existence of an upper floor, and the frequent occurrence of a small staircase is in itself-sufficient proof of the fact. The windows, as already mentioned, were generally small and insignificant, and contributed nothing to the external decoration or effect of the houses, which took both light and air from the inside, not from the outside. In some cases they were undoubtedly closed with glass, but its use appears to have been by no means general. The principal living rooms, as well as those intended for the reception of guests or clients, were all on the ground floor, the centre being formed by the atrium, or hall, which was almost always open above to the air, and in the larger houses was generally surrounded with columns. Into this opened other rooms, the entrances to which seem to have been rarely protected by doors, and could only have been closed by curtains. At the back was a garden. Later, under Greek influences, a peristyle with rooms round it was added in place of the garden. We notice that, as in modern Italy until quite recent years, elaborate precautions were taken against heat, but none against cold, which was patiently endured. Hypocausts are only found in connexion with bathrooms. All the apartments and arrangements described by Vitruvius and other ancient writers may be readily traced in the houses of Pompeii, and in many instances these have for the first time enabled us to understand the technical terms and details transmitted to us by Latin authors. We must not, however, hastily assume that the examples thus preserved to us by a singular accident are to be taken as representing the style of building in all the Roman and Italian towns. We know from Cicero that Capua was remarkable for its broad streets and widespread buildings, and it is probable that the Campanian towns in general partook of the same character. At Pompeii indeed the streets were not wide, but they were straight and regular, and the houses of the better class occupied considerable spaces, presenting in this respect no doubt a striking contrast, not only with those of Rome itself, but with those of many other Italian towns, where the buildings would necessarily be huddled together from the circumstances of their position. Even at Pompeii itself, on the west side of the city, where the ground slopes somewhat steeply towards the sea, houses are found which consisted of three storeys or more. The excavations have provided examples of houses of every description, from the humble dwelling-place of the artisan or proletarian, with only three or four small rooms, to the stately mansions of Sallust, of the Faun, of the Golden Cupids, of the Silver Wedding, of the Vettii, of Pansa,' &c.-the last of which is among the most regular in plan, and may be taken as an almost 1It may be observed that the names given in most cases to the houses are either arbitrary or founded in. the first instance upon erroneous inferences. But the general similarity in their plan and arrangement is very Of the numerous works of art discovered in the course of the excavations the statues and large works of sculpture, whether in marble or bronze, are inferior to those found at Herculaneum, but some of the bronze statuettes are of exquisite workmanship, while the profusion of ornamental works and objects in bronze and the elegance of their design, as well as the finished beauty of their execution, are such as to excite the utmost admirationmore especially when it is considered that these are the casual results of the examination of a second-rate provincial town, which had, further, been ransacked for valuables (as Herculaneum had not) after the eruption of 79. The same impression is produced in a still higher degree by the paintings with which the walls of the private houses, as well as those of the temples and other public buildings, are adorned, and which are not merely of a decorative character, but in many instances present us with elaborate compositions of figures, historical and mythologicai scenes, as well as representations of the ordinary life and manners of the people, which are full of interest to us, though often of inferior artistic execution. It has until lately been the practice to remove these to the museum at Naples; but the present tendency is to leave them (and even the movable objects found in the houses) in situ with all due precautions as to their preservation (as in the house of the Vettii, of the Silver Wedding, of the Golden Cupids, &c.), which adds immensely to the interest of the houses; indeed, with the help of judicious restoration, their original condition is in large measure reproduced.1 In some cases it has even been possible to recover the original arrangement of the garden beds, and to replant them accordingly, thus giving an appropriate framework to the statues, &c. with which the gardens were decorated, and which have been found in situ. The same character of elaborate decoration, guided almost uniformly by good taste and artistic feeling, is displayed in the mosaic pavements, which in all but the humbler class of houses frequently form the ornament of their floors. One of these, in the House of the Faun, well known as the battle of Alexander, presents us with the most striking specimen of artistic composition that has been preserved to us from antiquity. The architecture of Pompeii must be regarded as presenting in general a transitional character from the pure