Roman hegemony and non-state violence: A fresh look at Pompey's campaign against the pirates

Greece and Rome

Volumn 56, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 14-33

  Tröster, Manuel ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77950711864     PISSN: 00173835     EISSN: 14774550     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0017383508000673     Document Type: Review

References (116)

1. See, for example, B. Porter, Empire and Superempire. Britain, America and the World (New Haven, CT, 2006), esp. 172-7
2. D. Kennedy, 'Essay and Reflection: On the American Empire from a British Imperial Perspective', The International History Review 29 (2007), 83-108
3. also the bestselling studies by N. Ferguson, Empire. How Britain Made the Modern World (London, 2003), 367-9 and passim
4. N. Ferguson, idem, Colossus. The Price of America's Empire (New York, 2004), 14-26 and passim
5. For more general reflections on the lessons of empire, see D. Lal, In Praise of Empires. Globalization and Order (New York, 2004)
6. C. S. Maier, Among Empires. American Ascendancy and its Predecessors (Cambridge, MA, 2006)
7. and the contributions collected in C. Calhoun, F. Cooper, and K. W. Moore (eds.), Lessons of Empire. Imperial Histories and American Power (New York, 2006)
8. The current structure of the international system is a matter of controversy, of course. While most analysts view the United States as by far the most powerful state in world politics, her dependence on the co-operation of other state and non-state actors is increasingly recognized. See, for example, J. S. Nye Jr., The Paradox of American Power. Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone (New York, 2002)
9. See the examples cited in E. Eakin, 'All Roads Lead to D.C.', The New York Times (31 March 2002), 〈http://tinyurl.com/6owavs〉, accessed 7 November 2008
10. P. S. Golub, 'Tentation impériale', Le Monde diplomatique (September 2002), 8 f
11. S. Roda, 'Strategie imperiali', in M. Pani (ed.), Storia romana e storia moderna. Fasi in prospettiva (Bari, 2005), 115-32
12. also M. Wyke, 'A Twenty-First-Century Caesar', in eadem (ed.), Julius Caesar in Western Culture (Malden, MA, 2006), 305-23
13. On the other hand, the historical parallel is sometimes forcefully rejected but this tends to reflect erroneous ideas about a supposedly omnipotent Rome. Cf. for example, D. Kagan, 'Comparing America to Ancient Empires is "Ludicrous"', The Atlanta Journal and Constitution (6 October 2002), 〈http://www.newamericancentury.org/ defense-20021006.htm〉, accessed 7 November 2008), with the critical remarks in Roda, 124-6
14. See, for example, P. Bender, Weltmacht Amerika. Das neue Rom (Stuttgart, 2003)
15. also P. Bender, idem, 'America: The New Roman Empire?', Orbis 47 (2003), 145-59
16. M. Tröster and A. Coskun, 'Amerika auf den Spuren Roms? Zum Thema der Freundschaft in den Außenbeziehungen der Vereinigten Staaten und des Römischen Reiches', GWU 55 (2004), 486-501
17. G. Zecchini, 'Egemonie a confronto: Roma e gli Stati Uniti', in Pani (n. 3), 155-66
18. Other studies focus on the Principate (e.g., C. Meier, 'Von der "Pax Romana" zur "Pax Americana"', in Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft für internationalen Dialog (ed.), Pax Americana? [München, 1998], 95-122)
19. or Roman decline in late antiquity (e.g., F. G. Sampaio, 'A decadência e queda de Roma ocidental: uma comparação com o presente estágio do imperialismo americano', Escola Superior de Geopolítica e Estratégia, Textos [31 July 2003], 〈http://www.defesanet.com.br/esge/Roma3107.pdf〉, accessed 7 November 2008)
