The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - PREVIEW： Epochs #173 ｜ Pompey & Caesar： Part I

00:00:00.000 Hello, and welcome to this episode of Epochs, where I shall be continuing, after one episode hiatus, my story, my narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman Republic.

00:00:10.520 Now, I've talked to you already all about Crassus and Cato, and the generation before us of Marius and Sulla, and various tribunes.

00:00:20.600 Now, we're going to get to the meat of it, we're going to talk all about Pompey and Caesar.

00:00:25.760 And I mentioned before, where their careers sort of overlap so heavily, the next few episodes of Epochs, I'm going to do narratives of both Pompey and Caesar, sort of cutting away and cutting between them, where they overlap so heavily.

00:00:41.800 Because if I did just all Pompey and then all Caesar, we'd be covering a lot of the same thing twice.

00:00:47.540 We'd be covering some of the same topics already, more than once.

00:00:50.340 And I don't know how many episodes all this will be, probably quite a few, I like to do it in a fair amount of depth.

00:00:56.760 But to begin with, having said all of that, to begin with, this first episode at least, I'm going to concentrate almost exclusively, if not completely exclusively, on Pompey, just for the first episode.

00:01:08.460 Because Pompey is a little bit older than Caesar, not much, about five, six years older than Caesar.

00:01:14.260 But also, his career started earlier.

00:01:18.280 So in terms of him being involved in the events of history, the politics of Rome, he actually has got a head start on Caesar by ten years or more.

00:01:29.480 Caesar doesn't start particularly late, but he certainly doesn't start early.

00:01:33.880 Whereas Pompey does.

00:01:35.720 Pompey's involved in stuff when he's like 21, 22 years old.

00:01:39.300 In fact, that's part of his story.

00:01:40.980 He's actually involved in things way too early.

00:01:43.620 He holds offices and holds commands, which technically, he's got no right to hold.

00:01:48.280 He's far too young.

00:01:49.580 In the Roman system, at least in the late Republic, there was property and age qualifications for most things.

00:01:56.860 You simply weren't allowed to be a consul or a creator or hold imperium until you were in your thirties, usually.

00:02:04.520 But because we were in a period of upheaval, i.e. the civil wars between Marius and Sulla, and then Sulla's dictatorship,

00:02:11.120 the normal rules of politics were largely suspended.

00:02:15.900 And so Pompey was able to have a meteoric rise very, very young.

00:02:20.360 So all that said, he gets a good ten-year start on Caesar.

00:02:25.400 So let's see if I can cover that period first.

00:02:28.760 Okay, so before I dive right in, just a few general words about Pompey.

00:02:34.180 And one other thing to say, I've only covered two topics twice on epochs.

00:02:39.200 I really, really don't want to cover the same topic more than once unless I can help it,

00:02:44.480 because there's so much to talk about.

00:02:46.100 The whole of human history seems a bit of a waste to talk about the same thing once.

00:02:50.160 The only things I've done is Wellington, talked about the Peninsular War twice.

00:02:53.960 Once from Napoleon's point of view, and once from Wellington's point of view.

00:02:57.600 I have actually talked about Pompey once before, with Karl.

00:03:01.180 But that episode, we actually were meant to do something else.

00:03:05.080 And it was a last-minute change of plan, literally like one day before, to talk about Pompey.

00:03:10.240 So that's just really sort of a general overview of Pompey.

00:03:13.380 And this, obviously, these next few episodes of epochs will be much more in-depth.

00:03:16.740 So if I repeat myself at all from that episode, you'll have to forgive me.

00:03:23.420 And I think I did read this quote by Rex Warner.

00:03:26.400 I'm going to read it again, because it gives just an excellent insight and overview of Pompey.

00:03:32.420 The great translator and classicist Rex Warner wrote this about Pompey, or Plutarch's life of Pompey.

00:03:38.340 He said, quote,

00:03:38.980 The life of Pompey is a curious mixture.

00:03:42.140 The opening remarks of Pompey's character are surprising, to say the least.

00:03:46.040 The Pompey who emerges from the pages of Cicero is hardly tactful, easy of manner, and free from conceit.

00:03:53.240 Yet Plutarch later makes several more pertinent observations.

