Chapter XIII: Part 13

LXXV. So it is said Cornelia spoke, and thus Pompeius replied: "It is true, Cornelia, you have hitherto known only one fortune, and that the better; and perhaps it has deceived you too, in that it has abided with me longer than is wont. But as we are mortals, we must bear this change, and still try fortune; for it is not hopeless for a man to attempt from this condition to recover his former state who has come to this after being in that other." Accordingly Cornelia sent for her property and slaves from the city; and though the Mitylenæans came to pay their respects to Pompeius, and invited him to enter the city, he would not, but he exhorted them also to yield to the conqueror and to be of good heart, for Cæsar was merciful and of a humane disposition. But turning to Kratippus[384] the philosopher, for he had come down from the city to see him, Pompeius found fault with and in a few words expressed some doubts about Providence, Kratippus rather giving way to him and trying to lead him to better hopes, that he might not give him pain at so unseasonable a time by arguing against him; for Pompeius might have questioned him about Providence, and Kratippus might have shown that the state of affairs at Rome required a monarchy on account of the political disorder; and he might have asked Pompeius, "How, Pompeius, and by what evidence shall we be persuaded that you would have used your fortune better than Cæsar, if you had been victorious?" But these matters that concern the gods we must leave as they are.

LXXVI. Taking on board his wife and friends, Pompeius continued his voyage, only putting in at such ports as of necessity he must for water or provisions. The first city that he came to was Attaleia[385] of Pamphylia; and there some galleys from Cilicia met him, and some soldiers were collecting, and there were again about sixty senators about him. Hearing that his navy still kept together, and that Cato had recruited many soldiers and was passing over to Libya, he lamented to his friends and blamed himself for being forced to engage with his army only, and for not making any use of the force which was beyond all dispute superior to that of the enemy; and that his navy was not so stationed that if he were defeated by land he might forthwith have had what would have made him a match for the enemy, a strength and power so great by sea close at hand. Indeed Pompeius committed no greater fault, nor did Cæsar show any greater generalship, than in withdrawing the field of battle so far beyond the reach of assistance from the navy. However, being compelled in the present state of affairs to decide and do something, he sent round to the cities, and himself sailing about to some, asked them for money, and began to man ships. But fearing the rapid movements and speed of his enemy, lest he should come upon him and take him before he was prepared, he looked about for a place of refuge for the present and a retreat. Now there appeared to them upon consideration to be no province to which they could safely fly; and as to the kingdoms, Pompeius gave it as his opinion that the Parthian[386] at the present was the best able to receive and protect them in their present weakness, and to strengthen them again and to send them forth with the largest force; of the rest, some turned their thoughts towards Libya and Juba,[387] but Theophanes of Lesbos pronounced it madness to leave Egypt, which was only three days' sail distant, and Ptolemæus,[388] who was still a youth, and indebted to Pompeius for the friendship and favour which his father had received from him, and to put himself in the hands of the Parthians, a most treacherous nation; and to be the first of all persons who did not choose to submit to a Roman who had been connected with him by marriage, nor to make trial of his moderation, and to put himself in the power of Arsakes,[389] who was not able to take even Crassus so long as he was alive; and to carry a young wife of the family of Scipio among barbarians, who measured their power by their insolence and unbridled temper; and if no harm should befall Cornelia, and it should only be apprehended that she might suffer injury, it would be a sad thing for her to be in the power of those who were able to do it. This alone, it is said diverted Pompeius from proceeding to the Euphrates; if indeed any reflection still guided Pompeius, and he was not rather directed by a dæmon to the way that he took.

LXXVII. Accordingly when the proposal to fly to Egypt prevailed, Pompeius setting sail from Cyprus in a galley of Seleukeia[390] with his wife (and of the rest some accompanied him also in ships of war, and others in merchant vessels), crossed the sea safely; and hearing that Ptolemæus[391] was seated before Pelusium with his army, being engaged in war against his sister, he came to that part of the coast and sent forward a person to announce his arrival to the king and to pray for his protection. Now Ptolemæus was very young, and Potheinus who managed everything, summoned a council of the chief persons; and the chief persons were those whom he chose to make so, and he bade each man give his opinion. It was indeed a sad thing that such men should deliberate about Pompeius Magnus, as Potheinus the eunuch and Theodotus of Chios who was hired as a teacher of rhetoric and the Egyptian Achillas: for these were the chief advisers of the king among the eunuchs and others who had the care of his person; and such was the court whose decision Pompeius was waiting for at anchor some distance from the shore and tossed by the waves, he who thought it beneath him to be indebted to Cæsar for his life. Now opinions among the rest were so far divided that some advised they should drive away Pompeius, and others, that they should invite and receive him: but Theodotus displaying his power in speech and his rhetorical art proved that neither of these courses was safe, but that if they received Pompeius, they would have Cæsar for an enemy and Pompeius for their master, and if they drove him away, they would incur the displeasure of Pompeius for ejecting him and of Cæsar for the trouble of the pursuit; it was therefore best to send for the man and kill him, for thus they would please Cæsar and have nothing to fear from Pompeius. And he concluded with a smile, as it is said, A dead man does not bite.

LXXVIII. Having determined on this they intrust the execution to Achillas, who taking with him one Septimius who had a long time ago served under Pompeius as a centurion and Salvius another centurion and three or four slaves, put out towards the ship of Pompeius. It happened that all the most distinguished persons who accompanied Pompeius had come on board his ship to see what was going on. Accordingly when they saw a reception which was neither royal nor splendid nor corresponding to the expectations of Theophanes, but a few men in a fishing-boat sailing towards them, this want of respect made them suspect treachery and they advised Pompeius to row back into the open sea, while they were still out of reach of missiles. In the mean time as the boat was nearing, Septimius was the first to rise and he addressed Pompeius as Imperator in the Roman language and Achillas saluting him in Greek invited him to enter the boat, because, as he said, the shallows were of great extent and the sea being rather sandy had not depth enough to float a trireme. At the same time it was observed that some of the king's ships were getting their men on board, and soldiers occupied the shore, so that it appeared impossible to escape even if they changed their minds and made the attempt; and besides, this want of confidence would give the murderers some excuse for their crime. Accordingly, after embracing Cornelia who was anticipating and bewailing his fate, he ordered two centurions to step into the boat before him, and Philippus one of his freedmen and a slave called Scythes, and while Achillas was offering him his hand out of the boat, he turned round to his wife and son and repeated the iambics of Sophocles,

"Whoever to a tyrant bends his way,
Is made his slave, e'en if he goes a freeman."