Greek style to that of the Roman Empire. The temples (as already observed) have always the Roman peculiarity of being raised on a podium of considerable elevation; and the same characteristic is found in most of the other public buildings. All the three orders of Greek architecture-the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian-are found freely employed in the various edifices of the city, but rarely in strict accordance with the rules of art in their proportions and details; while the private houses naturally exhibit still more deviation and irregularity. In many of these indeed we find varieties in the ornamentation, and even in such leading features as the capitals of the columns, which remind one rather of the vagaries of medieval architecture than of the strict rules of Vitruvius or the regularity of Greek edifices. One practice which is especially prevalent, so as to strike every casual visitor, and dates from the early years of the empire, is that of filling up the flutings of the columns for about one-third of their height with a thick coat of stucco, so as to give them the appearance of being smooth columns without flutings below, and only fluted above. The unpleasing effect of this anomalous arrangement is greatly aggravated by the lower part of each column being almost always coloured with red or yellow ochre, so as to render the contrast between the two portions still stronger. The architecture of Pompeii suffers also from the inferior quality of the materials generally employed. No good building stone was at hand; and the public as well as private edifices were constructed either of volcanic tufa, or lava, or Sarno limestone, or brick (the latter only used for the corners of walls). In the private houses even the columns are mostly of brick, covered merely with a coat of stucco. In a few instances only do we find them making use of a whitish limestone wrongly called travertine, which, though inferior to the similar material so largely employed at Rome, was better adapted than the ordinary tufa for purposes where great solidity was required. The portion of the portico surrounding the forum which was in the process of rebuilding at the time when the city was destroyed was constructed of this material, while the earlier portions, as well as the principal temples that adjoined it, were composed in the ordinary manner of volcanic tufa. Marble appears to have been scarce, and was sparingly employed. In some instances where it had been freely introduced, as in the great theatre, it would seem that the slabs must have been removed at a period subsequent to the entombment of the city. These materials are used in several different styles of construction belonging to the six different periods which Mau traces in the architectural history of Pompeii. 1. That of the Doric temple in the Foro Triangolare (6th century B.C.) and an old column built into a house in Region vi., Insula 5; also of the older parts of the city walls-date uncertain (Sarno limestone and grey tufa). 2. That of the limestone atriums (outer walls of the houses of ashlar-work of Sarno limestone, inner walls with framework of limestone blocks, filled in with small pieces of limestone). Date, before 200 B.C. 3. Grey tufa period; ashlar masonry of tufa, coated with fine white stucco; rubble work of lava. The artistic character is still Greek. and the period coincides with the first (incrustation) style of mural decoration, which (probably originating in Alexandria) aimed at The paintings of the house of the Vettii are perhaps the best-preserved in Pompeii, and extremely fine in conception and execution, especially the scenes in which Cupids take part. the imitation in stucco of the appearance of a wall veneered with coloured marbles. No wall paintings exist, but there are often fine floor mosaics. To this belong a number of private houses (e.g. the House of the Faun), and the colonnade round the forum, the basilica, the temples of Apollo and Jupiter, the large theatre with the colonnades of the Foro Triangolare, and the barracks of the gladiators, the Stabian baths, the Palaestra, the exterior of the Porta Marina, and the interior of the other gates-all the public buildings indeed (except the Doric temple mentioned under (1), which do not belong to the time of the Roman colony). Date, 2nd century B.C. 4. The quasi-reticulate period-walling faced with masonry not yet quite so regular as opus reticulatum, and with brick quoins, coinciding with the second period of decoration (the architectural, partly imitating marble like the first style, but without relief, and by colour only, and partly making use of architectural designs). It is represented by the small theatre and the amphitheatre, the baths near the forum, the temple of Zeus Milichius, the Comitium and the original temple of Isis, but only a few private houses. The ornamentation is much less rich and beautiful than that of the preceding period. Date, from 80 B.C. until nearly the end of the Republic. 5. The period from the last decades of the Republic to the earthquake of A.D. 63. No homogeneous series of buildings-we find various styles of construction (quasi-reticulate, opus reticulatum of tufa with stone quoins, of the time of Augustus, opus reticulatum with brick quoins or with mingled stone and brick quoins, a little later); and three styles of wall decoration fall within its limits. The second, already mentioned, the third or ornate, with its freer use of ornament and its introduction of designs which suggest an Egyptian origin (originating in the time of Augustus), and the fourth or intricate, dating from about A.D. 50. Marble first appears as a building material in the temple of Fortuna Augusta (c. 3 B.C.). 