00:03:56.960 He recognises Pompey's tendency to throw his weight around, as evidenced by his treatment of Lucullus and Metellus Cretius,

00:04:04.740 and is aware of his extreme sensitivity to criticism and his constant yearning for popular approval.

00:04:11.280 He also fully appreciates certain aspects of Pompey's career, the extraordinary nature of Pompey's rise,

00:04:17.400 and skill with which he developed his clientele in Sicily, Africa and the East,

00:04:22.200 and his brilliant capacity for organising large-scale campaigns, as against the pirates, are all given due notice.

00:04:29.280 But as always, Plutarch is deterred by the complexities of internal politics.

00:04:33.980 He remarks on Pompey's lack of political success on his return from the Mithridatic War,

00:04:39.440 but the account of the decade before the Civil War leaves much to be desired.

00:04:43.440 Plutarch obviously did not understand Pompey's attitude to Cicero's exile and recall,

00:04:48.440 and he pays no attention at all to relations between Pompey and the Senate, either before or after Lucca,

00:04:54.260 or to Pompey's infinitely devious efforts to play off Caesar against the Senate in the late 50s.

00:05:00.440 On the credit side, he gives proper weight to the deaths of first Julia and then Crassus,

00:05:06.020 and is excellent on Pompey's exploitation of growing anarchy,

00:05:09.580 and on the factors that secured him his third consulship.

00:05:12.940 The narrative of the Civil War is lacking in any discussion of Pompey's controversial strategy,

00:05:18.360 but by way of compensation it contains one of the biographer's rare political insights,

00:05:22.640 for Plutarch is conscious that the Senate were using Pompey,

00:05:26.660 and that if Pompey once got rid of Caesar for them,

00:05:29.500 he would find himself put on the shelf, if not liquidated.

00:05:33.700 So to say something about the sources,

00:05:37.020 I may have read very heavily in my last episodes from Plutarch,

00:05:41.180 but I'm going to have to do it again,

00:05:43.240 because for the early life, particularly for the early life of Pompey,

00:05:46.380 it's really only Plutarch we've got.

00:05:49.040 All the other main accounts of the Civil Wars,

00:05:52.160 they only really pick up much later in Pompey's life.

00:05:56.540 So it's got to be Plutarch, really, for the early part of Pompey's life.

00:06:00.700 Okay, so Plutarch says this,

00:06:02.060 From the very beginning, the Roman people seem to have felt for Pompey

00:06:05.800 the same feelings as those expressed by the Prometheus of Aeschylus for Hercules,

00:06:10.960 when, after Hercules had delivered him, he says,

00:06:14.200 I hate the father, but I dearly love this son of his.

00:06:17.460 Plutarch goes on.

00:06:18.600 For the Romans never hated any of their generals so much and so bitterly

00:06:22.480 as they hated Pompey's father, Strabo.

00:06:25.420 While he was alive, they stood in awe of his military power,

00:06:28.860 and he was certainly a most formidable soldier.

00:06:30.860 But when he was killed by a thunderbolt,

00:06:33.420 Pompey's dad was struck by a thunderbolt and killed,

00:06:36.720 they insulted his dead body and dragged it from the beer

00:06:39.700 as it was being carried to the funeral.

00:06:42.460 On the other hand, no Roman was ever held in such affection by the people as Pompey was,

00:06:47.780 and no Roman enjoyed an affection which started so early in his career,

00:06:52.200 which reached such a height in his prosperity,

00:06:54.860 and which remained so constant in his time of adversity.

00:06:58.100 There was no one reason, and one only, for the hatred felt against Strabo Pompey,

00:07:03.460 namely that insatiable love of money, but there were many reasons for loving Pompey.

00:07:08.400 His modest way of life, his record as a soldier, his eloquence,

00:07:11.960 his trustworthy character, and the easy, tactful way he had of dealing with people.

00:07:16.800 No one ever asked favours with less offence or granted them with more grace,

00:07:21.020 for among his many charms, he possessed the ability to give without arrogance

00:07:25.760 and to receive without loss of dignity, end quote.

00:07:29.120 So that's one thing to mention, Pompey's sort of personability.

00:07:33.160 When you see his statues, he does seem to have sort of quite a kindly face.

00:07:37.460 Everyone remarks on that.

