Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Four

The nervous tension in addition to being ill had probably brought him to the point of collapse. For whatever reason, the young man wasn't in a very celebratory mood and far from showing his adoptive father's famous clemency. About 14,000 regular soldiers negotiated their surrender with Antony and Octavian in return for a pardon. There were a great number of the noble republican leaders who had died. However, there was a remainder of distinguished prisoners of war to deal with. Octavian decided they should be executed. One of their number simply asked for a proper burial. To this request Octavian replied, "That's a matter for the carrion birds to decide." Another situation was recorded that a father and son begged for mercy. Octavian agreed-to a point-that one of them be spared. The decision of which one would be made by playing morra. This was a game where a player would try to guess the correct number of fingers his opponent would show. They refused to play, and the father offered his life for his son's and was executed. The son then overcome with grief committed suicide, as Octavian coldly watched them die. Octavian's behavior was so insulting and wretched that when the remaining captives were led off in chains they courteously saluted Mark Antony and shouted obscene oaths and insults at Octavian.

The common folk of Rome must have felt very relieved. Eight years of confusion, uncertainty, bloodshed and outrageously high taxes brought about by the civil wars were apparently coming to an end. Some had to have been questioning what manner of government they were going to have. A triad of rulers was inherently unstable. Antony and Octavian had actually been enemies, but united for a common purpose, however, they were still rivals for Julius Caesar's inheritance and the hearts and minds of the legions and the people. When you factored in his age Octavian had shown great skill at politics, of course he would have been advised by some of Caesar's men, but still he had come so far. Octavian had shown how far he would go to attain power. His treatment of the war prisoners of Philippi was somewhat of an aberration. He could be cut-throat, act deceitfully and kill, but Octavian's misdeeds were always planned with a carefully thought out goal in mind. Octavian had learned of politics from Julius Caesar. He never had the slightest intention of restoring the Republic. This came from a mixture of personal ambition and a belief that the Republic really had been too unwieldly and had outlived its usefulness. I wonder also if a huge part of Octavian's soul really believed deep down that he was a true divi filius-the son of a god. For now, even though he had accomplished a great deal his postition was anything but secure. Mark Antony had been the real winner at Philippi.

Antony's command and conduct on the battlefield put Octavian's to shame. Octavian would have to accept Antony's dominance for the time being and would have to wait for opportunities to better his own standing. Antony and Octavian staged a magnificent sacrifice in honor of their victory. After this the two parted company. Mark Antony stayed in Greece for a bit, attending games and listening to scholars. Once he had enough of that he went on to Asia Minor, as the senior triumvir he had chosen the east as opposed to battle-scarred Italy. Antony was tired of trouble-ridden Rome. In the East he could continue the traditions of Rome's proconsuls: pretending to love Greek culture and at the same time mooching off of them; patronizing local kings and fighting the Parthians. There seemed to be many echoes of Pompey the Great in what Antony was doing. In the months and years that followed some of the remaining republicans would tend to go towards him and the East, perhaps hoping that Antony would someday want to get rid of his meddlesome colleague and restore the Republic. However, for now all Antony seemed to be focussed on was having a good time. Octavian was carried back to Italy.

He became so sick during the journey that he stayed at Brundisium for awhile; Octavian was not expected to survive at one point and a rumor actually started that he was dead. Another place that followers of Brutus and Cassius went-even Cicero's son-who were still determined to fight until the last man was Sicily. This, of course, was where not only Sextus Pompeius was, but also two republican admirals, Lucius Staius Murcus and the arrogant and proud Domitius Ahenobarbus. However, many survivors of the war shared the view of one of Brutus's military tribunes, a chubby young man called Quintus Horatius Flaccus-he is better known as Horace and became a very great poet of the time. Horace had seen the horrors of war at Philippi and they gave him a hatred of armed conflict that would not be subsumed. Years later he wrote a poem to welcome a friend back to life as a civilian after a long spell in the military. The two men had fought together at Philippi, as the poet laments. The poem evokes quite well that while Horace recognizes and is a bit amused by his own cowardice; he doesn't have anything good to say about the bravery that lands a man in his grave:

We two once beat a swift retreat together

upon Philippi's field

When I dumped my poor shield,

And courage cracked, and the strong men who frowned

Fiercest were felled, chins to the miry ground....

In my laurel's shade

Stretch out the bones that long campaigns have made

Weary. Your wines been waiting

For years: No hesitating.

