Cicero's Last Stand Part Two

Mark Antony's taste in women left a lot to be desired in Cicero's mind also. After years in hot pursuit of Clodius's foul-mouthed, ambitious widow, Antony had finally married Fulvia-a force to be reckoned with by herself. Cicero knew a lot about political intrigue, but in targeting Mark Antony, he was not declaring war on a rebel like Catiline-but a consul and thus a head of state. For Cicero this was do or die time and in his speeches to the Senate attacking Antony he was trying to wake a benumbed assembly to what the Republic had once been and could be still. Some quotes are in order here: "Life is not merely a matter of breathing. The slave has no true life. All other nations are capable of enduring servitude-but our city is not." "So glorious is it to recover liberty, that it is better to die than shrink from regaining it." (Cicero, Phillipics, 2.1.). Cicero had felt himself restrained for far too long and if this was to be his swan song he was now speaking openly and without restraint. He knew that to win the Caesarian heavies would have to be turned against each other and poisoned against Mark Antony. Hirtius and Pansa were already suspicous of Antony which was good. But Cicero hoped to hook an even brighter star and bring it down from the heavens to join his cause. Just a few months previously he had rejected the flattery of Octavian. Now in the last days of 44 BC he needed the young man on his side.

The first time Octavian had entered Rome (besides being born there-more on this later) a halo had appeared around the sun in a cloudless sky. An even more amazing portent had occurred in the heavens a scant three months later when Octavian was staging games in honor of his murdered adoptive father. At this time a comet had blazed through the Roman sky. This was viewed by the awestruck spectators as the soul of Julius Caesar being accepted into the heavens. Note here-this comet appears to have been confirmed by comparitively recent Chinese archaeological discoveries. But for Octavius this wonder meant even more; for if Caesar was now a god then who could try to deny his choice of heir? Not a bad start at all in political life for a young man who suffered from ill health, as a matter of fact Octavian was almost the victim of infanticide. Luckily for him, his family did not follow the astrologer's advice who had seen a bad future in the infant's stars. Antony, of course, was not amused: "You boy, owe everything to your name," he sneered. (Cicero, Phillipics, 13.24-5.). However, it had to have been to Antony's chagrin that Octavian was already exploiting his inheritance with finesse. Antony was being outwitted in a game of political chess that had developed between him and the young man from Velitrae. Antony had obstructed Octavian in his efforts to receive what was his from Caesar's will.

Octavian had auctioned off some of his own estates and paid Caesar's soldiers and Roman citizens part of what Julius Caesar had desired them to receive out of his own pocket and he was rewarded with great popularity. It should be said here that even though he did not have access to Caesar's estate, Octavian may have been able to get some of Caesar's money from his war chest collected for the Parthian campaign or received or seized tax receipts going from Asia to the Roman treasury. Roman citizens also received some of the money that Caesar had intended to go to them, but Antony was sitting on out of Octavian's largesse. Octavian had also recruited a private and illegal bodyguard of two thousand men. For a brief time he occupied the Forum with these men saying, "Heap as many insults on me as you like, Antony, but stop plundering Caesar's property until the citizens have received their legacy. Then you can take the rest." Octavian was eventually forced to retreat because of Antony's much larger army. Antony's term of the office as a consul was coming to an end and he was supposed to go and be the governor of the province of Macedonia. He needed a closer power base if he were to be able to keep an eye on events in Rome. In the end Antony exchanged Macedonia for a five year term as the governor of Cisalpine Gaul.

Here Antony was blunted by Decimus Brutus, who also claimed the post. Brutus chose to barricade himself in Modena rather than give his province to Antony. The new civil war had finally begun, as Antony and his army surrounded the city to starve him out. Back in Rome, Octavian continued to seek out Cicero's support. Wary at first, Cicero finally gave in. The crisis was becoming so desperate that he had little else to lose by taking a gamble on the young man. Before a packed Senate House, Cicero claimed Octavian was an asset to the Republic before many surprised onlookers: "I guarantee it, Father's of the Senate. I promise it and I solemnly swear it!" In April 43 BC Aulus Hirtius and Vibius Pansa-the two consuls of the Roman people finally made war with Mark Antony. Octavian, with his two legions, marched with them as their lieutenant. Antony was forced to retreat across the Alps, after being defeated in two battles. For awhile it looked like Cicero's high-risk, high-stakes gamble had paid off and the Republic was saved. Again, like he had been in the year of his consulship in 63 BC, after the Catiline conspiracy was put down, Cicero was hailed as a savior of the country and Antony declared a public enemy. Then in one of the major power struggles in Roman history where reversals of fortune happened at a breathtaking pace, sad news arrived in Rome. The two consuls were both dead. One had died in battle and the other from wounds sustained during battle. Now Mark Antony had escaped in the confusion.

Antony was heading towards the province of Caesar's "Master of Horse"-Marcus Lepidus who had seven legions and governed Narbonese Gaul (southern France) and Hither (northern Spain). In letters to the Senate, Lepidus had assured its leaders of his continuing loyalty. The men Lepidus commmanded, all committed Caesarians-changed his mind for him, to go against the Senate. On 30 May 43 BC, sfter days of fraternization between the armies of Lepidus and Antony a formal agreement was reached. The two generals and their armies were now united. Brutus, who was now hopelessly outnumbered attempted to run for his life. However, the unlucky man was betrayed by a Gallic chieftain and killed.

Thanks again to anyone following or commenting on this blog! I hope to have the next post here very soon and have a lot more information ready to go. I do not know if my "offline" day will be tomorrow or the next couple of days after that-so there will be at least one day with no new posts and that is of course barring any other problems, which net connection wise has been pretty good lately-my back pain and insomnia not so good-but under control. The image is an ancient Roman cameo of Augustus Caesar's (Octavian's) wife, Livia who we will hopefully hear a lot more about soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!