LXXIX.[392] These were the last words that he spoke to his friends before he entered the boat: and as it was a considerable distance to the land from the galley, and none of those in the boat addressed any friendly conversation to him, looking at Septimius he said, "I am not mistaken I think in recognising you as an old comrade of mine;" and Septimius nodded without making any reply or friendly acknowledgment. As there was again a profound silence, Pompeius who had a small roll on which he had written a speech in Greek that he intended to address to Ptolemæus, began reading it. As they neared the land, Cornelia with her friends in great anxiety was watching the result from the galley, and she began to have good hopes when she saw some of the king's people collecting together at the landing as if to honor Pompeius and give him a reception. In the mean time, while Pompeius was taking the hand of Philippus that he might rise more easily, Septimius from behind was the first to transfix him with his sword; and Salvius, and after him Achillas drew their swords. Pompeius drawing his toga close with both hands over his face, without saying or doing anything unworthy of himself, but giving a groan only, submitted to the blows, being sixty years of age save one, and ending his life just one day after his birthday.

LXXX. Those in the ships seeing the murder uttered a shriek which could be heard even to the land, and quickly raising their anchors, took to flight: and a strong breeze aided them in their escape to the open sea, so that the Egyptians, though desirous of pursuing, turned back. They cut off the head of Pompeius, and throwing the body naked out of the boat, left it for those to gaze at who felt any curiosity. Philippus stayed by the body, till the people were satisfied with looking at it, and then washing it with sea-water he wrapped it up in a tunic of his own; and as he had no other means, he looked about till he found the wreck of a small fishing-boat, which was decayed indeed, but enough to make a funeral pile in case of need for a naked body, and that not an entire corpse. As he was collecting these fragments and putting them together, a Roman, now an old man[393] who had served his first campaigns in his youth under Pompeius, stood by him and said: "Who are you, my friend, that are preparing to perform the funeral rites to Pompeius Magnus?" Philippus replying that he was a freedman, the man said: "But you shall not have this honour to yourself: allow me too to share in this pious piece of good fortune, that I may not altogether have to complain of being in a strange land, if in requital for many sufferings I get this honour at least, to touch and to tend with my hands the greatest of the Roman generals." Such were the obsequies of Pompeius. On the next day Lucius Lentulus who was on his voyage from Cyprus, not knowing what had happened, was coasting along the shore, when he saw the pile and Philippus standing by it before he was seen himself and said, "Who is resting here after closing his career?" and after a slight interval, with a groan, he added, "perhaps it is you, Pompeius Magnus." Presently he landed, and being seized was put to death. This was the end of Pompeius. Not long after Cæsar arriving in Egypt, which was filled with this horrid deed, turned away from the man who brought him the head of Pompeius, as from a murderer, and when he received the seal of Pompeius, he shed tears; the device was a lion holding a sword. He put to death Achillas and Potheinus, and the king himself being defeated in battle was lost somewhere near the river. Theodotus the sophist escaped the vengeance of Cæsar, for he fled from Egypt and wandered about in a miserable state, the object of detestation; but Brutus Marcus, after he had killed Cæsar and got the power in his hands, finding Theodotus in Asia, put him to death with every circumstance of contumely. Cornelia obtained the remains of Pompeius and had them carried to his Alban villa and interred there.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 189: This line is from the Prometheus Loosed ([Greek: luomenos] λυόμενος) of Aeschylus which is lost. Prometheus Bound ([Greek: desmôtês] δεσμώτης) is extant. Hermann is of opinion that the Prometheus Loosed did not belong to the same Tetralogy as the Prometheus Bound.]

[Footnote 190: The Gens to which Pompeius belonged was Plebeian. Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of Pompeius Magnus, was consul B.C. 89. Strabo, a name derived like many other Roman names from some personal peculiarity, signifies one who squints, and it was borne by members of other Roman Gentes also, as the Julia, and Fannia. It is said that the father of Pompeius Magnus had a cook Menogenes, who was called Strabo, and that the name was given to Cn. Pompeius because he resembled his cook. However this may be, Cn. Pompeius adopted the name, and it appears on his coins and in the Fasti. He had a bad character and appears to have deserved it. (Drumann, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 306.) Compare the Life of Sulla, c. 6. Notes.

The latter part of this chapter is somewhat obscure in the original. See the note of Coræs.]

[Footnote 191: L. Marcius Philippus, Consul B.C. 91 with Sextus Julius Cæsar, was a distinguished orator.]

[Footnote 192: Some of the commentators have had strange opinions about the meaning of this passage, which Kaltwasser has mistranslated. It is rightly explained in Schaefer's note, and the learned Lambinus has fully expounded it in a note on Horatius (_Od._ i. 13): but in place of [Greek: adêktos] ἀδήκτος he has a wrong reading [Greek: adêkto] ἀδήκτο. Flora was not the only courtesan who received the distinction mentioned in the text. The gilded statue of Phryne, the work of Praxiteles, was placed in the temple at Delphi, presented by the lady herself. (Pausanias, x. 15).]

[Footnote 193: Pompeius Magnus was born B.C. 106. He was younger than Marcus Crassus, of the same age as Cicero, and six years older than the Dictator Cæsar. The event mentioned in the chapter belongs to the year B.C 87, in which his father fought against L. Cinna. Pompeius Strabo died in this year.]