00:07:38.920 He looks like he's nice.

00:07:40.240 Well, that's funny, because at certain points in his life,

00:07:44.240 Pompey was very, very brutal and violent,

00:07:47.960 particularly sometimes in the earlier part of his life,

00:07:50.720 putting people to death, having lots and lots of people executed,

00:07:53.920 and being extremely cold about it all.

00:07:56.080 But usually, if you were his friend or a political ally or something,

00:07:59.900 he does seem to have been very kind.

00:08:01.300 And if he was indifferent to you,

00:08:02.460 he certainly wouldn't be unnecessarily cruel or mean or anything.

00:08:06.960 And I think you can sort of see it in his face,

00:08:10.560 you know, kind of the opposite.

00:08:11.600 I said this before when I talked about Sulla,

00:08:13.000 kind of the opposite of Sulla's statues.

00:08:15.480 Sulla's statues look fierce and kind of almost scary.

00:08:19.820 And Sulla almost certainly was,

00:08:21.320 at least in the last part of his career and life.

00:08:24.140 Whereas Pompey is probably reasonably nice as a person.

00:08:29.240 But he was one of the headlines about him.

00:08:31.340 Anyone who knows anything about Pompey would already know this.

00:08:33.620 He seemed to have had a fairly insatiable need to be loved, though.

00:08:39.300 Like, too much so.

00:08:40.800 Trying to please everyone at all times.

00:08:42.840 Doing anything so that everyone would love him.

00:08:46.400 But at least according to Pluto up there,

00:08:48.600 people did, mostly, already.

00:08:51.520 So, I mean, how much is enough?

00:08:53.440 You can go too far with that, right?

00:08:56.100 You can try too hard to be liked.

00:08:58.140 And people end up not liking you exactly for that. 0.99

00:09:01.620 Or it seems pathetic. 0.97

00:09:03.500 Or you undermine yourself in various ways 0.95

00:09:06.140 in order to be that slightly bit more loved,

00:09:09.400 even when most people already do.

00:09:11.640 And it can be a folly.

00:09:13.320 It can be a vice to be afraid to be disliked.

00:09:18.280 Plutarch goes on, quote,

00:09:19.320 At the beginning of his career, too,

00:09:21.520 he had an appearance which seemed to plead for him

00:09:23.740 before he opened his mouth.

00:09:25.720 And this was a great help to him

00:09:27.000 in winning people's affections.

00:09:29.360 He was attractive, certainly.

00:09:31.040 But part of his attractiveness

00:09:32.420 lay in a kind of dignity

00:09:33.900 and sweetness of disposition.

00:09:36.300 And at the height and flower of his youthful beauty,

00:09:39.160 there was apparent at the same time

00:09:40.760 the majesty and the kingliness of his nature.

00:09:43.820 His hair swept back in a kind of wave

00:09:45.960 from the forehead.

00:09:46.880 And the configuration of his face round the eyes

00:09:50.000 gave him a melting look

00:09:51.760 so that he was supposed,

00:09:53.640 though the resemblance was not a close one,

00:09:55.920 to resemble the statues of King Alexander.

00:09:58.500 That would be Alexander the Great.

00:10:00.320 He had sort of a similar haircut

00:10:01.640 to Alexander the Great.

00:10:03.300 It was a name often given to him

00:10:04.880 in his early youth.

00:10:06.620 And Pompey himself was not adverse from it.

00:10:09.060 So that some people soon applied

00:10:10.500 the word Alexander to him in mockery

00:10:12.620 to be compared to Alexander in any way,

00:10:15.520 even if it's slightly mockingly.

00:10:18.180 That's still great.

00:10:19.500 Most people, certainly in the ancient world, 0.99

00:10:21.980 would take that.

00:10:23.140 Alexander of Macedon,

00:10:25.260 Hegemon of all Greece, 1.00

00:10:26.320 King of Macedonia,

00:10:27.220 Master of Persia.

00:10:28.760 It's just the gold standard.

00:10:30.760 He's the best of the best,

00:10:32.540 undoubtedly.

00:10:33.940 And to be mentioned in the same breath,

00:10:36.080 even if it's ever so slightly in a mocking way,

00:10:38.820 you know, you'll take that.