6. The period from the earthquake of A.D. 63 to the final destruction of the city, the buildings of which can easily be recognized. The only wholly new edifice of any importance is the central baths. Outside the Porta Ercolanese, or gate leading to Herculaneum, is found a house of a different character from all the others, which from its extent and arrangements was undoubtedly a suburban villa, belonging to a person of considerable fortune. It is calledas usual without any authority-the villa of Arrius Diomedes; but its remains are of peculiar interest to us, not only for comparison with the numerous ruins of similar buildings which occur elsewhere often of greater extent, but in a much less perfect state of preservation-but as assisting us in understanding the description of ancient authors, such as Vitruvius and Pliny, of the numerous appurtenances frequently annexed to houses of this description. skeletons of the unfortunate inhabitants, who had evidently fled In the cellar of this villa were discovered no less than twenty thither for protection, and fourteen in other parts of the house. Almost all the skeletons and remains of bodies found in the city were discovered in similar situations, in cellars or underground apartments-those who had sought refuge in flight having apparently for the most part escaped from destruction, or having perished under circumstances where their bodies were easily recovered by the survivors. According to Cassius Dio, a large number of the inhabitants were assembled in the theatre at the time of the catastrophe, but no bodies have been found there, and they were probably sought for and removed shortly afterwards. Of late years it has been found possible in many cases to take casts of the bodies founda complete mould having been formed around them by the fine white ashes, partially consolidated by water. An interesting farm-house (few examples have been so far diswhich contained the treasure of one hundred and three silver vases covered in Italy) is that at Boscoreale excavated in 1893-1894, now at the Louvre. The villa of P. Fannius Synhistor, not far off, was excavated in 1900; it contained fine wall paintings, which, despite their importance, were allowed to be exported, and sold by auction in Paris (some now in the Louvre). (See F. Barnabei, La Villa pompeiana di P. Fannio Sinistore; Rome, 1901.) The road leading from the Porta Ercolanese towards Herculaneum is bordered on both sides for a considerable extent by rows of tombs, as was the case with all the great roads leading into Rome, and in deed in all large Roman towns. These tombs are in many instances character, and naturally present in the highest degree the peculiar monuments of considerable pretension, and of a highly ornamental advantage common to all that remains of Pompeii, in their perfect preservation. Hardly any scene even in this extraordinary city is more striking than the coup d'œil of this long street of tombs, preserving uninjured the records of successive generations eighteen centuries ago. Unfortunately the names are all otherwise unknown; but we learn from the inscriptions that they are for the most part those of local magistrates and municipal dignitaries of Pompeii. Most of them belong to the early empire. There appears to have been in the same quarter a considerable suburb, outside the gate, extending on each side of the road towards Herculaneum, apparently much resembling those which are now found throughout almost the whole distance from thence to Naples. It was known by the name of Pagus Augustus Felix Suburbanus. Other suburbs were situated at the harbour and at the saltworks (salinae). No manuscripts have been discovered in Pompeii. Inscriptions have naturally been found in considerable numbers, and we are indebted to them for much information concerning the municipal arrangements of the town, as well as the construction of various edifices and other public works. The most interesting of these are such as are written in the Oscan dialect, which appears to have continued in official use down to the time when the Roman colony was introduced by Sulla. From that time the Latin language was certainly the only one officially employed, though Oscan may have still been spoken by a portion at least of the population. Still more curious, and almost peculiar to Pompeii, are the numerous writings painted upon the walls, which have generally a semipublic character, such as recommendations of candidates for municipal offices, advertisements, &c., and the scratched inscriptions (graffiti), which are generally the mere expression of individual impulse and feeling, frequently amatory, and not uncommonly conveyed in rude and imperfect verses. In one house also a whole box was found filled with written tablets-diptychs and triptychs -containing the record of the accounts of a banker named L. Caecilius Jucundus. See A. Mau, Pompeii: its Life and Art (trans. by F. W. Kelsey, 2nd ed., New York and London, 1902; 2nd revised edition of the German original, Pompeii in Leben und Kunst, Leipzig, 1908), the best general account written by the greatest authority on the subject, to which our description owes much, with full references to other sources of information; and, for later excavations, Notizie degli Scavi and Römische Mitteilungen (in the latter, articles by Mau), passim. For the inscriptions on the tablets and on the walls, Corpus inscriptionum latinarum, vol. iv. (ed. Zangemeister and Mau). Recent works on the Pompeian frescoes are those of Berger, in Die Maltechnik des Alterthums, and A. P. Laurie, Greek and Roman Methods of Painting (1910). (E. H. B.; T. As.) Oscan Inscriptions.