Pompey

Pompey, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir (Classical Latin abbreviation: CN·POMPEIVS·CN·F·SEX·N·MAGNVS, Gnaeus or Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus) (September 29, 106 BC–September 28, 48 BC), was a distinguished military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. Hailing from an Italian provincial background, after military triumphs he established a place for himself in the ranks of Roman nobility, and was given the cognomen of Magnusthe Great—by Lucius Cornelius Sulla.

Pompey was a rival of Marcus Licinius Crassus and an ally to Gaius Julius Caesar. The three politicians would dominate the Late Roman republic through a political alliance called the First Triumvirate. After the death of Crassus, Pompey and Caesar became rivals, disputing the leadership of the entire Roman state in what is now called Caesar's civil war. Pompey fought on the side of the Optimates, the conservative traditionalist faction in the Roman Senate, and was ultimately defeated by Caesar. He sought refuge in Egypt and was assassinated there.