Cicero, On Pompey's Command (de Imperio), 27-49: Latin Text, Study Aids With Vocabulary, Commentary, And Translation
by Ingo Gildenhard /
2014 / English / PDF
2.1 MB Download
In republican times, one of Rome's deadliest enemies was King
Mithridates of Pontus. In 66 BCE, after decades of inconclusive
struggle, the tribune Manilius proposed a bill that would give
supreme command in the war against Mithridates to Pompey the Great,
who had just swept the Mediterranean clean of another menace: the
pirates. While powerful aristocrats objected to the proposal, which
would endow Pompey with unprecedented powers, the bill proved
hugely popular among the people, and one of the praetors, Marcus
Tullius Cicero, also hastened to lend it his support. In his
first-ever political speech, variously entitled pro lege Manilia or
de imperio Gnaei Pompei, Cicero argues that the war against
Mithridates requires the appointment of a perfect general and that
the only one to live up to such lofty standards is Pompey. In the
section under consideration here, Cicero defines the most important
hallmarks of the ideal military commander and tries to demonstrate
that Pompey is his living embodiment. This course book offers a
portion of the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and
a commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, the
incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of
Latin at both AS and undergraduate level. It extends beyond
detailed linguistic analysis and historical background to encourage
critical engagement with Cicero's prose and discussion of the most
recent scholarly thought.
In republican times, one of Rome's deadliest enemies was King
Mithridates of Pontus. In 66 BCE, after decades of inconclusive
struggle, the tribune Manilius proposed a bill that would give
supreme command in the war against Mithridates to Pompey the Great,
who had just swept the Mediterranean clean of another menace: the
pirates. While powerful aristocrats objected to the proposal, which
would endow Pompey with unprecedented powers, the bill proved
hugely popular among the people, and one of the praetors, Marcus
Tullius Cicero, also hastened to lend it his support. In his
first-ever political speech, variously entitled pro lege Manilia or
de imperio Gnaei Pompei, Cicero argues that the war against
Mithridates requires the appointment of a perfect general and that
the only one to live up to such lofty standards is Pompey. In the
section under consideration here, Cicero defines the most important
hallmarks of the ideal military commander and tries to demonstrate
that Pompey is his living embodiment. This course book offers a
portion of the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and
a commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, the
incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of
Latin at both AS and undergraduate level. It extends beyond
detailed linguistic analysis and historical background to encourage
critical engagement with Cicero's prose and discussion of the most
recent scholarly thought.