War Drums Part Five

Octavian read through the document in private and made note of the parts least favorable to Antony. Then he read these out loud to the Senate. Octavian pointed out Antony's wish to be buried in Alexandria. Octavian's former fellow triumvir and former brother-in-law also left legacies to his children by Cleopatra and reasserted that Caesarion was Julius Caesar's child. Octavian's blatant interference with the sacred Vestal Virgins had a splitting effect. Many senators thought that his taking of Antony's will was "extraordinary and intolerable." However, to some the desired effect was created. The will seemed to this group of senators that the great Roman general had been subverted into becoming an easterner. Indeed, the mud stuck and even Antony's supporters in the Senate voted to deprive him of the consulship that had been planned for him the following year.

Now Octavian felt he was in a strong enough position to formally declare war. Another unique situation occurred after all of this maneuvering against Antony because the enemy had to be Cleopatra. There were two main reasons for this: Octavian didn't want to be accused of re-igniting a civil war that he claimed to have ended. Also, Octavian didn't want to make official enemies of Antony's Roman supporters, because some of them might want to switch sides in the future as Plancus had done.

A ceremony was conducted at the Temple of Bellona, goddess of war in the Campus Martius. After this ritual was complete Rome was officially at war with Egypt.

The promontory of Actium on the coast of western Greece, and the inland Ambracian Gulf it guards are almost unchanged by the passage of 2,000 years. The low, tongue of land which lies only a few feet above sea level stretches northward toward a larger and more elevated two-fingered peninsula. Between them, a half-mile wide strait shoulders its way from the open sea into the gulf, 25 miles wide and between 4 and 10 miles long. These days Actium is very busy in the summer. Tourists alight at the small airport and crowd the sea with yachts. Actium has three marinas; one of these is named the Cleopatra Marina.

This marina sits on a position on the strait from which if one had a time-travelling machine, one would be able to watch the powerful and seductive queen of Egypt in her magnificent galley sail by into her grim destiny and into history. Actium was a quieter place in the first century BC. It was a center for pearl fishing and a small village on the headland made a good jumping off location for travellers. Close by, on the shore where the strait was the slimmest there stood an old temple and a grove of trees sacred to Apollo, founded 500 years before.

Towards the end of 32 BC, the main part of Antony's fleet was based in the safety of the Ambracian Gulf. Where the strait narrowed to its smallest width as it led to the open sea, two towers were constructed (probably where the modern Venetian towers stand), from these catapults would lob missiles and fireballs at any passing galleys. The ships of Antony's fleet had been very busy during the summer and autumn transporting his army to Greece and then establishing a defensive line down its Adriatic Coast. A Squadron guarded Leucas, the Actium roads, and the islands in the south. It also protected the entry into the Corinthian Gulf and the port of Patrae (modern Patras, Greece), where Antony and Cleopatra had established their headquarters. A garrison guarded the Methone promontory. Yet another was placed on the headland at Taenarum. Added to these, Antony had troops on Crete and four legions policed the province of Cyrenaica slightly to the west ot Egypt. In the winter of 32-31 BC, Antony's army was spread out among these strongpoints on the western coast from Corcyra to Methone, with the largest portion gathered at Actium.

I hope to post to this blog again very soon. The images I had picked out for this post got kind of messed up. The bottom image is simply a map of modern Greece-it was supposed to show where Patras was located. The top image is a diagram of how the Battle of Actium was arrayed -but I don't think when I publish this the names will be readable due to size-the purple colors are Antony and Cleopatra's forces and the red is Octavian and Agrippa's forces. I will try to find some better maps for future posts. The middle image is simply of a Roman pinky ring. I have more information written -it just needs to be typed out. All the best to anyone stopping by!

War Drums Part Four

The west must be left open for Mark Antony to make a move against Italy so he would receive the black eye for beginning the war. During this game of cat and mouse, Octavian had to not only maintain but enlarge his army and naval fleet. There was no getting around raising taxes. An unprecedentedly harsh income tax was levied (25 percent to an individual's annual earnings) with the result that riots immediately broke out. Octavian might have felt as if he had stepped backwards in time to ten years earlier when he was the unpopular man who confronted the crowds when the Triumvirate had been forced to raise taxes for the wars against Brutus and Cassius.