[Footnote 194: This town, now Ascoli on the Tronto, in Picenum, was taken by Pompeius Strabo B.C. 89 in the Marsic war, and burnt. The inhabitants, who had killed the proconsul P. Servilius and other Romans, were severely handled; and Pompeius Strabo had a triumph (December 89) for his success against the Asculani and other inhabitants of Picenum. (Velleius, ii. 21.)]

[Footnote 195: P. Antistius was prætor B.C. 86, the year after the death of Pompeius Strabo.]

[Footnote 196: Compare the Life of Romulus, c. 14.]

[Footnote 197: Cinna was killed in his fourth consulate, B.C. 84. Appianus (_Civil Wars_, i. 78) states that he was massacred by his soldiers, but his account may be true and that of Plutarch also, which is more particular, (See also Livius, _Epit._ 83.)]

[Footnote 198: The father of Pompeius had enriched himself during the Social wars.]

[Footnote 199: Now Osimo, was one of the cities of Picenum, south of Ancona. It was a Roman colony.]

[Footnote 200: The three commanders were C. Albius Carinnas, C. Cœlius Caldus and M. Junius Brutus. The word Clœlius in Plutarch may be a mistake of the copyists. Brutus was the father of M. Brutus, one of Cæsar's assassins.]

[Footnote 201: L. Cornelius Scipio, consul B.C. 83. Plutarch speaks of the same event in the Life of Sulla, c. 28, where he states that the soldiers of Scipio came over to Sulla. The two statements are contradictory, Appianus (_Civil Wars_, i. 85) tells the story of Scipio's army going over to Sulla.]

[Footnote 202: A mistake for Æsis (Esino, or Finmesino), a river which formed the boundary between Umbria and Picenum, and enters the sea north of Ancona. Appianus (_Civil Wars_, i. 87) states that Metellus defeated Carinnas, the legatus of Carbo, on the Æsis (B.C. 82).]

[Footnote 203: This was Q. Metellus Pius who afterwards commanded in Iberia against Sertorius. See the Life of Sertorius.]

[Footnote 204: The Greek writers often employ similes and metaphors derived from the athletic contests. There were contests both for boys and full-grown men. Compare the Life of Agesilaus, c. 13.]

[Footnote 205: The marriage arrangements mentioned in this chapter took place after the capture of Præneste, B.C. 82. See the Life of Sulla, c. 33. Sulla attempted to make Cæsar also part with his wife (Cæsar, c. 1): but Cæsar would not. Sulla, who was a cunning man, wished to gain over to his side all the young men of promise.

Antistius had been murdered in the Senate-house, by the order of the consul, the younger Marius, who was then blockaded in Præneste. Q. Mucius Scævola, the Pontifex, was murdered at the same time. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, i. 88.)]

[Footnote 206: His true name is Perperna. See the Life of Sertorius.]

[Footnote 207: Cn. Papirius Carbo was put to death, B.C. 82, in his third consulship. Compare Appianus, _Civil Wars_, i. 96, and Life of Sulla, c. 28, Notes. Valerius Maximus, ix. c. 13, gives the story of his begging for a short respite, with some other particulars.]

[Footnote 208: Caius Oppius, an intimate friend of Cæsar. Some persons believed that he was the author of the Books on the Alexandrine, African, and Spanish campaigns, which are printed with the Gallic War of Cæsar. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 56.) Hs wrote various biographies. Oppius is often mentioned by Cicero. There is extant a letter of Cicero to him _Ad Diversos_, xi. 29); but it is entitled in some editions of Cicero 'To Appius.']

[Footnote 209: This was Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, the father-in-law of Cinna. He had been consul B.C. 96 with C. Cassius Longinus.]

[Footnote 210: C. Memmius, according to Drumann, the same who afterwards fell in the war against Sertorius. (Life of Sertorius, c. 21.)]

[Footnote 211: The expedition of Pompeius to Africa was in B.C. 81. Iarbas is said to have been a descendant of Massinissa. He escaped from the battle. The scene of the battle and the subsequent movements of Pompeius cannot be collected from Plutarch's narrative, which here, as in the case of military operations generally, is of no value. As to the age of Pompeius, see the note in Clinton's Fasti B.C. 81.]

[Footnote 212: The lion is a native of North Africa, but it is doubtful if the elephant is. The Carthaginians employed many elephants in their armies, which they probably got from the countries south of the great desert. Plutarch evidently considers the elephant as a native of North Africa, or he would not speak of hunting it; yet in chapter 14 he speaks of the elephants as the King's, or the King's elephants, as if the elephants that Pompeius took were merely some that belonged to Iarbas or some of the African kings, and had got loose. Plinius (_N.H._ viii. 1) speaks of elephants in the forests of Mauritania. They are enumerated by Herodotus (iv. 191) among the beasts of North Africa.]

[Footnote 213: Drumann discusses at some length the question as to the time and occasion on which Pompeius received the appellation: those who are curious may consult his work, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 335.]

[Footnote 214: M. Valerius Maximus, a brother of Publicola. The allusion is to the secession of the Plebs to the Mons Sacer, B.C. 494, which was followed by the institution of the Tribunitian office. Cicero (Brutus, 14) mentions this Valerius, and the secession to the Mons Sacer. See Livius, ii. 30.]

[Footnote 215: Q. Fabius Maximus Rullus, who was five times consul, and for the last time in B.C. 295. (Livius, x. 22.) He was afterwards Dictator and Censor. It was in his capacity of Censor that he ejected these persons from the Senate, B.C. 304. Compare the Life of Fabius Maximus, c. 1.]

[Footnote 216: Kaltwasser observes that it was not so much a law (lex) as a usage: but Plutarch's words by no means imply that he thought there was a Lex to this effect. Livius (xxxi. c. 20) states that only a dictator, consul, or prætor could have a triumph. The claim of Pompeius was an impudent demand: but he felt his power. The 'first Scipio' is the elder Africanus. See Life of Tiberius Gracchus, c. 1, Notes.]

