The gens Pompeia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, first appearing in history during the second century BC, and frequently occupying the highest offices of the Roman state from then until imperial times. The first of the Pompeii to obtain the consulship was Quintus Pompeius in 141 BC, but by far the most illustrious of the gens was Gnaeus Pompeius, surnamed Magnus, a distinguished general under the dictator Sulla, who became a member of the First Triumvirate, together with Caesar and Crassus. After the death of Crassus, the rivalry between Caesar and Pompeius led to the Civil War, one of the defining events of the final years of the Roman Republic.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 473 ("Pompeia Gens").
Origin The nomen Pompeius (frequently anglicized as Pompey) is generally believed to be derived from the Oscan praenomen Pompo, equivalent to the Latin Quintus, and thus a patronymic surname. The gentilicia Pompilius and Pomponius, with which Pompeius is frequently confounded, were also derived from Pompo. The gentile-forming suffix was typical of Sabine families, suggesting that the Pompeii were of Sabine or Oscan extraction.Chase, pp. 119, 121. Cicero describes Quintus Pompeius, the consul of 141 BC, as a man of "humble and obscure origin".Cicero, In Verrem, v. 70, Pro Murena, 7, Brutus 25, quotation from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Chase posits an alternative etymology: that Pompeius and similar names were instead derived from pompa, a procession, or a derived cognomen Pompo, meaning not "fifth", but a participant in a procession; but he concludes that all of these hypotheses are uncertain.
Praenomina The main praenomina of the Pompeii were Gnaeus, Quintus, and Sextus, each of which was used by the two main branches of the family under the Republic, as well as by other members. Individual families made use of Aulus and Marcus. All of these were common names throughout Roman history. A few Pompeii not associated with any of the major families of this gens used other praenomina.
Branches and cognomina According to Velleius Paterculus, the Pompeii of the Republic were divided into two or three distinct families, of which two can be reconstructed with a high degree of probability. How they were related is not known. They used almost entirely different sets of praenomina, which was unusual, since as a rule certain ancestral praenomina would be used by all of the branches of a gens, although others might be unique to individual stirpes.Velleius Paterculus, ii. 21.Drumann, Geschichte Roms, pp. 306 ff.
The first branch to appear at Rome acquired the surname Rufus, signifying someone with red hair,Chase, p. 110. but it was only passed down through one line. The surname Bithynicus is also thought to have belonged to a branch of this family, although it is not certain how the name, a reference to Bithynia, was acquired, or precisely when.
The other branch, which played a conspicuous role in the final decades of the Republic and under the early Empire, mainly used personal cognomina, such as Strabo, Magnus, Pius, and Faustulus. Strabo, referring to someone with a pronounced squint,Chase, p. 109. belonged to the father of the triumvir, and is said to have been the nickname of his cook, whose proper name was Menogenes; but it then became a nickname of Pompeius, because he resembled the cook.Pliny the Elder, vii. 10. s. 12.Valerius Maximus, ix. 14. § 2.
Magnus, or "great", was originally an epithet of the triumvir, who won renown as a general under Sulla's command, and later on his own; his sons and some of their descendants also used the name to signify their connection to him. Pius, or "faithful", was assumed by the general's son, Sextus, to signify his filial devotion to pursue vengeance on behalf of his father and brother. Faustulus, found as a surname on the coins of a Sextus Pompeius, presumably a member of the same family, is a diminutive of Faustus, meaning "fortunate" or "lucky".Chase, p. 111.
Various surnames were borne by other Pompeii, including a number of freedmen and their descendants, but the majority of the Pompeii who lived in the time of the Republic bore no cognomen.
