Sextus Pompey Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius , in English Sextus Pompey ( 67 BC – 35 BC ) , was a Roman general from the late Republic ( 1st century BC ) . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate . His father was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ( Pompey the Great ) and Shakespeare had him as a major character in his play " Antony and Cleopatra " ( 1606 – 07 ) . Biography . Sextus Pompeius was the youngest son of Pompey the Great ( Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus ) by his third wife , Mucia Tertia . His older brother was Gnaeus Pompeius , from the same mother . Both boys grew up in the shadow of their father , one of Rome ' s best generals and an originally non - conservative politician who drifted to the more traditional faction when Julius Caesar became a threat . When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC , thus starting a civil war , Sextus ' older brother Gnaeus followed their father in his escape to the East , as did most of the conservative senators . Sextus stayed in Rome in the care of his stepmother , Cornelia Metella . Pompey ' s army lost the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC and Pompey himself had to run for his life . Cornelia and Sextus met him in the island of Lesbos and together they fled to Egypt . On the arrival , Sextus watched his father being killed by treachery on September 29 of the same year . After the murder , Cornelia returned to Rome , but in the following years Sextus joined the resistance against Caesar in the African provinces . Together with Metellus Scipio , Cato the Younger , his brother Gnaeus and other senators , they prepared to oppose Caesar and his army to the end . Caesar won the first battle at Thapsus in 46 BC against Metellus Scipio and Cato , who committed suicide . In 45 BC , Caesar managed to defeat the Pompeius brothers in the Battle of Munda , in Hispania ( the Iberian Peninsula , comprising modern Spain and Portugal ) . Gnaeus Pompeius was executed , but young Sextus escaped once more , this time to Sicily . Back in Rome , Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March ( March 15 ) 44 BC by a group of senators led by Cassius and Brutus . This incident did not lead to a return to normality , but provoked yet another civil war between Caesar ' s political heirs and his assassins . The Second Triumvirate was formed by Octavian , Mark Antony and Lepidus , with the intention of avenging Caesar and subduing all opposition . Sextus Pompeius in Sicily was certainly a rebellious man , but the Cassius and Brutus faction was the second triumvirate ' s first priority . Thus , with the whole island as his base , Sextus had the time and resources to develop an army and , even more importantly , a strong navy operated by Sicilian marines . Brutus and Cassius lost the twin battles of Philippi and committed suicide in 42 BC . After this , the triumvirs turned their attentions to Sicily and Sextus . But by this time , Sextus was prepared for strong resistance . In the following years , military confrontations failed to return a conclusive victory for either side , although in 40 BC Sextus ' admiral , the freedman Menas , seized Sardinia from Octavian ' s governor Marcus Lurius . In 39 BC , Sextus and the triumvirs signed for peace in the Pact of Misenum . The reason for this peace treaty was the anticipated campaign against the Parthian Empire . Antony , the leader , needed all the legions he could get so it was useful to secure an armistice on the Sicilian front . The peace did not last for long . Octavian and Antony ' s frequent quarrels were a strong political motivation for resuming the war against Sextus . Octavian tried again to conquer Sicily , but he was defeated in the naval battle of Messina ( 37 BC ) and again in August 36 BC . But Octavian had Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa , a very talented general , on his side . In addition , the third triumvir , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , raised 14 legions in his African provinces to help defeat Pompey . Only a month afterwards , Agrippa destroyed Sextus ' navy off Naulochus cape . Sextus escaped to Asia Minor and , by abandoning Sicily , lost his only base of support . Sextus Pompeius was caught in Miletus in 35 BC and executed without trial ( an illegal act since Sextus was a Roman citizen ) by order of Marcus Titius , Antony ' s minion . His violent death would be one of the weapons used by Octavian against Antony several years later , when the situation between the two reached a boiling point . Sextus had married Scribonia , a distant relative of his . Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo , consul of 34 BC . Sextus and Scribonia had a daughter and only child called Pompeia Magna .