Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo
Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo | |
---|---|
Born | c. 135 BC |
Died | 87 BC |
Nationality | Roman |
Office | |
Children | Pompey and Pompeia |
Parents |
|
Military service | |
Battles/wars | Social War Bellum Octavianum |
Awards | Triumph |
Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (c. 135 – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as
Strabo, the
Career
Strabo was a prominent member of the Pompeii, a noble family in Picenum, in the north-east of Italy. The Pompeii had become the richest and most prominent family of the region, and had a large clientele and a lot of influence in Picenum and Rome. Despite the anti-rural prejudice of the Roman Senate, the Pompeii could not be ignored. After serving in the military, probably as a military tribune, Strabo climbed the cursus honorum and became promagistrate in Sicily 93 BC and consul in the year 89 BC, in the midst of the Social War.
Social war
Despite Strabo's provincial roots, he and his family were Roman citizens and therefore took up Rome's cause during the Civil War the Republic had to fight with its Italian Allies. He commanded his forces against the Italian rebels in the northern part of
Triumph
Strabo celebrated a
Death
In 87 BC Strabo and his army encamped outside the Colline Gate. He kept an unhygienic camp which resulted in an outbreak of disease in his army. Strabo himself caught dysentery and died a few days later, still in his camp outside the Colline Gate. His avarice and cruelty had made him hated by the soldiers to such a degree that they tore his corpse from the bier and dragged it through the streets.[9] Another story expounded by Plutarch claimed that the general died after being struck by lightning.[10]
His son, Pompey the Great, took the legions back to Picenum. He would use them to support Sulla a few years later.
Strabo had at least two children: a son,
In his honour his name was given to the cities of Alba Pompeia and Laus Pompeia.
References
- Citations
- ^ Broughton 1952, pp. 29, 32, 42, 48–49.
- ^ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 86.
- ^ a b Tom Holland, Rubicon, p. 58.
- ^ Philip Matyszak, Cataclysm 90 BC, p. 100.
- ^ Philip Matyszak, Cataclysm 90 BC, p. 105.
- ^ a b c John Leach, Pompey the Great, p.15; Velleius Paterculus, Historia Romana, II. 21.
- ^ John Leach, Pompey the Great, p. 19; Appius, Civil Wars, I.63; Sallust, Histories, II. 21.
- ^ Philip Matyszak, Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain, p.27.
- ^ Lynda Telford, Sulla, p. 112.
- ^ Plutarch, Pompey
- ^ Leach, Pompey, family tree and p. 104
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pompey". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 56–58.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the- Sources
- Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1952). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 2. New York: American Philological Association.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080503112904/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1930.html
- http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2808.html Archived 2010-12-02 at the Wayback Machine