20. See R. Harris, 'Pirates of the Mediterranean', The New York Times (30 September 2006), 〈http://tinyurl.com/6dq4b7〉, accessed 7 November 2008
21. R. Schulz, 'Roms Kampf gegen die mediterrane Piraterie: ein Beispiel für einen asymmetrischen Krieg in der Antike?', Geschichte, Politik und ihre Didaktik 34 (2006), 76-84, esp. 82 f
22. For a more general attempt to draw lessons from a comparison of piracy and terrorism, see D. J. Puchala, 'Of Pirates and Terrorists: What Experience and History Teach', Contemporary Security Policy 26 (2005), 1-24, on whose conclusions see below, n. 62
23. See the arguments deployed in the heated debate about the lex Gabinia in Cass. Dio 36.24-36; also Plut. Pomp. 25.7-12
24. Vell. 2.32.1 f.; further, Cic. Manil. 52-64
25. and, e.g., the discussion in R. Seager, Pompey. A Political Biography (Oxford, 1979), 33-36 (= updated edition, 2002, 44-6)
26. On the nature of Pompey's command, see S. Jameson, 'Pompey's "Imperium" in 67: Some Constitutional Fictions', Historia 19 (1970), 539-60 (in favour of imperium maius)
27. and K. M. Girardet, '"Imperia" und "provinciae" des Pompeius 82 bis 48 v.Chr.', Chiron 31 (2001), 171-6 (against imperium maius)
28. repr. in K. M. Girardet, 'idem, Rom auf dem Weg von der Republik zum Prinzipat (Bonn, 2007), 22-8, with further references
29. See A. Avidov, 'Were the Cilicians a Nation of Pirates?', MHR 12.1 (1997) 5-55, esp. 14-20
30. Thus P. De Souza, '"They Are the Enemies of All Mankind": Justifying Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic', in J. Webster and N. J. Cooper (eds.), Roman Imperialism. Post-Colonial Perspectives (Leicester, 1996), 125-33; Avidov (n. 7), 41-4 and passim; also note the references cited in n. 10
31. In this context, note N. K. Rauh, 'Who Were the Cilician Pirates?', in S. Swiny, R. L. Hohlfelder, and H. W. Swiny (eds.), 'Res maritimae'. Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium 'Cities on the Sea' (Atlanta, 1997), 272-80, on maritime brotherhoods and their defiant contradistinction to conventional norms
32. Apart from Avidov (n. 7), esp. 29-40 on the pirates' role in an 'anti-Roman bloc', see R. Schulz, 'Zwischen Kooperation und Konfrontation: Die römische Weltreichsbildung und die Piraterie', Klio 82 (2000), 433 f., who likewise suggests that they formed part of a 'breite Front gegen die römische Ausbeutung' ('a wide front against the Roman exploitation', 434)
33. also R. Schulz, 'idem, Die Antike und das Meer (Darmstadt, 2005), 176 f
34. idem (n. 5), 78 f. and - somewhat more cautiously - 83; further G. Marasco, 'Aspetti della pirateria cilicia nel I secolo a.C.', GFF 10 (1987), 129 f
35. H. Pohl, Die römische Politik und die Piraterie im östlichen Mittelmeer vom 3. bis zum 1. Jh. v.Chr. (Berlin, 1993), 165-7
36. Schulz's argument actually calls to mind the Hobsbawmian concept of 'social banditry' (see A. Blok, 'Social Banditry Reconsidered', in Honour and Violence [Cambridge, 2001], 14-28
37. R. W. Slatta, 'Eric J. Hobsbawm's Social Bandit: A Critique and Revision', A Contracorriente 1.2 [2004], 22-30 〈http://www.ncsu.edu/ project/acontracorriente/spring-04/Slatta.pdf〉, accessed 7 November 2008
38. K. A. Wagner, 'Thuggee and Social Banditry Reconsidered', Historical Journal 50 [2007], 353-76 for critical discussion and up-to-date bibliography)
39. Also note M. Clavel-Lévêque, 'Brigandage et piraterie : représentations idéologiques et pratiques impérialistes au dernier siècle de la République', DHA 4 (1978), 22-8, who presents a distinctly 'anti-imperialist' reading of the pirates' activities from a Marxist perspective
