Syriam esse nostram… (Cic. Flac. 30). Why did Pompey turn the Seleucid state into a Roman province?

Abstract

The article is devoted to the transformation of the Seleucid kingdom into a Roman province during the Eastern campaign of Pompey. Despite the fact that the reasons that pushed Pompey to the creation of a new province were repeatedly discussed in historiography, the question of the motivations of the Roman general remains controversial. Probably, a certain influence on the actions of Pompey had an aim to cope with internal instability in the province, which was caused by years of civil war. However, an analysis of the sources shows that the foreign policy factor had a decisive influence on the actions of Pompey - the desire to use the new province as a bridgehead for a future campaign against Parthia. In this case, a overt violation of the Roman foreign policy principles can be explained - depriving of power of Antiochus XIII who was recognized by the Senate, the military vulnerability of the province of Syria and the deliberate deterioration of relations with the Parthians. Changing the situation in the Roman Republic did not allow Pompey to implement his plans, but the war with Parthia for many decades remained one of the priorities of many Roman leaders, such as Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gaius Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. On the other hand, the new province, which was not defended by the buffer system of the allied kingdoms, itself was exposed to the blows of the Parthian cavalry. In general, the assumption of aggressive intentions of Pompey suggests that the Roman commander in his actions easily abandoned the traditional foreign policy methods of the Roman Senate for political expediency, therefore you should not see in the Pompey a conscious defender of "republican values".