[Footnote 217: Plutarch may mean that Pompeius really attempted to enter the gate in a chariot drawn by elephants, and finding that he could not do it, he got out and mounted a chariot drawn by horses. This is perhaps nearer the literal version of the passage, and agrees better with Plinius (_N. H._ viii. 1).]

[Footnote 218: P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus, consul for B.C. 79. Pompeius triumphed B.C. 81, or in the beginning of 80 B.C., the first of the class of Equites who ever had this honour. The review of the Equites, which is spoken of at the end of this chapter, is explained by c. 22.]

[Footnote 219: Compare the Life of Sulla, c. 31, &c. Sulla died in the consulship of M. Æmilius Lepidus and Q. Lutatius Catulus, B.C. 78.]

[Footnote 220: This is the Roman expression, which Plutarch has rendered by [Greek: hoi aristoi] οἱ άριστοι. Compare Life of Tib. Gracchus, c. 10.]

[Footnote 221: On the site of Modena. The events of the consulship of Lepidus are very confused. Drumann observes (Pompeii, p. 345) that Plutarch incorrectly tells the story as if Pompeius was not present at the attack of Lepidus on Rome (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, i. 107; Floras, iii. 23): but Plutarch's narrative does not of necessity imply that Pompeius was not there.]

[Footnote 222: See the Life of Brutus.]

[Footnote 223: See the Life of Sertorius, and as to the conduct of Pompeius in the war more particularly, chapter 12, &c.]

[Footnote 224: Pro Consule was the title of a Roman general who was sent to a province with consular authority. It was not unusual to appoint a man Pro Consule who had not been 'consul.' The point of the reply lies in the form of the expression 'Pro Consule,' which was a title, as contrasted with 'Pro Consulibus,' which means 'instead of the consuls, to displace the consuls.' The expression of L. Philippus is recorded by Cicero (_Pro Lege Manilia_, c. 21). Pompeius went to Iberia B.C. 76.]

[Footnote 225: The death of Sertorius took place B.C. 72. As to the death of Perperna, see the Life of Sertorius, c. 26. The allusion to Sicily will be explained by referring to c. 10; but there is nothing there stated for which Pompeius needed to show any gratitude to Perperna. We may assume that Perperna left the island, because he could not safely stay.]

[Footnote 226: The war in Spain was not quite settled by the death of Perperna. There was still some work left to do. Several towns held out, particularly in the country of the warlike Arevaci, who were on the east coast of Spain. Pompeius burnt Uxama; and L. Afranius conducted the war with unsparing severity against the Calaguritani who made a desperate resistance. (Floras, iii. 22.) The capture of their town ended the war. Drumann, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 376.]

[Footnote 227: The history of the Servile war is in the Life of Crassus, c. 11, &c.]

[Footnote 228: This was in B.C. 71. In B.C. 70 Pompeius was consul for the first time with M. Licinius Crassus.]

[Footnote 229: Sulla had not abolished the tribunitian office, but he had deprived the tribunes of the chief part of their power. It does not seem exactly certain what Sulla did. Appianus (_Civil Wars_, i. 100) says 'that he weakened it very much and carried a law by which no man after being tribune could hold any other office.' Cicero (_De Legibus_, iii. 9) considers the extension of the tribunitian power as unavoidable, and as effected with the least mischief by being the work of Pompeius.]

[Footnote 230: A Cornelia Lex, passed in the time of Sulla, made the Judices in the Judicia Publica eligible only out of the body of Senators. That the Senators had acted corruptly in the administration of justice, we have the authority of Cicero in one of his Verrine orations (_In Verr._ A 1, 13 and 16). The measure for restoring the Equites to a share in the judicial functions was proposed by the prætor L. Aurelius Cotta, the uncle of C. Julius Cæsar, with the approbation of Pompeius and Cæsar, who were now acting in concert. The charges of corruption which Cotta made against the Senate are recorded by Cicero (_In Verr._ iii. 96). The proposed law (rogatio), which was carried, made the Judices eligible out of the Senators, Equites, and Tribuni Ærarii, which three classes are mentioned by Cicero (_Ad Atticum_, i. 16) as represented by the Judices who sat on the trial of Clodius. The purity of the administration of justice was not hereby improved. Cicero, on the occasion of the trial of Clodius, speaks of all these classes having their dishonest representatives among the judices.]

[Footnote 231: Compare the Life of Crassus, c. 12.

The remarks at the end of the chapter may be useful to some men who would meddle with matters political, when their only training has been in camps. Pompeius was merely a soldier, and had no capacity for civil affairs.]

[Footnote 232: The history of piracy in the Mediterranean goes as far back as the history of navigation. The numerous creeks and islands of this inland sea offer favourable opportunities for piratical posts, and accordingly we read of pirates as early as we read of commerce by sea. (Thucydides, i. 5.) The disturbances in the Roman State had encouraged these freebooters in their depredations. Cæsar, when a young man, fell into their hands (Life of Cæsar, c. 1); and also P. Clodius. The insecure state of Italy is shown by the fact of the pirates even landing on the Italian coast, and seizing the Roman magistrates, Sextilius and Bellienus. Cicero in his oration in favour of the Lex Manilia (c. 12, c. 17, &c.) gives some particulars of the excesses of the pirates. Antonia, whom they carried off, was the daughter of the distinguished orator, Marcus Antonius (Life of Marius, c. 44), who had been sent against the Cilician pirates B.C. 102, and had a triumph for his victory over them. If Cicero alludes (_Pro Lege Manilia_) to the capture of the daughter of Antonius, that probably took place before B.C. 87, for in that year Antonius was put to death. But Cicero speaks of the daughter of 'a prætor' being carried off from Misenum, and it is not improbable that he alludes to M. Antonius Creticus, prætor B.C. 75. If this explanation is correct, the Antonia was the grand-daughter of the orator Antonius.]

[Footnote 233: [Greek: stulides] στυλίδες. The meaning of this word is uncertain. [Greek: Stulis] Στυλίς is a diminutive of [Greek: stulos] στῦλος, and signifies a small pillar, or pole. It may be that which carried the colours. But I do not profess to have translated the word, for I do not know what is meant.]