Once again Octavian showed a knack for making surprise moves when the stakes were high. Some time during 32 BC he held a sort of personal referendum in which people were required to swear their loyalty to him. Later he wrote boasting: "The whole of Italy [and the western provinces] voluntarily took an oath of allegiance to me and demanded me as its leader in the forthcoming war." Octavian claimed that half a million citizens bound themselves to him. Even though we don't have to accept this dubiously round number to still concede the plebiscite was a surprising success.

It had been less than 50 years since the War of the Allies, when the peoples of Italy had rose up against Rome to claim their rights and were granted full citizenship. Octavian was a provincial as were many others in his regime. After centuries of being bossed around by Rome, they were enjoying the new era and definitely did not want to see Antony and Cleopatra overturn it. The rage over the new taxes was dying down. In its place a new patriotism emerged in the Italian consciousness.

Then things were once again to turn in favor of Octavian. Lucius Munatius Plancus had defected to Mark Antony after the Battle of Mutina in 43 BC, and became one of his closest advisers. However, in the summer of 32 BC, he seems to have taken stock of the situation and left Athens quietly, where Antony and Cleopatra were spending some time before hostilities commenced. Plancus made his way as quietly as possible to Italy. We can wonder what precipitated this move?

In May or June of that year Antony had at last divorced Octavia. He told her to leave his house in Rome. Once again there is actual historical evidence to back up what was being said by people at the time about Octavia being an affectionate and maternal woman. Because when she left the family home she took all of Antony's children with her, except for his eldest son by Fulvia, the teenaged Antyllus. Antyllus left Rome to join his father in Greece, where he gave Antony the uncomfortable news that Octavia had looked after the growing boy with great kindness. The divorce of Octavia by Antony had very serious consequences for him in the court of public opinion.

It had more to do with the fact that he had behaved boorishly to a loving wife but even more so that he had scorned a Roman woman in favor of a foreign queen. However, all this business with Antony, Octavia and Cleopatra was not enough in and of itself to force Plancus' hand. It would seem that Plancus noted the extremely corrosive effect Cleopatra's presence in the campaign and Mark Antony's supporters. Plancus could have figured out easily the effect of a foreign queen helping to lead an invasion of Italy would be!

Once he got to Rome, Plancus presented himself to Octavian and told him that he knew most of Antony's secrets. Antony kept a document with the Vestal Virgins that was too good not to expose. Octavian sent a message to the Vestal Virgins to give him Antony's document. They refused and said if he wanted it he would have to get it himself. This, Octavian was more than willing to do.

I hope to post at least one more article to this blog today. The post/article sizes may vary a bit as lately, my neuropathy/back pain is giving me more trouble than normal and I need to stand up and down more to keep it from going completely out-so many times it is easier to just post an article than to keep saving it to drafts-even though I do normally like my posts to be at least a certain length before publishing.

War Drums Part Three

A tribune who supported Octavian vetoed the censure, but Sosius' move had flushed Octavian out. In mid-February he gathered his supporters and Caesarian veterans around him and returned to Rome as their leader. This move by Octavian was his own Rubicon-emulating his adoptive father Julius Caesar's move so many years before. Octavian convened a meeting of the Senate, a move he had no right to make, but the consuls and the senators arrived. Dio tells us that he surrounded "himself with a bodyguard of soldiers and friends who carried concealed daggers. Sittiing between the consuls in his chair of state, he spoke at length and his moderate terms in his own defense, and brought many accusations against Sosius and Antony."

The consuls did not intend to allow this use of force by Octavian to stand. According to Dio: "As they did not dare to reply to [Octavian] and could not bear to be silent," they left Rome in secret and set sail for the east. They were accompanied by three to four hundred of Rome's one thousand senators-republicans or supporters of Antony. It is hard to say, looking back, if this move was a defeat or a victory for Octavian. The consuls could claim legitimate political authority, unlike Octavian, and although the senators who joined them were a minority of the total membership-they were still a quite substantial number of the ruling class. Octavian also had to wonder how many of those senators who stayed behind were completely behind him for the long haul.

There is a definite comparison to be made between the events of this time and the flight from Rome in 49 BC of Pompey the Great and most of the Senate when Julius Caesar invaded Italy and began the first of the civil wars. Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sosius could make the point that they were taking "Rome" with them. Octavian appears to have been taken aback id not stunned by this turn of events. He had to find a way to limit the political damage from this sharp rebuff. He pretended that this is what he had counted on and claimed that he had sent the senators away voluntarily.

