POMPEY AND CICERO: AN ALLIANCE OF CONVENIENCE THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of Texas State University-San Marcos in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of ARTS by Charles E. Williams Jr., B.A. San Marcos, Texas May 2013 POMPEY AND CICERO: AN ALLIANCE OF CONVENIENCE Committee Members Approved: ______________________________ Pierre Cagniart, Chair ______________________________ Kenneth Margerison ______________________________ Elizabeth Makowski Approved: ______________________________ J. Michael Willoughby Dean of the Graduate College COPYRIGHT by Charles E. Williams Jr. 2013 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94- 553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Charles E. Williams Jr., authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Above all I would like to thank my parents, Chuck and Kay Williams, for their continuing support, assistance, and encouragement. Their desire to see me succeed in my academic career is perhaps equal to my own. Thanks go as well to Dr Pierre Cagnart, without whom this work would not have been possible. His expertise in Roman politics and knowledge concerning the ancient sources were invaluable. I would also like to thank Dr. Kenneth Margerison and Dr. Elizabeth Makowski for critiquing this work and many other papers I have written as an undergraduate and graduate student. Their insights have truly made me a better student and writer. Lastly, I would like to thank David Leal for his criticism of this work and encouragement throughout the process. This manuscript was submitted on April 1, 2013 for final review. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ......................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. THE EARLY YEARS: 106 – 71 B.C. ..................................................................6 II. WAR AND CONSPIRACY: 70 – 63 B.C. ...........................................................22 III. THE TRIUMVIRATE AND THE EXILE OF CICERO: 62 – 56 B.C. ...............51 IV. CICERO’S OBLIGATION: 56 – 52 B.C. ............................................................79 V. POMPEY’S FINAL CONSULSHIP AND THE CIVIL WAR: 52 – 48 B.C. ......103 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................135 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................137 vi INTRODUCTION Pompey and Cicero were two of the most important men in the history of Roman politics, and their relationship merits investigation. The decisions both men made decisively altered the fate of Rome and its empire, and many of those decisions were affected by their attitudes toward each other. Cicero supported bills favorable to Pompey and defended Pompey’s clients in the courtroom throughout his career. Likewise, Pompey was the man most responsible for Cicero’s long-desired return from exile in 57 B.C. A study of Pompey and Cicero is also important because it helps to explain aristocratic politics during an important period in Roman history. It is well known that Pompey and Cicero collaborated to achieve political goals, but the precise nature of their relationship is in need of a comprehensive examination that takes into account both ancient historical narratives and modern interpretations of these histories and describes the relationship within the context of the events of the time. As a consequence, the story is told chronologically from the violent events of their childhood until Pompey’s death during the struggle against Caesar. This study is drawn from a wide variety sources, but the most important is Cicero himself. Cicero’s letters to friends and family members, political speeches, and judicial orations are invaluable records of the times written by one of Rome’s most important political figures. Cicero was a prolific writer of personal letters. Hundreds of his letters to contemporaries have survived and are a valuable resource on his private thoughts. Cicero’s political speeches and judicial orations are also important because they reveal how Cicero wished to present himself to the Roman people and 1 2 how he viewed the important political issues of the time. Although they are filled with indispensable historical information, Cicero’s writings are even more important records of his own opinions and perceptions of important events during the period. Besides Cicero, the fullest accounts of the period are provided by Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and Appian. All three men were Greeks who wrote in the second and third centuries A.D. Plutarch wrote biographies of famous Romans and paired them with Greek counterparts in The Lives of Noble Greeks and Romans. Though more interested in the lessons to be learned from his biographies than historical accuracy, Plutarch provides useful information concerning the public and private lives of both Pompey and Cicero. Dio Cassius wrote the multi-volume History of Rome from its founding, and Appian wrote about the civil wars of the Late Republic. Although neither Plutarch, nor Dio Cassius, nor Appian witnessed the events described first- hand, they did have access to numerous contemporary historical narratives that are now lost. The Conquest of Gaul and The Civil War by Julius Caesar are important contemporary works that shed light on his relationship with Pompey and Cicero and provide valuable information regarding the political crisis that led to civil war. Suetonius’s second century A.D. biography of Caesar likewise provides important details about Caesar and his relationship with Pompey. Sallust and Livy were both contemporaries of Pompey and Cicero who wrote important histories of the period but whose works survive mostly in fragments. Finally, the Compendium of Roman History by Velleius Paterculus and Memorable Deeds and Sayings, a book filled with historical anecdotes, by Valerius Maximus, are also used. In recent times, Cicero’s extensive and often revealing writings have made him attractive as a biographical subject. Stockton’s Cicero: A Political Biography provides exceptional analysis of Cicero’s political career but does not substantially 3 address Cicero’s relationship with Pompey. One of the most recent biographies of Cicero is Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician, by Anthony Everitt. Though equally readable and more insightful concerning Cicero’s private life, sources are cited more sparingly. Pompey has been the subject of fewer treatments outside of general histories of the Late Republic, but there are good biographies about the great general in English. The best treatment of Pompey’s political career is Robin Seager’s Pompey the Great: A Political Biography. Seager’s biography masterfully assimilates contradictory primary source information to produce a treatment that is both thorough and concise. Another important biography of Pompey is Peter Greenhalgh’s two-volume work, Pompey: The Roman Alexander and Pompey: The Republican Prince. It is well-written and provides a good account of Pompey’s military career but uses a system of citation that makes it hard to identify the sources used. Innumerable modern general histories depict the lives and political careers of Pompey and Cicero. The Last Generation of the Roman Republic, by Erich S. Gruen, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Post-Sullan settlement, extensive information about the alliances and connections between important Roman families, and useful details concerning the political trials of the period. Gruen’s exhaustive research makes his book essential reading on Pompey, Cicero, and many other men from the period. Another valuable history of the Late Republic is Ronald Syme’s classic, The Roman Revolution. Syme’s book focuses on the Emperor Augustus, but provides good insight into Pompey’s career as well. Like Gruen’s study, it is very well-researched and an excellent source for further research. Both ancient and modern historians have generally seen the relationship through the lens of their last few miserable weeks together during the civil war and 4 Cicero’s subdued eulogy of Pompey when he had learned of his death. Echoing Cicero’s own attacks on Pompey, which were the product of frustration with Pompey’s conduct of the war, Plutarch describes heated confrontations and general acrimony.1 Dio Cassius dubiously reports that Cicero verbally attacked Pompey at the same time that he was seeking Pompey’s help against the attacks of Publius Clodius Pulcher,2 and had previously conspired to kill Pompey.3 Modern historians have emphasized different aspects of the relationship. Syme, for example, refers to Cicero as being “pathetically loyal”4 to Pompey even after Pompey had betrayed him. Stockton, on the other hand, believes that Cicero “felt strong ties of personal gratitude to and respect for Pompey.”5 The only book currently in print that directly addresses the relationship is Pompey and Cicero: The Politics