A Growing Divide An important element of the story of Caesar and Pompey is the struggle between the populares 1 and optimates 2 , championed by each of those men, respectively. A lot of historians leave this out, and refer to the factions as Caesarian1 1 and Pompeian 2 . The issue goes far deeper than that and I won't get into the full history here, perhaps in its own series... But suffice it to say that the divide was deep and deepening. The populares demanded drastic land reform to give power to the people working the farms and to soldiers. The optimates opposed radical progressivism and favored the 'old way' of things. That they called themselves the 'good men' I think speaks to their general attitude. They were keepers of something sacred, not politicians. An Unlikely Alliance From approximately 60-53 BCE Caesar and Pompey allied with Caesar's wealthy patron, Marcus Licinius Crassus. Crassus, like all Romans of standing, had served in the military, but w...
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child." ~Marcus Tullius Cicero