Pompey - Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

A Roman politician and general in the final days of the Republic. He was one of the politicians who established the so-called First Triumvirate. He entered the political world with Picenum (a region facing the Adriatic Sea in central Italy) as his military, political and economic base (clientel) inherited from his father. He first took his first steps as a soldier under his father in the War of the Leagues, and then in early 83 BC, he attracted attention by mustering a large army in Picenum on his own. He was active as a soldier under Sulla, especially in Sicily and Africa, where he defeated the remnants of the Marius faction (the First Triumphal procession). Even after Sulla's death, he continued to work to maintain the Sulla regime, defeating Sertorius in the Iberian Peninsula (77-71 BC), and on his way home, he put an end to the rebellion of Spartacus, which increased his popularity. He held a second triumph, was elected consul in 70 BC along with Crassus, reformed Sulla's judicial regulations, and restored the powers of the tribunes. However, he gradually fell out of favor with the Senate, allied with the populists, and in 67 BC, he was given the power to suppress pirates in the Mediterranean under the Gabinian Law, and in a short time, he wiped out the pirates that had plagued Rome for many years from the Mediterranean. The following year, he was given the power to suppress Mithridates VI of Pontus under the Manilius Law, and not only defeated him and captured Tigranes I of Armenia, but by 63 BC, he had pacified the entire East except Egypt. He annexed Mithridates' former territory (the Kingdom of Pontus) to expand the province of Bithynia into the province of Pontus-Bithynia, established the province of Syria, and established a network of clientel lords. In 61 BC, he held his third triumphal procession, and the following year he formed the first triumvirate with Crassus and Caesar. In 59 BC, he appointed Caesar as consul, thereby getting them to approve his establishment of order in the East and to give land to his veteran soldiers. On the other hand, he married Caesar's daughter Julia, and during Caesar's Gallic campaign, he gained the authority to manage Rome's grain supply, gradually expanding his influence in central Rome.

In 56 BC, the tripartite alliance between him, Crassus and Caesar was renewed at Luke, and in 55 BC he was elected consul again along with Crassus. However, the relationship between the three fell apart with the death of Julia in 54 BC and the death of Crassus in battle the following year. During that time, he was given the two Spanish territories as his post after the consulship, but he did not take up his post and continued to influence the politics of the capital, Rome. In 52 BC, he was even appointed sole consul without a colleague. Then, in the struggle over Caesar's recall from Gaul, he was supported by the conservative faction of the Senate that opposed Caesar, and was granted practically full powers, and from January 49 BC he began fighting against Caesar. Pursued by Caesar, who had crossed the Rubicon and marched south from Gaul, he fled to his own base in the East and gathered his forces there. However, after Caesar took control of Spain, one of his strongholds, he fought against Caesar's forces which had pursued him eastward at his camp in Dyrrachium in Epirus from spring to summer of 48 BC. On August 9 of that year, he was defeated in the decisive battle of Pharsalus in Thessaly, and fled to Egypt, but was assassinated by the Egyptian king's men on September 28.

He is highly regarded for his achievements as a general, as he put an end to the Sertorian Wars and the Spartacus Rebellion, and also put an end to the long-standing wars with foreign enemies that had plagued Rome, such as the suppression of pirates and the Mithridatic Wars, and pacified the East. He was also a politician who fully recognized the role of his clientel relationships and actively used them, and even had a kind of idea of ​​a world empire, and was particularly blessed with organizational talent. In his youth, he expanded his power without a crown, transcending the law, but in his later years he was supported by the conservative faction of the Senate, that is, the faction that maintained order, and he had no choice but to oppose Caesar. Although he had talents that surpassed his contemporaries as a general and politician, the difference in the scale of the two men as politicians and, above all, their humanity becomes clear through his conflicts and rivalries with Caesar.