-The surviving inscriptions which can be dated, mainly by the gradual changes in their alphabet, are of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C., some certainly belonging to the Gracchan period. The oldest of the Latin inscriptions are C.I.L. x. 794, the record of the building of colonnades in the forum by the " quaestor" V. Popidius, and two or three election placards (C.I.L. iv. 29, 30, 36) of one R. Caecilius, a candidate for the same office. It cannot be an accident that the alphabet of these inscriptions belongs distinctly to Sullan or pre-Sullan times, while no such officer as a quaestor appears in any later documents (e.g. in C.I.L. x. 844, it is the duoviri who build the small theatre), but does appear in the Oscan inscriptions. Hence it has been inferred that these oldest Latin inscriptions are also older than Sulla's colony; if so, Latin must have been in use, and in fairly common use (if the programmata were to be of any service), in Pompeii at that date. On the other hand, the good condition of many of the painted Oscan inscriptions at the times when they were first uncovered (1797 onwards) and their subsequent decay and the number of Oscan graffiti appear to make it probable that at the Christian era Oscan was still spoken in the town. The two languages undoubtedly existed side by side during the last century B.C., Latin being alone recognized officially and in society, while Oscan was preserved mainly by intercourse with the country folk who frequented the market. Thus beside many Latin programmata later than those just mentioned we have similar inscriptions in Oscan, addressed to Oscan-speaking voters, where IIIIner. obviously relates to the quattuorvirate, a title characteristic of the Sullan and triumviral colonies. An interesting stone containing nine cavities for measures of capacity found in Pompeii and now preserved in the Naples Museum with Oscan inscriptions erased in antiquity shows that the Oscan system of measurement was modified so as to correspond more closely with the Roman, about 14 B.C., by the duoviri, who record their work in a Latin inscription (C.I.L. x. 793; for the Oscan see Ital. Dial. p. 67). See further OSCA LINGUA, and R. S. Conway, The Italic Dialects, pp. 54 sqq.; Nissen, Pompeianische Studien; J. Beloch, Campanien, 2nd ed. (R. S. C.) POMPEY, the common English form of Pompeius, the name of a Roman plebeian family. 1. GNAEUS POMPEIUS (106-48 B.C.), the triumvir, the first of his family to assume the surname MAGNUS, was born on the 30th of September in the same year as Cicero. When only seventeen he fought together with his father in the Social War. He took the side of Sulla against Marius and Cinna, but for a the background. On the return of Sulla from the Mithradatic time, in consequence of the success of the Marians, he kept in War Pompey joined him with an army of three legions, which he had raised in Picenum. Thus early in life he connected himself with the cause of the aristocracy, and a decisive victory which he won in 83 over the Marian armies gained for him from Sulla the title of Imperator. He followed up his successes in Italy by defeating the Marians in Sicily and Africa, and on his return to Rome in 81, though he was still merely an eques and not legally qualified to celebrate a triumph, he was allowed by general consent to enjoy this distinction, while Sulla greeted him with the surname of Magnus, a title he always retained and handed down to his sons. Latterly, his relations with Sulla were somewhat strained, but after his death he resisted the attempt of the consul M. Aemilius Lepidus to repeal the constitution. In conjunction with A. Lutatius Catulus, the other consul, he defeated Lepidus when he tried to march upon Rome, and drove him out of Italy (77). With some fears and misgivings the senate permitted him to retain the command of his victorious army, and decided on sending him to Spain, where the Marian party, under Sertorius, was still formidable. Pompey was fighting in Spain from 76 to 71, and though at first he met with serious reverses he was ultimately successful. After Sertorius had fallen a victim to assassination, Pompey easily defeated his successor Perperna and put an end to the war. In 71 he won fresh glory by finally crushing the slave insurrection of Spartacus. That same year, amid great popular enthusiasm, but without the hearty concurrence of the senate, whom he had alarmed by talking of restoring the dreaded power of the tribunes, he was elected with M. Licinius Crassus to the consulship, and entered Rome in triumph (December 31) for his Spanish victories. He was legally ineligible for the consulship, having held none of the lower offices of state and being under age. The following year saw the work of Sulla undone; the tribunate was restored, and the administration of justice was no longer left exclusively to the senate, but