Now that another civil war was a 100 percent certainty minds were being focused with great precision. All throughout the Roman empire, men of any significance had to make a decision with possibly fatal consequences: which man, Octavian or Mark Antony were they to support? For the first time since Alexander the Great one man controlled the entire seapower of the east. This man was Mark Antony and he was close to ending his preparations for war with Octavian. He also commanded an army of thirty legions with 12,000 light armed infantry and 12,000 cavalry.

Most of these soldiers were from the east as Octavian had prevented Antony from recruiting in Italy. These men were not necessarily inferior to Roman legionaires, but in a crisis they might not stay loyal. By early 32 BC it had become obvious that Antony and Cleopatra had come to a very important decision. Cleopatra was going to play a full part in Antony's campaign. This had the effect of further enraging Roman opinion against her. The queen was already very unpopular among Romans because of Octavians propaganda. It was a further blemish against both her and Mark Antony to see the foreign queen acting as a co-leader of a Roman army which is exactly what she would be in effect.

When Ajenobarbus and others of Antony's supporters arrived from Rome they were highly unsettled by this turn of events. Ahenobarbus strongly advised Mark Antony in no uncertain terms to send the queen packing back to Egypt. Herod the Great of Judea, who despised Cleopatra after many years of being pushed around by her, have Antony some advice in confidence: Cleopatra's prescence among Antony's forces would greatly damage his chances for success. Herod told Antony that to realize victory, he should have Cleopatra executed and annex Egypt!

There was indeed a time when Antony sent Cleopatra back home, but in the end caved in and let her stay. In April of 31 BC, the vast military machine set off on its slow journey to Greece where his forces would make their base of operations. Miliatarily it would have been in Octavian's interest to meet Antony's forces head on in Greece, but it wasn't in his political interest to do so. This was because he in no way wanted to be seen as the instigator of the coming war, when of course the naked truth was that he was the aggressor, and the invader if his one time co-ruler's territory.

Insomnia does have its uses-back pain too! I am actually getting a little bit caught up on this blog, but of course there is a long way to go. I do not know if I will be online tomorrow at this point because it looks like a miserable night is on the way, but if I am I will have more to post. All the best to anyone stopping by! And thanks so very much to anyone who has commented or followed this blog. I will try to not get so behind again. The image is of ancient Roman ruins in Aphamia, Syria.

War Drums Part Two

Then Antony summoned Cleopatra, who joined him en route, bringing with her a very rich war chest of twenty thousand talents (about 480 million sesterces), and the two arrived at the port of Ephesus (near the modern town of Selcuk in southern Turkey) and made it their headquarters. The Triumvirate officially ended at the close of December 33 BC. Octavian, now had to maintain his new public image as a strict observer of the constitution and upholder of the "old" values that had made Rome so great. Octavian had no governmental position of any kind now, and it was exceedingly risky to be disarmed this way-now of all times.

In his favor was the fact that after more than ten years at the head of affairs he had built up a powerful auctoritas and political base. He had proven record of success, and was the overlord of a huge clientela-thousands of people had obligations to him. Maybe the most important fact was that the legions of the west remained under his command. Maintaining an outwardly defensive posture, he withdrew from Rome to await events.

Two new consuls took office in January 32 BC. During the period that the triumvirs had ruled, consuls had been named for years ahead. They were chosen from a roughly equal lot of supporters of the two triumvirs. As luck would have it, however, the two named for this year were both supporters of Mark Antony. The senior consul was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (the cognomen means "Bronze Beard"), the noble who had proven himself a good admiral for Brutus and Cassius. His colleague was also an able man named Gaius Sosius, a new man. Typically for this timeframe he was a provincial. Both men had an important mission to carry out for Antony.

Previous to their taking office, they had been sent a letter they were to read to the Senate upon taking office. Antony had probably sought to state his state his own case forcefully; he probably restated his eastern settlement, his various acta, and in particular his Armenian victory. However, the consuls made a strange decision about reading the letter.

Dio writes: "Domitius and Sosius...being extremely devoted to [Antony], refused to publish [the letter] to all the people, even though Caesar urged it on them."