00:10:40.380 Thank you very much.

00:10:41.220 It was because of this too

00:10:42.920 that Lucius Philippus,

00:10:44.900 a man of consular rank,

00:10:46.420 when speaking for Pompey and the courts,

00:10:48.520 said that there was nothing strange

00:10:49.900 in the fact that he,

00:10:51.500 being Philip,

00:10:52.340 should love Alexander.

00:10:54.220 They say that Flora,

00:10:55.580 the courtesan,

00:10:56.580 when she was getting on in years,

00:10:58.300 was always delighted to tell people

00:10:59.900 about her early intimacy with Pompey.

00:11:02.520 She always had the marks

00:11:03.780 of his bites on her,

00:11:05.480 she said,

00:11:06.200 when she went away

00:11:07.000 from having made love with him.

00:11:08.600 She would also describe

00:11:09.540 how one of Pompey's friends,

00:11:11.000 called Germinius,

00:11:12.060 fell in love with her.

00:11:13.260 The advances he made to her

00:11:14.820 annoyed her greatly,

00:11:16.220 and she told him

00:11:16.940 that she must refuse him

00:11:18.280 because of Pompey.

00:11:19.560 Germinius then approached Pompey,

00:11:21.320 and Pompey turned her over to Germinius.

00:11:24.020 But afterwards,

00:11:25.000 he would never have anything to do with her

00:11:26.680 or even meet her,

00:11:28.140 although it was thought

00:11:28.900 that he was very much in love with her.

00:11:30.760 And she herself,

00:11:31.840 far from taking this

00:11:32.800 as a courtesan might be expected to do, 1.00

00:11:35.620 was ill for a long time

00:11:36.900 with grief and longing for him.

00:11:39.160 And yet she was so famous

00:11:40.220 for her good looks

00:11:41.140 that when Metellus

00:11:42.440 was decorating the temple

00:11:43.880 of Castor and Pollux

00:11:44.880 with statues and paintings,

00:11:46.520 he had a portrait of her painted

00:11:47.920 and dedicated it

00:11:49.200 with other offerings

00:11:50.060 because of her remarkable beauty.

00:11:52.740 Pompey also treated his wife

00:11:54.140 and ex-slave Demetrius,

00:11:57.040 a man who had much influence with him

00:11:58.940 and who left an estate

00:12:00.200 of 4,000 talents

00:12:01.360 with a rudeness

00:12:02.520 and lack of generosity

00:12:03.520 which was quite unlike him

00:12:05.240 because he was afraid

00:12:06.340 of getting the reputation

00:12:07.420 of being under the spell

00:12:08.820 of her beauty

00:12:09.460 which was very famous

00:12:10.840 and supposed to be irresistible.

00:12:13.180 Yet in spite of all his caution

00:12:14.700 and circumspection

00:12:15.960 in these matters,

00:12:17.280 he did not avoid

00:12:18.140 the censure of his enemies.

00:12:20.000 He was accused

00:12:20.660 of having relations

00:12:21.500 with married women

00:12:22.260 and of neglecting public business

00:12:24.440 and betraying public interests

00:12:26.200 in order to gratify them.

00:12:27.940 That's quite a dark stain

00:12:30.080 on your character

00:12:31.080 as a Roman,

00:12:32.620 as an ancient Roman.

00:12:33.320 It's one thing

00:12:34.820 to be a Lothario,

00:12:36.460 a womaniser.

00:12:37.160 It's one thing

00:12:37.520 to sleep around

00:12:38.300 and be known to

00:12:39.760 but to give away,

00:12:41.660 betray the public interest.

00:12:44.520 Yeah, that's really bad

00:12:45.540 as it is today.

00:12:46.780 As it is today.

00:12:47.960 That's pretty bad.

00:12:49.760 Plutok continues.

00:12:50.320 There's a story told of him

00:12:51.840 which illustrates

00:12:52.880 his simple tastes

00:12:53.980 with regard to

00:12:55.060 the pleasures of the table.

00:12:56.760 Once when he was ill

00:12:57.800 and had lost his appetite,

00:12:59.520 a doctor prescribed

00:13:00.480 a thrush for him.

