Downfall & Legacy
After the civil war between Pompey and Caesar and the battle in Pharsalus, Pompey attemped to flee to Egypt. He wanted to seek help from Ptolemy XIII, who he heard was in Pelusium. Ptolemy was worried about becoming enemies with Caesar by assisting Pompey, so he decided to assassinate him. He invited Pompey to arrive at the dock and once he settled, Septimius, Achillas and Savius, servants of Ptolemy, assassinated him aboard his boat (48 BC). After Pompey died, they decapitated him and his body was dumped into the ocean. Philip, one of Pompey's freedmen, found his remains and cremated him on a funeral pyre. A few days later, Caesar arrived in Pelusium. A servant of Ptolemy brought him Pompey's head and seal-ring, believing it would secure an alliance with the Roman politician; but Caesar was disgusted by the "present", saying that he should've been given a proper Roman burial. The ashes of Pompey were taken to his final wife Cornelia where they were buried at his Alban villa. Pompey's death ultimately led way to the end of the Roman Republic, and for Augustus (Octavian), Caesars adopted son, to become the first leader of the Roman Empire once it begun.
Pompey is mostly known for being one-third of the First Triumvirate, being Julius Caesar's main adversary and his death being a leading factor in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He had five wives; Antistia, Aemilia Scaura, Mucia Tertia, Julia (Caesar's daughter) and Cornelia Metella. He also had three children, all bore by his third wife Mucia; Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius his sons, and Pompeia Magna his daughter.
Pompey is mostly known for being one-third of the First Triumvirate, being Julius Caesar's main adversary and his death being a leading factor in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He had five wives; Antistia, Aemilia Scaura, Mucia Tertia, Julia (Caesar's daughter) and Cornelia Metella. He also had three children, all bore by his third wife Mucia; Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius his sons, and Pompeia Magna his daughter.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/5/1/95519588/pompey-head-proper_1.jpg?600)
Caesar Contemplating the Head of Pompey. Image. Giambattista Tiepolo, Matthiesen Gallery. http://matthiesengallery.com/work_of_art/caesar-contemplating-the-head-of-pompey. Accessed 2 Dec. 2016.