Historum - History Forums  

Go Back   Historum - History Forums > World History Forum > Ancient History
Register Forums Blogs Social Groups Mark Forums Read

Ancient History Ancient History Forum - Greece, Rome, Carthage, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and all other civilizations of antiquity, to include Prehistory and Archaeology discussions


View Poll Results: Pompey the Great v Rustaham
Pompey the Great 5 55.56%
Rustaham 4 44.44%
Voters: 9. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 8th, 2011, 03:22 AM   #1

Caracalla's Avatar
Historian
 
Joined: Nov 2010
From: Londinium
Posts: 1,586
BAG Round 2: Pompey the Great v Rustaham


This thread is, from this post on, for the use of plutoboyz and tdhigg01 to argue over who is the better general between Rustaham and Pompey the Great. Could other Historumites please refrain from posting in this thread. If you need to say something regarding this battle and it's contestants head on over to http://www.historum.com/ancient-hist...on-thread.html


Thank you.
Caracalla is offline  
Remove Ads
Old February 10th, 2011, 07:01 AM   #2

tdhigg01's Avatar
Academician
 
Joined: Dec 2010
From: Kentucky
Posts: 59

Well, Pompey is still Magnus. He defeated a variety of peoples and generals, including Romans, Jews, Macedonians, Albanians, Iberians, Amazons (supposedly) and Arabs. He also wiped piracy away from the Mediterranean Sea. He held two triumphs before he was a member of the senate. While not very engaged politically, he was the greatest general Rome had during the late Republic before Caesar came along. He invaded Africa at 24. He fought at the gates of Rome under Sulla at 23, and was consistently victorious. He subjected foreign kings. More shall come, I've got to go eat some lunch!
tdhigg01 is offline  
Old February 10th, 2011, 12:29 PM   #3

tdhigg01's Avatar
Academician
 
Joined: Dec 2010
From: Kentucky
Posts: 59

All right, here we go. As I've already defended Pompey once above, I think I'll take a different approach here in the beginning. As for this Rustaham, the General who defeated Crassus in Parthia. Well...let's face it. Crassus was a nobody in terms of military matters. He was his own worst enemy. He didn't listen to the advice of his subordinates (including his own son, and many of whom were better commanders than he was). He trusted a native Arab who ended up leading him in the desert (against the wishes and advice of his subordinates). He also lost the trust of his soldiers by disregarding the omens of the gods. Sure, Rustaham did good to annihilate Crassus; but Crassus was by no means an able general, at least during this campaign.

On the other hand, there is Pompey. He held one triumph for each continent where he was victorious: Europe, Africa, and Asia. He defeat Albanians, Iberians, Armenians, Nubians, Jews, Romans, Spaniards, slaves, and rid the Med. Sea of pirates. Note, he did not celebrate triumphs for victories over the slaves or the pirates. The point of these two is that 1, in the case of the slaves, he cleaned up the mess left by Crassus, and 2, in the case of the pirates, he demonstrated his exceptional organizational skills. Furthermore, the Senate appointed him over the grain distribution, and he filled Rome's markets to the point of overflowing. Then, the Senate appointed him as sole consul during the end of Caesar's provincial command in Gaul to deter Caesar from marching on Rome. Even Cato, who was avidly against Pompey, voted for this. Finally, the only serious defeat Pompey ever suffered was against Rome's greatest general (arguably), and one of the greatest generals of all time. Napoleon studied his tactics; generals today still study his tactics. And, the only reason Pompey lost was because he was outwitted at the last second by Caesar.

I think the choice is very clear.
tdhigg01 is offline  
Reply

  Historum > World History Forum > Ancient History

Tags
bag, pompey, round, rustaham


Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
BAG Round 1: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa v Pompey the Great v Boudicea Caracalla Ancient History 14 February 2nd, 2011 03:50 PM
BAG Round 1: Cimon v Epaminondas Caracalla Ancient History 2 February 1st, 2011 02:10 AM
BAG Round 1:Nebuchadnesser II v Eumenes Caracalla Ancient History 12 February 1st, 2011 01:42 AM
BAG Round 1: Rustaham v Ramessess II Caracalla Ancient History 0 January 31st, 2011 01:20 AM
BAG Round 1: Rustaham (plutoboyz) v Ramessess II (pixi666) Caracalla Ancient History 5 January 17th, 2011 02:41 AM

Copyright © 2006-2013 Historum. All rights reserved.