Members
Lucius Pompeius, a military tribune in the army of the consul Publius Licinius Crassus in 171 BC, during the war against Perseus. His relationship to the two main families of the Republic is uncertain.Livy, xlii. 66. Titus Pompeius T. f., a staff officer in the command of the consul Pompeius Strabo in 89 BC.Broughton, vol. II, p. 35. Marcus Pompeius, leader of the Roman cavalry under Lucullus during the war with Mithridates. He was captured after being wounded in battle.Appian, Bella Mithridatica, 79.Plutarch, "The Life of Lucullus", 15. Quintus Pompeius Macula, a friend of Cicero, and the rival of Fulvius for the hand of Fausta Cornelia, the daughter of Sulla, who ultimately married Gaius Memmius.Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, vi. 19. Pompeius Cn. l. Lenaeus, a learned Athenian, granted his freedom by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Like Theophanes, Lenaeus became one of his former master's traveling companions, and later kept a school at Rome.Suetonius, De Illustribus Grammaticis, 2, 15.Pliny the Elder, xxv. 2, 3. Pompeius Cn. l. Vindullus, a freedman of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. He died at Laodicea in 50 BC.Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, vi. 1. § 25. Pompeia, the wife of Publius Vatinius, tribune of the plebs in 59 BC. Cicero mentions her in a letter from 45.Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, v. 11. Gnaeus Pompeius, served under Caesar's legate, Quintus Titurius, in 54 BC, during the Gallic Wars.Caesar, De Bello Gallico, v. 36. Titus Pompeius Reginus, a resident of Gallia Narbonensis, was excluded from his brother's will, a circumstance remarked upon by Varro and Valerius Maximus.Valerius Maximus, vii. 8. § 4.Varro, Rerum Rusticarum, iii. 12. Pompeius Varus, a companion of Horace, alongside whom he fought at the battle of Philippi. He was proscribed by the triumvirs, but later allowed to return home, perhaps as early as the Pact of Misenum, but more likely after the Battle of Actium, when Octavian pardoned some of those who had fought under Marcus Antonius.Horace, Odes, ii. 7.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, p. 1230 ("Pompeius Varus").
Descendants of Aulus Pompeius Aulus Pompeius, father of the consul of 141 BC, was described as a flute-player, probably as a means of disparaging his son, who was a novus homo.Plutarch, Regum et Imperatorium Apophthegmata, p. 200. Quintus Pompeius A. f., rose from humble origins to become consul in 141 BC. He secured election through duplicity, and received the province of Hispania Citerior. After suffering several military setbacks, he made a treaty on favourable terms to the Numantines, which he subsequently disavowed. He deftly avoided punishment for this and a charge of extortion made against him, and was censor in 131.Cicero, Brutus, 25, Laelius, 21, Pro Fonteio, 7, De Officiis, iii. 30, De Finibus, ii. 17.Valerius Maximus, viii. 5. § 1, ix. 3. § 7.Appian, Hispanica, 63, 76–79.Livy, Epitome, 54, 59.Orosius, v. 4.Broughton, vol. I, pp. 471, 477, 480, 482, 488, 500. (Quintus) Pompeius (Q. f. A. n.), an enemy of Tiberius Gracchus, who in 133 BC accused Gracchus of receiving the emblems of royalty from Eudemus of Pergamum, and threatened to bring him to trial. Drumann makes him the son of the consul of 141 BC, and identifies him with the Pompeius who was tribune of the plebs in 132, but this identification is very uncertain.Plutarch, "The Life of Tiberius Gracchus", 14.Orosius, v. 8. Pompeia Q. f. A. n., the wife of Gaius Sicinius.Cicero, Brutus, 76. Aulus Pompeius (Q. f. Q. n.), tribune of the plebs in 102 BC, denounced Battaces, who claimed to be the priest of the Magna Mater at Pessinus, and that the Romans had profaned her temple. Pompeius attempted to prevent him speaking from the rostra, but fell ill from a quinsy, which deprived him of speech; when he died soon thereafter, the people took it as a sign of the Magna Mater's displeasure.Plutarch, "The Life of Marius", 17.Diodorus Siculus, xxxvi. 