The Early Life Of Gnaeus Pompey And His Youth

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Pompey was born Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in Rome on September 29, 106 BC, into a senatorial family. His father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was consul in 89 BC. Pompey belonged to the senatorial nobility, although his family first achieved the office of consul only in 141. Fluent in Greek and a lifelong and intimate friend of Greek literati, he must have had the normal education of a young Roman nobleman. His early experience though, was on the staff of his father did much to form his character, develop his military capabilities, and arouse his political ambition.


How Gnaeus Pompey Began His Career

At the age of seventeen Pompey fought, along with his father, on the side of Lucius Cornelius Sulla against the faction of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna. In eighty-four BC he raised three legions and defeated the Marian party. He was later sent to destroy the remnants of the Marian faction in Africa and Sicily. On his triumphant return to Rome he was honored with the title Magnus, or the Great. Later on in sixty-six to sixty-seven BC, Pompey cleared the Mediterranean Sea of pirates and was subsequently sixty-five and sixty-two BC, Pompey conquered not only Mithridates but also Tigranes the Great, king of Armenia, and Antiochus XIII of Syria. He also subdued the Jews and captured Jerusalem. On his return to Italy he disbanded his army and in sixty-one BC entered Rome in triumph for the third time. After his return he was anxious that the Senate should ratify his acts in Asia and certain lands be apportioned among his veterans. The Senate, however, declined to accede to his wishes, and Pompey, turning against the aristocratic party, now formed a close alliance with Julius Caesar, and the two men, together with Crassus, formed in sixty BC the First Triumvirate. Caesar's daughter Julia was given in marriage to Pompey and the following year Caesar repaired to Gaul, and there for nine years carried on a career of conquest while...