40. See P. M. Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery (London, 1976), 25-35
41. N. A. M. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea. A Naval History of Great Britain, vol. 1: 660-1649 (London, 1997), 238-96
42. A. Herman, To Rule the Waves. How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World (London, 2005), 75-143, with further references
43. See L. Ballesteros Pastor, Mitrídates Eupátor, rey del Ponto (Granada, 1996), 436-42
44. also B. C. McGing, The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus (Leiden, 1986), 139 and passim
45. more broadly, E. Maróti, 'Die Rolle der Seeräuber in der Zeit der Mithradatischen Kriege', in L. De Rosa (ed.), Ricerche storiche ed economiche in memoria di Corrado Barbagallo (Naples, 1970), i.479-93
46. G. Marasco, 'Roma e la pirateria cilicia', RSI 99 (1987), 135-43
47. For the concept of global public goods in the contemporary world, see Nye (n. 2), 141-7; also R. Gilpin, Global Political Economy. Understanding the International Economic Order (Princeton, 2001), 97-102, both citing the precedent of the British Empire
48. For the connexion between the decline of the Seleucids and the growth of Cilician piracy, see Strab. 14.5.2, and Marasco (n. 14), 122-9; Pohl (n. 10), 117-27; S. Tramonti, 'Hostes communes omnium'. La pirateria e la fine della Repubblica romana (145-33 a.C.) (Ferrara, 1994), 27-33
49. P. De Souza, Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (Cambridge, 1999), 98-100
50. See the nuanced picture in H.-U. Wiemer, Krieg, Handel und Piraterie. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des hellenistischen Rhodos (Berlin, 2002), 116-42. Also note Pohl (n. 10), 127-39; De Souza (n. 17), 48-53 and 80-91
51. On Rome's efforts to suppress piracy prior to Pompey's command, see generally Pohl (n. 10), 208-78; Tramonti (n. 17), 33-60; R. M. Kallet-Marx, Hegemony to Empire. The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC (Berkeley, CA, 1995), 229-39, 304-11, and passim
52. De Souza (n. 17), 102-61; also the earlier standard work by H. A. Ormerod, Piracy in the Ancient World. An Essay in Mediterranean History (Liverpool, 1924), 208-27
53. For the text, see M. H. Crawford (ed.), Roman Statutes (London, 1996), i.231-70, with discussion and further references
54. For a broad outline of Servilius' activities, see A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Foreign Policy in the East, 168 BC to AD 1 (London, 1984), 152-8
55. On the nature of his command, see E. Maróti, 'On the Problem of M. Antonius Creticus' "Imperium Infinitum"', AAntHung 19 (1971), 259-72, and note Girardet (n. 6), 171 f. (= repr. 2007, 23) for further references
56. Twenty-four legates according to Plut. Pomp. 26.3, twenty-five according to App. Mithr. 94.431, who goes on to mention thirteen of them by name (Mithr. 95.434-6). A partially different list is provided by Flor. 1.41.9 f. See also the detailed discussion in L. Pulci Doria Breglia, 'I legati di Pompeo durante la guerra piratica', AFLN 13 (1970/71), 47-66
57. further, T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, vol. 2: 99 BC-31 BC (New York, 1952), 148 f
58. See Cic. Manil. 43-6
59. Also note App. Mithr. 95.438-96.441
60. See also Plut. Pomp. 26.4
61. See Plut. Pomp. 27.6-28.2
62. G. P. Verbrugghe, 'Narrative Pattern in Posidonius' "History"', Historia 24 (1975), 200 f
63. also L. Pulci Doria Breglia, 'La provincia di Cilicia e gli ordinamenti di Pompeo', RAAN 47 (1972), 349-57, with a more detailed discussion of the historical tradition on Pompey's treatment of the pirates