The battle-scarred landscape of Philippi and the evidence of the carnage there, slowly returned to normal. However, to make sure a remembrance of the events there was secured in the annals of history the town was renamed Julia Victorix Philippi (Victorious Philippi of the Julian Clan) and some soldiers sent to settle there. I should have enough information for at least four more articles and perhaps more if I am able to work on this tonight. Either way I would like to have the next post here soon. Best to anyone stopping by! The image is a three layered sardonyx cameo of Octavian/Augustus Caesar.

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Three

Around 30 September the two eagles on the republican standards flew away, which was a disturbing portent for them. And unfortunately for the cause of the old Republic it turned out to be an omen of doom. The day after Antony broke the stalemate and ordered some of his men to stealthily cut through an area of marshland, and build a causeway that would get enough of his men through to outflank Cassius' position, cutting off the republicans supply line. It took ten days for Antony's forces to do this. Tall reeds had prevented Cassius from seeing his men. Cassius was totally taken by surprise, but quickly had a wall built through the marsh which cut Antony's causeway in two. Then Antony led an attack to destroy a palisade that ran between Cassius' camp and the marsh. Cassius' men were astonished when they saw Antony's forces carried crowbars and ladders to demolish his camp. Antony's gambit seemed outrageous, and Brutus' men charged Antony's as they marched past. Wisely Brutus didn't proceed this way for too long, for he had his men would have been exposed to a counterattack by Octavian's forces. So instead they changed course and attacked the triumvir's camp and captured it. Antony then broke through the palisade and took Cassius' camp. After this the account of the war gets confusing to say the least. Seemingly for awhile both sides had won-and lost!

To add to the confusion the area had seen little precipitation and the forces of battle kicked up great clouds of dust. The different forces could not tell what happened to their comrades. After both camps had been looted the men tried to find their way back to their own units. Because of the dust-the "fog of war" in the air they couldn't tell to which army other legionaires belonged. The dust and confusion had a horrible consequence for the republican side. Cassius was nearsighted and had retreated with some of his men to the hill on which Philippi stood and from this vantage point looked down on the battle. He could hardly see the looting of his camp while the clouds of dust prevented any of his men from seeing Brutus's progress at the far end of the battlefield. When Cassius saw a large group of cavalry coming towards him he sent one of his staff to see if it was friendly-as he was fearing the worst. It turns out that the forces were friendly and had been sent by Brutus. Some of Brutus's men had recognized the man Cassius had sent-Titinius. They shouted with glee and some jumped off their horses, hugged Titinius, sang and clashed their weapons in victory. In a horrible case of coming to the wrong conclusion of what had happened to Titinius-perhaps because he was already thinking the worst and was so nearsighted-Cassius had thought Titinius had been taken prisoner and Brutus had been defeated.

Cassius told his armor-bearer, a freedman named Pindarus, to follow him to his tent. Pindarus hesitated for a bit because he suspected what he was going to be asked to do. A messenger ran up to say the Brutus was victorious and was looting the triumvirs camp. Appian tells us the Cassius said, "Tell him I wish him total victory." Then Cassius asked of Pindarus, "Hurry up. Why don't you release me from my disgrace?" Here is an interesting question-Cassius' death is usually made out to be a tragic mistake. But if Appian is correct, he had Pindarus behead him after learning that victory might still be possible. Cassius it would appear died of shame and embarrassment. To him it must have seemed that an experienced general like himself should have defeated Antony's foolhardy gambit and even to have seen it coming. The fact that he had failed and that Brutus, a less experienced commander had triumphed added to his sense of disgrace. The one commander that it is hard to say anything about on that day is Octavian. As his camp was attacked but he was not taken prisoner and alive meant that he had to have escaped somewhere before the camp was sacked.

The rumor spread that Octavian escaped and hid in the marshes for three days-even his boyhood friends Agrippa and Macenas didn't deny it. Whatever happened with the divi filius that day, it is most likely he was told by his attending physician that he was still too sick to take an active part in battle and go somewhere to a safe place. Not very brave behavior-especially when compared to other men of the times including his adoptive father, Caesar. He was, however, a sick young man with very little military experience. The end result of this was that the future Roman emperor acquired a reputation for cowardice. After more twists of fate in a long, hard fought battle, where neither side could seem to gain the upper hand and the triumvirs side had a terrible loss to the republicans in one encounter in the Adriatic Sea (the outcome of which was so devastating to the triumvirs that they kept it secret from their men), the tide eventually turned completely against the republican side. The result being that after a war in which the two largest battles in Roman history were fought was a victory for Antony and Octavian. When he had heard of his men's plans to surrender, Marcus Junius Brutus said, "Yes, that's right, but with our hands not with our feet!" He then said goodbye to his men and told them that not one of them had failed him. Then he took one of his companion's swords and held the point to his left nipple and threw himself on it.