00:13:02.060 Since it was the wrong season,

00:13:03.640 his servants

00:13:04.300 could not find one

00:13:05.540 for the table

00:13:06.180 and someone said

00:13:07.320 they could be attained

00:13:08.720 at Lucullus's

00:13:09.820 as thrushes were kept there

00:13:11.780 all year round.

00:13:13.160 So, said Pompey,

00:13:14.200 if Lucullus was not a gourmet, 0.94

00:13:16.060 I should have had to die 0.94

00:13:17.120 and without paying any attention 0.97

00:13:18.980 to the doctor's advice,

00:13:20.400 he took something

00:13:21.100 which could be easily procured.

00:13:23.160 This, however,

00:13:24.200 happened at a later date.

00:13:26.180 End quote.

00:13:26.860 So, the ancient historians,

00:13:28.260 particularly Plutok,

00:13:28.940 before they get into politics

00:13:30.860 and military matters

00:13:32.580 and all that sort of thing,

00:13:33.880 they do quite often

00:13:34.680 like to mention

00:13:35.540 the vices

00:13:36.780 both of women

00:13:38.460 and of food

00:13:40.080 and sometimes of money.

00:13:42.320 They quite often

00:13:43.060 like to mention

00:13:43.720 sort of what you look like,

00:13:45.400 your relationship to sex,

00:13:47.140 your relationship to food

00:13:48.420 and how you deal with money.

00:13:51.040 So, in the scheme of things,

00:13:54.680 Pompey isn't all that bad.

00:13:55.820 You did see there,

00:13:56.660 you did hear there

00:13:57.260 that there was, you know,

00:13:58.020 a couple of black marks.

00:13:58.960 He's not perfect.

00:14:00.760 Few people are.

00:14:02.140 Few people are

00:14:02.860 as sort of clean

00:14:03.740 as Cato,

00:14:05.320 if you like.

00:14:07.020 But, still,

00:14:08.140 again,

00:14:08.420 in the scheme of things,

00:14:09.960 not too bad.

00:14:12.020 It wasn't like

00:14:12.460 he was an actual 0.94

00:14:13.320 sex pest 1.00

00:14:14.580 or a sex criminal 1.00

00:14:15.440 or something.

00:14:16.760 It wasn't like

00:14:17.200 he indulged

00:14:17.980 in food

00:14:18.860 insanely

00:14:19.900 and became

00:14:20.860 copulent

00:14:21.460 or anything like that.

00:14:23.260 Actually,

00:14:23.560 I think he did get

00:14:24.160 quite heavy

00:14:24.600 towards the end of his life.

00:14:25.360 But, certainly,

00:14:26.140 he didn't have

00:14:27.260 that vice

00:14:27.780 his whole life

00:14:28.980 or anything like that.

00:14:30.480 And he didn't

00:14:30.980 hold money

00:14:31.780 to an absurd degree

00:14:32.880 like Crassus

00:14:33.580 or his own father

00:14:34.700 or anything like that.

00:14:36.060 So, again,

00:14:36.820 starting off,

00:14:38.500 not too bad.

00:14:40.100 Not perfect,

00:14:40.860 but not too bad.

00:14:42.300 Plutarch continues.

00:14:43.020 When he was still

00:14:44.100 a very young man

00:14:44.960 and was serving

00:14:46.080 with his father

00:14:46.760 in a campaign

00:14:47.480 against Sinna,

00:14:48.700 oh,

00:14:49.020 must say there,

00:14:50.380 Pompey and his family

00:14:51.840 were basically

00:14:52.460 on the side of Sulla

00:14:53.800 in the civil wars.

00:14:56.180 A bit later,

00:14:57.160 he becomes

00:14:57.500 absolutely firmly

00:14:58.360 100% without doubt

00:14:59.960 in the camp of Sulla.

00:15:01.200 To begin with,

00:15:02.140 it's not exactly

00:15:03.040 completely clear,

00:15:04.760 but nonetheless,

00:15:05.900 his family

00:15:06.420 were always

00:15:07.160 more or less

00:15:08.120 on that side

00:15:09.440 of the equation.

00:15:10.960 So, that must be noted.