13.Broughton, vol. I, p. 568. Quintus Pompeius Q. f. (Q. n.) Rufus, tribune of the plebs in 99 BC, praetor urbanus in 91, and consul in 88. He opposed the tribune Publius Sulpicius and supported Sulla in his march on Rome, but was murdered by the soldiers of Pompeius Strabo, who was unwilling to hand his army over to Rufus.Orosius, v. 17.Cicero, De Oratore, i. 37, Laelius, 1, Pro Cluentio, 5, Brutus, 56, 89.Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 55–57, 63.Velleius Paterculus, ii. 20.Livy, Epitome, 77.Plutarch, "The Life of Sulla", 8.Broughton, vol. II, pp. 2, 20, 39, 40. Quintus Pompeius Q. f. Q. n. Rufus, son of the consul of 88 BC, and Sulla's son-in-law, was murdered at the Forum in a riot instigated by the tribune Sulpicius.Appian, Bellum Civile, i. 56. Quintus Pompeius Q. f. Q. n. Rufus, praetor in 63 BC, was sent to Capua in order to prevent a feared rebellion by the slaves of Campania and Apula in support of the conspiracy of Catiline. The following year, he was appointed governor of Africa, with the title of proconsul, and according to Cicero, carried out his office with great integrity.Sallust, Bellum Catilinae, 30.Cicero, Pro Caelio, 30.SIG, 747.Broughton, vol. II, pp. 115, 166, 176, 181, 185, 191. Pompeia Q. f. Q. n., granddaughter of Sulla, married Julius Caesar in 67 BC. In 62, as wife of the Pontifex Maximus, she hosted the mysteries of the Bona Dea, from which all men were excluded. Publius Clodius entered the house, disguised as a woman, allegedly for the purpose of seducing Pompeia, but was discovered. In the ensuing scandal, Caesar felt compelled to divorce Pompeia.Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 6.Plutarch, "The Life of Caesar", 5, 10.Cassius Dio, xxxvii. 45.Broughton, vol. II, p. 173. Quintus Pompeius Q. f. Q. n. Rufus, grandson of Sulla, was tribune of the plebs in 52 BC, and a supporter of the triumvir Pompeius. He stoked feelings of panic at Rome, hoping to drive public support toward the triumvir, preventing the election of magistrates, and leading to a confrontation with the senate, following which the triumvir was appointed consul sine collega. He helped bring about the exile of Titus Annius Milo, but once he left office, Rufus was himself condemned and exiled.Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem, iii. 2. § 3, Epistulae ad Atticum, iv. 16. § 8.Asconius Pedianus, In Ciceronis Pro Milone, passim.Cassius Dio, xl. 45, 49, 55.Valerius Maximus, iv. 2. § 7.Broughton, vol. II, p. 236. Quintus Pompeius A. f. (Q. n.) Bithynicus, a close friend of Cicero, who describes him as an able orator, but criticizes his delivery. During the Civil War, he was a supporter of his cousin, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, whom he accompanied to Egypt after the Battle of Pharsalus. There, he was slain together with other supporters of Pompeius.Cicero, Brutus, 68, 90.Orosius, vi. 15. Aulus Pompeius Q. f. A. n. Bithynicus, governor of Sicily at the time of Caesar's death in 44 BC. He wavered in his support of the various factions during the following months, and besought the help of Cicero. He initially opposed Sextus Pompeius' attempt to take possession of Messana, before agreeing to share the government of Sicily; but soon afterward, Sextus betrayed and murdered his cousin.Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, vi. 16, 17.Cassius Dio, xlviii. 17, 19.Livy, Epitome, 123.Appian, Bellum Civile, iv. 84, v. 70.Broughton, vol. II, pp. 329, 348, 362. Gnaeus Pompeius Q. f. Rufus, consul suffectus ex Kal. Oct. in 31 BC.Fasti.Broughton, vol. II, p. 422.
Descendants of Gnaeus Pompeius Gnaeus Pompeius, grandfather of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo.Fasti Capitolini.Broughton, vol. II, p. 32. Gnaeus Pompeius Cn. f., a senator in 129 BC. He was likely the uncle of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, the consul of 89 BC.Sherk, "Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno", p. 368.Broughton, vol. II, p. 494.