What this means, in all probability is that the consuls' viewed the letters import on public or senatorial, opinion as the opposite of what Antony had intended. The problem with the letter could have been a prideful reasoning behind the Donations of Alexandria. Antony wasn't aware of Octavian's propaganda against Cleopatra-or the fact that it had been so successful. If this were the case, any reference to the Donations by Antony that weren't somehow apologetic would have added more fuel to the flames. Gaius Sosius went on the offensive on 1 February. He strongly advocated for Mark Antony and proposed a measure of censure of Octavian. Sosius' message had been that if there was a threat to peace it hadn't come from Antony who had shown no sign of aggression toward Octavian.

I hope to be back very soon with more. This is going to start getting very interesting for awhile for anyone interested in this. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

War Drums Part One

Pamphlets and letters were published and envoys travelled to an from Rome and Alexandria firing off volleys of accusations against the other side. Mark Antony was standing up for himself. He protested that he had been prevented from raising troops in Italy (true), as had been agreed on in the Treaty of Brundisium. He said that his veterans had not been given their fair share of lands upon demobilization; that, after defeating Sextus Pompeius, Octavian had taken over Sicily without even consulting him and that Lepidus had been deposed by Octavian in the fashion of an autocrat.

In fact, Antony's case for grievances was far stronger than Octavians. Octavian had shown himself to be a consistently untrustworthy and opportunistic partner. Whereever a compromise or concessions were needed it was always the older and more reasonable Mark Antony who caved in. However, some of the complaints Antony raised were no more than debating points. As an example, Sicily was in the western half of the empire, and once it had fallen it would have gone to Octavian anway as that was the half he ruled. The accusations grew more and more personal and heated in nature.

Octavian took issue with Antony's drinking. He also made fun of Antony's overelaborate use of Latin saying that Antony interjected "our tongue the verbose and unmeaning fluency of the Asiatic orators." For his part, Antony fought back hard. He ridiculed Octavians provincial ancestry and also accused him of sexual avarice, cruelty-and most important to the Roman mind-cowardice. Antony brought up the way Octavian had behaved when he had dressed up as the god Apollo at the scandalous fancy dress party. Antony also brought up Octavian's odd behavior when he hid in the marshes during the Battle of Philippi. He also made the accusation (seemingly with very good reason) the charge of sexual hypocrisy against Octavian: "What's come over you? Is it that I am screwing the Queen? But she isn't my wife, is she? It isn't as if it's something new is it? Or has it actually been going on for nine years now? What about you then? Is Livia the only woman you fuck? Good luck to you if, when you read this letter, you haven't also fucked Tertulla or Terentilla or Rufilla or Salvia Titisenia, or all of them. Does it really matter where and in whome you insert your stiff prick?"

Who knows what truths lay behind these highly personal and bitter personal exchanges? Insults such as these-especially grabbing onto an opponent's sexual misfortunes and peccadilloes were standard operating procedure during any kind of political debate in Rome. Even high distinguished Romans often debated this way. Quite often the charges made in these debates were exaggerated. But these allegations did need to have at least an element of poetic truth if nothing else, for any audience the disputants had to take them seriously.

Both Octavian and Antony insisted he planned to restore the Republic, and the other stood for a dictatorhship by one man. Here neither were telling the truth. Ten years had passed since the murder of Cicero, and the Republic was already dead and buried, indeed the idea of restoring the Republic at this point was simply unworkable. There were two realistic choices remaining for the Roman citizenry-an orderly and efficient autocratic empire represented by Octavian or a rambunctious and easygoing one represented by Mark Antony.

Octavian was coming up on perhaps the most dangerous and risky move of his political career-in a career that had been full of them. For the time being, he needed to set some limited goals, and he needed to be cautious. Octavian was trying to bring on a war with Mark Antony without receiving the blame for it. First he had to make his stand crystal clear and announce the inevitability of a showdown, and force the political forces in Rome to choose sides. While doing this he had to maximize his support throughout Italy, because Antony could very well stage an invasion of the mainland. Mark Antony was at the Armenian border with Media, preparing to renew his Parthian war when he received Octavian's final letter in the war of words in October 33 BC.

