Gnaeus Pompey Magnus (Rome character)

Gnaeus Pompey Magnus
Rome character
First appearance	"The Stolen Eagle"
Last appearance	"Caesarion"
Portrayed by	Kenneth Cranham
Information
Gender	Male
Title	Patrician
Spouse(s)	Cornelia Metella (wife)
Children	Quintus Valerius Pompey (son)

Gnaeus Pompey Magnus is a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Kenneth Cranham. He is depicted as a legendary general, past the days of his prime, who tries to recapture the glories of his youth as much as to do what is right for the Republic. The real Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus was a Roman general and politician, who, while as ambitious as Caesar, and just as unorthodox in his youth, chose to ally himself with the optimates in opposing Caesar and supporting the traditional Roman Republic.

Staunch and somewhat shortsighted, Pompey Magnus feels that it is up to him to save the Republic. From a low-born common family, Pompey raised his status in Roman society with victories overseas, greatly expanding the dominion of the Republic. Although at first enjoying wide support and the favour of the people, Caesar's rise in popularity presents a political threat. With the death of his wife Julia, the proud Pompey is motivated to stand with the exiled Roman Senate in the ensuing civil war. His inability to cooperate with the senators and his hesitance to face Caesar directly force him to retreat to Greece. There, he is defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus despite holding a significant tactical and numerical advantage over Caesar. The defeat leaves him broken and demoralised.

He is an elderly general who in his younger years was a Spanish and Syrian conqueror. He is a co-Consul and Interim leader of the Republic who chooses to side with the patricians. He is also a friend and mentor to Caesar. When Caesar defies the Senate and enters Rome he retreats to southern Italy and later Greece to gather reinforcements. After initially outwitting and trapping Caesar in Macedonia, his army is defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus and later disintegrates, with Cicero and Brutus surrendering and Cato and Scipio fleeing to Africa. Pompey heads for Egypt with his family and some mercenaries, intending to raise a second army. Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who had escaped a desert island on a makeshift raft, are found by Pompey. Rather than capturing him and bringing him to Caesar, Vorenus is convinced by Pompey's demeanor that the general is broken and allows him to leave. Pompey reaches Egypt where he is greeted by a Roman soldier who promptly murders him in front of his family. His head is later presented to Julius Caesar by the Egyptians as a "gift"; Caesar is outraged, viewing it as an assault on a Roman consul, and demands that the head be given a proper burial and that the soldier who did the execution be delivered to him; this is historically accurate, as the real Gaius Julius is recorded as having desired that Pompey be recovered alive.

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