Mortal Republic by Edward J. Watts

Author:Edward J. Watts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2018-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

STUMBLING TOWARD DICTATORSHIP

POMPEY RECEIVED NEWS OF MITHRIDATES’S death while in Jericho, settling affairs in Judaea.1 The old king, who had encouraged the genocide of tens of thousands of Romans, crashed the Roman economy, and defeated or evaded two generations of Rome’s best commanders (including both Sulla and Pompey), ended up dying as the result of an assassination plot hatched by his own son Pharnaces. Romans, however, did not care how Mithridates had died—only that he was in fact dead. And when word of Mithridates’s death reached Rome, the city rejoiced with a ten-day-long festival of thanksgiving.

For some Romans, joy turned to worry as Pompey slowly made his way back to Italy. Pompey’s unparalleled military and political authority was tied specifically to the task of defeating Mithridates. With this enemy dead, and with Nepos’s attempt to extend Pompey’s command by empowering him to march against Catiline having failed, Pompey controlled a massive army without any clear legal authority to do so. It was impractical to expect any commander to dismiss an army while abroad, but some of Pompey’s activities in the winter and spring of 62 looked suspicious. As he made his way home, for instance, Pompey stopped in Mytilene, Ephesus, Rhodes, and Athens. Each city greeted him with well-choreographed celebrations of his achievements. These included a poetry competition in his honor in Mytilene and public performances by orators in Rhodes and philosophers in Athens. Pompey reciprocated with gifts to the cities and the performers—including a grant of 300,000 denarii to the city of Athens.2

Observers in Rome knew that this victory tour was a way to simultaneously celebrate what Pompey had accomplished and reinforce the ties that Pompey had built with his clients in the East. But they did not know what these steps meant for people in the capital. Were these celebrations of Pompey by provincials who were genuinely grateful for the peace he now brought and the benefactions he had given in the past? Or was Pompey instead reinforcing his support outside Rome as part of his preparations for an imminent civil war? Cicero, for one, had his suspicions. In a letter he composed in June of 62, Cicero indicated that people in Rome held out hope that, when Pompey landed in Italy, he would march on the city. Cicero then suggests, in typically Ciceronian fashion, that the appropriate thing for Pompey to do in the circumstances would be to extend congratulations to Cicero for saving the Republic. But, as Pompey drew nearer to Italy, Plutarch reports that rumors that Pompey “would straightway lead his army to the city” caused Crassus to flee with his children and his money “because he was truly afraid or rather, so it seems, because he wished to make the rumor seem trustworthy and make the ill-will [toward Pompey] harsher.”3

Pompey likely was aware of these rumors and the effect they were having on his popularity. Before he even arrived in Italy, he sent a letter to the Senate indicating he would return in peace.

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