History has dealt tenderly with him on account
of his misfortunes, and has not refused him deserved admiration for
qualities as rare in his age as they were truly excellent. His capacities
as a soldier were not extraordinary. He had risen to distinction by his
honesty. The pirates who had swept the Mediterranean had bought their
impunity by a tribute paid to senators and governors. They were suppressed
instantly when a commander was sent against them whom they were unable to
bribe. The conquest of Asia was no less easy to a man who could resist
temptations to enrich himself. The worst enemy of Pompey never charged him
with corruption or rapacity. So far as he was himself concerned, the
restoration of Ptolemy was gratuitous, for he received nothing for it. His
private fortune, when he had the world at his feet, was never more than
moderate; nor as a politician did his faults extend beyond weakness and
incompetence. Unfortunately he had acquired a position by his negative
virtues which was above his natural level, and misled him into overrating
his capabilities. So long as he stood by Caesar he had maintained his
honor and his authority. He allowed men more cunning than himself to play
upon his vanity, and Pompey fell--fell amidst the ruins of a Constitution
which had been undermined by the villanies of its representatives.
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