was to be shared by it with the wealthier portion of the middle class, the equites (q.v.) and the tribuni aerarii.1 The change was really necessary, as the provincials could never get justice from a court composed of senators, and it was carried into effect by Pompey with Caesar's aid. Pompey rose still higher in popularity, and on the motion of the tribune Aulus Gabinius in 67 he was entrusted with an extraordinary command over the greater part of the empire, specially for the extermination of piracy in the Mediterranean, by which the corn supplies of Rome were seriously endangered, while the high prices of provisions caused great distress. He was completely successful; the price of corn fell immediately on his appointment, and in forty days the Mediterranean was cleared of the pirates. Next year, on the proposal of the tribune Manilius, his powers were still further extended, the care of all the provinces in the East being put under his control for three years together with the conduct of the war against Mithradates VI., who had recovered from the defeats he had sustained from Lucullus and regained his dominions. Both Caesar and Cicero supported the tribune's proposal, which was easily carried in spite of the interested Opposition of the senate and the aristocracy, several of whom held provinces which would now be practically under Pompey's command. The result of Pompey's operations was eminently satisfactory. The wild tribes of the Caucasus were cowed by the Roman arms, and Mithradates himself fled across the Black Sea to Panticapaeum (modern Kertch). In the years 64 and 63 Syria and Palestine were annexed to Rome's empire. After the capture of Jerusalem Pompey is said to have entered the Temple, and even the Holy of Holies. Asia and the East generally were left under the subjection of petty kings who were mere vassals of Rome. Several cities had been founded which became centres of Greek life and civilization. Pompey, now in his forty-fifth year, returned to Italy in 61 to 1 Their history and political character is obscure; they were at any rate connected with the knights (see AERARIUM). celebrate the most magnificent triumph which Rome had ever witnessed, as the conqueror of Spain, Africa, and Asia (see A. Holm, Hist. of Greece, Eng. trans., vol. iv.). This triumph marked the turning-point of his career. As a soldier everything had gone well with him; as a politician he was a failure. He found a great change in public opinion, and the people indifferent to his achievements abroad. The optimates resented the extraordinary powers that had been conferred upon him; Lucullus and Crassus considered that they had been robbed by him of the honour of concluding the war against Mithradates. The senate refused to ratify the arrangements he made in Asia or to provide money and lands for distribution amongst his veterans. In these circumstances he drew closer to Caesar on his return from Spain, and became reconciled to Crassus. The result was the so-called first triumvirate (see ROME: History). The remainder of his life is inextricably interwoven with that of Caesar. He was married to Caesar's daughter Julia, and as yet the relations between the two had been friendly. On more than one occasion Caesar had supported Pompey's policy, which of late had been in a decidedly democratic direction. Pompey was now in fact ruler of the greater part of the empire, while Caesar had only the two provinces of Gaul. The control of the capital, the supreme command of the army in Italy and of the Mediterranean fleet, the governorship of the two Spains, the superintendence of the corn supplies, which were mainly drawn from Sicily and Africa, and on which the vast population of Rome was wholly dependent, were entirely in the hands of Pompey, who was gradually losing the confidence of all political parties in Rome. The senate and the aristocracy disliked and distrusted him, but they felt that, should things come to the worst, they might still find in him a champion of their cause. Hence the joint rule of Pompey and Caesar was not unwillingly accepted, and anything like a rupture between the two was greatly dreaded as the sure beginning of anarchy throughout the Roman world. With the deaths of Pompey's wife Julia (54) and of Crassus (53) the relations between him and Caesar became strained, and soon afterwards he drew closer to what we may call the old conservative party in the senate and aristocracy. The end was now near, and Pompey blundered into a false political position and an open quarrel with Caesar. In 50 the senate by a very large majority revoked the extraordinary powers conceded to Pompey and Caesar in Spain and Gaul respectively, and called upon them to disband their armies. Pompey's refusal to submit gave Caesar a good pretext for declaring war and marching at the head of his army into Italy. At the beginning of the contest the advantages were decidedly on the side of Pompey, but the superior political tact of his rival, combined with extraordinary promptitude and decision in following up his blows, soon turned the scale against him. Pompey's cause, with that of the senate and aristocracy, was finally ruined by his defeat in 48 in the neighbourhood of the Thessalian city Pharsalus. That same year he fled with the hope of finding a safe refuge in Egypt, but was treacherously murdered by one of his old centurions as he was landing. He was five times married, and three of his children survived him— Gnaeus, Sextus, and a daughter Pompeia. Pompey, though he had some great and good qualities, hardly deserved his surname of "the Great." He was certainly a very good soldier, and is said to have excelled in all athletic exercises, but he fell short of being a first-rate general. He won great successes in Spain and more especially in the East, but for these he was no doubt partly indebted to what others had already done. Of the gifts which make a good statesman he had really none. As plainly appeared in the last years of his life, he was too weak and irresolute to choose a side and stand by it. But to his credit be it said that in a corrupt time he never used his opportunities for plunder and extortion, and his domestic life was pure and simple. AUTHORITIES.