On September 28, 48 BC, one of Roman history’s most pivotal moments took place on the shoreline of Egypt. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus—known to history as Pompey the Great—fell victim to betrayal. Once the most celebrated general in Rome, and the very man trusted by the Senate to oppose Julius Caesar, Pompey’s end marked not only the defeat of a legendary statesman but also the end of the Roman Republic as it had been known.

The Fall of Pompey the Great
Pompey’s final years unfolded against a backdrop of civil war. After losing the decisive Battle of Pharsalus against Caesar, Pompey fled across the Mediterranean, seeking refuge in Egypt. He landed near Pelusium with only a few loyal attendants and his wife, Cornelia, still hopeful that Ptolemy XIII—Egypt’s young monarch—would grant him safety or support.
But the rulers of Egypt faced a dilemma. With Caesar rapidly approaching and the outcome of the war clear, they feared Caesar’s wrath if they aided his greatest rival; yet, for centuries, Pompey had been a key player in Egyptian politics as well. The solution from Ptolemy’s advisers was as brutal as it was political: they resolved to kill Pompey, offering his head as a gift to Caesar.
On the pretense of a welcome, Pompey was invited into a small boat. Among the men sent to “escort” him was Lucius Septimius, a former comrade from Roman wars. In a quiet, devastating moment away from the shore, the assassins struck. Pompey was stabbed before reaching the beach, decapitated, and his head presented to Caesar, who reportedly wept at the sight of his fallen rival. Cornelia, horrified, witnessed the scene from the ship.
Pompey’s murder changed the future of Rome. Without his formidable presence, Julius Caesar seized the undisputed position of master of the Roman world. The legacy of Pompey, once promised “armies would spring from the ground,” proved instead that even the greatest Roman could fall to the treacheries of politics and war.