00:15:12.520 Of course,

00:15:12.780 Pompey would have

00:15:13.300 done well to survive

00:15:14.160 if he hadn't been

00:15:15.080 on Sulla's side of things,

00:15:17.240 but it comes up

00:15:18.000 later,

00:15:18.520 quite soon,

00:15:19.460 that he's absolutely

00:15:20.460 firmly a Sullen.

00:15:23.540 Okay,

00:15:23.860 when he was still

00:15:24.380 a very young man

00:15:25.000 and was serving

00:15:25.420 with his father

00:15:25.960 in a campaign

00:15:26.380 against Sinna,

00:15:27.340 he had a friend,

00:15:28.160 because Sinna

00:15:28.560 was an ally of Marius,

00:15:30.660 he had a friend

00:15:31.360 called Lucius Terentius

00:15:33.360 who shared his tent

00:15:34.740 with him.

00:15:35.820 This man was bribed

00:15:36.780 by Sinna

00:15:37.240 to murder Pompey 0.89

00:15:38.240 while others

00:15:39.240 were to set

00:15:40.040 fire to the general's tent.

00:15:41.980 Pompey was informed

00:15:42.820 of the conspiracy

00:15:43.660 while he was at supper.

00:15:45.880 He showed no sign

00:15:46.840 of disturbance,

00:15:48.000 in fact,

00:15:48.400 he drank more than usual

00:15:49.520 and was particularly

00:15:50.560 friendly to Terentius.

00:15:52.560 After retiring to rest,

00:15:54.380 he slipped out of the tent

00:15:55.380 without being seen,

00:15:56.620 put a guard around

00:15:57.400 his father's tent

00:15:58.220 and waited.

00:15:59.340 Terentius,

00:16:00.200 when he thought

00:16:00.740 that the proper time

00:16:01.500 had come,

00:16:02.420 got up with his sword drawn,

00:16:04.280 went to Pompey's bedside

00:16:05.480 and stabbed the bedclothes

00:16:07.280 again and again,

00:16:08.620 supposing him

00:16:09.280 to be lying there.

00:16:10.660 After this,

00:16:11.220 there was a great uproar.

00:16:12.540 In their hatred

00:16:13.060 of the general,

00:16:13.800 again,

00:16:14.060 that's Pompey's father,

00:16:15.100 the general,

00:16:15.820 the soldiers broke out

00:16:16.860 into mutiny,

00:16:18.100 tearing down the tents

00:16:18.960 and seizing their arms.

00:16:20.480 The general,

00:16:20.980 meanwhile,

00:16:21.700 in all this disturbance,

00:16:23.280 was afraid to show himself.

00:16:25.200 But Pompey,

00:16:26.100 that's our Pompey,

00:16:26.860 the son,

00:16:27.160 went about

00:16:28.020 in the middle of it all,

00:16:29.360 weeping and pleading

00:16:30.280 with the soldiers

00:16:30.900 and finally,

00:16:32.020 he threw himself down

00:16:33.000 on his face

00:16:33.620 in front of the gate

00:16:34.720 of the camp

00:16:35.260 and lay there,

00:16:36.660 blocking up the passageway,

00:16:37.860 crying out aloud

00:16:39.020 and telling the soldiers 0.80

00:16:40.140 to trample over his body

00:16:41.340 if they wanted to go out.

00:16:42.940 As a result,

00:16:43.720 everyone drew back in shame

00:16:44.980 and all except 800

00:16:46.440 changed their minds

00:16:47.680 and were reconciled

00:16:48.800 to their general.

00:16:49.820 End quote.

00:16:50.140 So still,

00:16:51.220 800 of them

00:16:52.020 basically deserted,

00:16:53.280 which is far from insignificant.

00:16:55.160 But there's an interesting

00:16:56.440 sort of note

00:16:57.080 about his character.

00:16:58.360 In the ancient world,

00:17:00.180 at different times,

00:17:01.880 it was either disgraceful

00:17:03.620 or completely acceptable

00:17:05.480 for men

00:17:06.940 to sort of cry

00:17:08.220 and wail 0.99

00:17:08.980 and thrash around

00:17:11.300 in the dirt

00:17:11.960 and scrub dirt

00:17:14.020 on their face

00:17:14.800 in mourning

00:17:15.320 and all that sort of thing.

00:17:16.740 At different places

00:17:17.340 and different times,

00:17:18.300 it was allowed.

