On the Command of Pompey (Pro Lege Manilia)

In 66 BC the tribune Gaius Manilius proposed a law giving Pompey command of the long war against Mithridates VI, king of Pontus, in addition to the extraordinary powers he already held against the pirates. Cicero, then praetor, supported it in this speech, his first address to the people from the Rostra. It is known both as On the Command of Gnaeus Pompeius and as For the Manilian Law.

After explaining why he has not spoken from the Rostra before, Cicero follows a clear plan: the nature of the war, its size, and the choice of a commander. The war threatens the province of Asia, its revenues and the fortunes of the Roman businessmen invested there, and Rome has never avenged the massacre of its citizens that Mithridates ordered in 88 BC. Lucullus has won great successes, but the war is still dangerous. Pompey has the four qualities a general needs: knowledge of warfare, ability, shown above all in his rapid clearing of the seas of pirates, authority and good fortune, together with the integrity and restraint that make provincials welcome him. Cicero then answers the objections of the senior senators Hortensius and Catulus, arguing that precedent has often been set aside for Pompey before, contrasts him with greedy governors, and pledges his own support.

The law was passed. The speech is a model of clear structure and a good first Ciceronian speech to read, and it is an important source for Pompey's career and Roman attitudes to empire.