III. When he was still quite a youth and was serving under his father, who was opposed to Cinna, he had one Lucius Terentius[193] for his companion and tent-mate. This Lucius being bribed by Cinna, designed to kill Pompeius, and others were to fire the general's tent. Information of this came to Pompeius while he was at supper, at which, nothing disturbed, he went on drinking more gaily, and showing great signs of affection towards Terentius; but when they were turning in to rest he slipped unobserved from under the tent, and after placing a guard about his father, kept quiet. When Terentius thought the time was come, drawing his sword he got up, and approaching the bed of Pompeius, he struck many blows upon the bed-covering, supposing that Pompeius was lying there. Upon this there was a great commotion owing to the soldiers' hatred of their general, and there was a movement made towards mutiny by the men beginning to pull down the tents and take their arms. The general, fearing the tumult, did not come near; but Pompeius, going about in the midst of the soldiers, implored them with tears in his eyes, and finally throwing himself on his face before the gate of the camp right in their way, he lay there weeping, and told those who were going out to trample on him, so that every man drew back for very shame, and thus the whole army, with the exception of eight hundred men, changed their design and were reconciled to their commander.

IV. Upon the death of Strabo, Pompeius had to defend a prosecution in respect of a charge of peculation against his father. He detected one of his freedmen in having appropriated most of the property, and proved it to the magistrates; but he was himself accused of having in his possession hunting nets and books which were taken among the plunder at Asculum.[194] He received these things from his father when he took Asculum, but he lost them after his return to Rome, when the guards of Cinna broke into his house and plundered it. He had many preliminary contests with the accuser before the trial commenced, in which, by showing himself to possess an acuteness and firmness above his years, he got great reputation and popularity, so that Antistius,[195] who was praetor and presided at that trial, conceived a great affection for Pompeius, and offered him his daughter to wife, and spoke about it to his friends. Pompeius accepted the proposal, and an agreement was secretly made between them; but yet the matter did not fail to be generally known by reason of the partizanship of Antistius. When at last Antistius declared the votes of the judices to be for his acquittal, the people, as if a signal had been concerted, called out the name Talasius,[196] which, pursuant to an old custom, they are used to utter on the occasion of a marriage. This ancient custom, they say, had the following origin: When the daughters of the Sabines had come to Rome to see the games, and the noblest among the Romans were carrying them off to be their wives, some goatherds and herdsmen of mean condition took upon their shoulders a tall handsome maid and were carrying her off. In order, however, that none of the better sort who might fall in with them should attempt to take the maid from them, they called out as they ran along that she was for Talasius (now Talasius was a man of rank and much beloved), so that those who heard the cry clapped their hands and shouted as being pleased at what the men were doing and commending them for it. From this time forth, as the story goes, inasmuch as the marriage of Talasius turned out to be a happy one, it is usual to utter the same expression by way of merriment at the occasion of a marriage. This is the most probable story among those which are told about the name Talasius. However, a few days after the trial Pompeius married Antistia.

V. Having gone to Cinna[197] to the camp, Pompeius became alarmed in consequence of some charge and false accusation, and he quickly stole out of the way. On his disappearing, a rumour went through the camp and a report that Cinna had murdered the young man, whereupon the soldiers, who had long been weary of him and hated their general, made an assault upon him. Cinna attempted to escape, but he was overtaken by a centurion, who pursued him with his naked sword. Cinna fell down at the knees of the centurion, and offered him his seal ring, which was of great price; but the centurion with great contempt replied: "I am not going to seal a contract, but to punish an abominable and unjust tyrant," and so killed him. Cinna thus perished, but he was succeeded in the direction of affairs by Carbo, a still more furious tyrant than himself, who kept the power in his hands till Sulla advanced against him, to the great joy of the most part, who in their present sufferings thought even a change of masters no small profit. To such a condition had calamities brought the state, that men despairing of freedom sought a more moderate slavery.

VI. Now about this time Pompeius was tarrying in Picenum in Italy, for he had estates[198] there, but mainly because he liked the cities, which were well disposed and friendly towards him by reason of their ancient connection with his father. Seeing that the most distinguished and chief of the citizens were leaving their property and flocking from all sides to Sulla's camp as to a harbour of refuge, Pompeius did not think it becoming in him to steal away to Sulla like a fugitive, nor without bringing some contribution, nor yet as if he wanted help, but he thought that he should begin by doing Sulla some service and so approach with credit and a force. Accordingly he attempted to rouse the people of Picenum, who readily listened to his proposals, and paid no attention to those who came from Carbo. A certain Vindius having remarked that Pompeius had just quitted school to start up among them as a popular leader, the people were so infuriated that they forthwith fell on Vindius and killed him. Upon this Pompeius, who was now three and twenty years of age, without being appointed general by any one, but himself assuming the command in Auximum,[199] a large city, placing a tribunal in the forum and by edict ordering two brothers Ventidii who were among the chief persons in the place and were opposing him on behalf of Carbo, to quit the city, began to enlist soldiers, and to appoint centurions and officers over them, and he went to all the surrounding cities and did the same. All who were of Carbo's party got up and quitted the cities, but the rest gladly put themselves in the hands of Pompeius, who thus in a short time raised three complete legions, and having supplied himself with provisions and beasts of burden and waggons and everything else that an army requires, advanced towards Sulla, neither hurrying nor yet content with passing along unobserved, but lingering by the way to harass the enemy, and endeavouring to detach from Carbo every part of Italy that he visited.

VII. Now there rose up against him three hostile generals at once, Carinna,[200] and Cloelius and Brutus, not all in front, nor yet all from the same quarter, but they surrounded him with three armies, with the view of completely destroying him. Pompeius was not alarmed, but getting all his force together he attacked one of the armies, that of Brutus, placing in the front his cavalry, among whom he himself was. From the side of the enemy the Celtae rode out to meet him, when Pompeius with spear in hand struck the first and strongest of them and brought him down; on which the rest fled and put the infantry also into confusion, so that there was a general rout. Hereupon the generals quarrelled among themselves and retired, as each best could, and the cities took the part of Pompeius, seeing that the enemy had dispersed in alarm. Next came Scipio[201] the consul against him, but before the lines had come close enough to discharge their javelins, the soldiers of Scipio saluted those of Pompeius and changed sides, and Scipio made his escape. Finally, near the river Arsis,[202] Carbo himself attacked Pompeius with several troops of horse, but Pompeius bravely stood the attack, and putting them to flight pursued and drove all of them upon difficult ground where no cavalry could act; and the men, seeing that there was no hope of saving themselves, surrendered with their arms and horses.

VIII. Sulla had not yet received intelligence of these events, but upon the first news and reports about Pompeius, being alarmed at his being among so many hostile generals of such reputation, he made haste to relieve him. Pompeius being informed that Sulla was near, ordered his officers to arm the forces and to display them in such manner that they might make the most gallant and splendid appearance to the Imperator, for he expected to receive great honours from him; and he got more than he expected. For when Sulla saw him approaching and his army standing by, admirable for the brave appearance of the men and elated and rejoicing in their success, he leapt down from his horse, and being addressed, according to custom, by the title of Imperator, he addressed Pompeius in return by the title of Imperator, though nobody would have expected that Sulla would give to a young man who was not yet a member of the Senate, the title for which he was fighting against the Scipios and the Marii. And indeed everything else was in accordance with the first greeting, for Sulla used to rise from his seat as Pompeius approached and take his vest from his head, which he was not observed to do generally to any other person, though there were many distinguished men about him. Pompeius, however, was not made vain by these marks of distinction, but on being immediately sent into Gaul by Sulla, where Metellus[203] commanded and appeared to be doing nothing correspondent to his means, Pompeius said it was not right to take the command from a man who was his senior and superior in reputation; however he said he was ready to carry on the war in conjunction with Metellus, if he had no objection, in obedience to his orders and to give him his assistance. Metellus accepted the proposal and wrote to him to come, on which Pompeius entering Gaul, performed noble exploits, and he also fanned into a flame again and warmed the warlike and courageous temper of Metellus, which was now near becoming extinct through old age, as the liquid, heated stream of copper by flowing about the hard, cold metal is said to soften and to liquefy it into its own mass better than the fire. But as in the case of an athlete[204] who has obtained the first place among men and has gloriously vanquished in every contest, his boyish victories are made of no account and are not registered; so the deeds which Pompeius then accomplished, though of themselves extraordinary, yet as they were buried under the number and magnitude of his subsequent struggles and wars, I have been afraid to disturb them, lest if we should dwell too long on his first exploits, we should miss the acts and events which are the most important and best show the character of the man.

IX.[205] Now when Sulla was master of Italy and was proclaimed Dictator, he rewarded the other officers and generals by making them rich and promoting them to magistracies and by granting them without stint and with readiness what they asked for. But as he admired Pompeius for his superior merit and thought that he would be a great support to his own interests, he was anxious in some way to attach him by family relations. Metella, the wife of Sulla, had also the same wish, and they persuaded Pompeius to put away Antistia and to take to wife Aemilia, the step-daughter of Sulla, the child of Metella by Scaurus, who was then living with her husband and was pregnant. This matter of the marriage was of a tyrannical character, and more suited to the interests of Sulla than conformable to the character of Pompeius, for Aemilia, who was pregnant, was taken from another to be married to him, and Antistia was put away with dishonour and under lamentable circumstances, inasmuch as she had just lost her father also, and that, too, on her husband's account; for Antistius was murdered in the Senate-house because he was considered to be an adherent of Sulla for the sake of Pompeius; and the mother of Antistia having witnessed all this put an end to her life, so that this misfortune was added to the tragedy of the marriage; and in sooth another besides, for Aemilia herself died immediately afterwards in child-birth in the house of Pompeius.