00:17:19.340 For example,

00:17:19.920 in Homer's Odyssey,

00:17:21.300 you see that Achilles

00:17:22.740 and others,

00:17:23.680 many others,

00:17:24.540 quite often burst into tears.

00:17:26.640 In the Alexander stories,

00:17:29.200 sorry, histories,

00:17:31.400 Alexander or many of his men

00:17:32.800 might burst into tears

00:17:33.940 at other times.

00:17:35.300 In Rome,

00:17:36.460 a few generations before this,

00:17:38.420 you know,

00:17:38.660 in the age of Brennus

00:17:39.960 or in the age of Hannibal,

00:17:43.220 it was certainly

00:17:43.800 not really the done thing

00:17:44.940 for Romans

00:17:45.500 to cry and wail

00:17:46.680 and show

00:17:47.720 sort of extreme emotion

00:17:48.880 like that.

00:17:49.600 However,

00:17:49.900 by this time,

00:17:51.080 and we're talking

00:17:51.440 the 80s,

00:17:52.100 90s BC,

00:17:53.580 sort of would be acceptable

00:17:54.940 to a degree.

00:17:57.540 When I talk about Cicero,

00:17:59.020 finally,

00:17:59.720 you'll see that he does

00:18:01.220 something similar

00:18:01.980 and it doesn't really work. 0.96

00:18:04.640 People find it pathetic. 0.94

00:18:06.520 So it sort of depends 0.92

00:18:08.040 how you do it,

00:18:09.500 how you go about it.

00:18:11.020 Sort of depends

00:18:11.840 if your actual cause

00:18:13.760 has sympathy or not.

00:18:16.460 But in this instance,

00:18:18.280 it seems like

00:18:19.140 Pompey Magnus,

00:18:20.700 our Pompey,

00:18:21.580 his sort of extreme laments

00:18:23.440 do seem to successfully

00:18:25.480 put on the heartstrings

00:18:26.420 of what we can only imagine

00:18:28.080 as fairly hard-bitten soldiers.

00:18:30.940 Pluton continues,

00:18:32.180 Directly after Strabo's death,

00:18:34.120 Pompey,

00:18:34.560 as his heir,

00:18:35.600 was put on trial

00:18:36.460 for misappropriation

00:18:37.540 of public funds.

00:18:39.000 So far as most

00:18:39.740 of the thefts

00:18:40.420 were concerned,

00:18:41.620 Pompey was able

00:18:42.340 to prove

00:18:43.000 to the magistrates

00:18:44.140 that they had been

00:18:45.200 the work of one

00:18:45.940 of his father's

00:18:46.660 ex-slaves

00:18:47.300 called Alexander,

00:18:48.680 but he was still

00:18:49.340 charged himself

00:18:50.140 with being in possession

00:18:51.380 of hunting nets

00:18:52.640 and books

00:18:53.500 from the booty

00:18:54.180 taken at Asculum.

00:18:55.860 So there was a,

00:18:57.320 I don't think

00:18:57.820 I particularly mentioned

00:18:58.580 it in the Sulla story,

00:19:00.460 but the Sulla

00:19:02.420 and the Sullan armies

00:19:03.580 besieged

00:19:04.800 and took

00:19:05.740 the Roman town

00:19:06.780 city of Asculum

00:19:07.980 and it was

00:19:09.000 a little bit plundered,

00:19:10.500 which isn't really

00:19:11.240 on, is it?

00:19:12.340 It's not really

00:19:12.720 the right thing.

00:19:13.300 You're not supposed

00:19:13.720 to be plundering

00:19:15.460 Roman cities.

00:19:16.860 It's, you know,

00:19:18.160 you're supposed

00:19:18.440 to be liberating them,

00:19:19.620 if anything.

00:19:20.980 So any sort of

00:19:22.280 plunder or booty

00:19:23.160 taken from Asculum

00:19:24.240 would have been

00:19:25.100 against the rules,

00:19:26.560 even if they're

00:19:27.360 merely hunting nets

00:19:28.660 and books.

00:19:29.240 I say merely,

00:19:29.860 books are,

00:19:30.460 extremely expensive

00:19:31.500 and valuable

00:19:31.980 in the ancient

00:19:32.580 or medieval world.

