Gnaeus Pompey the Younger
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus the Younger (* around 78 BC; † 45 BC) was a Roman politician and general.
Gnaeus Pompeius was the eldest son of the general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and his third wife Mucia Tertia . His younger brother was the future admiral Sextus Pompeius . Gnaeus and Sextus grew up in the shadow of their famous father, who, due to his military successes, had been consul three times without having completed the usual official career ( cursus honorum ) . While the influence of his former partner Gaius Iulius Caesar continued to grow in the course of the 1950s, her father increasingly approached the traditional faction of the Roman nobility . When Caesar in January 49 BC BC crossed the border to the Italian heartland, the Rubicon River , with his army and thus made his readiness for civil war evident, Gnaeus accompanied his father with the two incumbent consuls and numerous senators on his retreat to the Balkan peninsula . The army led by Pompey was defeated in the battle of Pharsalus , to which senators had urged him to be less experienced in military terms, and Pompey himself was murdered on the flight on September 29 in Egypt .
After the death of their father, Gnaeus and his brother Sextus continued the resistance against Caesar in the province of Africa . Together with Metellus Scipio , the younger Cato and other senators, they prepared for the battle against Caesar and his army. Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC. Against Metellus Scipio and Cato, who then committed suicide. Gnaeus fled again, this time to the Balearic Islands , where he met Sextus. Together with Titus Labienus , a former legate of Caesar, who had switched sides at the beginning of the civil war, the brothers crossed to Hispania , where they set up a new army. Caesar and his legions followed them and met on March 17, 45 BC. Together with them at the battle of Munda . Both armies were strong and led by capable generals. Presumably a cavalry attack brought Caesar the victory. Titus Labienus and about 30,000 of his men died in battle and on the run from the battlefield.
Gnaeus and Sextus Pompeius were able to escape again at first, but Gnaeus was caught within a few weeks and still 45 BC. Executed for treason. Sextus Pompeius, on the other hand, was able to evade his enemies and built himself after Caesar's murder on the Ides of March of the year 44 BC. BC as an admiral held a considerable position of power in the western Mediterranean. He was only born in 36 BC. Defeated by the heir of Caesar, the later Emperor Augustus , and finally in 35 BC. Executed in Miletus .
Gnaeus Pompey was known for his cruelty.
literature
Marieluise Deißmann-Merten : Pompeius I. 2. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 1026.
Remarks
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pompey, Gnaeus the Younger |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pompey, Gnaeus Magnus the Younger |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Roman politician and general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 78 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 45 BC Chr. |