X. After this, news arrived that Perpenna[206] was securing Sicily for himself, and that the island was supplying to those who remained of the opposite faction a point for concentrating their forces; for Carbo[207] was afloat in those parts with a navy, and Domitius had fallen upon Libya, and many other fugitives of note were crowding there, who had escaped from the proscriptions. Against these Pompeius was sent with a large force: and Perpenna immediately evacuated Sicily upon his arrival. Pompeius relieved the cities which had been harshly treated, and behaved kindly to them all except to the Mamertini in Messene. For when the Mamertini protested against the tribunal and the Roman administration of justice, on the ground that there was an old Roman enactment which forbade their introduction, "Won't you stop," said he, "citing laws to us who have our swords by our sides?" It was considered also that Pompeius triumphed over the misfortunes of Carbo in an inhuman manner. For if it was necessary to put Carbo to death, as perhaps it was, he ought to have been put to death as soon as he was taken, and then the act might have been imputed to him who gave the order. But Pompeius produced in chains a Roman who had three times been Consul, and making him stand in front of the tribunal while he was sitting, sat in judgment on him, to the annoyance and vexation of those who were present; after which he ordered him to be removed and put to death. They say that when Carbo had been dragged off, seeing the sword already bared, he begged them to allow him to retire for a short time as his bowels were disordered. Caius Oppius,[208] the friend of Caesar, says that Pompeius behaved inhumanly to Quintus Valerius also; for Pompeius, who knew that Valerius was a learned man and a particular lover of learning, embraced him, and after walking about with him and questioning him about what he wanted to know, and getting his answer, he ordered his attendants to take Valerius away and immediately put him to death. But when Oppius is speaking of the enemies or friends of Caesar, it is necessary to be very cautious in believing what he says. Now as to those enemies of Sulla who were of the greatest note and were openly taken, Pompeius of necessity punished them; but as to the rest he allowed as many as he could to escape detection, and he even aided some in getting away. Pompeius had determined to punish the inhabitants of Himera which had sided with the enemy; but Sthenis the popular leader having asked for a conference with him, told Pompeius that he would not do right, if he let the guilty escape and punished the innocent. On Pompeius asking who the guilty man was, Sthenis replied, it was himself, for he had persuaded those citizens who were his friends, and forced those who were his enemies. Pompeius admiring the bold speech and spirit of the man pardoned him first and then all the rest. Hearing that his soldiers were committing excesses on the march, he put a seal on their swords, and he who broke the seal was punished.

XI. While he was thus engaged in Sicily and settling the civil administration, he received a decree of the Senate and letters from Sulla which contained an order for him to sail to Libya and vigorously oppose Domitius,[209] who had got together a power much larger than that with which Marius no long time back had passed over from Libya to Italy and put all affairs at Rome in confusion by making himself a tyrant after having been a fugitive. Accordingly making his preparations with all haste Pompeius left in command in Sicily Memmius,[210] his sister's husband, and himself set sail with a hundred and twenty large ships, and eight hundred transports which conveyed corn, missiles, money, and engines. On his landing with part of his vessels at Utica and the rest at Carthage, seven thousand men deserted from the enemy and came over to him; he had himself six complete legions. It is said that a ludicrous thing occurred here. Some soldiers having fallen in with a treasure, as it seems, got a large sum of money. The matter becoming known, all the rest of the soldiers got a notion that the place was full of money, which they supposed to have been hid during the misfortunes of the Carthaginians. The consequence was that Pompeius could do nothing with the soldiers for many days while they were busy with looking after treasure, but he went about laughing and looking on so many thousands all at one time digging and turning up the ground, till at last the men were tired and told their commander to lead them were he pleased, as they had been punished enough for their folly.

XII. Domitius had posted himself to oppose Pompeius, with a ravine in his front which was difficult to pass and rough; but a violent rain accompanied with wind commenced in the morning and continued, so that Domitius giving up his intention of fighting on that day ordered a retreat. Pompeius taking advantage of this opportunity advanced rapidly and began to cross the ravine. But the soldiers of Domitius were in disorder and confusion, and what resistance they offered was neither made by the whole body nor yet in any regular manner: the wind also veered round and blew the storm right in their faces. However the storm confused the Romans also, for they did not see one another clearly, and Pompeius himself had a narrow escape with his life, not being recognised by a soldier to whom he was somewhat slow in giving the word on being asked for it. Having repulsed the enemy with great slaughter (for it is said that out of twenty thousand only three thousand escaped) they saluted Pompeius with the title of Imperator. But Pompeius said that he would not accept the honour, so long as the enemy's encampment was standing, and if they thought him worthy of this title they must first destroy the camp, upon which they forthwith rushed against the rampart, and Pompeius fought without a helmet for fear of what just had happened. The camp was taken and Domitius fell. Some of the cities immediately submitted, and others were taken by storm. Pompeius also made a prisoner of Iarbas,[211] one of the kings, who had sided with Domitius, and he gave his kingdom to Hiempsal. Availing himself of his success and the strength of his army he invaded Numidia. After advancing many days' march and subduing all whom he met with, and firmly establishing the dread of the Romans among the barbarians which had now somewhat subsided, he said that he ought not to leave even the wild beasts of Libya, without letting them have some experience of the strength and courage of the Romans. Accordingly he spent a few days in hunting lions and elephants;[212] and in forty days in all, as it is said, he defeated his enemies, subdued Libya, and settled all the affairs of the kings, being then in his four and twentieth year.

XIII. On his return to Utica he received letters from Sulla, with orders to disband the rest of the army, and to wait there with one legion for his successor in the command. Pompeius was annoyed at this and took it ill, though he did not show it; but the army openly expressed their dissatisfaction, and when Pompeius requested them to advance, they abused Sulla, and they said they would not let Pompeius be exposed to danger without them, and they advised him not to trust the tyrant. At first Pompeius endeavoured to mollify and quiet them, but finding that he could not prevail, he descended from the tribunal and went to his tent weeping. But the soldiers laid hold of him and again placed him on the tribunal, and a great part of the day was spent in the soldiers urging him to stay and be their leader, and in Pompeius entreating the soldiers to be obedient and not to mutiny, till at last, as they still urged him and drowned his voice with their cries, he swore he would kill himself, if they forced him; and so at last with great difficulty they were induced to stop. Sulla at first received intelligence that Pompeius had revolted, on which he said to his friends, it was his fate now that he was old to fight with boys, alluding to the fact that Marius, who was very young, gave him most trouble, and brought him into the extremest danger; but on hearing the true state of affairs, and perceiving that everybody with right good will was eager to receive Pompeius and to escort him, he made haste to outdo them. Accordingly he advanced and met Pompeius, and receiving him with all possible expressions of good-will, he saluted him with a loud voice by the name of Magnus,[213] and he bade those who were present to address him in the same way. The word Magnus means Great. Others say that it was in Libya first that the whole army with acclamation pronounced the name, and that it obtained strength and currency by being confirmed by Sulla. But Pompeius himself, after everybody else, and some time later when he was sent into Iberia as proconsul against Sertorius, began to call himself in his letters and edicts Magnus Pompeius; for the name was no longer invidious when people had been made familiar with it. And here one may justly admire and respect the old Romans, who requited with such appellations and titles not success in war and battles only, but honoured therewith political services and merits also. Two men accordingly the people proclaimed Maximi, which means the Greatest; Valerius,[214] because he reconciled the senate to the people when there was a misunderstanding between them; and Fabius Rullus,[215] because he ejected from the senate certain rich persons the children of freedmen who had been enrolled in the list of senators.

XIV. After this Pompeius asked for a triumph, but Sulla opposed his claim: for the law gives a triumph to a consul or to a praetor[216] only, but to no one else. And this is the reason why the first Scipio, after defeating the Carthaginians in greater and more important contests in Iberia, did not ask for a triumph, for he was not consul, nor yet praetor. Sulla considered that if Pompeius, who was not yet well bearded, should enter the city in triumph, he who, by reason of his age, was not yet a member of the senate, both his own office and the honour given to Pompeius would be exposed to much obloquy. Sulla made these remarks to Pompeius, to show that he did not intend to let him have a triumph, but would resist him and check his ambition, if he would not listen to reason. Pompeius, however, was not cowed, but he told Sulla to reflect, that more men worship the rising than the setting sun, intending him to understand that his own power was on the increase, but that the power of Sulla was diminishing and fading away. Sulla did not distinctly hear these words, but observing that those who did hear them, by looks and gestures expressed their astonishment, he asked what it was that Pompeius had said. When he heard what it was, he was confounded at the boldness of Pompeius, and called out twice, "Let him triumph!" Now many persons were annoyed, and expressed their dissatisfaction at the triumph, on which Pompeius, wishing to annoy them still more, it is said, made preparation for entering the city in a car drawn by four elephants,[217] for he brought from Libya many of the king's elephants that he had taken; but as the gate was too narrow, he gave up his project and contented himself with horses. The soldiers, who had not obtained as much as they expected, were ready to make a disturbance and impede the triumph, but Pompeius said that he cared not for it, and would rather give up the triumph than humour them; whereupon Servilius,[218] a man of distinction, who had made most opposition to the triumph of Pompeius, said, Now he perceived that Pompeius was really Great and was worthy of the triumph. It is also certain that he might then have been easily admitted into the senate, if he had chosen; but he showed no eagerness for it, seeking, as they say, reputation from what was unusual. For it was nothing surprising if Pompeius were a senator before the age, but it was a most distinguished honour for him to triumph before he was a senator. Another thing also gained him the good-will of the many in no small degree, for the people were delighted at his being reviewed among the Equites after the triumph.

