Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Ten

Publius Virgilius Maro (Virgil) was a poet of the age who had come up from the lower or middle ranks of Italian society. However, his father saw to it that he got a good education. Virgil went to Rome and studied rhetoric. Suetonius describes him as "tall and bulky with a dark complexion and the appearance of a countryman. He had changeable health [and] ate and drank little. He was always falling in love with boys." By the time Virgil was around thirty years old he had left Rome and the dream of having a public career. He was almost at the summit of his talent as a poet and lived in Neapolis (modern Naples). Virgil's first major works had been published called the Ecologues which were a series of ten poems that described a pastoral ideal of life in the countryside. In Virgil's paradise of handsome young shepherds and beautiful shepherdesses very real and painful events are in the background; such as the young poet losing his farm to Octavian's veteran settlers and its thankful return due to Octavian's intervention. As much as Virgil's original experience of the naked power of the triumvirs may have wounded his soul, he did find an accord with the new regime. Maybe Virgil, along with many other people, not only in Italy but through the Meditteranean world were hoping that the concord reached with the Treaty of Brundisium heralded the dawn of a new age.

Back in the era of the classical world, before mass printing became available a professional writer who didn't have money needed to find rich patrons to give him the necessary tools to publish his work as there was no extensive middle class market to provide income from book sales. This is probably the first reason Virgil came to support Octavian-the need for financial backing. But he also acted out of real political ideals, for in the years after Brundisium, the new regime seemed to offer hope, peace and prosperity. There was a messianic message in his fourth ecologue:
"The Firstborn of the New Ages is already on his way from heaven down to earth.
With him, the Iron Age shall end and Golden Man inherit all the world. Smile on the baby's birth, immaculate Lucina [goddess of childbirth]; your own Apollo is enthroned at last."
Many historians believe that with this verse, Virgil is not only trumpeting the return of a Golden Age but also this poem could have been a wedding hymn, should either Antony and Octavia or Octavian and Scribonia produce a male child. To whomever the poem was written for the issue became a moot point. In 39 BC both women gave birth to daughters; Scribonia had Julia and Octavia had Antonia.

The dawn of the new age was to be short lived. Sextus Pompeius still lurked in the background. He had attempted to help Mark Antony gain the upper hand and been rejected at the last moment. Now Sextus put a blockade around Italy. In Rome prices skyrocketed. This is one of the few times Octavian was out of touch with public opinion. The people of Italy wanted Octavian to make peace with Sextus. Not only did he refuse to do this, he levied a new tax on property owners to pay his soldiers. Once again rioting broke out in Rome, the people's patience had snapped after all they had gone through. Courageously-or perhaps foolishly, Octavian decided to face the mob of protesters, as he had done with the mutinous soldiers on the Campus Martius. This time, however, the crowd began lobbing projectiles at him and didn't stop even after injuring the young man. Mark Antony on hearing news of what was happening dashed to the Forum. When the protesters first eyed Antony they didn't throw anything at him because it was known he favored peace with Sextus, but they did warn him not to interfere. When Antony refused to go back they also began stoning him. Mark Antony was able to summon reinforcements and eventually rescued Ocatavian from the crowd, after being able to get him only after much harrassment.

I think this incident illustrates two things at least. Octavian, although not a great warrior definitely had a kind of courage. The twenty-four year old showed determination and grit in facing both crowds. It also shows-I think anyway-that Antony wanted to continue in power with Octavian in the way things had now been setttled-otherwise why risk his life to save him? Octavian did finally realize he had to give in on the matter of Sextus. In the summer of 39 BC a very cautious peace conference was arranged between the triumvirs and Sextus at Misenum, a headland at the northern end of the Bay of Naples. Sextus himself had rejected advice to make all-out war or at least wait and see if the famine in Rome would give him greater leverage. The concessions Antony and Octavian made to Sextus at the Treaty of Misenum were not essential to their hold on power. Sextus could also proclaim the treaty was a rather good deal for him as he was no longer an outlaw, and was even given membership in the College of Augurs (the committee of senior statesmen who were charged with seeing that the correct measures had been prescribed to placate the gods were carried out) and also nominated for the consulship in the forthcoming year of 38 BC. In private, however, Sextus already regretted not taking the advice to stand firm.

Could this have been because he realized something that may not have occurred to the triumvirs? The Treaty of Misenum did bring Sextus back inside the political life of Rome, but it also gave the priceless gift of separating opposition politicians from Sextus. The deal between Sextus and the triumvirs was sealed with a marriage bond as had happened between Antony and Octavian at Brundisium. Sextus' infant daughter was formally betrothed to Marcellus, who was three years old and Antony's stepson and Octavian's nephew. Plutarch tell us that Menodorus, one of Sextus's admirals spoke to Sextus out of hearing of the guests: "Shall I cut the cables and make you master not just of Sicily and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?" Sextus is supposed to have replied: "Menodorus, you should have acted, not spoken to me beforehand. Now we must be content with things as they are. I do not break my word." This famous exchange has some silver-tongued qualities that make some historians doubt its veracity. However, Plutarch's records could very well have been the truth. It tells us two things that are very much in keeping with Sextus's character. In calling himself Pius, "dutiful" or "honest", Sextus was thinking mostly of his father's memory, but it also showed that Sextus thought of himself as a Roman of the republican values of being honest and straightforward. Also the story tells of the lack of the cut-throat and killer instinct in Sextus, which can be verified by his political career-especially in comparison to Antony and Octavian. After the peace conference, the men left for their different destinations. Octavian to Gaul where reports of resistance were coming in. Antony to the east and the Parthians and Sextus back to Sicily. Many of the refugees in Sextus's entourage bade him goodbye and left for Rome.

The image is of a stamp issued of a mosaic of Virgil found at an ancient villa in Tunisia. I have more information that is ready to go and hope to have the next post here soon. Thanks to anyone following or commenting on this blog!