When Antony had digested the contents of the letter that his brother-in-law had written, he knew he had to call off the Parthian struggle for the time being. In this letter, Octavian had rejected all of the charges Antony had made against him and concluded with blatant mockery: "Your soldiers have no claim upon any lands in Italy. Their rewards lie in Media and Parthia which they have added to the Roman Empire by their gallant campaigns under their imperator." Now Antony knew and accepted that war with Octavian was inevitable, so he sailed off with a small advance force on the long journey back to the Aegean, ordering one of his generals, Publius Canidius Crassus, a loyal and able supporter who had campaigned efficiently in Armenia, to follow him with an army of sixteen legions.

OK-I am going to post this one-and do a small follow up. This was all supposed to be one post-but I need to take a small break because of my back. I just wanted to say something as the next post may be quite small. The image is marble bust of Octavia-Octavain (Augustus Caesar's sister-who we will hear more about shortly).

Back To Rome Part Five

When Octavian and his close-perhaps his closest friend over the course of his lifetime-Agrippa got back to Rome in 33 BC from Illyricum, they were faced with an important question-how could they bestow legitimacy upon their own regime? This was an extremely important one as the power structure was so unstable-some of it because of Octavian's own political maneuverings. They needed to convince a tired and cynical populace that after the long years of division, bloodhshed, and fight-to-the-death politics, that Octavian meant to rule in the people's interest, not his own.

The answer they were looking for came in the form of Rome itself. Investment in public buildings and services would achieve three useful goals. First it would add a very much needed sparkle and grandeur to one of the shabbiest imperial cities of all time-making Rome truly worthy of its role as the capital of the known world. Second, the quality of life of Rome's citizens would be improved. This was important in and of itself as Romans could become volatile at times. Third, the renovation of the city's architectural heritage would be the first substantial example of Octavian's commitment to restoring Rome's old values. An appeal to the ancient core beliefs, customs and values that the Republic was founded upon was a very strong method of making the Triumvirate seem revolutionary-in the sense of a revolution going backwards, just as when a car goes forward or backwards the wheels are making revolutions either way.

Octavian told his generals to signal their victories on the battlefield by restoring various Roman landmarks at their own personal expense. They improved and modified temples and basilicas, and on the Campus Martius the extremely worthy commander Titus Statilius Taurus built Rome's first stone ampitheater.

Of course the eye candy needed to be supplemented by real improvements the average Roman could feel from these public works. Agrippa took an unusual step in 33 BC to help with this. He took the post of aedile-this could actually be considered a self-demotion because he had already been a consul, the state's highest office.

One of the aedile's duties was to monitor and regulate the city's water supply, street cleaning and drains. Agrippa reorganized and refurbished the aqueduct system. He also commissioned a new aqueduct, the Aqua Julia (years later he added the Aqua Virgo, so named because a young girl pointed out springs to the soldiers who were hunting for water). He had 500 fountains built as well as splendid public baths, The Thermae Aggripae. The resevoirs and the fountains, or nymphaea, were intricately decorated with bronze and marble statues and pillars. Agrippa also had Rome's underground drainage system repaired and cleaned.

Men who seek power as an ultimate goal such as Octavian (and any number of others throuhgout history that I can think of-not that I know about all of them) probably never had such a friend as Agrippa. It is pretty safe to say as we will see later also, that no Agrippa= no Augustus Caesar. Agrippa applied himself in any way he conceivably cold to help Octavian gain power. During his aedileship, he distributed olive oil and salt and arranged for the city's 170 baths to open free of charge throughout the year. He presented many festivals, and because those attending were expected to look good he subsidized barbers to offer their services gratis! At public entertainments, tickets good for money and clothes were thrown to the crowds. Also, massive displays of many kinds of goods were set up and made available for free on a first come, first serve basis. All these measures were paid for from the fortune Agrippa had built (from war treasure, legacies, and grants of land and money) during his ten years of working and fighting for Octavian.

The incredible job and fortune Agrippa had invested in Rome's infrastructure (also other buildings etcetera restored by other generals and followers of Octavian) greatly elevated its appearance. The construction work also spawned jobs in a city with a high rate of unemployment. While the long-absent triumvir (Mark Antony) was wasting time in the east, all Rome could see the enhancements that Octavian's regime was bringing to the ordinary Roman.