64. On the other hand, A. Dreizehnter, 'Pompeius als Städtegrü nder', Chiron 5 (1975), 243 f., may be right to suggest that the above-quoted passage contains distinctly Plutarchan elements as well
65. Also note H. Heftner, Plutarch und der Aufstieg des Pompeius. Ein historischer Kommentar zu Plutarchs Pompeiusvita. Teil I: Kap. 1-45 (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1995), 46-8, 178 f., and 204 f
66. see further, B. Scardigli, Die Römerbiographien Plutarchs. Ein Forschungsbericht (Munich, 1979), 121
67. On the question of Posidonius' history of Pompey, see J. Malitz, Die Historien des Poseidonios (Munich, 1983), 69-74 and passim
68. J. Engels, Augusteische Oikumenegeographie und Universalhistorie im Werk Strabons von Amaseia (Stuttgart, 1999), 169-74
69. and the analysis in J. Gruber, 'Cicero und das hellenistische Herrscherideal: Überlegungen zur Rede "De imperio Cn. Pompei"', WS 101 (1988), 243-58
70. also C. Rothe, 'Humanitas', 'fides' und Verwandtes in der römischen Provinzialpolitik. Untersuchungen zur politischen Funktion römischer Verhaltensnormen bei Cicero (Berlin, 1978), 60-6
71. C. E. W. Steel, Cicero, Rhetoric, and Empire (Oxford, 2001), 130-5
72. See generally E. Rawson, 'Roman Rulers and the Philosophic Adviser', in M. Griffin and J. Barnes (eds.), 'Philosophia Togata'. Essays on Philosophy and Roman Society (Oxford, 1989), 233-57, esp. 237-43
73. L. M. Yarrow, Historiography at the End of the Republic. Provincial Perspectives on Roman Rule (Oxford, 2006), 46-50
74. For Lucullus' entourage, see M. Tröster, Themes, Character, and Politics in Plutarch's 'Life of Lucullus'. The Construction of a Roman Aristocrat (Stuttgart, 2008), 136 f
75. As suggested by M. H. Crawford, 'Greek Intellectuals and the Roman Aristocracy in the First Century BC', in P. D. A. Garnsey and C. R. Whittaker (eds.), Imperialism in the Ancient World (Cambridge, 1978), 203-6
76. On their relationship, see B. K. Gold, 'Pompey and Theophanes of Mytilene', AJPh 106 (1985), 312-27
77. B. K. Gold, 'eadem, Literary Patronage in Greece and Rome (Chapel Hill, NC, 1987), 87-107
78. Yarrow (n. 38), 54-67; also W. S. Anderson, Pompey, His Friends, and the Literature of the First Century BC (Berkeley, CA, 1963), 34-41
79. L. Robert, 'Théophane de Mytilène à Constantinople' (1969), in Opera minora selecta. Epigraphie et antiquités grecques, vol. 5 (Amsterdam, 1989), 561-83, esp. 563-7
80. This point is emphasized - and exaggerated - by M. Martina, 'Le clientele piratiche di Pompeo', in La rivoluzione romana. Inchiesta tra gli antichisti (Naples, 1982), 175-85, esp. 177 f.; also Dreizehnter (n. 35), 243; Schulz 2000 (n. 10), 438; idem 2005 (n. 10), 180 f.; idem (n. 5), 81 f
81. By contrast, M. Dingmann, Pompeius Magnus. Machtgrundlagen eines spätrepublikanischen Politikers (Rahden, Westfalen, 2007), 290-3, stresses the paucity of the evidence for the pirates' role as Pompey's clients during the Civil War, concluding that they were of limited significance in terms of political power
82. The notion of a 'master plan' (E. S. Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic [Berkeley, CA, 1974], 131)
83. designed to recall Lucullus in order to reserve the eastern command for Pompey even before the beginning of the campaign against the pirates has been convincingly refuted by R. S. Williams, 'The Appointment of Glabrio (cos. 67) to the Eastern Command', Phoenix 38 (1984), 221-234
84. also B. Twyman, 'The Metelli, Pompeius and Prosopography', ANRW 1.1 (1972), 864-73, and Kallet-Marx (n. 19), 312-15
