Disclaimer: I enjoy pop-music. In particular, the kind that gets stuck in your head and quits being catchy after the seventh listen. I’ve got a Spotify playlist called “Party in the USA,” featuring tunes such as Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.”
Disclaimer #2: Even though I really like listening to popular songs, and embarrassing myself by grooving to them with disco fingers, I am grossly undernourished in pop culture.
That said…
I was doing some reading this week: selections from Plutarch’s "Roman Lives." We were assigned three biographies: Pompey (which, to my dismay, is pronounced “PomPee,” and not “PomPay”), Caesar, and Antony. As I was doing the reading, I was struck by the feeling that some (semi)recent pop song would make a great theme song for Pompey.
Pompey, who curried favor with the then-reigning dictator, Sulla, gained control of the emerging Roman Empire prior to Caesar’s rule. Liked by the both the Senate and the masses (who were polar opposites), Pompey had become a daunting force. Unfortunately, Caesar, too, desired to be the head honcho. So naturally one of them was going down. And that one would be Pompey.
Back to my disclaimers. At first, I wanted the song Pompeii by Imagine Dragons to be about the great conqueror. But no, my research led me to believe that the song was written about the volcano called Pompeii (which, by the way, is the cool
pronunciation “PomPay.”)
Viva La Vida
But then I knew which song was the perfect anthem for Pompey. Viva La Vida, by Coldplay.
Let's take this step by step...
I used to rule the world….
Rome. Which, at the time, was basically the same thing.
Seas would rise when I gave the word…
They enlisted Pompey to get rid of all the pirates, and he did. He was supposed to get an exorbitant number of soldiers and ships. He requested more than they offered, and got them.
Now in the morning I sleep alone…
Because his wife, Julia, died.
Sweep the streets I used to own.
When Caesar’s army attacked and conquered, Pompey had to flee in civilian clothes.
I used to roll the dice…
Actually, Caesar said, “Let the dice fly,” when he began the Civil War against Pompey. So we see power going from Pompey’s hands into Caesar’s.
Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes…
Because he was able to kill them, after all.
Listen as the crowd would sing, “Now the old king is dead, long live the king.”
Pompey had favor with the masses. And, he told the dictator Sulla, his predecessor, to beware of getting in his way: People look to the rising sun, and not the setting sun.
One minute I held the key…
(To all of Rome…)
Next, the walls were closed on me.
In fact, he would lose his life while fleeing from Caesar. The inhospitable country decided that rather than sending him away or harboring him, it better just kill him.
And I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt, pillars of sand.
This line is more generic, but basically, his power wasn’t nearly as solid as he hoped.
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing…
Probably because Jesus was coming within 50 years of Pompey’s death.
Roman cavalry choirs a’ singing.
…Roman? Coincidence, I think not.
Be my mirror, my sword and shield…
Plutarch, the author of Pompey’s biography, says that his goal is to “treat the narrative of the Lives as a kind of mirror.”
Missionaries in a foreign field
Well…he wasn’t a missionary, but he did do plenty of foreign conquest (which, unfortunately, has been historically synonymous with missions’ work.)
For some reason I can't explain , once you'd gone there was never, never an honest word…
The “you” is Pompey’s contemporary, Crassus. Caesar craftily orchestrated friendship between the two men, diverting power to himself. After Crassus’ death, the balance of power shifted to Caesar.
And that was when I ruled the world
Well, he did for a little…
This next verse transitions to Caesar’s perspective, once he had control of Rome:
It was a wicked and wild wind , blew down the doors to let me in…
Caesar blew through Rome like a fierce wind, with unbelievable power.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums…
Caesar’s battles with Pompey wracked the nation with civil war. Then, Caesar celebrated his triumph over his rival.
People couldn't believe what I'd become
They had given him unlimited power as dictator, and later wished they hadn’t…
Revolutionaries wait…
(Et tu, Brute?)
For my head on a silver plate...
Alright, to be honest, this is straight-up an allusion to John the Baptist.
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Ambition makes you lonely, right…?
Oh who would ever want to be king?
He refused the crown offered him by Marc Antony.
And then, we head back to the chorus, which changes a little. For instance, he knows St. Peter won’t call his name… because he is a killer. Also pagan…
So there you have it — proof that Viva La Vida is about Pompey- with a little Caesar thrown in.
Do you agree? Let me know in the comments.
