Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, usually known in English as Pompey ( /ˈpɒmpiː/) or Pompey the Great (official nomenclature ; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and his father had been the first to establish the family among the Roman nobility. Pompey's immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. Sulla gave him the nickname Magnus, "the Great". He was consul three times, and celebrated three triumphs.
In the mid-50s BC, Pompey joined Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gaius Julius Caesar in the unofficial military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate, which Pompey's marriage to Caesar's daughter Julia helped secure. After the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, leading to a civil war. When Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Rome's subsequent transformation from Republic to Principate and Empire.
Read more about Pompey: Early Life and Political Debut, Sicily and Africa, Quintus Sertorius and Spartacus, Campaign Against The Pirates, Pompey in The East, Return To Rome, and Third Triumph, Caesar and The First Triumvirate, From Confrontation To War, Civil War and Assassination, Later Portrayals and Reputation, Marriages and Offspring, Chronology of Pompey's Life and Career