[Footnote 234: From the places enumerated it appears that the pirates had carried their ravages from the coast of Asia Minor to the shores of Greece and up the Ionian Sea as far as the entrance of the Gulf of Ambracia, now the Gulf of Arta, near the entrance of which Actium was situated on the southern coast, and even to the Italian shores. The temple of Juno Lacinia was on the south-eastern coast of Italy on a promontory, now called Capo delle Colonne, from the ruins of the ancient temple. The noted temples of antiquity were filled with works of art and rich offerings, the gifts of pious devotees. Cicero (_Pro Lege Manilia_), c. 18) speaks of the pirates as infesting even the Via Appia.]

[Footnote 235: Not the mountain of that name, Kaltwasser remarks, but a town of Lycia in Asia Minor, one of the headquarters of the pirates. Strabo (p. 671) places Olympus in Cilicia. There was both a city and a mountain named Olympus there; and I have accordingly translated 'on Olympus.' (Beaufort, _Karamania_, p. 46.)]

[Footnote 236: Mithras was a Persian deity, as it appears. The name occurs in many Persian compounds as Mithridates, Ithamitres, and others. _Mitra_ is a Sanscrit name for the Sun. (Wilson, _Sanscrit Dictionary_.)]

[Footnote 237: The Mediterranean. See the Life of Sertorius, c. 8, note. As to the limits of the command of Pompeius, compare Velleius Paterculus, ii. 31.]

[Footnote 238: Aulus Gabinius, one of the tribunes for the year B.C. 67, proposed the measure. The consuls of this year were C. Calpurnius Piso and M. Acilius Glabrio.]

[Footnote 239: L. Roscius Otho, one of the tribunes, and the proposer of the unpopular law (B.C. 67) which gave the Equites fourteen separate seats at the theatre. (Velleius, ii. 32; Dion Cassius, 36, c. 25.)]

[Footnote 240: Compare the Life of Flaminiaus, c. 10.]

[Footnote 241: [Greek: ekomizen] ἐκόμιζεν in the text. The reading is perhaps wrong, and the sense is doubtful. Reiske conjectured that it should be [Greek: ekolaze] ἐκόλαζε.]

[Footnote 242: This place is on the coast of the Rough or Mountainous Cilicia, on a steep rock near the sea. (Strabo, p. 668; Beaufort's _Karamania_, p. 174.)]

[Footnote 243: Soli was an Achæan and Rhodian colony. After being settled by Pompeius, it received the name of Pompeiopolis, or the city of Pompeius. It is on the coast of the Level Cilicia, twenty miles west of the mouth of the river Cydnus, on which Tarsus stood. Soli was the birthplace of the Stoic Chrysippus, and of Philemon the comic writer. (Strabo, p. 671; Beaufort's _Kar._, p. 259.)]

[Footnote 244: Compare the Life of Lucullus, c. 26.]

[Footnote 245: One of the towns of Achæa in the Peloponnesus, near the borders of Elis. Pausanias (vii. 17).

As to the number of the pirates who surrendered, see Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 96).]

[Footnote 246: Q. Cæcilius Metellus Creticus is stated by some modern writers to have been a son of Metellus Dalmaticus; but it is unknown who his father and grandfather were. (Drumann, _Geschichte Roms_.) He had been consul B.C. 69. (Compare Velleius Paterculus, ii. 32.)]

[Footnote 247: The passage is in the Iliad, xxii. 207.]

[Footnote 248: Or as Plutarch writes it Mallius. The tribune C. Manilius is meant, who carried the Lex Manilia, B.C. 66, which gave Pompeius the command in the Mithridatic war. Cicero supported the law in the speech which is extant, Pro Lege Manilia. It has been proposed to alter Mallius in Plutarch's text into Manilius, but Sintenis refers to Dion Cassius (36. c. 25, 26, 27).]

[Footnote 249: This was Glabrio the consul of B.C. 67 (see note on c. 25), who had been appointed to supersede Lucullus. (Life of Lucullus, c. 34, notes.)]

[Footnote 250: The allusion is to the secession of the Plebs to the Mons Sacer, which is recorded in Livius (2. c. 32).]

[Footnote 251: See the Life of Tib. Gracchus, c. 12, and the note.]

[Footnote 252: Pompeius was appointed to the command in the Mithridatic war B.C. 66, when he was in Cilicia. (Appianus, _Mithridatic War_, c. 97.)]

[Footnote 253: Compare the Life of Lucullus, c. 35, &c.]

[Footnote 254: As to the events in this chapter, compare Appianus, _Mithridatic War_, c. 98, &c.]

[Footnote 255: Probably a Greek woman, as we may infer from the name. The king seems to have had a liking for Greek women.]

[Footnote 256: This is probably a corrupted name. It is Sinorega in Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 101). Coræs proposes Sinora. (Strabo, p. 555.) The place is mentioned by Ammianus (quoted by Sintenis) under the name of Sinhorium or Synorium. Strabo places Sinoria (as it is written in Casaubon's text) on the borders of the Greater Armenia.]

[Footnote 257: Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 101) describes the course which Mithridates took in his flight. He spent the winter in Dioscuri, as Appianus calls it, or Dioscurias on the east coast of the Euxine; and afterwards entered the countries bordering on the Mæotis or sea of Azoff. (Compare Strabo, p. 555.)]

[Footnote 258: He was the third son of Tigranes by the daughter of Mithridates. The other two had been put to death by their father. The young Tigranes appeared in the triumph of Pompeius at Rome and then was put to death. (Appianus, _Mithridatic War_, c. 104, 5.)]

[Footnote 259: See the Life of Lucullus, c. 26, notes.]

[Footnote 260: Probably Artaxata is meant, for Appianus (c. 104) says that Pompeius had advanced to the neighbourhood of Artaxata.

Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 104) places these transactions with Tigranes after the battle with the Iberians which Plutarch describes in c. 34.]