Finally, Octavian felt he was ready for a break with Antony. Octavian's career beginning with his acceptance of the legacy of Julius Caesar make sense only if looked at from the wider angle of a very cautious and unwavering pursuit of absolute power-however sometimes the cautious approach was thrown to the wind and Octavian took some breathtaking risks. Sometimes I think-even though it is hard to do at times-that Octavian must not be judged by today's standards as much as through the prism of the qualities ancient Rome valued. He was a typically ambitious and competitive Roman-he wanted to hold the sole reigns of power. Octavian was the heir to Rome's greatest single ruler (Julius Caesar) since the expulsion of King Tarquin the Proud in the sixth century BC, and he truly felt he was destined for this power and deserved it (as so many other world leaders have-from even further back in ancient history to Napoleon-and on to Hitler and Stalin).

In his uneven battle with Mark Antony for supremacy, Octavian never missed anything he could use as a projectile to his his victim. With regard to Antony's doings with Cleopatra, the Donations of Alexandria and the general way Antony had comported himself in the East, Octavian constantly made reference to the un-Roman style Antony had adopted-whether true in all cases or not, saying Antony had "failed to conduct himself as befitted a Roman citizen." The Illyrian campaign was another step in Octavian's quest for power. Not only did it allow him to keep legions under his command that could be used for other purposes if the right time came-but it also added much need military prestige to his resume that he had sorely lacked.

Octavian and the indispensable Agrippa's facelift of Rome that was both cosmetic and practical also seemed to be part of a larger plan for a long-term rule of the empire. Octavian and Agrippa must have been acutely aware, however, of the fickle nature of Roman politics. If they didn't find a way to confront Mark Antony now, the impetus could easily swing back to him, especially if he managed to finally achieve a real victory over the Parthians. The Triumvirate's second term was to end in December 33 BC, and it would help Octavian's cause to avoid a renewal of it. Octavian knew the hand he had to play now was a strong as it would ever be.

Octavian was elected consul for a second time n 33 BC. Early in the year he gave a speech that was a scorching diatribe against Mark Antony. Octavian criticized Antony's activities in the east. He claimed that Antony had no right to kill Sextus Pompeius, who had been executed in 35 BC, presumably with Antony's approval. Octavian said he would have spared Sextus. He also said that Mark Antony had been wrong to trick the Armenian king into becoming a prisoner, and said Antony's behavior had damaged Rome's good name. Octavian then went on to attack Antony's demeaning treatment of his Octavian's sister and Antony's wife, Octavia, and his relationship with Cleopatra.

The Donations of Alexandria were intolerable, and an even greater slap in the face (because it was a clear shot at questioning the legitimacy or Octavian's position) was Antony's promotion of Ptolemy Caesar or Caesarion (Julius Caesar's son by Cleopatra) as the great dictator's natural heir. There was much in the speech where one could question Octavian's motives. It is very hard to swallow Octavian having having any real feelings of sadness for Sextus Pompeius, or that he cared a whit about Armenia, a far- flung nation of which he and most Romans were entirely ignorant. Mark Antony's sexual life had always been flashy and Octavian himself was certainly no prude.

I hope to post at this blog again very soon and still have more information written up that just needs to be typed out. All the best to anyone stopping by! The image is a map of the Roman Empire at the beginning of Emperor Hadrian's reign in 117 A.D.

Back To Rome Part Four

It's not that Cleopatra couldn't dream and plot with the best of them. BUT she was a realist. She knew where her dreams must end. There was no way she could wish for more than to keep Egypt the dominant power in the eastern Meditteranean under Roman tutelage. In all likelihood the Donations were a symbolic token, a way of easing public opinion in the east and getting the people behind Antony as Dionysus/Osiris and Cleopatra as Isis/Aphordite. There were very few if any practical changes that were of noted in Syria, Cappadocia, Pontus or Galatia. And there were most certainly not any masses of Egyptian administrators spreading throughout the Middle East, and replacing local authorities and Roman officials and tax collectors. From Anthony Everitt's Augustus, on page 162: "It is hard to disagree with the sentiments that the great twentieth-century Alexandrian poet Constantine Cavafy attributed to the audience at the glittering ceremony in the Gymnasium.

And the Alexandrians thronged to the festival
Full of enthusiasm, and shouted acclamations,
In Greek, and Egyptian, and some in Hebrew,
Charmed by the lovely spectacle--
Though they knew of course what all this was worth,
What empty words they really were, these kingships.

