The last adventure of Sextus Pompey

Abstract

The article examines the last period of the biography of Sextus Pompey. Modern researchers estimate his activity in the last months of his life as an insignificant episode in the general course of events. But any minor episode can easily become an important event in the circumstances of the Civil War. Although Sextus Pompey did not have clear plans to seize power, he was a figure capable of uniting the remnants of the Republicans around him and that is why he was a hindrance for both Octavian and Antony. The exact sequence of events is not always possible to establish due to the brevity and contradictory sources, but in any case, the conflict between Sextus and Antony was inevitable. During this conflict, Sextus tried to create a base for further action, but his attempt was thwarted by Antony’s commanders. The result was the defeat of Pompey and his execution, the responsibility for which is assigned both to Antony himself and to people from his entourage. It is not possible to find out exactly which of them was guilty of the execution, but everyone had motives to deal with Sextus.

Keywords

• sextus pompey
• mark antony
• gaius furnius
• parthia
• pompeians
• civil war