[Footnote 261: Probably a Persian word, with the same meaning as Tiara, the head-dress of the Persians and some other Oriental nations. The kings wore it upright to distinguish them from other people. (Herodotus, vii. 61.)]

[Footnote 262: A part of Armenia between the Antitaurus and the mountain range of Masius. (Strabo, p. 527.)]

[Footnote 263: Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 104) states that Pompeius received 6000 talents (of silver?) from Tigranes; and he seems to understand it as if the money was for Pompeius. In the other sums he agrees with Plutarch, except as to the tribunes, who received 10,000 drachmæ, or one talent and 4000 drachmæ, or 40 minæ.

On the value of the drachma, see Life of Tib. Gracchus, c. 2.]

[Footnote 264: _I.e._, to sup with.]

[Footnote 265: This great mountain system lies between the Euxine and the Caspian, and was now entered for the first time by the Roman troops. Colchis was on the west side of the mountains.]

[Footnote 266: The Saturnalia were celebrated in Rome on the 19th of December at this time. (Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 10; and the Life of Sulla, c. 18.) It was accordingly in the winter of B.C. 66 that Pompeius was in the mountains of the Caucasus. (Dion Cassius, 36. c. 36, 37.)]

[Footnote 267: I have kept the name Cyrnus, as it stands in the text of Plutarch, though it is probably, an error of the transcribers. The real name Cyrus could not be unknown to Plutarch. In the text of Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 103) the name is erroneously written Cyrtus; in Dion Cassius, it is Cyrnus. The Cyrus, now the Cur, flows from the higher regions of the Caucasus through Iberia and Albania, and is joined by the Araxes, Aras, above the point where the united stream enters the Caspian on the west coast. The twelve mouths are mentioned by Appianus (c. 103). Compare Strabo, p. 491.]

[Footnote 268: In fact the Persians never subdued any of the mountain tribes within the nominal limits of their dominions; and the Caucasus was indeed not even within the nominal limits.

It is true that Alexander soon quitted Hyrkania, which lies on the south-east coast of the Caspian; but when he was in Hyrkania he was still a considerable distance from the Iberians. (Arrianus, iii. 23, &c.)]

[Footnote 269: This is the Faz, or Reone, which enters the south-east angle of the Euxine in the country of the Colchi.]

[Footnote 270: The Abas river is conjectured by some writers to be the Alazonius, which was the boundary between Iberia and Albania, The Abas is mentioned by Dion Cassius, 37. c. 3.]

[Footnote 271: [Greek: epi tên tou thôrakos epiptuchên] ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θώρακος ἐπιπτυχήν Apparently some part of the coat of mail where there was a fold to allow of the motion of the body. As to the battle see Dion Cassius, 37. c. 3, &c.]

[Footnote 272: Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 103) says "Among the hostages and the captives were found many women, who were wounded as much as the men; and they were supposed to be Amazons, whether it is that some nation called Amazons borders on them, and they were then invited to give aid, or that the barbarians in those parts call any warlike women by the name of Amazons." The explanation of Appianus is probably the true explanation. Instances of women serving as soldiers are not uncommon even in modern warfare. The story of a race of fighting women occurs in many ancient writers. The Amazons are first mentioned by Herodotus (iv. 110-116). There is a story of a hundred armed women being presented to Alexander (Arrian, vii. 13, &c., who gives his opinion about them). Strabo (p. 503) says that Theophanes, who accompanied Pompeius in this campaign, places the Gelæ and Legæ between the Albanians and the Amazons. It is probable that the women of the mountain tribes of the Caucasus sometimes served in the field, and this at least may explain the story here told by Plutarch. The chief residence of the Amazons is placed in the plains of Themiscyra on the Thermodon in Cappadocia. Plutarch in his confused notions of geography appears to consider the Thermodon as a Caucasian river. He also places them near the Leges, a name which resembles that of the Lesghians, one of the present warlike tribes of the Caucasus. On antient medals the Amazons are represented with a short vest reaching to the knee, and one breast bare. Their arms were a crescent shield, the bow and arrow, and the double axe, whence the name Amazonia was used as a distinctive appellation for that weapon (Amazonia securis, Horat. _Od._ iv. 4).]

[Footnote 273: The Caspian sea or lake was also called the Hyrkanian, from the province of Hyrkania which bordered on the south-east coast. The first notice of this great lake is in Herodotus (i. 203).]

[Footnote 274: The Elymæi were mountaineers who occupied the mountainous region between Susiana and Media. Gordyene was in the most south-eastern part of Armenia. Tigranocerta was in Gordyene. Appianus says that in his time Sophene and Gordyene composed the Less Armenia (_Mithridatic War_, c. 105). In the territory of Arbela, where the town of Arbil now is, Alexander had defeated Darius, the last king of Persia.]

[Footnote 275: Another Greek woman, as we may infer from the name. The story of the surrender of the fort by Stratonike is told by Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 107) with some additional particulars. Dion Cassius (37. c. 7) names this fort Symphorium.

The narrative of Plutarch omits many circumstances in the campaigns of Pompeius, which Appianus has described (c. 105, 106) a happening between the arrangement with Tigranes and the surrender of the fort by Stratonike. Among these events was the war in Judæa and the capture of Jerusalem. Pompeius entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple, into which only the high priest could enter, and that on certain occasions. Jerusalem was taken B.C. 63 in the consulship of Cicero. The events of this campaign are too confused to be reduced into chronological order. Drumann has attempted it (_Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 451, &c.)]

[Footnote 276: Plutarch means the fort which he has mentioned in the preceding chapter without there giving it a name; the Symphorium of Dion. It was on the river Lycus, not quite 200 stadia from Cabira (Strabo, 556), and was an impregnable place.]

[Footnote 277: [Greek: Hupomnêmata] Ὑπομνήματα: probably written in Greek, with which Mithridates was well acquainted. These valuable memoirs were used by Theophanes in his history of the campaigns of Pompeius. Theophanes was a native of Mitylene in Lesbos and accompanied Pompeius in several of his campaigns. He is often mentioned by Cicero (Cicero, _Ad Attic._, ii. 4, and the notes in the Variorum edition).]