Brutus was a man of conflicting qualities (probably like most of us), in some ways he represented the worst types of abuse of authority of the Roman elite. He broke the sanction that senators should not be involved in trade or money lending and practiced usury in the Middle East on an enormous scale. After Pharsalus, it was he who revealed to Julius Caesar that Pompey's likely destination was Egypt, an example of being a turncoat and a huge betrayal of trust. However, at the same time Brutus was an intellectual and took the high-minded ideals of the Republic seriously. To Brutus, the assassination of Julius Caesar was more along the lines of a "noble sacrifice" for the better good than a political act. Even though he was obviously not afraid to make war, his contemporaries saw him as a man of a "singularly gentle nature." Brutus had almost been as terrified of civil war as the loss of liberty. Brutus had lived just long enough to see Cato's suicide turn him into a martyr for freedom and enter history as a legend. Perhaps in his final hours Brutus saw that his last chance to help the cause for freedom was to become a martyr also.

Some other celebrated names also died in the battle; a Lucullus, a Hortensius and another Cato. Cato's son removed his helmet and charged through the triumviral battle line, like his father choosing death over slavery. Back in Rome, Cato's virtuous daughter, Porcia also committed suicide. Her friends had been trying to watch her because they were afraid of what she might do. When Porcia learned that both her brother and her husband Brutus were dead, she managed to get away from them long enough to run to a brazier and swallow burning coals! The extiction of a great house (family name/line) had always been a cause for public mourning in Rome. After the Battle of Philippi there was a huge loss in the ranks of the nobility who had lived closest to the ideals of the Republic. It was of such magnitude that it could never be made up. Perhaps this is why Mark Antony searched to find the corpse of his enemy Brutus on the battlefield. He then covered it respectfully with a cloak and had it cremated. Even Antony, who had been alive when freedom had an actual being and essence could sense that something more had ended at Philippi than the human lives that battled there. When the smoke had cleared and the remaining units of the republican army surrendered, Octavian behaved with a particular viciousness. The last four weeks had been by far the hardest of his very short life (he would have been twenty-one) so far.

Thanks again to anyone reading, commenting or following this blog! I have enough material done still for at least five more articles-I have been doing two posts a day when I can to get everything caught up here when I can-although because my back pain seems to worsen when I type I don't know if I should do this anymore! Whatever happens I do hope to have the next article here soon. The image is of a Roman aqueduct built in 19 BC in Pont du Gard France. Best to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Two

Still, Brutus and his republican comrades didn't want war with the triumvirs until they went too far. They even issued statements that "for the sake of ensuring harmony in the Republic, they were even willing to live in permanent exile, they would furnish no grounds for civil war." But then Octavian marched on Rome a second time, the Triumvirate was formed and the straw that broke the camel's back was the proscription which harkened back to Sulla's days of terror. Now peace was not an option. Brutus knew he was not yet strong enough to face Antony and Octavian together so he marched east to join Cassius. They also needed to recruit more men and raise money for their legions' pay. In addition, Cassius wanted to secure their position to the rear and get rid of potential enemies, like the island of Rhodes with its powerful navy. Finally, after squeezing as many men and as much money as they could from the east, Brutus and Cassius were ready to take on the triumvirs. They were heading towards the battle where the two largest Roman armies to ever go to battle against each other would meet. Thrace was a largely ungoverned territory to the east of Greece and Macedonia. Today it would be where European Turkey, northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria would be.

