Pompeius, Gnaeus

(106–48 BC)

   Roman general. He was the son of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, a leading general. He took part in the Roman civil wars of the 80s BC, serving in Sicily, Italy, and Africa, and he later led Roman armies in Spain from 77–71 BC and Asia and Syria from 66–62 BC. He was consul in 70 BC and later in 52 BC. He formed a political allaince with Iulius Caesar, whose daughter he married, known as the First Triumvirate. He backed the restoration of Ptolemy XII but failed to arrange it in person. He fell out with Caesar and led the senatorial focres against him. Upon his defeat, he fled to Egypt, where he supposed the government of Ptolemy XIIIwould support him, as he had been a friend of the king’s father. Instead the king’s advisors regarded him as a political embarassment and possible threat, and he was killed as he landed on Egyptian soil.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier