Pompey (Command)

Nic Field wrote a pretty good book covering the life and career of Pompey the Great. He manage to gathered all the sources on Pompey and put them in a nice readable book that does justice to Pompey's life and career. Although his title was a work of a sarcastic dictator, Pompey in many ways, was a great Roman commander. Often, many people see Pompey from the HBO series, ROME and they see an old fat guy running like a scared rabbit from Caesar. But this book shows that Pompey was a force to be reckoned with and he had a pretty long and successful career before meeting an inglorious end.As much as the book is well written and researched, I did take away a star because the author left out Julius Caesar. In this book, he told the readers to buy his book he has written on Julius Caesar for Osprey Command series. I supposed that is one way to save space but since I am reading Pompey's mini-biography, I would like to see how Caesar looked from Pompey's perceptive, not Caesar's as the author wants us to. So I wanted more on Caesar vs Pompey and I don't want to buy an extra book on Caesar, whose biographies are many while there is none on Pompey until now. Adrian Goldworthy's biography and others like it does not encourage me to buy a mini-biography on Caesar. So the star is loss and that is my reason.But overall, if you are well read on Caesar, then this book will filled you in on Pompey's exploits. When Sulla coined him "the great", he meant it as a mock but Pompey, by this book, certainly earn that title in more ways then one. Of course, Pompey lost to Caesar and Caesar's name was used for next two thousand years to implied "ruler". I guess we all know who came out ahead.

Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus or Pompey The Great was one of Rome's finest generals. This is a rather short book but it provides a ton of information on Pompey The Great. True he had a bit of an ego but that ego was well deserved as you will learn in reading this book. I highly recommend this book and I am not one to be impressed easily.

A+

good stock, slim volume, tersely written, perfectly researched, extremely enlightening. prompted purchase of two more volumes on Julius Caesar and Roman Battle Strategies.

I bought this book to add to my collection of Roman history. It is okay but better suited to students. I enjoyed the information and the pictures. GReat gift for anyone young person who shows and interest in history.

This was a well-written book that kept me interested throughout. It was exciting to read about Pompey’s confrontations with Sertorius and Mithridates VI. The author states in the Introduction that Pompey will be assessed on his own merits, separate from the defeats he suffered at the hands of Julius Ceasar. The author provided an unbiased view of Pompey as a person and a general. Only about ten pages were dedicated to the conflict between Pompey and Caesar, which left enough room for discussion of Pompey’s successes, failures, accomplishments, and shortcomings.There was quite a bit of information I haven’t found elsewhere, and this book has generated interest in reading more about Mithridates VI, as well as other military leaders of the time.The photographs, drawings, and maps are clear and useful. However, as with most Osprey titles, there were a couple photos that were either out of place, or were not successful in illustrating points made in the text. A large portion of these particular images is taken up by modern buildings or ships, which becomes distracting and can pull the reader out of the narrative.For example, the photograph of Durres (Dyrrhachium) on page 45 contains the Palace of Zog (constructed 1927-1937) on a hilltop, with modern buildings in the middleground. Another example is the photograph of the port at Brindisi (page 50), with modern ships filling the fore-and middle-ground, with an unidentified building in the background. These photos do nothing to illustrate the historical significance described in the accompanying text.Contents:-Introduction-The Early Years-The Military Life-The Hour of Destiny-Opposing Commanders-When War Is Done-Inside the Mind-A Life in Words-Bibliography-Glossary-Index

This book provides a good complement to Nic Fields' other Command book on Caesar. If you already have that book and have read Plutarch's Life of Pompey, then you are set. This book gives a good rundown of Pompey's career, especially against Sertorius (also covered by Plutarch) and Mithradates (covered in a recent bio called The Poison King) but his ultimate campaign is already covered in the Caesar book. There are some great original illustrations by the inimitable Peter Dennis and good accounts of some of Pompey's camapaign. Pompey's battles against the rump Populares in Sicily and North of Rome get brief coverage as do his campaigns against the Pirates and his epic campaigns in the East. I would have loved to read more about the Mithraditic Wars and the Armenian spinoff. There is some material on the career of Lucullus who is now completely overshadowed by Pompey and Caesar, but who also did great feats with the Legions far, far from home.Some discussion of Pompey's role as both champion of the Late Roman Republic and a huge contributor to its undoing takes place, but is better handled in Osprey's Campaign 174, Pharsalus.I would love a good analysis of Pompey versus Caesar, in terms of military command and style: Pompey known for his prowess in logistics and assembling great armies versus Caesar and his celeritas, but that is not found in this book. Nevertheless, this book is an ok introduction to Pompey as military commander. Also, I have never seen that portrait featured on the cover, I wasn't sure it was Pompey.

Pompey will always play second fiddle to his one time friend - and later rival - Julius Caesar. Having been on the losing side of the Civil War, Pompey's earlier career tends to be overlooked as nothing more than a prelude to Caesar's ultimate glory. So does Pompey deserve title conferred on him by Sulla of 'Magnus' the Great?Nic Fields does a great job with the material on offer. Trying to condense the life of a towering figure like Pompey into 40+ pages is no mean feat, but Dr. Fields succeeds admirably. He analyses the whole of Pompey's career, from his early years as the 'Teenage butcher' of Sulla's regime to the Civil War era. Most of the emphasis though is on his campaigns in Spain against Quintus Sertorius, the Roman general turned rebel, as well as his famous 'blitzkrieging' of the Mediterranean pirates. Attention is also paid to his Eastern campaigns, from his stealing the victory against Mithridates from Lucullus (something he also did to Crassus during the famous Third Servile War) and his short siege of Jerusalem.Along the way, Dr. Field's discusses the subject of what makes a good general, with frequent references to the work of the famous Napoleonic era military theorist Carl Von Clausewitz; and whether Pompey fits the criteria. Was he really a great commander or just an egotistical monster with a knack for taking the limelight? Has Pompey's reputation being tarnished by his loss at the hands of Caesar, and does his career deserve a re-evaluation?The book is a joy to read, and shows how far Dr.Field's prose has come since the rather dry 'Roman Civil Wars: 88-31 BC' (2008). The book also contains a few great colour plates courtesy of Peter Dennis, along with the usual photographs, diagrams and maps that come with Osprey titles. All in all this an excellent short introduction to this fascinating figure of the late Roman Republi. Highly Recommended