00:19:34.380 It seems Pompey

00:19:35.100 was able to sort of

00:19:35.860 basically acquit himself.

00:19:37.920 Pluto continues,

00:19:38.760 he had in fact

00:19:39.520 received these things

00:19:40.440 from his father

00:19:41.180 after he had

00:19:42.340 captured Asculum,

00:19:43.620 but he had lost

00:19:44.360 them later

00:19:44.920 when,

00:19:45.800 after his father

00:19:46.520 had returned to Rome,

00:19:47.720 the house had been

00:19:48.480 broken into

00:19:49.140 and pillaged

00:19:49.680 by a sinner's bodyguard.

00:19:51.220 In the preliminary

00:19:51.900 investigation

00:19:52.980 before the lawsuit

00:19:53.860 began,

00:19:54.680 Pompey was often

00:19:55.360 confronted with

00:19:56.340 his accuser

00:19:57.020 and on all these

00:19:58.100 occasions,

00:19:59.020 he showed a keen

00:19:59.860 intelligence

00:20:00.560 and a balance

00:20:01.700 that was remarkable

00:20:02.520 in one so young

00:20:03.380 and won great

00:20:04.460 credit and favour

00:20:05.260 so that Antisistus,

00:20:07.220 who as creator

00:20:08.080 was judge in the case,

00:20:10.060 became very fond of him,

00:20:11.620 offered him his daughter

00:20:12.440 in marriage

00:20:13.040 and negotiated

00:20:14.080 about the marriage

00:20:15.320 with his friends.

00:20:16.460 Pompey accepted

00:20:17.060 the offer

00:20:17.520 and an engagement

00:20:18.700 was made privately.

00:20:20.300 However,

00:20:20.780 from the partiality

00:20:21.780 shown by Antisistus

00:20:22.900 to Pompey

00:20:23.520 in the case,

00:20:24.620 people were able

00:20:25.180 to guess

00:20:25.660 what was going on

00:20:26.740 and in the end

00:20:27.660 when Antisistus

00:20:28.720 announced

00:20:29.120 that the verdict

00:20:29.760 of the jury

00:20:30.520 was not guilty,

00:20:32.140 the people,

00:20:32.920 as though they had

00:20:33.500 been waiting

00:20:33.980 for the signal,

00:20:35.100 all shouted out

00:20:35.940 Talasio,

00:20:37.320 which is the ancient

00:20:38.200 and traditional greeting

00:20:39.280 used at weddings.

00:20:40.980 End quote.

00:20:42.060 So that little story there,

00:20:43.460 I think,

00:20:44.460 speaks volumes again

00:20:45.400 about Pompey's character.

00:20:46.380 He's still very young,

00:20:47.220 he's in his early 20s

00:20:48.220 at this point

00:20:48.720 and that the creator,

00:20:51.120 you know,

00:20:51.360 a very eminent man,

00:20:52.240 one of the most powerful

00:20:53.260 men in Rome,

00:20:53.900 one of the probably

00:20:54.460 ten most powerful

00:20:55.700 men in Rome,

00:20:56.980 sort of eager

00:20:57.560 to marry his daughter

00:20:58.480 off to Pompey,

00:20:59.720 even though Pompey's

00:21:00.560 family isn't incredibly

00:21:02.400 prestigious.

00:21:03.780 If anything,

00:21:04.740 the reputation

00:21:05.340 of the father,

00:21:07.280 Pompey Strabo,

00:21:08.700 is very poor.

00:21:10.500 It seems that Pompey,

00:21:11.360 the man,

00:21:11.600 some people have just

00:21:12.200 got a type of charisma.

00:21:13.540 It seems Pompey

00:21:14.180 had charisma

00:21:15.020 when he was young,

00:21:16.660 certainly,

00:21:18.040 where people just like you,

00:21:19.440 they like to be around you,

00:21:21.000 they like to connect

00:21:21.980 themselves with you.

00:21:23.620 Something magnetic even.

00:21:25.560 To watch the full video,

00:21:26.920 please become a premium member

00:21:28.060 at lotusedus.com.

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - August 25, 2024

PREVIEW： Epochs #173 ｜ Pompey & Caesar： Part I

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