85. contra, for example, J. M. Cobban, Senate and Provinces, 78-49 BC. Some Aspects of the Foreign Policy and Provincial Relations of the Senate during the Closing Years of the Roman Republic (Cambridge, 1935), 115-26
86. more recently, A. Keaveney, Lucullus. A Life (London, 1992), 120 f
87. P. Southern, Pompey the Great (Stroud, 2002), 66-9; also Seager (n. 6), 32 (= updated edition, 2002, 43), but note his second thoughts in 2002, 175
88. On the conflict with Lucullus, see Dingmann (n. 41), 296-9; Tröster (n. 38), 143-8; also R. Ziegler, 'Ären kilikischer Städte und Politik des Pompeius in Südostkleinasien', Tyche 8 (1993), 214-19
89. In addition, note Verg. georg. 4.125 ff., referring to a Corycian farmer settled at Tarentum, with the comm. ad loc. in Servius and Ps.-Probus; see further, J. Reynolds, 'Cyrenaica, Pompey and Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus', JRS 52 (1962), 100 and 102
90. who suggests that Pompey established a colony of defeated pirates at Ptolemais in Cyrenaica (J. Reynolds, 'JRS ibid., no. 7)
91. See generally Pulci Doria Breglia (n. 35), 349-87; Dreizehnter (n. 35), 235-44; Martina (n. 41), 177 f.; P. Siewert, 'Le deportazioni di Tigrane e Pompeo in Cilicia', in M. Sordi (ed.), Coercizione e mobilità umana nel mondo antico (Milan, 1995), 230-3
92. C. Rubino, 'Pompeyo Magno, los piratas cilicios y la introducción del Mitraísmo en el Imperio romano según Plutarco', Latomus 65 (2006), 921-3. The proximity of the individual places to the sea is stressed by De Souza (n. 17), 176, who concludes: 'It is abundantly clear that Soli and Dyme, the main cities turned over to the pirates, were ideally situated not for farming, but for piracy'
93. The vilification of Sex. Pompeius as a brigand in both contemporary propaganda and the literary tradition is brought out in Tramonti (n. 17), 109-22; De Souza (n. 17), 185-95; A. Powell, '"An Island amid the Flame": The Strategy and Imagery of Sextus Pompeius, 43-36 BC', in idem and K. Welch (eds.), Sextus Pompeius (London, 2002), 115-18
94. L. Watson, 'Horace and the Pirates', in Powell and Welch, 213-28, esp. 215-19
95. More broadly, see F. Senatore, 'Sesto Pompeo tra Augusto e Ottaviano nella tradizione storiografica antica', Athenaeum 79 (1991), 103-39
96. F. J. A. M. Meijer, 'Sextus Pompeius: slachtoffer van Augustus' propaganda?', Lampas 27 (1994), 305-18
97. A. M. Gowing, 'Pirates, Witches and Slaves: The Imperial Afterlife of Sextus Pompeius', in Powell and Welch, 187-211
98. Also note the pioneering work by M. Hadas, Sextus Pompey (New York, 1930), 68-71 and passim
99. For the traditional view of pirates and slaves as Sextus' principal power base, see, for example, E. Maróti, 'Die Rolle der Seeräuber unter den Anhängern des Sextus Pompeius', in H.-J. Diesner, R. Günther, and G. Schrot (eds.), Sozialökonomische Verhältnisse im Alten Orient und im klassischen Altertum (Berlin, 1961), 208-16. This is no longer tenable in the light of the more recent studies cited in the previous note, yet one should not therefore go to the opposite extreme of completely denying Sextus' reliance on former pirates and piratical methods
100. See most notably Res gestae 25.1: mare pacavi a praedonibus ('I made the sea peaceful and free from pirates') - a rather obvious allusion to the war against Sex. Pompeius. On this statement as part of an aemulatio of Pompey, see J. Fugmann, '"Mare a praedonibus pacavi" (R.G. 25,1): Zum Gedanken der "aemulatio" in den "Res gestae" des Augustus', Historia 40 (1991), 310-12
