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Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 2730661, member: 42773"]I have no physical portraits of Gnaeus Pompey at the moment, but here is a letter he wrote to the Senate imploring them to fund the war against Sertorius. It is a portrait of his wit, in this case a sarcastic wit directed against a Senate apathetic to his plight. In 74 BC, Sertorius had cut off Pompey's supplies by way of guerrilla warfare, and Pompey had long since exhausted his own resources... If I had been warring against you, against my country, and against my fathers’ gods, when I endured such hardship and dangers as those amid which from my early youth the armies under my command have routed the most criminal of your enemies and insured your safety; even then, Fathers of the Senate, you could have done no more against me in my absence than you are now doing. For after having exposed me, in spite of my youth, to a most cruel war, you have, so far as in you lay, destroyed me and a faithful army by starvation, the most wretched of all deaths. Was it with such expectations that the Roman people sent its sons to war? Are these the rewards for wounds and for so often shedding our blood for our country? Wearied with writing letters and sending envoys, I have exhausted my personal resources and even my expectations, and in the meantime for three years you have barely given me the means of meeting a year’s expenses. By the immortal gods! do you think that I can play the part of a treasury or maintain an army without food or pay? I admit that I entered upon this war with more zeal than discretion; for within forty days of the time when I received from you the empty title of commander I had raised and equipped an army and driven the enemy, who were already at the throat of Italy, from the Alps into Spain; and over those mountains I had opened for you another and more convenient route than Hannibal had taken. I recovered Gaul, the Pyrenees, Lacetania, and the Indigetes; with raw soldiers and far inferior numbers I withstood the first onslaught of triumphant Sertorius; and I spent the winter in camp amid the most savage of foes, not in the towns or in adding to my own popularity. Why need I enumerate our battles or our winter campaigns, the towns which we destroyed or captured? Actions speak louder than words. The taking of the enemy’s camp at Sucro, the battle at the river Turia, and the destruction of Gaius Herennius, leader of the enemy, together with his army and the city of Valentia, are well enough known to you. In return for these, grateful fathers, you give me want and hunger. Thus the condition of my army and of that of the enemy is the same; for neither is paid and either can march Victorious into Italy. Of this situation I warn you and I beg you to give it your attention; do not force me to provide for my necessities on my own responsibility. Hither Spain, so far as it is not in the possession of the enemy, either we or Sertorius have devastated to the point of ruin, except for the coast towns, so that it is actually an expense and a burden to us. Gaul last year supplied the army of Metellus with pay and provisions and can now scarcely keep alive itself because of a failure of the crops; I myself have exhausted not only my means, but even my credit. You are our only resource; unless you come to our rescue, against my will, but not without warning from me, our army will pass over into Italy, bringing with it all the war in Spain. The Roman historian Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus) records the above letter. It struck enough urgent fear into the senate that they commissioned Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus to strike denarii to pay the soldiers, as such... <img src="https://s1.postimg.org/fgwg1c7e7/lentulus_6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> ROMAN REPUBLIC. Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus.AR Denarius, 4.0g, 20mm, 6h; Spanish Mint, 74 BC.Obv.: Diademed, draped and bearded bust of the Genius of the Roman People facing right, scepter over shoulder, "G P R" above.Rev.: Globe between wreathed scepter and rudder, "EX - S C" in field, "CN LEN Q" below.Reference: Crawford 393/1a; Sydenham 752. [/QUOTE]

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