XV. Sulla[219] was annoyed to see to what a height of reputation and power Pompeius was advancing, but as he was ashamed to attempt to check his career he kept quiet. However, when Pompeius had brought about the election of Lepidus as consul in spite of Sulla and against his wish, by canvassing for Lepidus, and by employing the affection of the people towards himself to induce them to favour Lepidus, Sulla seeing Pompeius retiring with the crowd through the Forum, said, "I see, young man, that you are pleased with your victory: and indeed how can it be otherwise than generous and noble, for Lepidus, the vilest of men, to be declared consul before Catulus the best, through your management of the people? However, it is time for you not to slumber, but to attend to affairs, for you have strengthened your rival against yourself." Sulla showed mainly by his testament that he was not well disposed to Pompeius, for he left legacies to his other friends, and made them his son's guardians, but he passed over Pompeius altogether. But Pompeius took this very quietly, and behaved on the occasion as a citizen should do; and accordingly, when Lepidus and some others were putting impediments in the way of the body being interred in the Field of Mars, and were not for allowing the funeral to be public, Pompeius brought his aid, and gave to the interment both splendour and security.

XVI. As soon as Sulla's death made his prophetic warnings manifest, and Lepidus was attempting to put himself in Sulla's place, not by any circuitous movement or contrivance, but by taking up arms forthwith, and again stirring up and gathering round him the remnants of the factions which had long been enfeebled and had escaped from Sulla; and his colleague Catulus, to whom the most honest and soundest part of the Senate and the people attached themselves, was the first of the Romans of the day for reputation of temperance and integrity, but was considered to be better adapted for the conduct of civil than of military affairs, and circumstances themselves were calling for Pompeius, he did not hesitate what course to take, but attaching himself to the optimates,[220] he was appointed commander of a force to oppose Lepidus, who had already stirred up a large part of Italy and held with an army under the command of Brutus, Gaul within the Alps. Now Pompeius easily defeated the rest whom he attacked, but at Mutina[221] in Gaul he sat down for some time opposite to Brutus, while Lepidus having hurried on to Rome and posted himself before the walls was demanding a second consulship and terrifying the citizens with a numerous army. But the alarm was ended by a letter from Pompeius, who had brought the war to a fortunate issue without a battle. For Brutus, whether it was that he gave up his force himself or was betrayed by his army changing sides, surrendered his person to Pompeius and with some horsemen as an escort retired to one of the small towns near the Padus, where after the interval of a single day he was put to death by Geminius, whom Pompeius sent to him; and Pompeius was much blamed for this. For at the very commencement of the affair of the army changing sides, he wrote to the Senate that Brutus[222] had voluntarily surrendered, and he then sent another letter in which he criminated the man after he was put to death. This Brutus was the father of the Brutus who together with Cassius killed Caesar, a man who neither fought nor died like his father, as is told in his Life. As soon as Lepidus was driven from Italy, he made his escape into Sardinia, where he fell sick and died of vexation, not at the state of affairs, as they say, but from finding some writing by which he discovered that his wife had committed adultery.

XVII. But a general, Sertorius,[223] who in no respect resembled Lepidus, was in possession of Iberia and was hovering over the other Romans, a formidable adversary; for the civil wars had concentrated themselves as in a final disease in this one man, who had already destroyed many of the inferior commanders, and was then engaged with Metellus Pius, who was indeed a distinguished soldier and of great military ability, but owing to old age was considered to be following up the opportunities of war somewhat tardily, and was anticipated in his plans by the quickness and rapidity of Sertorius, who attacked him at all hazards and somewhat in robber fashion, and by his ambuscades and circuitous movements confounded a man well practised in regular battles and used to command a force of heavy-armed soldiers trained to close fighting. Upon this Pompeius, who had an army under his command, bestirred himself to be sent out to support Metellus; and though Catulus ordered him to disband his force he would not obey, but kept under arms in the neighbourhood of the city continually inventing excuses, until the command was given to him on the proposal of Lucius Philippus. It was on this occasion, as it is said, that some one in the Senate asked Philippus with some surprise, if he thought that Pompeius ought to be sent out as Proconsul,[224] and Philippus replied, "Not as Proconsul, as I think, but in place of the Consuls," meaning that both the consuls of that year were good for nothing. I

XVIII. When Pompeius arrived in Iberia, as it usually happens with the reputation of a new commander, he gave the people great hopes, and the nations which were not firmly attached to the party of Sertorius began to stir themselves and change sides; whereupon Sertorius gave vent to arrogant expressions against Pompeius, and scoffingly said, he should only need a cane and a whip for this youth, if he were not afraid of that old woman, meaning Metellus. However he conducted his military operations with more caution, as in fact he kept a close watch on Pompeius and was afraid of him. For contrary to what one would have expected, Metellus had become very luxurious in his mode of life and had completely given himself up to pleasure, and there had been all at once a great change in him to habits of pride and extravagance, so that this also brought Pompeius a surpassing good-will and reputation, inasmuch as he maintained a frugal mode of living, a thing that cost him no great pains, for he was naturally temperate and well regulated in his desires. Though there were many vicissitudes in the war, the capture of Lauron by Sertorius gave Pompeius most annoyance; for while he supposed that Sertorius was surrounded, and had uttered certain boasting expressions, all at once it appeared that he himself was completely hemmed in, and as for this reason he was afraid to stir, he saw the city burnt before his face. But he defeated, near Valentia, Herennius and Perpenna, who were men of military talent, and among others had fled to Sertorius and served under him; and he slaughtered above ten thousand of their men.

XIX. Elated by this success, and full of great designs, he hastened to attack Sertorius himself, in order that Metellus might not share the victory. They engaged on the banks of the Sucro, though it was near the close of day, both parties fearing the arrival of Metellus, one wishing to fight by himself, and the other wishing to have only one opponent. The issue of the battle was doubtful, for one wing was victorious on each side; but of the two commanders-in-chief Sertorius got the more honour, for he put to flight the enemy who were opposed to him. A man of tall stature, an infantry soldier, attacked Pompeius, who was on horseback; and as they closed and came to a struggle, the blows of the swords fell on the hands of both, but not with the same effect; for Pompeius was only wounded, but he cut off the man's hand. Now, as many men rushed upon Pompeius, and the rout had already begun, he escaped, contrary to all expectation, by quitting his horse, which had trappings of gold and decorations of great value; for while the enemy were dividing the booty and fighting about it with one another, they were left behind in the pursuit. At daybreak both commanders again placed their forces in order of battle, with the intention of securing the victory, but when Metellus approached, Sertorius retreated and his army dispersed. For the fashion of his men was to disperse and again to come together, so that Sertorius often wandered about alone, and often appeared again at the head of one hundred and fifty thousand men, like a winter-torrent suddenly swollen. Now, when Pompeius went to meet Metellus after the battle, and they were near one another, he ordered his lictors to lower their fasces out of respect to Metellus as the superior in rank. But Metellus would not allow this, and in all other respects he behaved with consideration to Pompeius, not assuming any superiority on the ground of being a consular and the elder, except that when the two armies encamped together the watchword for both armies was given out by Metellus; but the two armies generally encamped apart. For the enemy used to cut off their communications and separate them, being fertile in stratagems, and skilful in showing himself in many quarters in a short time, and in leading from one combat to another. Finally, by cutting off their supplies, plundering the country, and getting the command of the sea, he drove both Pompeius and Metellus from that part of Iberia which was under him, and they were compelled to fly to other provinces through want of provisions.

XX. Pompeius having spent most of his own property and applied it to the purposes of the war, demanded money of the senate, and said that he would come to Italy with his army if they did not send it. Lucullus, who was then consul, being at variance with Pompeius, and intriguing to get the command in the Mithridatic war for himself, bestirred himself to get money sent for fear of letting Pompeius have a reason for leaving Sertorius, and attacking Mithridates, which he wished to do, for Mithridates was considered to be an opponent whom it would be an honour to oppose and easy to vanquish. In the meantime, Sertorius[225] was assassinated by his friends, of whom Perpenna was the chief leader, and he attempted to do what Sertorius had done, having indeed the same troops and means, but not equal judgment for the management of them. Now Pompeius immediately advanced against Perpenna, and perceiving that he was floundering in his affairs, he sent down ten cohorts into the plain, as a bait, and gave them orders to disperse as if they were flying. When Perpenna had attacked the cohorts, and was engaged in the pursuit, Pompeius appeared in full force, and joining battle, gave the enemy a complete defeat. Most of the officers fell in the battle; but Perpenna was brought to Pompeius, who ordered him to be put to death, in which he did not show any ingratitude, nor that he had forgotten what had happened in Sicily, as some say, but he displayed great prudence and a judgment that was advantageous to the commonweal. For Perpenna, who had got possession of the writings of Sertorins, offered to produce letters from the most powerful men in Rome, who being desirous to disturb the present settlement and to change the constitution, invited Sertorius to Italy. Now Pompeius, apprehending that this might give rise to greater wars than those which were just ended, put Perpenna to death, and burnt the letters without even reading them.

