But Sicily was then in the power of Sextus Pompey, the younger son of the great Pompey. He had, after the battle of Munda, collected a force among the Celtiberians, and in the year of Cæsar’s death he carried on an indecisive war against Asinius Pollio. When the amnesty was decreed, at which time he was at Marseilles, he was recalled together with the rest by the senate; the value of his father’s property was to be refunded to him, and the _imperium oræ maritimæ_ was promised him. This _imperium_, however, he had first to create. When the proscriptions came out, he was in great danger: Antony was in possession of his paternal mansion on the Carinæ, and for the sake of it, he was already trying to have him killed. He did not therefore venture to come to Rome, but surrounded himself with all sorts of adventurers, and gathered together a swarm of pirates such as his father had crushed,—in fact the sons of these, and even in some instances the self-same men: he was their natural patron; for, according to Asiatic custom, the conquered placed themselves under the protection of the conqueror. Thus he made himself master of Sicily, which was still quite a Greek island: his pirates too were either Greeks or hellenized Asiatics. He was joined by Statius Murcus, with part of the fleet of Brutus and Cassius. With the rest of it, Domitius Ahenobarbus carried on the war for two years under his own auspices; after this, he united himself with Asinius Pollio, and by him was reconciled to Antony, to whom also he then attached himself. Antony had, even before the battle of Philippi, been foiled in an attempt on Sicily, and moreover Sextus Pompey had very much strengthened himself since; Antony therefore and Octavian now began to treat with the latter by themselves, taking no heed of Lepidus, whom, without asking his leave, they confined to Africa. There was a peace made near the headland of Misenum. Pompey went to them on shore, and trusted himself to them with some generosity; they, on the other hand, with a magnanimity which was otherwise foreign to them, went on board his flagship, and partook of a meal with him. One of his commanders wanted on this occasion to cut the cables of the anchors, and to seize them; but Pompey ordered that it should not be done. By this peace Pompey had Sicily, and as it is stated in an account very likely to be true, Achaia likewise, together with Sardinia, given up to him; so that he had the heart of the maritime dominion. In this possession he peacefully maintained himself for four years.