The importance of the Forum in Roman life can't be understated. The business of government was conducted in and around the Forum during the five centuries of the Republic. It was in a valley between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills and was a rectangular shaped piazza that had a plethora of temples to goes and heroes lining it.

Citizens' assemblies were convened in an open space called the Comitia. Money could be borrowed and prostitutes bought. Trials were conducted in the open air. Senators met and debated in the Senate House. Statues of famous Romans adorned columns, and large paintings celebrated Roman victories. Two basilicas, which mingled the activities of shopping mall and conference center stood down the Forum's long sides.

Now, with Octavian and the Second Triumvirate-and his growing ascendancy- a change could be seen in the way politics was conducted. Important politics moved from the noisy open square up to a complex of houses on the "wealthy" Palatine Hill, where Octavian and Livia worked and lived. "Palatine" derives from the word "palace," meaning some sort of confined space where autocrats make political decisions in private-away from the "noisy rabble."

To the northwest stand the buildings where Octavian and Livia spent most of their lives. In 36 BC, a grateful popular assembly voted that a house should be presented to him with taxpayer money. Octavian had already bought an expensive property at the southwest end of the Palatine Hill, but it had been struck by lightning-an omen tha he took to heart. So he demolished that building and replaced it with a temple to Apollo. With his grant from the Senate, he arranged the purchase of a house, or more accurately a group of houses, next door.

The location Octavian had chosen for he and Livia, was as so many things were with the young triumvir-chosen for very specific reasons and calculating purpose. Octavian wanted his residence to signal and embody his central role in Rome. Near it stood a hut, built on the hill's natural tufa and with a sloping thatched roof, its reed walls daubed in clay. This was said to be the home of Romulus, Rome's founder, and was carefully preserved in his honor. By closely associating himself with Rome's beginnings, Octavian was telling the Roman world that he stood for traditional values, for mosmaiorum, the customs of ancestors.

Rome certainly didn't look -or smell like the capital of a great empire. There had been no central planning of any sort as the city had grown over the ages. Things were so terribly close. There were no wide avenues and few open spaces-apart from the previously mentioned Forum and the forum boarium. There were few streets that were wide enough to allow vehicles to pass one another and most were unpaved. There was no wheeled transport at all in the daytime! To reduce traffic congestion, Julius Caesar had restricted it to the night time hours-with the natural effect being that the unpaved roads groaned and squealed with a cacophony of wooden carts when people were trying to sleep! The wealthy lived in houses with no outside windows to escape the noise (and some of the smells) of urban life. Their rooms were grouped around one or more open-air courtyards. The poor rented single rooms or crowded into multi-story apartments, or insulae as they were known.

These were often extremely shoddily built and very prone to collapse or fire. Rome, of course, did have shops-but they were usually just a ground floor room with a masonry or wooden counter for selling goods and a space in the back for stock. There were any number of bars and restaurants. These catered mostly to the poor or working classes-people whose homes or apartments didn't have properly equipped kitchens.

As mentioned before, Rome was a city of horrendous smells. Raw sewage, trash, even occassionally human corpses were dumped in the streets. People walking below were so often hit by the disgusting contents of chamber pots emptied from the second floor or the roof that laws were passed regulating the damages that could be claimed!

Water was the only thing that made life in the city bearable-especially for the poor. The ready availability of water supplied by four aqueducts-the first built way back in the fourth century BC. Arcades crossed the land bringing fresh, clear water from springs and lakes miles away. The water was piped to fountains-some of them tiny affairs-stone troughs really-in the small public squares that were all over Rome. The wealthy and powerful could obtain permission from the Senate to tap the pipes for their own personal use (their ornate fountains, orchards, baths etc). Regular folks carried water from the nearest fountain or had it delivered by a water seller. Another thing that the surfeit of water made possible, was one of Rome's most popular pastimes-going to the public baths. The price of getting into these was so small that all but the poorest citizens could afford it. Many Romans would go to the baths every day, often in the afternoon, after work and before the evening meal. Men and women both enjoyed meeting friends and catching up on the latest gossip.

I hope to do one more article for this blog today-I don't know how long it will be as I am rather tired. All the best to anyone stopping by!