[Footnote 278: The character of Mithridates is only known to us from his enemies. But his own memoirs, if the truth is here stated, prove his cruel and vindictive character. He spared neither his friends nor his own children. Among others he put to death his son Xiphares by Stratonike to revenge himself on the mother for giving up the fort Kænum.]

[Footnote 279: See the Life of Sulla, c. 6. The registration of dreams and their interpretation, that is the events which followed and were supposed to explain them, were usual among the Greeks. There is still extant one of these curious collections by Artemidorus Daldianus in five books, entitled Oneirocritica, or The Interpretation of Dreams. The fifth book of 'Results' contains ninety-five dreams of individuals and the events which happened.]

[Footnote 280: See the Life of Lucullus, c. 18.]

[Footnote 281: Publius Rutilius Rufus was consul B.C. 105. He was exiled in consequence of being unjustly convicted B.C. 92 at the time when the Judices were chosen from the body of the Equites. He was accused of Repetundæ and convicted and exiled. He retired to Smyrna, where he wrote the history of his own times in Greek. All the authorities state that he was an honest man and was unjustly condemned. (Velleius Paterculus, ii. 13; Tacitus, _Agricola_, c. 1: and the various passages in Orelli, _Onomasticon_, P. Rutilius Rufus.)]

[Footnote 282: See the Life of Lucullus, c. 14.]

[Footnote 283: The strait that unites the Euxine to the Mæotis or Sea of Azoff, was called the Bosporus, which name was also given to the country on the European side of the strait, which is included in the peninsula of the Crimea.]

[Footnote 284: See Dion Cassius, 37. c. 5.]

[Footnote 285: This is the Indian Ocean. The name first occurs in Herodotus. It is generally translated the Red Sea, and so it is translated by Kaltwasser. But the Red Sea was called the Arabian Gulf by Herodotus. However, the term Erythræan Sea was sometimes used with no great accuracy, and appears to have comprehended the Red Sea, which is a translation of the term Erythræan, as the Greeks understood that word ([Greek: erythros] ἐρυθρός, Red).]

[Footnote 286: Triarius, the legatus of Lucullus, had been defeated three years before by Mithridates. See the Life of Lucullus, c. 35; and Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 89).]

[Footnote 287: This mountain range is connected with the Taurus and runs down to the coast of the Mediterranean, which it reaches at the angle formed by the Gulf of Scanderoon.]

[Footnote 288: This campaign, as already observed in the notes to c. 36, is placed earlier by Appianus, but his chronology is confused and incorrect. The siege of Jerusalem, which was accompanied with great difficulty, is described by Dion Cassius (37. c. 15, &c.), and by Josephus (_Jewish Wars_, xiv. 4). There was a great slaughter of the Jews when the city was stormed.]

[Footnote 289: This country was Gordyene. (Dion Cassius, 37. c. 5.)]

[Footnote 290: This city, the capital of Syria, was built by Seleucus Nicator and called Antiocheia after his father Antiochus. It is situated in 36° 12' N. lat. on the south bank of the Orontes, a river which enters the sea south of the Gulf of Scanderoon.]

[Footnote 291: The meaning of the original is obscure. The word is [Greek: to imation] τὸ ιμάτιον, which ought to signify his vest or toga. Some critics take it to mean a kind of handkerchief used by sick persons and those of effeminate habits; and they say it was also used by persons when travelling, as a cover for the head, which the Greeks called Theristerium. The same word is used in the passage (c. 7), where it is said that "Sulla used to rise from his seat as Pompeius approached and take his vest from his head." Whatever may be the meaning of the word here, Plutarch seems to say that this impudent fellow would take his seat at the table before the guests had arrived and leave his master to receive them.]

[Footnote 292: Drumann (_Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 53) observes that "Plutarch does not say that Pompeius built his house near his theatre, but that he built it in addition to his theatre and at the same time, as Donatus had perceived, De Urbe Roma, 3, 8, in Græv. Thes. T. 3, p. 695." But Drumann is probably mistaken. There is no great propriety in the word [Greek: epholkion] ἐφόλκιον unless the house was near the theatre, and the word [Greek: paretektênato] παρετεκτήνατο rather implies 'proximity,' than 'in addition to.'

This was the first permanent theatre that Rome had. It was built partly on the model of that of Mitylene and it was opened in the year B.C. 55. This magnificent theatre, which would accommodate 40,000 people, stood in the Campus Martius. It was built of stone with the exception of the scena, and ornamented with statues, which were placed there under the direction of Atticus, who was a man of taste. Augustus embellished the theatre, and he removed thither the statue of Pompeius, which up to that time had stood in the Curia where Cæsar was murdered. The scena was burnt down in the time of Tiberius, who began to rebuild it; but it was not finished till the reign of Claudius. Nero gilded the interior. The scena was again burnt in the beginning of the reign of Titus, who restored it again. The scena was again burnt in the reign of Philippus and a third time restored. (Drumann, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 521; Dion Cassius 39. c. 88, and the notes of Reimarus.)]

[Footnote 293: Petra, the capital of the Nabathæi, is about half way between the southern extremity of the Dead Sea and the northern extremity of the Ælanitic Gulf, the more eastern of the two northern branches of the Red Sea. The ruins of Petra exist in the Wady Musa, and have been visited by Burckhardt, Irby and Mangles, and last by Laborde, who has given the most complete description of them in his 'Voyage de l'Arabie Pétrée,' Paris, 1830. The place is in the midst of a desert, but has abundance of water. Its position made it an important place of commerce in the caravan trade of the East; and it was such in the time of Strabo, who states on the authority of his friend Athonodorus that many Romans were settled there (p. 779). It contains numerous tombs and a magnificent temple cut in the rock, a theatre and the remains of houses.

The king against whom Pompeius was marching is named Aretas by Dion Cassius (37. c. 15).]