XXI. After staying[226] long enough to extinguish the chief disturbances, and to quiet and settle those affairs which were in the most inflammatory state, he led his army back to Italy, and happened to arrive at the time when the servile war[227] was at its height. This was the reason why Crassus the commander urged on the hazard of a battle, which he gained, with the slaughter of twelve thousand three hundred of the enemy. Fortune, however, in a manner adopted Pompeius into this success also, for five thousand men who escaped from the battle fell in his way, all of whom he destroyed, and he took the opportunity of writing first to the senate, to say that Crassus indeed had conquered the gladiators in a pitched battle, but he had pulled up the war by the roots. And this was agreeable to the Romans to hear, owing to their good-will towards Pompeius, and also to speak of. As to Iberia and Sertorius, no one even in jest would have said that the conquest was due to any one else than Pompeius. But though the man was in such repute, and such expectations were entertained of him, there was still some suspicion and fear that he would not disband his army, but would make his way by arms and sovereign power straight to the polity of Sulla. Accordingly, those who through fear ran to greet him on the way, were as many as those who did it from good-will. But when Pompeius had removed this suspicion also by declaring that he would disband his army after the triumph, there still remained one subject of reproach for those who envied him, that he attached himself more to the people than to the senate, and that he had determined to restore the authority of the tribunate, which Sulla had destroyed, and to court the favour of the many, which was true. For there was nothing for which the people were more madly passionate, and nothing which they more desired, than to see that magistracy again, so that Pompeius considered the opportunity for this political measure a great good fortune, as he could not have found any other favour by which to requite the good-will of the citizens, if another had anticipated him in this.

XXII. Now after a second triumph[228] and the consulship were voted to him, Pompeius was not for this reason considered an object of admiration and a great man; but the people considered it a proof of his distinction, that Crassus, though the richest of all who were engaged in public life, and the most powerful speaker and the greatest man, and though he despised Pompeius and everybody else, did not venture to become a candidate for the consulship till he had applied to Pompeius. Pompeius indeed was well pleased with this, as he had long wished to have the opportunity of doing some service and friendly act to Crassus. According he readily accepted the advances of Crassus, and in his address to the people he declared that he should be as grateful to them for his colleague as for the consulship. However, when they were elected consuls, they differed about everything, and came into collision: in the senate Crassus had more weight, but among the people the influence of Pompeius was great. For Pompeius restored the tribunate[229] to the people, and he allowed the judicia to be again transferred to the Equites by a law. But the most agreeable of all spectacles was that which Pompeius exhibited to the people when he personally solicited his discharge from service. It is the custom among the Roman Equites[230] when they have served the time fixed by law, to lead their horse into the Forum before the two men whom they call Censors, and after mentioning each general and Imperator under whom they have served, and giving an account of their service, they receive their dismissal. Honours also and infamy are awarded according to each man's conduct. Now on this occasion the Censors Gellius and Lentulus were sitting in all their official dignity, and the Equites who were to be inspected were passing by, when Pompeius was seen descending from the higher ground to the Forum, bearing the other insignia of his office, but leading his horse by the hand. When he came near and was full in sight, he bade the lictors make way for him, and he led his horse to the tribunal. The people admired, and kept profound silence; the censors were both awed and delighted at the sight. Then the elder said: "I ask you, Pompeius Magnus, if you have performed all the military services that the law requires?" Pompeius replied with a loud voice, "I have performed all, and all under my own command as Imperator." On hearing this the people broke out into loud shouts, and it was impossible to repress the acclamations, so great was their delight; but the censors rising, conducted Pompeius home to please the citizens, who followed with loud expressions of applause.

XXIII. Now when the term of office was near expiring for Pompeius, and the differences with Crassus wore increasing, one Caius Aurelius,[231] who though a man of equestrian rank did not meddle with public affairs, on the occasion of an assembly of the people ascended the Rostra, and coming forward said, that Jupiter had appeared to him in his sleep and had bid him tell the consuls not to lay down their office before they were reconciled. On this being said, Pompeius stood still, without saying a word, but Crassus making the first advance to take his hand and address him, said, "I think I am doing nothing ignoble or mean, fellow citizens, in being first to give way to Pompeius, whom you considered worthy of the name of Magnus before he had a beard, and decreed to him two triumphs before he was a senator." Upon this they were reconciled and laid down their office. Now Crassus continued the kind of life which he had originally adopted; but Pompeius withdrew himself from his numerous engagements as advocate, and gradually quitted the forum, and seldom went into public, and always with a large crowd of people. For it was no longer easy to meet with him or see him without a train; but he took most pleasure in showing himself with a numerous company close around him, and by these means he threw a dignity and importance about his presence, and thought that he ought to keep his high rank from contact or familiarity with the many. For life in the garment of peace is a hazardous thing towards loss of reputation for those who have gained distinction in arms and are ill suited for civil equality; for such men claim the first place in peace also, as in war, while those who get less honour in war cannot submit to have no advantage in peace at least. Wherefore when they moot in the Forum with the man who has been distinguished in camps and triumphs, they humble him and cast him down; but if a man renounces all pretensions to civil distinction and withdraws, they maintain his military honours and power untouched by envy. Facts soon showed this.

XXIV. Now the power of the pirates[232] had its beginning in Cilicia, and at first its adventure was attended with hazard and sought concealment, but it gained confidence and daring in the Mithridatic war by lending itself to aid the king. Then, the Romans being engaged in the civil wars about the gates of Rome, the sea was left destitute of all protection, and this by degrees drew them on, and encouraged them not to confine their attacks to those who navigated the sea, but to ravage islands and maritime cities. And now men who wore powerful by wealth and of distinguished birth, and who claimed superior education, began to embark on board piratical vessels and to share in their undertakings as if the occupation was attended with a certain reputation and was an object of ambition. There were also piratical posts established in many places and fortified beacons, at which armaments put in, which were fitted out for this peculiar occupation not only with bold vigorous crews and skilful helmsmen and the speed and lightness of the ships, but more annoying than their formidable appearance was their arrogant and pompous equipment, with their golden streamers[233] and purple sails and silvered oars, as if they rioted in their evil practices and prided themselves on them. And flutes and playing on stringed instruments and drinking along the whole coast, and capture of persons high in office, and ransomings of captured cities, were a disgrace to the Roman supremacy. Now the piratical ships had increased to above a thousand, and the cities captured by them were four hundred. They attacked and plundered the asyla and sacred places which had hitherto been unapproached, such as those of Claros,[234] Didyma, Samothrace, the temple of Chthonia in Hermione, the temple of AEsculapius in Epidaurus, and those of Neptune at the Isthmus and Taenaros and Kalauria, and those of Apollo at Actium and Leucas, and that of Juno in Samos, and in Argos, and Lacinium. They also performed strange rites on Olympus[235] and celebrated certain mysterious ceremonies, among which were those of Mithras[236] and they are continued to the present time, having been first introduced by them. But they did most insult to the Romans, and going up from the sea they robbed on their roads and plundered the neighbouring villas. They once seized two praetors Sextilius and Bellinus in their purple dress, and they carried off with them their attendants and lictors. They also took the daughter of Antonius, a man who had enjoyed a triumph, as she was going into the country, and she was ransomed at great cost. But their most insulting behaviour was in the following fashion. Whenever a man who was taken called out that he was a Roman and mentioned his name, they would pretend to be terror-struck and to be alarmed, and would strike their thighs and fall down at his knees praying him to pardon them; and their captive would believe all this to be real, seeing that they were humble and suppliant. Then some would put Roman shoes on his feet, and others would throw over him a toga, pretending it was done that there might be no mistake about him again. When they had for some time mocked the man in this way and had their fill of amusement, at last they would put a ladder down into the sea, and bid him step out and go away with their best wishes for a good journey; and if a man would not go, then they shoved him into the water.

