Pompey, Caesar and the Roman Senate: From the Competition in Building Projects to the Civil War (62-44 BC)

Abstract

This article aims to describe the Roman Senate's incompetence and strong hostility towards the principes that Caesar and Pompey pursued in their triumvirate, and how that eventually brought about the fall of the republic through building competition and civil wars. In particular I will examine the reason why Pompey and Caesar engaged in a large-scale building competition during the triumvirate period, and how was the process and meaning of the building competition led to civil wars. Until the 2nd century BC, public architecture in Rome was promoted under the auspices of the Roman Senate by magistrates or or noble families. However, in the first century BC the Senate lost not only the initiative with regard to political power but also that of public architecture. Military politicians, who were able to secure many war-prisoners and spoils by winning wars, tried to use these advantages politically to gain popularity among the Roman people. By 55 BC, Pompey completed and dedicated the Pompey’s Theatre Complex buildings which included a temple and a Senate hall centered on Rome's first stone theatre in the field of Mars. Caesar, although he had been in the Gallic Wars for eight years, began his part in the building competition around 55 BC. He carried out public building projects in the Roman Forum and Campus Martius on a larger scale than Pompey. As Caesar's popularity increased due to his victories in Gallia and public architecture projects in Rome, the Senate tried to use Pompey to remove Caesar, but eventually Caesar won the civil war and Caesar’s dictatorship began.