[Footnote 294: The Pæonians were a Thracian people on the Strymon. (Herodotus, v. 1.) It appears from Dion Cassius (49. c. 36) that the Greeks often called the Pannonians by the name of Pæonians, which Sintenis considers a reason for not altering the reading here into Pannonians. Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 102) uses the name Pæonians, though he means Pannonians.]

[Footnote 295: This is the Roman word. Compare Tacitus (_Annal._ i. 18): "congerunt cespites, exstruunt tribunal."]

[Footnote 296: The circumstances of the rebellion of Pharnakes and the death of Mithridates are told by Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 110) and Dion Cassius (37. c. 11). Mithridates died B.C. 63, in the year in which Cicero was consul.

The text of the last sentence in this chapter is corrupt; and the meaning is uncertain.]

[Footnote 297: [Greek: to nemesêton] τὸ νεμέσητον.]

[Footnote 298: The body of Mithridates was interred at Sinope. Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 113) says that Pharnakes sent the dead body of his father in a galley to Pompeius to Sinope, and also those who had killed Manius Aquilius, and many hostages Greeks and barbarians. There might be some doubt about the meaning of the words 'many corpses of members of the royal family' [Greek: polla sômata tôn basilikôn] πολλα σώματα τῶν βασιλικῶν but Plutarch appears from the context to mean dead bodies. Two of the daughters of Mithridates who were with him when he died, are mentioned by Appianus (c. 111) as having taken poison at the same time with their father. The poison worked on them, but had no effect on the old man, who therefore prevailed on a Gallic officer who was in his service to kill him. (Compare Dion Cassius, 39. c. 13, 14.)]

[Footnote 299: He made it what the Romans called Libera Civitas, a city which had its own jurisdiction and was free from taxes. Compare the Life of Cæsar, c. 48.]

[Footnote 300: He was a native of Apamea in Syria, a Stoic, and a pupil of Panætius. He was one of the masters of Cicero, who often speaks of him and occasionally corresponded with him (Cicero, _Ad Attic._ ii. 1). Cicero also mentions Hermagoras in his treatise De Inventione (i. 6, and 9), and in the Brutus (c. 79).]

[Footnote 301: See the Life of Sulla, c. 6.]

[Footnote 302: She was the daughter of Q. Mucius Scævola, consul B.C. 95, and the third wife of Pompeius, who had three children by her. She was not the sister of Q. Metellus Nepos and Q. Metellus Celer, as Kaltwasser says, but a kinswoman. Cn. Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius were the sons of Mucia. Cicero (_Ad Attic._ i. 12) speaks of the divorce of Mucia and says that it was approved of; but he does not assign the reason. C. Julius Cæsar (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 50) is named as the adulterer or one of them, and Pompeius called him his Ægisthus. After her divorce in the year B.C. 62 Mucia married M. Æmilius Scaurus, the brother of the second wife of Pompeius. Mucia survived the battle of Actium (B.C. 31), and she was treated with respect by Octavianus Cæsar (Dion Cassius, 51. c. 2; Drumann, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 557).]

[Footnote 303: Here and elsewhere I have used Plutarch's word [Greek: monarchia] μοναρχία, 'The government of one man,' by which he means the Dictatorship, in some passages at least.]

[Footnote 304: He landed in Italy B.C. 62, during the consulship of D. Junius Silanus and L. Licinius Murena. The request mentioned at the beginning of c. 44 is also noticed in Plutarch's Life of Cato (c. 30). M. Pupius Piso was one of the consuls for B.C. 61.]

[Footnote 305: This was L. Afranius, one of the legati of Pompeius, who has often been mentioned. He was consul with Q. Metellus Celer B.C. 60 (compare Dion Cassius, 37. c. 49). Cicero, who was writing to Atticus at the time (_Ad Attic._ i. 17), speaks of the bribery at the election of Afranius, and accuses Pompeius of being active on the occasion. From this consulship Horatius (_Od._ ii. 1) dates the commencement of the civil wars, for in this year was formed the coalition between Cæsar, Pompeius, and Crassus. See the remark of Cato, c. 47.]

[Footnote 306: Compare Appianus (_Mithridatic War_, c. 116) and Dramann, _Geschichte Roms_, Pompeii, p. 485. When particular measures of money are not mentioned, Plutarch, as usual with him, means Attic drachmæ.]

[Footnote 307: The triumph of Pompeius was in B.C. 61 on his birthday (Plinius 37. c. 2). Pompeius was born B.C. 106, and consequently he was now entering on his forty-sixth year--Xylander (Holzmann) preferred to read 'fifty' instead of 'forty.']

[Footnote 308: Cicero went into exile B.C. 58, and after the events mentioned in chapter 47. Cæsar returned from his province of Iberia in B.C. 60.]

[Footnote 309: See the Life of Cæsar, c. 14, as to the events mentioned in this chapter and the following. Cæsar was consul B.C. 59.]

[Footnote 310: L. Calpurnius Piso and A. Gabinius were consuls B.C. 58, in the year in which Clodius was tribune and Cicero was exiled.]

[Footnote 311: As to this remark of Pompeius, compare the Life of Lucullus, c. 38.]

[Footnote 312: Compare the Life of Cato, c. 34.]

[Footnote 313: A mark of an effeminate person. Compare the Life of Cæsar, c. 4, which explains this passage.]

[Footnote 314: This event is told by Dion Cassius (39. c. 19), but as Kaltwasser remarks he places it in B.C. 56, when Clodius was ædile and Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and M. Marcius Philippus were consuls. The trial was that of Milo De Vi, B.C. 56. Compare Cicero (Ad Quintum Fratrem, ii. 3) and Rein (_Criminalrecht der Römer_, p. 758, note).]

[Footnote 315: Q. Terentius Culleo was a tribunus plebis B.C. 58. He is mentioned by Cicero (_Ad Attic._ iii. 15) and elsewhere.]

[Footnote 316: Cicero returned to Rome B.C. 57 in the consulship of P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther and Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos. See the Life of Cicero, c. 33. He had returned to Rome before the trial mentioned at the end of c. 48.]