XXV. The power of the pirates extended over the whole of our sea[237] at once in a measure, so that it could not be navigated and was closed against all trade. It was this which mainly induced the Romans, who were hard pressed for provisions and were expecting great scarcity, to send out Pompeius to clear the sea of the pirates. Gabinius,[238] one of the friends of Pompeius, drew up a law which gave Pompeius, not a naval command, but palpably sole dominion and power over all men without any responsibility. For the law gave him authority over the sea within the columns of Hercules and all the main land to the distance of four hundred stadia from the sea. There were not many places within the Roman dominions which lay beyond those limits, but the chief nations and the most powerful of the kings were comprised within them. Besides this, Pompeius was empowered to choose fifteen legati from the Senate who should command in particular parts, to take from the treasuries and from the Publicani as much money as he pleased, and two hundred ships, with full authority as to the number and levying of the armed force and of the rowers for the vessels. When these provisions of the law were read, the people received them with exceeding great satisfaction, but the chief of the Senate and the most powerful citizens considered that this unlimited and indefinite power was indeed too great to be an object of envy, but was a matter for alarm. Accordingly with the exception of Caesar they opposed the law; but Caesar spoke in favour of it, though indeed he cared very little for Pompeius, but from the beginning it was his plan to insinuate himself into the popular favour and to gain over the people. But the rest vehemently assailed Pompeius. One of the consuls who had observed to him that if he emulated Romulus he would not escape the end of Romulus, was near being killed by the people. When Catulus came forward to speak against the law, the people out of respect were silent for some time; but after he had spoken at length with honourable mention of Pompeius and without any invidious remark, and then advised the people to spare him and not to expose such a man to repeated dangers and wars, "What other man," he continued, "will you have, if you lose him?" when with one accord all the people replied, "Yourself." Now as Catulus could produce no effect, he retired from the Rostra; when Roscius[239] came forward, nobody listened, but he made signs with his fingers that they should not appoint Pompeius to the sole command, but should give him a colleague. At this it is said that the people being irritated sent forth such a shout, that a crow[240] which was flying over the Forum was stunned and fell down into the crowd. Whence it appears, that birds which fall, do not tumble into a great vacuum in the air caused by its rending and separation, but that they are struck by the blow of the voice, which, when it is carried along with great mass and strength, causes an agitation and a wave in the air.

XXVI. Now for the time the assembly was dissolved. But on the day on which they were going to put the law to the vote, Pompeius privately retired to the country, but on hearing that the law had passed, he entered the city by night, considering that he should make himself an object of jealousy if the people met him and crowded about him. At daybreak he came into public and sacrificed; and an assembly being summoned he contrived to get many other things in addition to what had been voted, and nearly doubled his armament. For he manned five hundred ships, and one hundred and twenty thousand heavy-armed soldiers and five thousand horse were raised. He chose out of the senate twenty-four men who had held command and served the office of praetor; and there were two quaestors. As the prices of provisions immediately fell, it gave the people, who were well pleased to have it, opportunity to say that the very name of Pompeius had put an end to the war. However, by dividing the waters and the whole space of the internal sea into thirteen parts and appointing a certain number of ships and a commander for each, with his force, which was thus dispersed in all directions, he surrounded the piratical vessels that fell in his way in a body, and forthwith hunted them down and brought them into port; but those who separated from one another before they were taken and effected their escape, crowded from all parts and made their way to Cilicia as to a hive; and against them Pompeius himself went with sixty of the best ships. But he did not sail against them till he had completely cleared of the piratical vessels the Tyrrhenian sea, the Libyan, and the seas around Sardinia, and Corsica, and Sicily, in forty days in all, by his own unwearied exertions and the active co-operation of his commanders.

XXVII. In Rome the consul Piso, through passion and envy, was damaging the preparations for the war, and disbanding the seamen who were to man the ships, but Pompeius sent round his navy to Brundisium and himself advanced through Tyrrhenia to Rome. On hearing this all the people poured forth out of the city upon the road, just as if they had not only a few days before conducted him out of the city. And the rejoicing was caused by the speediness of the change, which was contrary to expectation, for the Forum had a superabundance of provisions. The consequence was that Piso ran the risk of being deprived of the consulship, for Gabinius had already a law drawn up. But Pompeius prevented this, and having managed everything else with moderation and got what he wanted, he went down to Brundisium and set sail. But though he was pressed by the urgency of the business and sailed past the cities in his haste, still he did not pass by Athens but he went up to it. After sacrifices to the gods and addressing the people, just as he was quitting the place he read two inscriptions, each of a single verse, addressed to him, the one within the gate,

"As thou own'st thyself a mortal, so thou art in truth a God."

and that on the outside:

"Expected, welcomed, seen, we now conduct thee forth."

Now as he treated mercifully some of the piratical crews which still held together and were cruising about the seas upon their preferring entreaties to him, and after receiving a surrender of their vessels and persons did them no harm, the rest entertaining good hopes attempted to get out of the way of the other officers, and coming to Pompeius they put themselves into his hands with their children and wives. But he spared all, and it was chiefly through their assistance that he tracked out and caught[241] those who still lurked in concealment, as being conscious that they had committed unpardonable crimes.

XXVIII. The greater part and the most powerful of the pirates had deposited their families and wealth, and their useless people, in garrisons and strong forts among the heights of the Taurus; but manning their ships the pirates themselves awaited the approach of Pompeius near Coracesium[242] in Cilicia, and a battle was fought in which they were defeated and afterwards blockaded. At last sending a suppliant message they surrendered themselves and their cities and the islands of which they had possession and in which they had built forts that were difficult to force and hard to approach. Accordingly the war was ended, and all the pirates were driven from the sea in no more than three months. Pompeius received by surrender many ships, and among them ninety with brazen beaks. The pirates, who amounted to more than twenty thousand, he never thought of putting to death, but he considered that it would not be prudent to let them go and to allow them to be dispersed or to unite again, being poor, and warlike and many in number. Reflecting then that by nature man neither is made nor is a wild animal nor unsocial, and that he changes his character by the practice of vice which is contrary to his nature, but that he is tamed by habits and change of place and life, and that wild beasts by being accustomed to a gentler mode of living put off their wildness and savageness, he determined to transfer the men to the land from the sea and to let them taste a quiet life by being accustomed to live in cities and to cultivate the ground. The small and somewhat depopulated cities of Cilicia received some of the pirates whom they associated with themselves, and the cities received some additional tracts of land; and the city of Soli,[243] which had lately been deprived of its inhabitants by Tigranes[244] the Armenian king, he restored and settled many of them in it. To the greater part he gave as their residence Dyme[245] in Achaea, which was then without inhabitants and had much good land.

XXIX. Now those who envied Pompeius found fault with these measures; but as to his conduct towards Metellus[246] in Crete, even his best friends were not pleased with it. Metellus, who was a kinsman of the Metellus who had the command in Iberia jointly with Pompeius, was sent as commander to Crete before Pompeius was chosen. For Crete was a kind of second source of pirates and next to Cilicia; and Metellus having caught many of them in the island took them prisoners and put them to death. Those who still survived and were blockaded, sent a suppliant message and invited Pompeius to the island, as being a part of his government and falling entirely within the limits reckoned from the coast. Pompeius accepted the invitation and wrote to Metellus to forbid him continuing the war. He also wrote to the cities not to pay any attention to Metellus, and he sent as commander one of his own officers, Lucius Octavius, who entering into the forts of the besieged pirates and fighting on their side made Pompeius not only odious and intolerable, but ridiculous also, inasmuch as he lent his name to accursed and godless men and threw around them his reputation as a kind of amulet, through envy and jealousy of Metellus. Neither did Achilles,[247] it was argued, act like a man, but like a youth all full of violence and passionately pursuing glory, when he made a sign to the rest of the Greeks and would not let them strike Hector,

"For fear another gave the blow and won The fame, and he should second only come;"

but Pompeius even protected and fought in behalf of the common enemy, that he might deprive of a triumph a general who had endured so much toil. Metellus however did not give in, but he took and punished the pirates, and after insulting and abusing Octavius in his camp he let him go.

XXX. When news reached Rome that the Pirates' war was at an end and that Pompeius being now at leisure was visiting the cities, Manlius,[248] one of the tribunes, proposed a law, that Pompeius should take all the country and force which Lucullus commanded, with the addition of Bithynia, which Glabrio[249] had, and should carry on the war against the kings Mithridates and Tigranes, with both the naval force and the dominion of the sea on the terms on which he received it originally. This was in short for the Roman dominion to be placed at the disposal of one man. For the provinces which alone he could not touch under the former law, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Cappadocia, Cilicia, the upper Colchis, Armenia, these he now had together with the armies and resources with which Lucullus defeated Mithridates and Tigranes. But though Lucullus was thus deprived of the glory of his achievements and was receiving a successor in a triumph rather than in a war, the aristocratical party thought less of this, though they considered that the man was treated unjustly and ungratefully, but they were much dissatisfied with the power of Pompeius which they viewed as the setting up of a tyranny, and they severally exhorted and encouraged one another to oppose the law and not to give up their freedom. But when the time came, the rest kept back through fear of the people and were silent, except Catulus, who after finding much fault with the law and the tribune, yet without persuading any one, urged the Senate from the Rostra, repeating it many times, to seek for a mountain,[250] like their ancestors, and a rock, to which they might fly for refuge and preserve their liberty. Accordingly the law was ratified, as they say, by all the tribes[251] and Pompeius in his absence was put in possession of nearly everything which Sulla got after he had made himself master of the city by arms and war. On receiving the letters and reading the decrees in the presence of his friends who were congratulating him, Pompeius is said to have contracted his eyebrows and to have struck his thigh, and to have spoken like a man who was already tired and averse to command, "Oh, the endless toils, how much better it were to have been one unknown to fame, if there shall never be an end to my military service and I shall never elude this envy and live quietly in the country with my wife."[252] On hearing these expressions not even his intimate friends could endure his hypocritical pretences, as they knew that he was the more delighted, inasmuch as his difference with Lucullus gave additional fire to his innate ambition and love of command.

