Pompey Magnus and Sertorius in Spain

[ParthianBow]

I've searched the threads and not been able to find the answer to this.

Does anyone know how many legions Pompey would have commanded in Spain when fighting Sertorius and later Perperna?

I have found that when Pompey and Metellus combined forces at one stage that they had 'more than 50,000 men' (A History of Rome by Cary & Scullard) but nothing more specific about Pompey's forces only.

Also, can anyone recommend a good text on Pompey?

Thanks in advance.

[popularis]

Judging by the avalanche of replies, you might be left to work this out on your own! However, Brunt (Italian Manpower, 1971, p448, pp.471ff.) does have a discussion of the sizes of the relative Roman forces. The following comes entirely from Brunt - I haven't had time to have a detailed look myself.

For Pompeius: Orosius (5.23.9) gives him 30,000 men and 1000 cavalry on arriving in Spain, which Brunt estimates at between 5 and 6 legions (depending on paper strength vs actual strength). It's also possible that these men were not all organised into legions, but were instead in cohorts like some forces during the Social War and the subsequent civil wars - Plutarch, for example, gives Perperna's original force as 53 cohorts (Plutarch, Sert. 15), rather than giving the size in legions. A further two legions were sent in 74BC (Appian, B.C. 1.111).

The size of the total force (Pompeius + Metellus) is very difficult to ascertain. Plutarch gives their combined armies as 120,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and 2,000 archers - Plutarch Sert. 12 - but this may be an overstatement. It's hard, as Brunt argues (p.472) to see more than 14 legions serving under the two of them, but this total would not include auxiliary forces, and Pompeius was generally very good at raising auxiliary forces. 50,000 men seems extremely possible though - there seem to have been _at_least_ 11 legions (or equivalent manpower) in their armies, discounting cavalry and archers: the 5-6 legions brought by Pompeius, the 2 legions sent in 74, plus the probable 4 legions already under Metellus (ibid. p472). The size of Metellus' army is based, as far as I can tell, on his status and on the sizes of armies given to men of equivalent status at the time.

As for books on Pompeius. Robin Seager's 1979 Pompey the Great: a political biography - republished in 2002 - used to be the standard in English. There's a more recent biography (2002) by Pat Southern - whose book on Roman cavalry was very good - but I haven't read it!

blue skies

Tom

[Spurius Papirius Cursor]

Hi Parthian Bow!

2 days, 6 hours ago you put this question in and no answer? I'd have a word to the service department!

If you're like me you'll trawl through anything just on the off-chance. I can't guarantee any of these are of use since Pompey is not my field (I'd even forgotten he was called "Magnus", there's a slip).

• Sextus Pompeius, by Welch, Kathryn Elizabeth; Gowing, Alain M; Powell, Anton 2002, ISBN 9780715631270, xvii, 285 p.
  
  
• The role of Amicitia in the life of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, by Haley, Shelley Patricia 1982, 128 l
  
  
• Pompey the Great, by Leach, John D 1978, ISBN 9780847660353, 265 p
  
  
• Pompey: the republican prince, by Greenhalgh, P. A. L 1981, ISBN 0297778811, xv, 320 p., [4] p. of plates
  
  
• Pompey, the Roman Alexander, by Greenhalgh, P. A. L 1980, ISBN 0297776401, xix, 267 p., [2] leaves of plates
  
  
• The works of Ausonius, by Ausonius, Decimus Magnus and Green, R. P. H 1991, ISBN 9780198144632, 780 p.
  
  
• Cicero, rhetoric, and empire, by Steel, C. E. W 2001, Oxford classical monographs, ISBN 9780199248476, 254 p.
  
  
• Commentaries on speeches of Cicero, by Asconius Pedianus, Quintus and Lewis, R. G 2006, Clarendon ancient history series, ISBN 9780199290536, xxii , 358 p.
  
  
• The politics of friendship: Pompey and Cicero, by Rawson, Beryl 1978, Sources in ancient history, ISBN 0424068001, 217p
  

Cheers

Howard Russell/SPC

[ParthianBow]

Well, it was worth the wait - thank you Tom, and Howard, for your replies. Much appreciated. *Off to check out those texts*


(Funnily enough, I had gone with a figure of six legions for Pompey! :-) )

Best wishes

Footnote: sadly, the newer book by Pat Southern is already out of print. The Seager one is not, however. Think I'll go with that as a starter.