The Power of Pompey: A Look into Roman History
- sulla80
- Jul 13
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 27
Pompey had already earned a reputation for cleaning up messes when the Roman Senate passed Lex Gabinia (67 BCE) and Lex Manilia (66 BCE), granting him near-unlimited imperium over the eastern Mediterranean. Gabinius' law provided him with 500 ships, fifteen legates, and fiscal carte blanche. Manilius then united that navy with Lucullus' veteran army. Pompey had already cleaned up the rebels in Spain, led by Q. Sertorius during the Sertorian War. He commemorated his victory in 74 BC near the town of Panissars in the Pyrenees. Now, the Senate assigned him the crucial task of addressing the Cilician pirates and the wars with Mithridates.
The Tetradrachm of Lucullus
This tetradrachm was issued by Lucullus in Ephesus at the end of his command in Asia Minor. The cornucopiae on this coin and the surge in production may connect these coins with the processions and festivals of Lucullus in Ephesus, celebrating the return of peace.
Ionia, Ephesos, AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm
Dated: CY 67 = 68/7 BC
Obv: Serpent emerging from cista mystica, all within an ivy wreath.
Rev: Two serpents entwined around a bow and bowcase; ΞZ (date) above EΦE to left, lit torch to right, palm between two cornucopiae above.
Pompey acted swiftly to eradicate piracy. He replaced Lucullus in Asia Minor and crushed Mithridates, who died in Crimea, and humbled Tigranes with indemnities. Then he marched south into Syria, filling the leadership void left by the collapse of the Seleucid Empire. He proclaimed a Roman province and created a frontier buffer by elevating loyal local rulers: Antiochus I of Commagene, Deiotarus of Galatia, Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia, and Hyrcanus II of Judaea.
The Eastern Settlement
Pompey’s Eastern Settlement (64 BCE) reorganized the Near East after the Third Mithridatic War. He rewarded King Antiochus I of Commagene by ceding Seleuceia on the Euphrates (Zeugma) and portions of Mesopotamia to him. This arrangement lasted until 17 CE when Antiochus III died, and Tiberius annexed the kingdom into Roman Syria. A client kingdom was restored in 38 CE under Caligula, with the Roman-educated son of Antiochus III, Antiochus IV, as client king. Antiochus IV's court centered in Samosata.
Cassius Dio had a negative opinion of Caligula's establishment of client kings, but he noted that Caligula largely restored the perimeter of client kings established by Pompey. Vespasian annexed the client kingdom of Commagene into Roman Syria in 72 CE, eliminating its autonomy due to accusations of disloyalty by the Roman governor Lucius Caesennius Paetus.
Kings of Commagene: Antiochos IV Epiphanes
Ruling with his sister-queen Iotape: CE 38-40 and 41-72
Tetrachalkon: Bronze, 19mm, 5.58g, 12h
Obv: ΒΑΣΙ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΣ, diademed and draped bust of Antiochos to the right.
Rev: ΚΟΜ/ΜΑΓ/Η/ΝΩΝ Crossed cornucopia.
Ref: BMC 16. Kovacs 242. RPC I 3859. SNG Copenhagen 4.
Notes: Unusual and scarce variety in very fine condition.
Antiochus surrendered without a fight, attempting to demonstrate his innocence. Paetus took Samosata without resistance. Antiochus' troops, disheartened by his withdrawal, defected. However, Vespasian refused to treat Antiochus harshly. He ordered his bonds removed during his journey to Rome and granted him honorable exile in Sparta, complete with a royal stipend. Later, he received his son, Epiphanes, warmly in Rome. Both lived out their days in comfort and respect under imperial protection.
The Transformation of Samosata
By the time Hadrian inherited the empire, Samosata—once the royal capital of Commagene—functioned as a top-ranking Roman frontier town on the Euphrates. Administratively, it lay within the province of Syria, yet it retained local significance as the headquarters of Legio XVI Flavia Firma, a full legion transferred to the site at the very start of Hadrian’s reign.
Coins of Hadrian
SYRIA, Commagene. Samosata. Hadrian. 117-138 AD.
Æ 18mm (4g): AΔPIANOC CEBACTOC, laureate head right; ΦΛA/CAMO/MHTPO/KOM in four lines within wreath.
SNG Copenhagen 17; BMC Galatia, etc. pg. 118, 20.
Zeugma and Its Legacy
Under Philip I “the Arab” (244–249 CE)
Though the kingdom had long gone by the time of Philip I, Romans referred to Zeugma—Greek for "yoke," referencing the bridge straddling the river—as part of the province of Syria, in the district of Commagene. During the reign of Philip I and II, father and son, Zeugma remained a linchpin of Rome’s Syrian frontier. It was situated at the only fixed crossing of the Euphrates and was home to the Roman legion, Legio IIII Scythica. It was a civic community that struck its own bronze coins bearing the emperors’ portraits alongside a sacred tetrastyle temple.
Prospects and Threats
The prosperity shown in the coins and the luxurious houses uncovered by modern excavations faced threats from the gathering power of Sasanian Persia. Within four years of Philip II’s death, Shapur I’s forces would sack the city in 252/253 CE, ending the civic era we glimpse from these coins.
Roman Provincial Coins, Commagene, Zeugma. Philip I the Arab (244-249) or Philip II.
Ae 30mm, 15.22g: AVTOK K M IOVΛI ΦΙΛΙΠΠOC CЄB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right; c/m: eagle standing right(?), head left within incuse oval.
Rev: ZЄVΓMATЄΩN, tetrastyle temple atop hill, containing a seated figure facing, with structures at the base of the hill and on either side; peribolos containing grove of trees, in exergue, capricorn right.
Ref: RPC - (unassigned; ID 8189); Butcher 34; BMC 42.
Coins, inscriptions, and the three colossal cult statues found in 2008 indicate that the Belkıs Tepe sanctuary was a central civic hub during the Philips' reign. The temple’s depiction on local coinage during their time suggests recent renovations and possibly an imperial dedication coordinated with the Secular Games of 248 CE, which celebrated Rome’s millennium.
Katabaites (one who descends) is the epithet of Zeus.
Butcher also notes: "Most of the other coinages of northern Syria during this period likely originated at Antioch. A larger and more complete range of denominations is known than in other northern Syrian cities with which Zeugma shares dies. Zeugma shares obverse dies with Antioch, Samosata, Cyrrhus, Hierapolis, and Philippopolis in Arabia."
Significant renovation layers, including new mortar floors, fresh wall paintings, and mosaic pavements, immediately precede the scorch-sealed destruction level found in several houses (e.g., the Mud-brick House and the House of the Plastered Floor). This indicates substantial capital investment right up to the eve of the Sasanian disaster.
Monumental Coins, Buildings & Structures on Ancient Coinage by Marvin Tameanko:
Although this description reflects an aerial view and perspective, it likely represents the view of the hill shown at the beginning of these notes, accompanied by an enclosed grove of trees rising up the hill.
Shapur’s own Res Gestae lists Zeugma and Samosata among the 37 cities he “burned, devastated, captured” during his Euphrates raid. He stormed Samosata and Zeugma in 252/3, deporting the population and wealth across the river, then withdrew shortly after. In 260 CE, he captured Valerian, and Palmyra’s ruler Odaenathus intercepted the Persians near Zeugma, restoring Roman control. Commagene was restructured as the northeastern district of the new province Syria Euphratensis. Although it never quite regained its pre-invasion prosperity, it remained a fortified, Christianized frontier zone until Arab armies seized the Euphrates crossings in CE 637/8.
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