Long ago Greek colonists had founded the city-states on the coastline and mined the areas deposits of gold and silver. Sometimes they would recruit Thracian soldiers. But they left the warlike and independent tribes largely to themselves in the interior. The Romans had won control of these lands from the second century BC on, but it was an uncertain and uneven dominance. It became a Roman province in 46 BC. It was through this area that the Romans paved the great highway, the Via Egnatia. This huge artery and gateway to the east for the Romans went from the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium and the provinces of Asia Minor. The town of Philippi, named after Philip of Macedon was at the road's eastern end. Philip had rebuilt the town as a stronghold against the Thracian tribes. It had plenty of water from springs and was on a high ridge, which Philip put walls around. Directly to the west of Philippi was the Hill of Dionysus, with a gold mine called the Refuges. And just over a mile beyond this and a couple from town, two hills stood on either side of the Via Egnatia. The Via Egnatia continued across a mountain pass called the Symbolon, or Junction, on the small port of Neapolis. A few miles out to sea was the island of Thasos. This is the description of the area where the huge Roman armies would meet.

On the side of the triumvirs were forty-three legions (more than two hundred thousand men if they were at full strength). But Octavian and Antony had to station about twenty-one or twenty-two legions in Gaul and northern Italy to stop any uprisings that might occur. So this left them with twenty-one or so legions and thirteen thousand cavalry for their engagement with Brutus and Cassius. On paper the two sides were fairly matched. Brutus and Cassius had about nineteen legions (around 70,000 men) and twenty thousand foreign cavalry including some of the famous Parthian mounted archers. One thing against Brutus and Cassius was that man of these men had served under Julius Caesar and most likely remembered him with affection. Mark Antony was far and away the most able soldier for the Triumvirate, and in all probablility planned the campaign. Antony's first goal was to prevent the republican forces from overrunning Greece and taking their fleet into the Adriatic before Antony had a chance to transport his own men there and build a base of operation. Antony sent an advance guard across the Adriatic Sea, which then marched down the Via Egnatia past Philippi and through the Symbolon all the way until it reached the two further passes that were the only known routes to Asia.

This force was outflanked and had to retreat. Brutus and Cassius were greatly relieved by the strong defensive position the two hills in front of the town provided. The generals built fortified camps on each hill connected by a palisade. If they could deny Antony battle long enough he would have to run long supply lines across Greece. Brutus and Cassius could halt or at least slow down shipments from Italy with their navy. In time Antony and Octavian would have to retreat due to a shortage of food-and where indeed could they go if the escape route was sealed off. When two eagles alighted on the silver eagles of their standards it seemed a good portent for the republicans-so much so that they decided to feed the majestic birds regularly. Octavian became ill when his and Antony's legions made it through the republican blockade and disembarked at Dyrrachium. He was so sick he had to be left behind with his army. His boyhood friends-the able, masculine soldier Agrippa and the effeminate, cultured Macenas said that Octavian was suffering from dropsy (where too much fluid accumulates in the body's tissues). This always seemed to happen every time Octavian was faced with a great personal challenge or crisis. It is true his health had never been that good and he had come close to dying when his adoptive father, Julius Caesar was alive.

It does make us wonder if on occasion the illnesses were stress induced or psychosomatic in origin. This incident would lead to charges of cowardice later on. Octavian's health didn't get better but when he learned that Antony was in a bad position from which to fight and that events weren't going well he immediately left for Philippi. This had to have been a very trying time for Octavian as he didn't trust Antony and was of course, terrified of a republican victory. Cassius Dio notes: "[Octavian] heard of the situation and feared the outcome in either case-whether Antony, acting alone, should be defeated or should conquer, for in the first case, he felt that Brutus and Cassius would be in a stronger position to oppose him, or in the latter case, Antony would be." Octavian arrived eventually and shared camp with Mark Antony. There was a time in which nothing much happened except from a set of small skirmishes.

I may try to do the next post this evening-need to take a break-in either case hope to have it here soon. The image is of Brutus on a Roman coin. Best to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part One

No one could escape what the desecration of Cicero's mortal remains meant: free speech was dead. Appian tells of the terrible stories of this new proscription: "Many people were murdered in all kinds of ways, and decapitated to furnish evidence for the reward. They fled in undignified fashion, and abandoned their former conspicuous dress for strange disguises. Some went down wells, some descended into the filth of sewers, and others climbed up into smoky rafters or sat in total silence under close-packed roofs. To some, just as terrifying as the executioners were wives or children with whom they were not on good terms, or ex-slaves, or creditors, or neighboring landowners who coveted their estates." Another story concerns a boy-a teenager who we only know from history as Atilius. He probably belonged to a noble plebian family. The young man had just come of age and his father had died and he inherited a fortune. He had been celebrating his coming of age with friends in Rome. Unfortunately his coming of age meant he could be tried for adult crimes-although he was an entirely innocent victim when his name was added to the proscription list. In fact, it was probably only his wealth that got him put on the list. In due course his friends deserted him, his mother was too scared to give him shelter so he ended up running away to the mountains.