XXXI. And in truth his acts soon discovered his real temper: for he issued counter-edicts in all directions by which he required the presence of the soldiers and summoned to him the subject rulers and kings. And as he traversed the country, he let nothing that Lucullus had done remain undisturbed, but he both remitted the punishments of many, and took away what had been given, and in short he left nothing undone in his eagerness to prove to the admirers of Lucullus[253] that he was entirely without power. Lucullus through his friends complained to Pompeius, and it was agreed that they should have a meeting. They met in Galatia: and as they were most distinguished generals and had won the greatest victories, their lictors met with the fasces wreathed with bay; but Lucullus advanced from green and shady parts, and Pompeius happened to have crossed an extensive tract without trees and parched. Accordingly the lictors of Lucullus seeing that the bays of Pompeius were faded and completely withered, gave them some of their own which were fresh, and so decorated and wreathed the fasces of Pompeius with them. This was considered a sign that Pompeius was coming to carry off the prizes of victory and the glory that was due to Lucullus. As to the order of his consulship and in age also Lucullus had the priority, but the reputation of Pompeius was more exalted on account of his two triumphs. However they managed their first interview with as much civility and friendliness as they could, magnifying the exploits of each other, and congratulating one another on their victories: in their conferences however they came to no reasonable or fair settlement, but even fell to mutual abuse, Pompeius charging Lucullus with avarice, and Lucullus charging Pompeius with love of power; and they were with difficulty separated by their friends. Lucullus being in Galatia assigned portions of the captured land and gave other presents to whom he chose; while Pompeius, who was encamped at a short distance, prevented any attention being paid to the orders of Lucullus, and took from him all his soldiers except sixteen hundred, whose mutinous disposition he thought would make them useless to himself, but hostile to Lucullus. Besides this, Pompeius disparaged the exploits of Lucullus and openly said that Lucullus had warred against tragedies and mere shadows of kings, while to himself was reserved the contest against a genuine power and one that had grown wiser by losses, for Mithridates was now having recourse to shields, and swords and horses. Lucullus retorting said, that Pompeius was going to fight with a phantom and a shadow of war, being accustomed, like a lazy bird, to descend upon the bodies that others had slaughtered and to tear the remnants of wars; for so had he appropriated to himself the victories over Sertorius, Lepidus and Spartacus, though Crassus, Metellus and Catulus had respectively gained these victories: it was no wonder then, if Pompeius was surreptitiously trying to get the credit of the Armenian and Pontic wars, he who had in some way or other contrived to intrude himself into a triumph over runaway slaves.

XXXII. Lucullus[254] now retired, and Pompeius after distributing his whole naval force over the sea between Phoenicia and the Bosporus to keep guard, himself marched against Mithridates, who had thirty thousand foot soldiers of the phalanx and two thousand horsemen, but did not venture to fight. First of all, Mithridates left a strong mountain which was difficult to assault, whereon he happened to be encamped, because he supposed there was no water there; but Pompeius, after occupying the same mountain, conjectured from the nature of the vegetation upon it and the hollows formed by the slopes of the ground that the place contained springs, and he ordered wells to be dug in all parts: and immediately the whole army had abundance of water, so that it was a matter of surprise that Mithridates had all along been ignorant of this. Pompeius then surrounded Mithridates with his troops and hemmed him in with his lines. After being blockaded forty-five days Mithridates succeeded in stealing away with the strongest part of his army, after having first massacred those who were unfit for service and were sick. Next, Pompeius overtook him on the Euphrates and pitched his camp near him; and fearing lest Mithridates should frustrate his design by crossing the river, he led his army against him in battle order at midnight, at which very hour it is said that Mithridates had a vision in his sleep which forewarned him of what was going to happen. He dreamed that he was sailing on the Pontic sea with a fair wind, and was already in sight of the Bosporus, and congratulating his fellow voyagers, as a man naturally would do in his joy at a manifest and sure deliverance; but all at once he saw himself abandoned by everybody and drifting about upon a small piece of wreck. While he was suffering under this anguish and these visions, his friends came to his bed-side and roused him with the news that Pompeius was attacking them. The enemy accordingly must of necessity fight in defence of their camp, and the generals leading their forces out put them in order of battle. Pompeius, seeing the preparations to oppose him, hesitated about running any risk in the dark, and thought that he ought only to surround the enemy, to prevent their escape, and attack them when it was daylight, inasmuch as their numbers were greater. But the oldest centurions by their entreaties and exhortations urged him on; for it was not quite dark, but the moon which was descending in the horizon still allowed them to see objects clear enough. And it was this which most damaged the king's troops. For the Romans advanced with the moon on their backs, and as the light was much depressed towards the horizon, the shadows were projected a long way in front of the soldiers and fell upon the enemy, by reason of which they could not accurately estimate the distance between them and the Romans, but supposing that they were already at close quarters they threw their javelins without effect and struck nobody. The Romans perceiving this rushed upon the enemy with shouts, and as they did not venture to stand their ground, but were terror-struck and took to flight, the Romans slaughtered them to the number of much more than ten thousand, and took their camp. Mithridates at the commencement with eight hundred horsemen cut his way through the Romans, but the rest were soon dispersed and he was left alone with three persons, one of whom was his concubine Hypsikratia,[255] who on all occasions showed the spirit of a man and desperate courage; and accordingly the king used to call her Hypsikrates. On this occasion, armed like a Persian and mounted on horseback, she was neither exhausted by the long journeys nor ever wearied of attending to the King's person and his horse, till they came to a place called Inora,[256] which was filled with the King's property and valuables. Here Mithridates took costly garments and distributed among those who had flocked to him after the battle. He also gave to each of his friends a deadly poison to carry about with them, that none of them might fall into the hands of the Romans against his will. Thence he set out towards Armenia to Tigranes, but Tigranes forbade him to come and set a price of a hundred talents upon him, on which Mithridates passed by the sources of the Euphrates and continued his flight through Colchis.[257] XXXIII. Pompeius invaded Armenia at the invitation of young Tigranes,[258] who had now revolted from his father, and he met Pompeius near the river Araxes,[259] which rises in the same parts with the Euphrates, but turns to the east and enters the Caspian Sea. Pompeius and Tigranes received the submission of the cities as they advanced: but King Tigranes, who had been lately crushed by Lucullus, and heard that Pompeius was of a mild and gentle disposition, admitted a Roman garrison into his palace,[260] and taking with him his friends and kinsmen advanced to surrender himself. As he approached the camp on horseback, two lictors of Pompeius came up to him and ordered him to dismount from his horse and to enter on foot: they told him that no man on horseback had ever been seen in a Roman camp. Tigranes obeyed their orders, and taking off his sword presented it to them; and finally, when Pompeius came towards him, pulling off his cittaris,[261] he hastened to lay it before his feet, and what was most humiliating of all, to throw himself down at his knees. But Pompeius prevented this by laying hold of his right hand and drawing the king towards him; he also seated Tigranes by his side, and his son on the other side, and said that Tigranes ought so far to blame Lucullus only, who had taken from him Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia, and Sophene,[262] but that what he had kept up to that time, he should still have, if he paid as a compensation to the Romans for his wrongful deeds six thousand talents, and his son should be King of Sophene. Tigranes assented to these terms, and being overjoyed by the Romans saluting him as king, he promised to give every soldier half a mina of silver,[263] to a centurion ten minae, and to a tribune a talent. But his son took this ill, and on being invited to supper he said that he was not in want of Pompeius to show such honour as this, for he would find another Roman.[264] In consequence of this he was put in chains and kept for the triumph. No long time after Phraates the Parthian sent to demand the young man, as his son-in-law, and to propose that the Euphrates should be the boundary of the two powers. Pompeius replied that Tigranes belonged to his father rather than to his father-in-law, and that as to a boundary he should determine that on the principles of justice.

XXXIV. Leaving Afranius in care of Armenia, Pompeius advanced through the nations that dwell about the Caucasus,[265] as of necessity he must do, in pursuit of Mithridates. The greatest of these nations are Albani and Iberians, of whom the Iberians extend to the Moschic mountains and the Pontus, and the Albani extend to the east and the Caspian Sea. The Albani at first allowed a free passage to Pompeius at his request; but as winter overtook the Romans in the country and they were occupied with the festival of the Saturnalia,[266] mustering to the number of forty thousand they attacked the Romans, after crossing the Cyrnus[267] river, which rising in the Iberian mountains and receiving the Araxes which comes down from Armenia, empties itself by twelve mouths into the Caspian. Others say that the Araxes does not join this stream, but that it has a separate outlet, though near to the other, into the same sea. Pompeius, though he could have opposed the enemy while they were crossing the river, let them cross quietly, and then he attacked and put them to flight and destroyed a great number. As the King begged for pardon, and sent ambassadors, Pompeius excused him for the wrong that he had done, and making a treaty with him, advanced against the Iberians, who were as numerous as the Albani and more warlike, and had a strong wish to please Mithridates and to repel Pompeius. For the Iberians had never submitted either to the Medes or the Persians,[268] and they had escaped the dominion of the Macedonians also, inasmuch as Alexander soon quitted Hyrkania. However Pompeius routed the Iberians also in a great battle, in which nine thousand of them were killed and above ten thousand taken prisoners, and he entered Colchis; and on the Phasis[269] he was met by Servilius with the vessels with which he was guarding the Pontus.

