Pompey’s career in command began at a young age, taking control of his deceased father’s legions in support of Sulla during the civil war with Marius. A precocious and ambitious talent, he held repeated commands before he was the legal age. Sulla called him ‘the teenage butcher’. He served in the Sertorian War in Spain (recovering from an early defeat), helped crush Spartacus’ revolt then freed the Eastern Mediterranean from the depradations of Cilician pirates in a matter of weeks. He brought a victorious end to the long-running Third Mithridatic War and brought the whole of Asia Minor, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Judea under Roman influence by a mix of force and diplomacy. For good reason he was hailed even in his own lifetime as the ‘Roman Alexander’ and Lee Fratantuono gives these events the detailed coverage they deserve.

All this came before the events for which he is usually remembered: his great civil war against Julius Caesar. There is detailed analysis of the opening moves in Italy, Pompey’s victory over Caesar at Dyrrhachium and the climactic battle at Pharsalus in September 48 BC. Pompey was defeated, fled ignominiously and was assassinated, leaving his two sons to carry on the war.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: On the Cusp of a Tumultuous Century
• Chapter 2: Commencing a Career
• Chapter 3: Sulla Ascendant
• Chapter 4: Africa and Triumph
• Chapter 5: From Consul to Rebel: Lepidus, 78–77 Bc
• Chapter 6: Pompey in Spain
• Chapter 7: Spartacus and the Third Servile War
• Chapter 8: First Consulship and Pirate War
• Chapter 9: Pompey in Asia, Part I
• Chapter 10: Pompey in Asia, Part II
• Chapter 11: Toward the ‘Triumvirate’
• Chapter 12: The ‘First Triumvirate’ in Action, Part I
• Chapter 13: ‘The First Triumvirate’ in Action, Part II
• Chapter 14: Consulship with Crassus
• Chapter 15: 54 BC
• Chapter 16: The Three Become Two
• Chapter 17: Consul a Third Time
• Chapter 18: A Republic Rife with Tension
• Chapter 19: Zero Hour
• Chapter 20: How to Start a Civil War
• Chapter 21: The Road to Dyrrhachium
• Chapter 22: Dictatorship and Dyrrhachium
• Chapter 23: Toward Pharsalus
• Chapter 24: Endgame in Egypt
• Chapter 25: Magni Nominis Umbra
• Notes
• Select Bibliography