Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |The Imperators| ▸ |Pompeians||View Options: ![]() ![]() Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Pompey the Great, rose to prominence serving the dictator Sulla as a commander in the civil war of 83-82 B.C. Pompey's success as a general at a young age enabled him to advance to his first Roman consulship without following the traditional cursus honorum. He was consul three times. He served as a commander in the Sertorian War, the Third Servile War, the Third Mithridatic War, and in various other military campaigns. For his victories, Pompey was awarded three triumphs and the cognomen Magnus – "the Great." In 60 B.C., Pompey joined Crassus and Caesar in a military-political alliance, the First Triumvirate. Pompey married Caesar's daughter, Julia, which helped secure this partnership. After the deaths of Crassus and Julia, Pompey became an ardent supporter of the Optimates — a conservative faction of the Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for leadership of Rome, culminating in civil war. Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C. He sought refuge in Ptolemaic Egypt, where he was assassinated. |