XXXV. The pursuit of Mithridates was attended with great difficulties, as he had plunged among the nations around the Bosporus and the Maeotis; and intelligence reached Pompeius that the Albani had again revolted. Moved by passion and desire of revenge, Pompeius turned against the Albani. He again crossed the Cyrnus with difficulty and danger, for the river had been fenced off with stakes to a great extent by the barbarians; and as the passage of the river was succeeded by a long waterless and difficult march, he had ten thousand skins filled with water and then advanced against the enemy, whom he found posted on the river Abas[270] to the number of sixty thousand foot and twelve thousand cavalry, but poorly armed, and for the most part only with the skins of beasts. They were commanded by a brother of the king, named Kosis, who, when the two armies had come to close quarters, rushed against Pompeius and struck him with a javelin on the fold[271] of his breastplate, but Pompeius with his javelin in his hand pierced him through and killed him. In this battle it is said that Amazons[272] also fought on the side of the barbarians, and that they had come down hither from the mountains about the river Thermodon. For after the battle, when the Romans were stripping the barbarians, they found Amazonian shields and boots, but no body of a woman was seen. The Amazons inhabit those parts of the Caucasus which extend towards the Hyrcanian sea, but they do not border on the Albani, for Gelae and Leges dwell between; and they cohabit with these people every year for two months, meeting them on the river Thermodon, after which they depart and live by themselves.

XXXVI. After the battle Pompeius set out to advance to the Hyrkanian[273] and Caspian sea, but he was turned from his route by the number of deadly reptiles, when he was three days' march from it. He retired to the Less Armenia; and he returned a friendly answer to the Kings of the Elymaei[274] and Medes who sent ambassadors, but against the Parthian king who had invaded Gordyene and was plundering the people of Tigranes, he sent Afranius with a force who drove him out and pursued him as far as the territory of Arbela. Of all the concubines of Mithridates who were brought to him, he knew not one, but sent all back to their parents and kin; for the greater part were the daughters and wives of generals and princes. Stratonike,[275] who was in the greatest repute and guarded the richest of the forts, was, it is said, the daughter of a harp-player, who was not rich and was an old man; and she made so sudden a conquest of Mithridates over his wine by her playing, that he kept the woman and went to bed with her, but sent away the old man much annoyed at not having been even civilly spoken to by the king. In the morning, however, when he got up and saw in his house tables loaded with silver and golden cups, and a great train of attendants, with eunuchs and boys bringing to him costly garments, and a horse standing before the door equipped like those that carried the king's friends, thinking that this was all mockery and a joke he made an attempt to escape through the door. But when the slaves laid hold of him and told him that the king had made him a present of the large substance of a rich man who had just died, and that this was but a small foretaste and sample of other valuables and possessions that were to come, after this explanation hardly convinced he took the purple dress, and leaping on the horse rode through the city exclaiming, "All this is mine." To those who laughed at him he said, this was nothing strange, but it was rather strange that he did not pelt with stones those who came in his way, being mad with delight. Of this stock and blood was Stratonike. But she gave up this place to Pompeius, and also brought him many presents, of which he took only such as seemed suitable to decorate the temples and add splendour to his triumph, and he told her she was welcome to keep the rest. In like manner when the King of the Iberians sent him a couch and a table and a seat all of gold, and begged him to accept them, he delivered them also to the quaestors for the treasury.

XXXVII. In the fort Kaenum[276] Pompeius found also private writings of Mithridates, which he read through with some pleasure as they gave him a good opportunity of learning the man's character. They were memoirs,[277] from which it was discovered that he had taken off by poison[278] among many others his son Ariarathes and Alkaeus of Sardis because he got the advantage over the King in riding racehorses. There were registered also interpretations of dreams,[279] some of which he had seen himself, and others had been seen by some of his women; and there were lewd letters of Monime[280] to him and his answers to her. Theophanes says that there was also found an address of Rutilius[281] in which he urged the King to the massacre of the Romans in Asia. But most persons with good reason suppose this to be a malicious story of Theophanes, perhaps invented through hatred to Rutilius, who was a man totally unlike himself, or perchance to please Pompeius, whose father Rutilius in his historical writings had shown to be a thoroughly unprincipled fellow.

XXXVIII. Thence Pompeius went to Amisus,[282] where his ambition led him to reprehensible measures. For though he had abused Lucullus greatly, because while the enemy was still alive, he published edicts for the settlement of the countries and distributed gifts and honours, things which victors are accustomed to do when a war is brought to a close and is ended, he himself, while Mithridates was still ruling in the Bosporus[283] and had got together a force sufficient to enable him to take the field again, just as if everything was finished, began to do the very things that Lucullus had done, settling the provinces, and distributing gifts, many commanders and princes, and twelve barbarous kings having come to him. Accordingly he did not even deign when writing in reply to the Parthian,[284] as other persons did, to address him by the title of King of Kings, and he neglected to do this to please the other kings. He was also seized with a desire and a passion to get possession of Syria and to advance through Arabia to the Erythraean sea,[285] that in his victorious career he might reach the ocean that encompasses the world on all sides; for in Libya he was the first who advanced victoriously as far as the external sea, and again in Iberia he made the Atlantic sea the boundary of the Roman dominion; and thirdly, in his recent pursuit of the Albani he came very near to reaching the Hyrkanian sea. Accordingly he now put his army in motion that he might connect the circuit of his military expeditions with the Erythraean sea; and besides, he saw that Mithridates was difficult to be caught by an armed force, and was a harder enemy to deal with when flying than when fighting.

XXXIX. Wherefore, remarking that he would leave behind him for Mithridates an enemy stronger than himself, famine, he set vessels to keep a guard on the merchants who sailed to the Bosporus; and death was the penalty for those who were caught. Taking the great bulk of his army he advanced on his march, and falling in with the bodies still unburied of those who with Triarius[286] had fought unsuccessfully against Mithridates and fallen in battle, he buried all with splendid ceremonial and due honours. It was the neglect of this which is considered to have been the chief cause of the hatred to Lucullus. After subduing by his legate Afranius the Arabs in the neighbourhood of the Amanus,[287] he descended into Syria, which he made a province and a possession of the Roman people on the ground that it had no legitimate kings; and he subdued Judaea[288] and took King Aristobulus prisoner. He built some cities, and he gave others their liberty and punished the tyrants in them. But he spent most time in judicial business, settling the disputes of cities and kings, and in those cases for which he had no leisure, sending his friends; as for instance to the Armenians and Parthians, who referred to him the decision as to the country[289] in dispute between them, he sent three judges and conciliators. For great was the fame of his power, and no less was the fame of his virtue and mildness; by reason of which he was enabled to veil most of the faults of his friends and intimates, for he did not possess the art of checking or punishing evil doers, but he so behaved towards those who had anything to do with him, that they patiently endured both the extortion and oppression of the others.

XL. The person who had most influence with Pompeius was Demetrius, a freedman, a youth not without understanding, but who abused his good fortune. The following story is told of him. Cato the philosopher, who was still a young man, but had a great reputation and already showed a lofty spirit, went up to Antioch,[290] when Pompeius was not there, wishing to examine the city. Now Cato, as was his custom, walked on foot, but his friends who were journeying with him were on horseback. Observing before the gate a crowd of men in white vestments, and along the road, on one side the ephebi, and on the other the boys, in separate bodies, he was out of humour, supposing that this was done out of honour and respect to him who wanted nothing of the kind. However he bade his friends dismount and walk with him. As they came near, the man who was arranging and settling all this ceremony, with a crown on his head and a wand in his hand, met them and asked where they had left Demetrius and when he would arrive. Now the friends of Cato fell a-laughing, but Cato exclaimed, "O wretched city," and passed by without making further answer. However Pompeius himself made Demetrius less an object of odium to others by submitting to his caprices without complaint. For it is said that frequently when Pompeius at entertainments was waiting for and receiving his guests, Demetrius would already have taken his place at the table, reclining with haughty air, and with his vest[291] over his ears hanging down. Before he had returned to Rome, Demetrius had got possession of the most agreeable places in the suburbs, and the finest pleasure-grounds and costly gardens were called Demetrian; and yet up to his third triumph Pompeius was lodged in a moderate and simple manner. But afterwards when he was erecting for the Romans that beautiful and far-famed theatre,[292] he built, what may be compared to the small boat that is towed after a big vessel, close by a house more magnificent than he had before; and yet even this was so far from being such a building as to excite any jealousy that the person who became the owner of it after Pompeius, was surprised when he entered it, and he asked where Pompeius Magnus used to sup. Such is the story about these matters.