Atilius had been forced by hunger to come down from the mountains and was caught by a bandit who preyed on passing travelers and forced them to work for him. The young man could not bear the hard labor after being brought up in luxury. He escaped and unwisely told some passing centurions on a main road his real name. The centurions killed him on the spot and no doubt brought his head back to Rome for their grisly reward. Another story is told on a funerary inscription. A grieving husband whose name we do not know-nor his wife's-but she is usually referred to as Turia, tells his story of the proscription on his wife's urn: "You provided abundantly for my needs during my flight and gave me the means for a dignified life-style, when you took all the gold and jewellery you wore and sent it to me." The story continues that a year later, when the proscription had ended, Octavian had pardoned Turia's husband. However, Lepidus, another triumvir was then responsible for the city of Rome and refused to acknowledge Octavian's decision. Turia had went to Lepidus to ask him to recognize the pardon but he instead had her dragged away and beaten. Turia's husband believed that Octavian's anger at Lepidus's behavior played a part in his eventual downfall: "That matter was soon to prove harmful to him," the widower notes with satisfaction.

In the end the proscription didn't bring in the money that the triumvirs had hoped for. So, after liquidating up to 300 senators (Cicero among them) and two thousand of the equestrian class they still had to find a way to pay for forty-three legions. They came up with a new proscription list that only confiscated private property and came up with new taxes. The three men had proven there wasn't anything they wouldn't do in their pursuit of power and they even stole personal savings guarded by the sacred Vestal Virgins. The new taxes were an unwelcome shock to the citizens of Rome. For the last century they had been exempt from personal tax due to the wealth and expansion of their empire. The citizens of Rome were now in a very real sense paying for their civil war because the western provinces had been milked dry and the east could not be touched. While the triumvirs tried desperately to fill their war chests back in Rome, the republican cause elsewhere was flourishing. Rome had a new thorn in its side to complement the growing power of Brutus and Cassius in the east. This new problem went by the name of Sextus Pompeius, Pompey the Great's youngest son. Sextus, along with his mother Cornelia had witnessed their father's and husband's execution on the beach at Egypt, due to the court intrigues of Ptolemy XIII, who was Cleopatra's brother and husband although at the time they were engaged in a vicious power struggle for the throne of Egypt.

Undoubtedly the shock of what he had witnessed changed Sextus forever. It is widely believed he based his life on his father's memory. He gave himself the agnomen Pius, meaning that he was loyal to his father's memory. Sextus had served with his older brother Gnaeus when they were fighting Caesar's legions in Spain. That particular battle was lost and Gnaeus hunted down and killed. Sextus escaped and Caesar even published a pardon for him as he thought him too young to be a threat. This additional example of Julius Caesar's clemency was a mistake. Sextus, although only a teenager was able to wage a very effective guerilla war to the dismay of the provincial governors Caesar appointed. The death of Caesar changed everything. He went from being an enemy of the state to a valid an valuable supporter of the republican cause. The Senate appointed him prefect of the fleet and the seacoasts in 43 BC. After this he grouped all the ships he could find together and went to Massilia (modern Marseille). Once again in the upside-down, topsy-turvy Rome after Caesar's death, Sextus's appointment as admiral was cancelled after the triumvirate came to power. Sextus, however, decided to keep his ships and went to Sicily instead of Spain. There he got the governor to give up control of the island. Now Sextus's name was added to the proscription list (even though he didn't have anything to do with Caesar's assassination-like so many others who wound up on it). This was because Sextus was now in a very formidable position. From Sicily he controlled the grain supply to Rome from Egypt, Africa and of course Sicily itself. The gaming board appeared to be getting very interesting again. Proscribed men, refugees and slaves from all across Italy fled to Sextus, as Appian tells us: "His small boats and merchant vessels met any who came by sea; his warships patrolled the shores, made signals to help the lost, and picked up anyone they encountered. He came in person to meet the new arrivals."