[Hasegawa Hirotaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代ローマ、共和政末期の政治家、将軍。いわゆる第1回三頭政治を敷いた政治家の一人。父譲りのピケヌム（中部イタリアのアドリア海に面した地方）の地を軍事的、政治的、経済的地盤（クリエンテル）として政界に登場する。まず同盟市戦争で、父のもと軍人としての第一歩を踏み出したのち、紀元前83年初め、独力でピケヌムの地で大軍を招集して注目を浴び、スラのもと軍人として活躍し、とくにシチリア、アフリカでマリウス派の残党を討った（第1回の凱旋(がいせん)式）。スラの死後もスラ体制の護持に尽力し、イベリア半島のセルトリウスを撃破した（前77～前71）のち、その帰路にスパルタクスの反乱の息の根を止めて声望を高め、第2回の凱旋式を行い、クラッススとともに前70年のコンスル（執政官）に選ばれ、スラの裁判関係の規定を変革し護民官の権限を回復した。しかし、しだいに元老院と不和になり、民衆派と結び、前67年にはガビニウス法で地中海の海賊討伐の大権を与えられて、長年にわたりローマを悩ませた海賊を短時日で地中海から一掃した。さらに翌年には、マニリウス法でポントス王国のミトリダテス6世討伐の大権を与えられて、これを破り、アルメニアのティグラネス1世を捕らえたばかりか、前63年までにエジプトを除く全東方を平定した。ミトリダテスの旧領（ポントス王国）を合して属州ビテュニアを拡大して属州ポントス・ビテュニアとし、属州シリアを設け、クリエンテル領主網を確立したのである。前61年第3回の凱旋式を挙行し、翌年にはクラッスス、カエサルと結んで第1回三頭政治を始め、前59年のコンスルにカエサルを就けることによって、自らの東方での秩序設定を承認させ、自分の老兵への土地配慮を行わせた。一方、カエサルの娘ユリアをめとり、カエサルのガリア遠征中は、ローマの穀物供給管理の権限を得るなど、しだいに中央ローマで勢力を伸長した。

　前56年ルカでクラッスス、カエサルとの三者の盟約が更新され、前55年にはクラッススとともに再度コンスルに選ばれた。しかし三者の関係は、前54年のユリアの死、翌年のクラッススの戦死をもって崩れた。その間、コンスル後の任地として両スペインが与えられたが、赴任することなく、首都ローマの政治を動かしていった。前52年には同僚なしの単独コンスルに任ぜられてさえいる。ついでカエサルのガリアからの召還をめぐっての争いには、カエサルに対立する元老院の保守派に担がれ、実質上の全権を付与されて、前49年1月以降カエサルとの戦いに入った。ルビコン川を渡ってガリアから南下してきたカエサルに追われ、自らの地盤である東方に逃れて、そこで勢力を結集した。しかしその地盤の一つであったスペインをカエサルに抑えられたのち、東方に追ってきたカエサル軍と前48年の春から夏にかけてエピルスのデュラキウムの陣地で戦い、同年8月9日、テッサリアのファルサロスの決戦に敗れ、エジプトに逃れたが、9月28日エジプト王の配下に暗殺された。

　彼は、セルトリウス戦争やスパルタクスの蜂起(ほうき)を抑え、さらに海賊討伐やミトリダテス戦争で、ローマを長年にわたって悩ませた外敵との戦いに終止符を打ち、東方を平定したことなどから、その将軍としての業績が高く評価される。またそのクリエンテル関係のもつ役割を十分に認識し、積極的に利用しえた、ある種の世界帝国理念さえもっていた政治家で、とりわけ組織の才に恵まれていたといえる。若いころには法を超える形で無冠のまま権力を伸長したのに、晩年には元老院の保守派すなわち秩序維持派に担がれて、カエサルに相対さざるをえなかった。将軍、政治家として同時代人をぬきんでる才能を有していたとはいえ、カエサルとの対立・抗争を通して明らかになるのは、両者の政治家としてのスケールの差と、なによりも人間性の差である。

［長谷川博隆］

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