A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

POMPEI US. POMPEIUS. 491
fleet off Mylae, destroying thirty of his ships; but could only have been secured by his becoming the
the decisive battle was fought on the third of Sep- master of the Roman world. He was personally
tember (B. C. 36), off Naulochus, a seaport between brave, but was deficient in refinement, and possessed
Mylae and the promontory of Pelorum. The scarcely any knowledge of literature. Velleisis
Pompeian fleet was commanded by Demochares, Paterculus says (ii. 73) that he could not speak
and that of Octavian by Agrippa, each consist- correctly, but this is doubtless an exaggeration; for
ing of about 300 ships. Agrippa gained a brilliant Cicero saw little to alter in the letter which Sextus
victory; most of the Pompeian ships were de- sent to him for correction before it was given to the~
stroyed or taken. Pompey himself fled first to consuls (Cic. ad Att. xvi. 4). Sextus assumed the
Messana, where he straightway embarked toge- surname of Pius, to show that he was an avenger
ther with his daughter, and set sail for the East of his father and brother. This surname appears
with a squadron of seventeen ships. Octavian did on his coins [see below]. (Auct. B. Hisp. 3, &c.
not pursue him, as his attention was immediately 32; Cic. ad Att. xii. 37, 44, xiv. 13, 21, 29, xv.
called to the attempts of Lepidus to make himself 7, 20, 22, xvi. i, Philipp. xiii. passim; Appian,
independent of his colleague [LEPIDUS, p. 768, a.]. B. C. ii. 105, 122, iii. 4, iv. 84-117, v. 2-143;
Pompey was thus enabled to reach Mytilene in Dion Cass. lib. xlvi.-xlix.; Vell. Pat. ii. 73, 87;
safety, where he began to form schemes for seizing Liv. Epit. 123, 128, 129, 131.)
the eastern provinces of Antony, who had just re- The coins of Sex. Pompey are numerous. On
turned from his disastrous campaign against the the obverse the head of his father is usually repreParthians, in which he had barely escaped with sented; and writers on numismatics state that the
his life. For this purpose he entered into nego- head on the obverse of his coins is always that of
tiations with chiefs in Thrace and the north-eastern the triumvir; but we are tempted to think that it is
coast of the Black Sea, and even opened a commu- in some cases that of Sextus himself. We subjoin
nication with the Parthians, thinking that they a few specimens of some of the most important
might, perhaps, trust him with an army, as they coins.
had done T. Labienus a few years previously. He
gave out that he was making preparations to carry
on the war against Octavian.
In B. c. 35 Pompey crossed over from Lesbos to
Asia. Here he soon disclosed his real designs by
seizing upon Lampsacus. Thereupon C. Furnius, the s
legate of Antony, declared open war against him;
and Antony likewise sent Titius, with a fleet of 120
ships, to attack his naval forces. Unable to cope
with so large a force, Pompey burnt his ships and
united their crews to his army. His friends now
recommended him to make terms with Antony;
but, as their advice was not attended to, most of _/
them deserted him, among whom was his fatherin-law, Scribonius Libo. Thereupon he attempted
to fly to Armenia, but he was overtaken by the
troops of Antony, deserted by his own soldiers, and
obliged to surrender. He was carried as a prisoner
to Miletus, where he was shortly afterwards put
to death (B. C. 35) by order of Titius. Titius, undoubtedly, would not have put Pompey to death on
his own responsibility. It is probable that Plancus,
the governor of Syria, to whom the execution of
Pompey was attributed by many, had received
orders from Antony to instruct his legates to
execute Pompey, if he were seized in arms; but,
as many persons lamented the death of Pompey,
the son of the great conqueror of Asia, Antony was COINS OF SEX. POMPEIUS, THE SON O
willing enough to throw the blame upon Plancus THE TRIUMVIR.
or Titius.
Sextus did not possess any great abilities. He The head on the obverse of the first two coins is
took up arms from necessity, as he was first de- supposed to be that of the triumvir. On the obverse
prived of every thing by Caesar, and then pro- of the former of these we have the legend SEX. MAG.
scribed by the triumvirs. His success was owing PIvs. IMP. SAL. (the interpretationof which is doubtmore to circumstances than to his own merits: the ful), and on the reverse a female figure with the legend
war between the triumvirs and the republicans, and PlETAS. It has been already remarked that Sextus
subsequently the misunderstandings between Octa- assumed the surname of Pius, to show that he wished
vian and Antony, enabled him to obtain and keep to revenge the death of his father and brother; and
possession of Sicily. He seems never to have as- for the same reason we find Pietas on the obverse
pired to supreme power. I-le would have been of the coin. The obverse of the second coin has
contented if he could have returned in safety to the legend MAGNVS IMP. ITER, with a lituus before
Rome, and have recovered his patrimony, and he the head of the triumvir, and an urceus behind; and
carried on war for that purpose, and not for domi- the reverse has the legend PRAEF. CLAS. ET ORAE.
nion. He ought, however, to have seen that he MARIT. EX. S. C. He is called on this coin impecould never have returned to Rome except as the rator a second time (iterum), because his victory
conqueror of Octavian, and that his personal safety over Asinius Pollio in Spain first gave him a claim