Back To Rome Part Two

Roman legions marched into Illyricum for the first time in 229 BC. Rome had made the region a province but never completely subdued its unruly tribes. Octavian had decided the time had come to show the people there who was really their master. As always (almost anyway) Octavian's motives were not as crystal clear as they seemed at first glance. Outwardly the idea was that they people of Italy would honor him for another contribution to their peace and security. Two other reasons were more important to him as they were all about increasing his power and image.

Octavian wanted a war as an excuse to keep his legions, as he might need them for a future confrontation with Antony. Secondly, Octavian had a problem with the way the public perceived him. Although he had won great praise for his bravery during his battle with Sextus, everyone knew that Agrippa had saved his bacon and was truly responsible for the victory. In an event that could have been staged to a degree, Octavian was able to pull off a propaganda coup. Roman forces were laying siege to a city in Illyricum, a tribal capital named Metelum. During a crisis in the battle Octavian rushed down from a temporary wooden tower and grabbed a shield from a soldier who was hesitating to cross a gangway.

Octavian had his friend Agrippa by his side and his bodyguard, he rode ir over the gangway. Some of the men who followed him were not so lucky, as too many soldiers got on it and it collapsed. Supposedly Octavian himself was wounded with one leg and both arms crushed. Of course, he survived and was protected by men already on the wall who had already made it across. More gangways were built at a fast pace and the legionaires came across in droves. The tribesmen who were defending the city gave up and the town fell.

Leading a charge on a besieged city was an act of great bravery and extremely dangerous. This was the province of such commanders as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. This was rather not in keeping with Octavian's meticulous planning and unspontaneous character. We are left to wonder if Octavian, Agrippa and the other men around him saw a great opportunity for an impromptu show of bravery-perhaps somewhat akin to George W. Bush's much maligned "Mission Accomplished" landing on the aircraft carrrier. Whatever the truth behind this event, the propaganda boost was considerable and the public was impressed. The great historian of the time, Livy, stated that Octavian's "beauty of person [was] enhanced by blood and his dignitas by the danger in which he found himself."

Mark Antony had not been in Rome since 39 BC, and although this probably suited Octavian perfectly, there were some causes for worry-both personal and perhaps in Octavian's way of thinking-conspiratorial. Maybe Antony was just getting ready to battle the Parthians again. The most likely explanation, however, seemed to be that Antony and Cleopatra had set up housekeeping! Their relationship appeared to be stronger than ever and it was even rumored the two had married-although in the physical sense this is highly improbable, for both Greeks and the Romans strongly dispproved of bigamy. Maybe what the couple had intended was a sort of mystical wedding between the New Dionysus and the New Isis. In 35 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to yet a fourth child-her third by Antony, a boy named Ptolemy Philadelphus. Was it only Antony's typical love of the good life and laziness that was all that was keeping him from Rome?

Readying for a Parthian expedition could explain a lot of Antony's abscence from the capital. After all, Antony had to raise more troops and Octavian was continuing to hold back the four legions he had promised since the Treaty of Brundisium. Mark Antony was also bankrolling money for warships. He issued a series of coins, each with the number of one of is legions and backed by a warship. Many in Rome, maybe Octavian himself, might have wondered what Antony needed such a huge armada for, unless it was to invade the western empire? If this was the plan, Antony was unable to put it into effect right away.

The aftermath of the Parthian debacle claimed his attention. In the spring of 34 BC, the Romans invaded Armenia. The king of Armenia had betrayed Antony during the failed invasion and quickly admitted defeat. He and his two younger sons were taken prisoner. Armenia became a Roman province and was opened up for trade and economic exploitation. Antony of course, sent news of his victory to Rome, but the Roman mood was considerably darker than it had been since 36 BC and the false festivities that had marked the Parthian "victory" of that year.

Antony's victory in Armenia was genuine but Octavian, the Senate and the people of Rome ignored the victory with silence. Who could blame them? Crassus' standards were still in Parthian hands and not only that, but now the Parthians had some of Antony's standards also. Octavian marched east to fight the Pannonian tribes beyond Illyricum. History doesn't tell us what they did to be targeted by him. Dio has this to say about the young triumvir's motives: "He had no complaint against them [the Pannonians], not having been wronged by them in any way, but he wanted to give his soldiers practice and to support them at the expense of an alien people."

I hope to be back in a few days with another article in this series. I have one or two articles already written out-they just need to be typed. Thanks so much to anyone reading or commenting on this blog!