“Mare Pacavi a Praedonibus”: Octavian and the Origins of the Accusations of Piracy Against Sextus Pompeius

Abstract

It is argued in this article that the accusation of piracy against Sextus Pompeius by Octavian dates from at least the period of the Perusian War, and plausibly even from 43 BCE. A supplementary hypothesis was also proposed, which points to the possibility that Octavian made use of an earlier accusation against Gnaeus Pompeius’ sons which had previously been formulated by Caesar in the years 46/45 BCE.