A new horizon could be seen in republican minds. Brutus and Cassius were in control of the east. Sextus by starving Italy into submission could be in control of the west. Suddenly, Italy and Gaul seemed isolated. Certainly now it would be only a matter of waiting the triumvirs out and engaging them when necessary before the tyrannical and hated faction of the dead dictator was defeated? Octavian saw the same development occurring and sent a force to crush Sextus, but it was defeated. After this Cassius sent reinforcements to Sextus and Octavian decided to lay off for the time being. The mood in Rome was desolate and anxious. On 1 January 42 BC a religious ceremony took place in Rome. The triumvirs had deified Julius Caesar. By their oaths, the dead dictator was now a god. All of Caesar's acts were sacred and binding. A small temple was dedicated to him in the Forum on the spot where his body had been cremated. From here on out his birthday would be a public holiday; celebrations compulsory and any senators or their sons who did not take part in the festivities were to be fined the huge sum of one million sesterces.

This signalled a huge change in Rome. Kings in the Middle East regularly had themselves "deified"-even in their lifetimes. Sometimes Roman governors were also awarded divine honors in the east-but their deification was only recognized there, not in the west. This greatly enhanced Octavian's position when the novelty of Julius Caesar's deification happened in Rome under the auspices of the state. Now Octavian could say he was a divi filius, the son of a god. Cassius now went to Syria, where he was well known and liked. He had seven legions there and another four in Egypt also joined him. Brutus had pretended to be a student at Athens, the closest thing the ancient world had to a university town. However, behind the facade of academic withdrawal, Brutus and his men had been busy winning over opinion in Macedonia. By the close of 44 BC he controlled most of the province. In addition the legions of the neighboring province of Illyricum joined him also. Brutus also captured and eventually executed none other than Mark Antony's brother, Gaius, who was to be the incoming governor there.

The image is of another Roman fresco unearthed at Pompeii. I still have a lot more information that can be typed it is just a matter of getting it here and I hope to have the next post here soon. Thanks again to anyone following or commenting on this blog!

Cicero's Last Stand Part Three

Talk about quick changes of fortune! Just a matter of weeks prior Antony had been on the run-almost looking at certain defeat and the end of his political career-if not his life. The armies of the Senate had been reduced to nothing and now Antony with the help of Marcus Aemelianus Lepidus was more of a force to be reckoned with than ever. Octavian was all that stood between the alliance and Rome. Rome waited, with the optimates in the Senate and Cicero being the most nervous to see which course the young man would take now. They didn't have to wait long for an answer. In July 43 BC a centurion from Octavian's army came before the Senate and demanded, now that the consulships were vacant that Octavian be given one of the offices. The Senate refused. The centurion opened his cloak and put his hand on the hilt of his sword, saying: "If you do not make him consul, then this will." (Suetonius, The Deified Augustus, 26.). Octavian had eight legions at his disposal and there were no senatorial armies to oppose him. Cicero must have been horrified and completely flustered at the quick change in fortunes that ruined all of his hopes. Still he marched out of the Senate to greet its new master. He did make a number of proposals to Octavian. However, the young man who had ingratiatingly called Cicero "Father" didn't answer, except for the rather disdainful reply that "Cicero had been the last of his friends to come and greet him." (Appian, 3.92).

Cicero was either allowed or ordered to leave Rome. His feelings of loss and despair must have been total as he made for his favorite country villa. On 19 August 43 BC, Octavian-not even twenty years old was formally elected consul. After Octavian had the condemnation of Caesar's assassins as traitors made official he left Rome. Going north and directly for the advancing army of Lepidus and Antony there was to be no war this time. On an island near Medina the three rival Caesarian leaders met and carved up the empire. In effect they were for once and for all time burying any hopes for the Republic. Of course, they claimed otherwise-words along the lines of "rescuing it" and the like, but in reality they were crucifying it as surely as a common thief. They decided that a second triumvirate should be formed. There was to be some major differences with the first triumvirate, that had been established by Pompey, Caesar and Crassus. Instead of a loose alliance this triumvirate would be formally constituted and imbued with enormous power. Their pact made them able to wield proconsular authority over the whole empire. The men had the right to pass or deny laws at their pleasure without consulting the Senate or having to face the electorate. Rome's sacred space was to be put under martial law. More than four hundred years of Roman freedom was being brought to a close.