XLI. The King of the Arabians in the neighbourhood of Petra[293] hitherto had not troubled himself at all about the Romans, but now being much alarmed he wrote to say that he was ready to submit and to do anything. Pompeius wishing to confirm him in this disposition made an expedition against Petra, wherein he did not altogether escape censure from most people. For they considered that this was evading the pursuit of Mithridates, and they urged him to turn against him who was his old antagonist and was fanning his flame and preparing according to report to lead an army through the country of the Scythians and Paeonians[294] against Italy. But Pompeius thinking it would be easier to crush the forces of Mithridates in the field than to overtake him when he was flying, did not choose to exhaust himself to no purpose in a pursuit, and he contrived to find other occupations in the interval of the war and he protracted the time. Fortune, however, settled the difficulty; for when he was at no great distance from Petra, and had already pitched his camp for that day and was exercising himself with his horse around the camp, letter-bearers rode up from Pontus with good tidings. This was manifest at once by the points of their spears, for they were wreathed with bay. Pompeius at first wished to finish his exercises, but as the men called out and entreated him, he leapt from his horse and taking the letters advanced into the camp. But as there was no tribunal[295] and there had not been time to make even the kind of tribunal that is used in the camp, which they are accustomed to form by digging out large lumps of earth and putting them together upon one another, in their then zeal and eagerness they piled together the loadings of the beasts of burden and raised an elevated place. Pompeius ascending this announced to the soldiers, that Mithridates was dead, having put an end to his own life because his son Pharnakes[296] rebelled against him, and Pharnakes had taken possession of everything in those parts, and put all under his own dominion and that of the Romans, as he said in his letter.

XLII. Upon this the soldiers being delighted, as was natural, occupied themselves with sacrifices and entertainments, considering that in the person of Mithridates ten thousand enemies had expired. Pompeius having brought his own undertakings and expeditions to a termination, which he had not anticipated could be so easily done, immediately retired from Arabia; and quickly traversing the intermediate provinces he arrived at Amisus, where he found that many presents had been sent by Pharnakes and many corpses of members of the royal family, and the corpse of Mithridates also, which could not well be recognised by the face (for those who had embalmed the body had neglected to destroy the brain); but those who wished to see the body, recognised it by the scars. Pompeius himself would not see the body, but fearing divine retribution[297] he sent it off to Sinope.[298] He was amazed at the dress and armour of Mithridates, both at the size and splendour of what he saw; though the sword belt, which cost four hundred talents, Publius stole and sold to Ariarathes, and the cittaris, a piece of wonderful workmanship, Gaius the foster-brother of Mithridates himself gave to Faustus the son of Sulla who asked for it. Pompeius did not know this at the time; but Pharnakes who afterwards discovered it punished the thieves. After Pompeius had arranged and settled affairs in those parts, he continued his march with more pomp. On arriving at Mitylene[299] he gave the city its freedom for the sake of Theophanes, and he witnessed the usual contest there among the poets, the sole subject being his own exploits. Being pleased with the theatre he had a sketch taken of it and a plan made, with the intention of making one like it in Rome, but larger and more splendid. When he was in Rhodes, he heard all the sophists and made each a present of a talent. Poseidonius[300] put in writing the discourse which he read before Pompeius in opposition to the rhetorician Hermagoras on the doctrine of general invention. In Athens Pompeius behaved in like manner to the philosophers, and after giving also to the city fifty talents towards its restoration, he was in hopes to set foot in Italy with a reputation above that of any man and to be received by his family with the same eagerness that he had to see them. But the Daemon[301] who takes care always to mix some portion of ill with the great and glorious good things which come from Fortune, had long been lurking on the watch and preparing to make his return more painful to him. For during the absence of Pompeius his wife Mucia[302] had been incontinent. Indeed while Pompeius was at a distance he treated the report with contempt, but when he had come near to Italy, and had examined the charge with more deliberation, as it seems, he sent her notice of divorce, though neither then nor afterwards did he say for what reason he put her away: but the reason is mentioned in Cicero's letters.

XLIII. All kinds of reports about Pompeius preceded his arrival at Rome, and there was great alarm, as it was supposed that he would forthwith lead his army against the city and that a monarchy[303] would be firmly established. Crassus taking his sons and his money secretly got away from Rome, whether it was that he really was afraid, or, what is more probable, he wished to give credibility to the calumny and to strengthen the odium against Pompeius. As soon, however, as Pompeius landed[304] in Italy, he summoned his soldiers to an assembly,and after saying what was suitable to the occasion and expressing his affectionate thanks to them, he bade them disperse among their several cities and each go to his home, remembering to meet again for his triumph. The army being thus dispersed, and the fact being generally known, a wonderful circumstance happened. For the cities seeing Pompeius Magnus unarmed and advancing with a few friends, as if he were returning from an ordinary journey, pouring forth through good will and forming an escort brought him into Rome with a larger force, so that if he had designed to make any change and revolution at that time he would not have wanted the army which he had disbanded.

XLIV. As the law did not allow a general to enter the city before his triumph, Pompeius sent to the Senate to request they would put off the consular elections and to grant him this favour, that he might in his own person assist Piso in his canvass. As Cato opposed his request, he did not attain his object. But Pompeius admiring Cato's boldness of speech and the vigour which he alone openly displayed in behalf of the law, desired in some way or other to gain the man; and as Cato had two nieces, Pompeius wished to take one of them to wife and to marry the other to his son. Cato saw his object, which he viewed as a way of corrupting him and in a manner bribing him by a matrimonial alliance; but his sister and wife took it ill that he should reject an alliance with Pompeius Magnus. In the mean time Pompeius wishing to get Afranius[305] made consul, expended money on his behalf among the tribes, and the voters came down to the gardens of Pompeius where they received the money, so that the thing became notorious and Pompeius had an ill name for making that office which was the highest of all and which he obtained for his services, venal for those who were unable to attain to it by merit. "These reproaches however," said Cato to the women, "we must take our share of, if we become allied to Pompeius." On hearing this the women agreed that he formed a better judgment than themselves as to what was proper.

XLV. Though the triumph[306] was distributed over two days, such was its magnitude that the time was not sufficient, but much of the preparation was excluded from the spectacle, and enough for the splendour and ornament of another procession. The nations over which Pompeius triumphed were designated by titles placed in front. The nations were the following, Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Media, Colchis, the Iberians, Albani, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, the parts about Phoenice and Palestine, Judaea, Arabia, and the whole body of pirates by sea and land who had been subdued. Among these nations fortified places not fewer than a thousand were taken, and cities not far short of nine hundred, and eight hundred piratical ships; and cities forty save one were founded. Besides this it was shown on written tablets that 5000 myriads (fifty millions) were the produce of the taxes, while from the additions that he had made to the state they received 8500 myriads (eighty-five millions), and there were brought into the public treasury in coined money and vessels of gold and silver twenty thousand talents, not including what had been given to the soldiers, of whom he who received the least according to his proportion received fifteen hundred drachmae. The captives who appeared in the procession, besides the chief pirates, were the son of Tigranes the Armenian with his wife and daughter, and Zosime a wife of King Tigranes, and Aristobulus King of the Jews, and a wife and five children of Mithridates, and Scythian women, and also hostages of the Albani and Iberians and of the King of Commagene, and numerous trophies, equal in number to all the battles, which Pompeius had won himself or by his legati. But it was the chief thing towards his glory, and what had never happened before to any Roman, that he celebrated his third triumph over the third continent. For though others before him had triumphed three times, Pompeius by having gained his first triumph over Libya, his second over Europe, and this the last over Asia, seemed in a manner to have brought the whole world into his three triumphs.

XLVI. At this time Pompeius was under four-and-thirty[307] years of age, as those affirm who in all respects compare him with Alexander and force a parallel, but in fact he was near forty. How happy would it have been if he had died at the time up to which he had the fortune of Alexander; but the period that followed brought to him good fortune accompanied with odium, and ill fortune that was past all cure. For the power which he got in the city by fair means, he employed on the behalf of others illegally; and as much strength as he gave to them, so much he took from his own reputation, and so he was overthrown by the strength and magnitude of his own power before he was aware of it. And as the strongest parts and places in cities, when the enemies have got possession of them, give to them their own strength, so Caesar being raised up through the power of Pompeius against the State, overthrew and cast down the man by whose help he became strong against others. And it was brought about thus. Immediately upon Lucullus returning from Asia, where he had been treated with great contumely by Pompeius, the Senate gave him a splendid reception, and when Pompeius had arrived they urged Lucullus still more to take a part in public affairs, for the purpose of limiting the credit of Pompeius. Though Lucullus was in other matters now dull and chilled for all active life, having given himself up to the pleasures of ease and the enjoyment of wealth, yet he forthwith sprang up against Pompeius, and by a vigorous attack got a victory over him with respect to the arrangements of Lucullus that he had annulled, and had the advantage in the Senate with the co-operation of Cato. Pompeius, defeated and pressed on all sides, was compelled to fly to tribunes and to attach himself to young men, of whom the most scandalous and the most daring, Clodius, took up his cause, but threw him completely under the feet of the people; and by making him inconsistently with his station constantly frequent the Forum and carrying him about, he used him for the purpose of confirming everything that was said or proposed to please and flatter the people. Further, he asked of Pompeius for his reward, just as if he were not degrading him but were doing him a service, and he afterwards got what he asked, the betrayal of Cicero,[308] who was a friend of Pompeius and had served him in public matters more than any one else. For when Cicero was in danger and prayed for his aid, Pompeius would not even see him, but shut the front door upon those who came on Cicero's part and went out by another door. Cicero fearing the trial retired from Rome.