-Ancient: Plutarch, Pompey: Dio Cassius; Appian; Velleius Paterculus; Caesar, De bello civili; Strabo xii, 555-560; 'Cicero, passim; Lucan, Pharsalia. Modern: Histories of Rome in general (see ROME: Ancient History, ad fin.); works quoted under CAESAR and CICERO. Also G. Boissier, Cicero and His Friends (Eng. trans., A. D. Jones, 1897); J. L. Strachan-Davidson's Cicero (1894); Warde Fowler's Julius Caesar (1892); C. W. Oman, Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Republic (1902); notes in Tyrrell and Purser's Correspondence of Cicero (see index in vii. 80). 2. GNAEUS POMPEIUS, surnamed Strabo (squint-eyed), Roman statesman, father of the triumvir. He was successively quaestor in Sardinia (103 B.C.), praetor (94), propraetor in Sicily (93) and consul (89). He fought with success in the Social War, and was awarded a triumph for his services. Probably towards the end of the same year he brought forward the law (lex Pompeia de Gallia Transpadana), which conferred upon the inhabitants of that region the privileges granted to the Latin colonies. During the civil war between Marius and Sulla he seems to have shown no desire to attach himself definitely to either side. He certainly set out for Rome from the south of Italy (where he remained as proconsul) at the bidding.. of the aristocratic party, when the city was threatened by Marius and Cinna, but he displayed little energy, and the engagement which he fought before the Colline gate, although hotly contested, was indecisive. Soon afterwards he was killed by lightning (87). Although he possessed great military talents, Pompeius was the best-hated general of his time owing to his cruelty, avarice and perfidy. His body was dragged from the bier, while being conveyed to the funeral pile, and treated with the greatest indignity. See Plutarch, Pompey, 1; Appian, Bell. civ. i. 50, 52, 66-68, 80; Vell. Pat. ii. 21; Livy, Epit. 74-79; Florus iii. 18. 3. GNAEUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS (c. 75-45 B.C.), the elder son of the triumvir. In 48 B.C. during the civil war he commanded his father's fleet in the Adriatic. After the battle of Pharsalus he set out for Africa with the remainder of the Pompeian party, but, meeting with little success, crossed over to Spain. Having been joined by his brother Sextus, he collected a considerable army, the numbers of which were increased by the Pompeians who fled from Africa after the battle of Thapsus (46). Caesar, who regarded him as a formidable opponent, set out against him in person. A battle took place at Munda on the 17th of March 45, in which the brothers were defeated. Gnaeus managed to make his escape after the engagement, but was soon (April 12) captured and put to death. He was generally unpopular owing to his cruelty and violent temper. See Pseudo-Oppius, Bellum hispaniense, 1-39; Lucan, Pharsalia, ix. 120; Dio Cassius xliii. 28-40. 4. SEXTUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS (75-35 B.C.), the younger son of the triumvir. After his father's death he continued the struggle against the new rulers of the Roman Empire. From Cyprus, where he had taken refuge, he made his way to Africa, and after the defeat of the Pompeians at Thapsus (46) crossed over to Spain. After Caesar's victory at the battle of Munda (45), in which he took no actual part, he abandoned Corduba (Cordova), though for a time he held his ground in the south, and defeated Asinius Pollio, the governor of the province. In 43, the year of the triumvirate of Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, he was proscribed along with the murderers of Caesar, and, not daring to show himself in Italy, he put himself at the head of a fleet manned chiefly by slaves or proscribed persons, with which he made himself master of Sicily, and from thence ravaged the coasts of Italy. Rome was threatened with a famine, as the corn supplies from Egypt and Africa were cut off by his ships, and it was thought prudent to negotiate a peace with him at Misenum (39), which was to leave him in possession of Sicily, Sardinia and Achaea, provided he would allow Italy to be freely supplied with corn. But the arrangement could not be carried into effect, as Sextus renewed the war and gained some considerable successes at sea. However, in 36 his fleet was defeated and destroyed by Agrippa at Naulochus off the north coast of Sicily. After his defeat he fled to Mytilene, and from there to Asia Minor. In the attempt to make his way to Armenia he was taken prisoner by Antony's troops, and put to death at Miletus. Like his father, he was a brave soldier, but a man of little culture. |