Pompey and Crassus, Roman Empire

After the death of Sulla, two men rise to prominence: Marcus Lucinius Crassus, a fabulously wealthy and ambitious nobleman and Pompey Magnus, a brilliant and storied general. Through his allyship with the dictator Sulla, Pompey earned two nicknames -  the first was ‘Magnus’ or ‘the Great’, a reference to Alexander of Macedon, which was bestowed on him by Sulla for his stunning victories against the Marian faction. The other was ‘Adulescentulus Carnifex’ or ‘the Young Butcher’ - a name given to him by his enemies after his ruthless and gleeful prosecution of Sulla’s proscription orders. Both men came out of the dictatorship with their pockets lined and their careers bolstered.

In 70 BCE, Pompey and Crassus are both elected to the consulship, and the two former rivals join forces. Combining Pompey’s talent for warcraft and his reputation as a great soldier with Crassus’ fantastic wealth, they dominate Roman politics for the next decade. Despite their former alliances with the optimates, Crassus and Pompey swing the pendulum of power back in favour of the populares, undermining the reforms of Sulla to pursue a more populist vision

The consuls pass laws to counterbalance the new supremacy of the Senate. First, in a move of rapprochement with the people, they reinstate the powers of the Tribunate - including its right to veto laws and introduce legislation. Then, they begin a programme of public spending, organising massive gladiatorial games.

Despite this, Pompey and Crassus shouldn’t be seen as political partisans for the cause of the poor in the same vein as the Gracchi or Marius. Instead, they were opportunistic elites who sought to ally themselves with Rome’s plebeian classes to ensure mass support in their struggles with other elites. They were successful, and soon they enjoyed the backing of the majority of Rome’s common people.

In 68 BCE, Pompey prosecuted a war against the pirates in the Mediterranean. The sea was rife with piracy, undermining Roman trade and making it difficult to govern the far-flung provinces of the empire. He is granted extraordinary powers through the Gabinia Law, giving him complete control of the Mediterranean Coast, the power to direct governors and other commanders, and even allowing him to supersede senatorial authority. This was vociferously opposed by the optimates, but they lost the vote.

Pompey executes the command with remarkable efficiency, destroying the pirate fleets and capturing their stronghold in Cilicia (modern-day Southeastern Turkey) in just three months. This war highlights the problems posed by Rome's vast new empire to the power-sharing principles of the Republic. Clearing the Mediterranean Sea was a difficult task to achieve if the commander in charge was swapping out every year, his hands tied by the checks and balances of a pseudo-democratic system. If the Romans wanted to be rid of the pirates, they needed to grant extraordinary powers to a single man for an unlimited period. To run the empire effectively, the Roman Republic had to stretch and destroy the very institutions and principles that defined it.

After the horrors of Sulla and Marius, and the eventual military, cultural and legal triumph of Sulla’s optimates faction, many in Rome may have considered the struggle between the plebeians and the patricians settled. However, the years after the consulships of Crassus and Pompey reignited the old class conflict. Though the two men, both former optimates, sided with the populares faction during their consulship, they never pursued the resolution of the systemic issues (such as rampant inequality, land redistribution or military reform) that the Gracchi and Marius fought for. They did not aim to upend the status quo but instead opportunistically used the cause of the poor to bolster their own political power.

At the same time, extraordinary laws such as the Lex Gabinia gave individuals influence and power almost unrivalled in Roman history. This set a dangerous precedent - that successful generals, such as Pompey, could amass sweeping personal powers that put them far above the community of equals to which they were meant to belong. Backed by his legions, the people and the riches of Crassus, Pompey now stands atop Rome. Yet, in his shadow, another ambitious nobleman seeks to surpass him.