Antony's ally and governor of all Gaul beyond the Alps, Quintus Calenus, had passed away suddenly. Octavian had rushed off to Gaul to take command of Calenus's eleven legions. This amounted to a declaration of war in Antony's mind. He began making plans for an invasion of Italy to unseat his junior colleague. Now it was critical that Octavian prevent an alliance between Antony and Sextus. Mark Antony's next moves are very revealing as to how much he knew he would need Sextus's support. Antony sent Sextus's mother, Mucia, to Sicily bearing an amicable message to Sextus from Antony. Mark Antony then wed Scribonia, Sextus's aunt-in-law in a typical pact sealing gesture. Antony had left for Italy not only leaving Fulvia on her sickbed but without even saying goodbye. This is the last act of her estrangement from her husband that she was able to bear, and Fulvia died soon after this. Apparently Antony had just wanted to teach Fulvia a lesson about her political meddling, for he was extremely upset by her death and blamed himself for it. Mark Antony left for the port of Brundisium. He had just a small number of troops but had two hundred ships. This was further enhanced by a secret alliance with Domitius Ahenobarbus who controlled a powerful republican fleet. Many on the republican side were now placing a lot of hopes in Mark Antony. Sextus Pompeius was undoubtedly loyal to their cause, but compared to Antony he was an unexperienced military leader. This last set of actions between Antony and the republicans definitely show that Antony was determined to triumph over Octavian where his brother Lucius and wife, Fulvia had failed. No doubt by this time Antony was fed up with his junior triumvirs antics. Just who the hell did Octavian think he was? Added to what must have been a sense of enormous personal irritation with Octavian was the fact that the relationship between the two was also unbalancing Roman politics and delaying the invasion of Parthia. The port of Brundisium which was stationed by Octavian's men closed its gates to the republican force. Antony immediately began a siege of the port and sent word to Macedonia asking for immediate reinforcements. In a move that revealed the magnitude and depth of Antony's anger, he asked Sextus Pompeius, with whom he had no formal alliance to start naval attacks against Italy, to which the young Sextus happily agreed to. Octavian began heading towards Brundisium. Numerically he had far more troops than Antony, but he didn't do anything except keep a lookout outside Antony's siege laying fortifications. Once again Octavian fell ill at this time of crisis, this time the particular ailment is not recorded.
Just before Rome was about to be put through another all out civil war, Roman soldiers intervened. This started with Octavian's legionaires making a secret decision that they would only fight Antony's men if they could not get them to reconcile. Friendships increased the two armies as they were able to fraternize. This time there would not be a war for there would not be any men on either side willing to fight it. Certainly it was a blow to the triumvirs' prestige and authority but Antony and Octavian couldn't do anything about it. Ordering punishments for the peace-making soldiers would only make matters worse. Maecenas-Octavians friend from his boyhood days was one of the peace negotiators appointed to end the dispute. The agreement that was finally hammered out was very beneficial for Octavian, as he was left with Gaul and Calenus's legions. This seems to have been allowed by Antony because he had decided that he could no longer look at Octavian as a troublemaker who would soon be gone by a perhaps likely illness or more unlikely mistake. This time he wanted a permanent settlement and codification of their relationship in regards to the empire at large and their personal relationship. The Treaty of Brundisium renewed the Triumvirate for another five years and the empire was cut in half.
Octavian was given all of the west including Gaul, and Antony all of the east from Macedonia onwards. Ledpidus, whose importance was decreasing as time went on was ablt to keep Africa. Now that the political landscape had changed again it was Octavian's duty to get rid of Sextus Pompeius and Antony's to punish the Parthians for Carrhae. They still needed something to further and strengthen their agreements. The two men had never got along with, nor trusted each other. The Treaty of Brundisium would be worth about as much as the paper it was written on if steps weren't taken to bind them together. The solution to binding Antony and Octavian personally as well as politically was made feasible by two recent deaths. The same year that Fulvia had died, 40 BC, Octavian, Octavian's sister's elderly husband, Gaius Claudius Marcellus had passed away also. Octavia was a very eligible widow (Marcellus had left her with two daughters and an infant son). The idea of sealing the treaty with the marriage of Antony to Octavia was to good to pass up.
Octavian had certainly shown a ruthlessness in his quest for power until now, and personal obligations or feelings of love probably didn't play a huge part in his decision making. However, Plutarch tells us that Octavian was "deeply attached to his sister, who was, as they saying is, a wonder of a woman." So it is unlikely in this particular instance that Octavian would have offered his sister in marriage to his womanizing and uncertain colleague if he did not truly want a rapprochement with Antony. Also, Octavian could have had his adoptive father's life and example in his thoughts. While Julius Caesar's daughter, Julia, was alive and married to Pompey the Great, both Caesar and Pompey had got along just fine. Spectacular celebrations took place at Brundisium to honor the historic alliance. The triumvirs entertained each other in their respective camps, Octavian "in military and Roman fashion and Antony in Asiatic and Egyptian style."
After that they went to Rome, where the wedding of Antony and Octavia was held. Antony had a coin struck of the occasion showing their heads. This is the first known time a woman's image appeared on a Roman coin. There was only one event that broke the rare peace and tranquility of these days. Octavian's friend and commander of the legions in Gaul, Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, had started a secret correspondence with Mark Antony. This happened at a time before the Treaty of Brundisium, when it looked as if Octavian and Antony might be fighting each other soon. Salvidienus suggested he might be ready to switch sides. We do not know the reasons for his doing this, and it is always interesting to me to guess at reasons (although frustrating also) for this and other betrayals in history. There could have been some hidden machinations or jealousies in Octavian's intimate entourage, or Salvidienus could have just thought Octavian's chances against a seasoned soldier like Antony were slim. If the ancient sources are correct, incredibly-Antony told Octavian of Salvidienus' plan of defection while he was besieging Brundisium-not after they were reconciled! If this is true perhaps Antony's motives for this were as a kind of peace offering? Octavian was loyal to a fault in his friendships and expected his friends to be the same towards him. But if anyone-much less a friend betrayed him he was merciless.
Octavian sent a summons to Salvidienus to come to Rome; which he unwisely ignored. After this, Octavian had the Senate declare him both an inimicus (personal enemy) and a hostis (public enemy) and executed. For Salvidienus it was a terrible end to a stellar career. He had come from very humble origins and was once a shepherd boy. He had even been designated the consul for the following year, 39 BC, without ever having civilian office or a Senate seat. Whatever really happened during this inscrutable affair, Appian records that: "Antony did not win general approval for making this admission" about Salvidienus. Ever since the days of Sulla, Rome had phases where it had been convulsed in hazardous and changing times. There were very few people without guilty secrets and many would have thought Antony could have turned a blind eye to Salvidienus, as other men had to his own wheelings and dealings. Again we can wonder if Antony just wanted to show how deeply and sincerely he was invested in his new friendship with Octavian. The execution of Salvidienus is a reminder of a blind spot in Antony's personality. Behind all of the shoulder rubbing, back patting, fun, games, drinking and easy women-there was a coldness and ruthlessness in Antony and also a failure to recognize the feelings of others. It is interesting to note here also that maybe he realized this with his guilt over Fulvia's death and that he knew of the attempt to be made on Julius Caesar and did nothing.
Thanks again to anyone following or reading this blog! I do hope to have the next post here soon, I might miss a day tomorrow or Wednesday and tried to type as much as I could tonight. The image is a marble bust of Octavian (Augustus Caesar) in a museum in Munich. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!
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