Pompey would have liked Cicero better if his periods had not been so round nor his voice so powerful.

Not that Pompey was distinctly desirous of any throne.

His position at the moment was peculiar.

He had brought back his victorious army from the East to Brundisium, and had then disbanded his legions.

I will quote here the opening words from one of Mommsen's chapters:[229] "When Pompeius, after having transacted the affairs committed to his charge, again turned his eyes toward home, he found, for the second time, the diadem at his feet." He says farther on, explaining why Pompey did not lift the diadem: "The very peculiar temperament of Pompeius naturally turned once more the scale.