Pompey the Great

While it is clear that Pompey the Great was a successful general, how he came to be so is a more complicated matter. To analyse Pompey's career this essay will first examine his background, highlighting the advantages and difficulties that arose from being from a fairly new noble family. Additionally key events in Pompey's career will be explored chronologically, focusing on his most important military successes as well as his political career. This will attempt to determine how much his success relied on his personal characteristics or because of his he was able achieve his successes due to his personal attributes or because of his political relations with noblemen such as Sulla, Caesar and Cicero.

While Pompey's family was extremely wealthy it was not one of the ancient families that dominated Roman politics. Pompey's family was relatively from the plebeian rather than the patrician class; Pompey's father Strabo was the first of his family to become a senator. Strabo ascended through the curus honorum, becoming consul in 89BC. Plutarch writes that ‘the Romans never hated any of their generals so much and so bitterly as they hated Pompey's father' (Plut.Pom.1). While Plutarch over-emphasizes it is apparent that Strabo was disliked by the citizens of Rome. He had the opportunity to march on Rome and took his army just outside the walls attempting to gain a second consulship. While considering his next move, Strabo's army was hit by a plague and Strabo died. According to Plutarch, the reputation of his father seemed not to affect the public opinion of Pompey, as he did not inherit his father's reputation, just his wealth (Plut.Pom.1)

The fact that Pompey's family was not one of the main political families in Rome was an advantage to him as he was considered an underdog for the people. While Pompey was wealthy, his roots were in the countryside. This enabled him to become popular with the people, particularly in the early stages of his career where he refused to