Pompey, Theophanes and the Contest for Empire

Abstract This paper outlines a new framework for the historical study of Roman imperialism in the East as a dialogue between the empire and local elites. It is argued that Pompey created in his representation a persona of himself that Near Eastern nobles considered legitimate. This representation ultimately helped him to stabilise Roman hegemony over Armenia, which had already developed into a contested borderland with the Parthians. From the fragments aligned with the lost account of Theophanes, there is a strong indication that Alexander was the dominating feature in Pompey’s representation in the East. This applies in particular to Pompey’s presentation of the so-called ‘Transcaucasian campaign’. In the course of this campaign, the Romans approached the northern limits of the world, which allowed Pompey to claim universalism by using the myths that were woven around Alexander. Universalism had been at the heart of the discourse on empire that prevailed in the Near East during the first millennium BCE and, therefore, was crucial to any imperial formation in the Near East that preceded the Romans, especially to Alexander, his successors, and Rome’s eastern enemies.