Sextus Pompey · Imperium Romanum

Regional orientation around 200 CE. Asia here means the Roman province in western… — Regional orientation around 200 CE. Asia here means the Roman province in western Anatolia, not the modern continent. Provincial limits changed during the long period covered by the dossiers. Original cartographic credit is preserved in the plate.

Life and career

Sextus turned the survival of the Pompeian cause into a maritime power centered on Sicily. Fleets, ports, food supply, and the recruitment of fugitives gave him leverage over Italy and the triumvirs. He offered a refuge during the proscriptions while also operating through coercion and the disruption of supply. The agreement at Misenum recognized his position temporarily but could not reconcile the competing interests of commanders seeking supremacy. Agrippa's naval preparations and victory at Naulochus broke the Sicilian regime.

Leadership and historical significance

Flight eastward ended in capture and execution. Sextus's dossier shifts attention from the famous land battles of civil war to control of sea lanes and the political power of provisioning a capital. His regime was more than piracy, even if its enemies found that label useful in denying its legitimacy.

Landmarks

39 BCE — agreement at Misenum.
36 BCE — Naulochus.
35 BCE — capture and execution.

Historical uncertainty

The label pirate is part of hostile political presentation. Refugees and formerly enslaved recruits did not make his coalition a modern social revolution.

Connected dossiers: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Augustus, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.