Pompey conquered the eastern Mediterranean, tripled Rome’s revenue, and cleared the sea of pirates in three months. He was the most powerful man in the Republic until Caesar crossed the Rubicon. His murder on an Egyptian beach at the order of a teenage pharaoh remains one of antiquity’s most shocking endings.

This episode traces Pompey’s extraordinary career and asks whether his accumulation of power made Caesar’s march on Rome inevitable.

• How he earned the title Magnus before he turned 25
• The pirate campaign that cleared the Mediterranean in 89 days
• His rivalry with Caesar and the collapse of the First Triumvirate
• His assassination on the beach at Pelusium