101. Also note Suet. Aug. 98.2 on the exuberant gratitude towards Augustus on the part of travellers and sailors from Alexandria. In actual fact, piracy was by no means totally eradicated under the Principate either: see D. Braund, 'Piracy under the Principate and the Ideology of Imperial Eradication', in Rich and Shipley (n. 15), 195-212
102. De Souza (n. 17), 195-218; also M. Reddé, 'Mare nostrum'. Les infrastructures, le dispositif et l'histoire de la marine militaire sous l'Empire romain (Rome, 1986), 327-30
103. See, for example, G. Wirth, 'Pompeius - Armenien - Parther: Mutmaßungen zur Bewältigung einer Krisensituation', BJ 183 (1983), 1-60
104. G. J. Wylie, 'Pompey "Megalopsychos"', Klio 72 (1990), 445-56
105. E. Baltrusch, 'Auf dem Weg zum Prinzipat: Die Entwicklung der republikanischen Herrschaftspolitik von Sulla bis Pompeius (88-62 v.Chr.)', in J. Spielvogel (ed.), 'Res publica reperta'. Zur Verfassung und Gesellschaft der römischen Republik und des frühen Prinzipats. Festschrift für Jochen Bleicken zum 75. Geburtstag (Stuttgart, 2002), 251-62, all of them contrasting Pompey's policies with those of his less fortunate predecessor, Lucullus
106. At the other end of the spectrum, P. W. M. Freeman, 'Pompey's Eastern Settlement: A Matter of Presentation?', in C. Deroux (ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, vol. 7 (Brussels, 1994), 143-79, radically questions the complexity of Pompey's settlement. Also note Dingmann (n. 41), 307-10
107. Thus, J. D. Grainger, Hellenistic Phoenicia (Oxford, 1991), 159-162 concludes that disorder and discord in Syria essentially continued in the wake of Pompey's intervention
108. A more idealized picture is given in most modern biographies of Pompey. See, for example, P. Greenhalgh, Pompey. The Roman Alexander (London, 1980), 95-8, esp. 96: 'In modern terminology Pompey belonged to the environmental school of social studies, but unlike so many modern theorists he had both the courage and the ability to put his convictions to the test'
109. also M. Gelzer, Pompeius, second edition (Munich, 1959), 76-8 = expanded reprint edition (Stuttgart, 1984), 71-3
110. Seager (n. 6), 37 f. = updated edition, 2002, 47 f.; K. Christ, Pompeius. Der Feldherr Roms. Eine Biographie (Munich, 2004), 63-5
111. Contrast these with the references cited in notes 41 and 55, as well as Tramonti (n. 17), 89 f., all of them placing much emphasis on the realpolitik dimension of Pompey's decisions. Further note T. Liebmann-Frankfort, La Frontière orientale dans la politique extérieure de la République romaine. Depuis le traité d'Apamée jusqu'à la fin des conquêtes asiatiques de Pompée (189/8-63) (Brussels, 1969), 252 f., who interprets the settlement of the pirates primarily as a means to strengthen Rome's strategic position on the eastern frontier
112. See the survey in C. R. Whittaker, Rome and Its Frontiers. The Dynamics of Empire (London, 2004), 28-49, with further references
113. Also note the recent attempt by A. M. Eckstein, Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome (Berkeley, CA, 2006), esp. 1-36, to apply international relations theory to Roman foreign policy, which is vitiated, however, by a one-sided preference for 'realist' concepts such as multipolar anarchy and balance of power
114. Some of the issues neglected by Eckstein are discussed by P. Low, Interstate Relations in Classical Greece. Morality and Power (Cambridge, 2007), esp. 7-32
115. On the importance of soft power in the contemporary world, see J. S. Nye Jr., Bound to Lead. The Changing Nature of American Power (New York, 1990), 173-201
116. idem (n. 2), 8-12 and passim; J. S. Nye Jr., idem, 'Soft Power and American Foreign Policy', Political Science Quarterly 119 (2004), 255-70