As if this were not enough, the second triumvirate decided to seal their dealings with a pact of blood. They were looking past the celebrated clemency of Caesar for this to an earlier dictator-Sulla. The proscription lists were coming back to Rome. One cynical factor that weighed into this decision was the fact that more than sixty legions needed to be paid, and the triumvirs were short on funds-far short to pay them. Like under Sulla, the symbols of wealth would become death sentences. An exile who had been enjoying his looted treasure from a governorship was even killed for his "Corinthian bronzes." (Pliny the Elder, 34.6). The three men haggled and bargained over the unfortunate names to be added to the lists. There was a variety of reasons-to remove political opponents, factional reasons and even personal dislikes. In a fearful testimony of proof of their loyalty and committment to the triumvirate each man had to sacrifice a man that they otherwise would have wanted alive-or at least didn't wish particular harm to. For Mark Antony it was the proscription of his uncle, for Lepidus his own brother and Octavian wrote down the name of the man he had once called "Father"-Cicero. Still Cicero could have escaped his fate. We will never know-but one thing I wonder is that if at this point in his life he subconsciously wished for death? He had lost the things most dear to him, the Republic and his beloved daughter.

In Rome he went from friend to friend wondering what he should do and perhaps melancholy at the thought of exile for the rest of his life. Finally, when the bounty hunters of the second triumvirate did catch up to him, he leaned out from his litter and presented his bare neck to the blade in the manner of the gladiators who he had so admired. Besides gladiatorial courage maybe in the last moments of his life he was also thinking of his friend Cato-who had believed that death was preferrable to living as a subject under an emperor's caprice. Cicero was born on 3 January 106 BC and died on 7 December 43 BC. He had died a martyr to freedom and his enemies knew that. When the executioners delivered Cicero's severed head and hands, Fulvia, Antony's new wife did her utmost to show her fury at her husband's old enemy. She spat on Cicero's head, tore out his tongue and stabbed it with a hairpin. When she was finished mutilating his remains, only then did she allow them to be shown publicly. The hand that had written so many brilliant and flourishing speeches was nailed up too.

The image is a gold aureus depicting Augustus Caesar (Octavian). I need to find out what the image on the reverse of the coin depicts. I should know it-yet another thing to try to find out. I have much more information ready to go and in fact am going to try to take a small break and do one more post, as I got so much further along than I realized and would like to get the information here.

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!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Thirteen

Again quoting from Dr Tom Holland's, RVBICON: "Here, from the pen of the Republic's most eloquent spokesman, was an echo of prophecies at least a century old. Cicero's imaginings had caught an apocalyptic fever long endemic among Rome's subject peoples. Had not the sibyl foretold that Italy would be raped by her own sons? And Mithridates himself that a great monarch armed with the dominion of the world would emerge triumphant from the East? No wonder, then, when men back in Italy heard news of Pompey's preparations that they shuddered, despairing of the Republic." In an interesting incident that showed just how used to being obeyed Caesar was, a tribune, Caecilius Metellus, imposed his veto when Caesar called the rump Senate before him (the few senators that came), and demanded the right to Rome's emergency funds. Even after Caesar's troops broke into the temple of Saturn to seize the loot, the pugnacious tribune persisted in trying to stop the sacrilege. Caesar lost his temper and told Metellus to step aside or be killed. Metellus did as Caesar asked and he got his hands on the funds. Caesar returned to his troops after two weeks in Rome. He was preparing to fight Pompeian forces in Spain. He left Marcus Lepidus, a praetor friendly to his cause in charge of the capital. Lepidus was from a very noble family and an elected magistrate, but this did very little to hide the unconstitutional nature of his appointment.

When Caesar got to Spain in the summer of 49 BC to engage three Pompeian armies, he was able to push his men to the utter limits of exhaustion and endurance. In a short matter of months the enemy had been totally destroyed. There hadn't been any general more able to inspire passion and loyalty from his troops than Julius Caesar. It is a small wonder then that he mocked the limits placed on other citizens when backed by such fierce men. Cicero would later tell Caesar, "Your spirit has never been content within the narrow confines which nature has imposed upon us." The new order Caesar was creating was having the effect of making the social rules of Roman society easier to follow. With the checks and balances going out the window, so too were some of the old complexities and subtleties that bespoke of life and social mores in the Republic. Some of our old friends we met in earlier posts came to grisly ends when they reached too far in Caesar's "new" Rome. Curio had led two legions to defeat in Africa, and rather than flee, he decided to die with his men. Caelius, who was no stranger to political intrigue, tried to revive Catiline's old program of canceling debts. He was expelled from Rome and tried to start a pro-Pompeian revolt in the countryside and was captured and killed.

Mark Antony was the only one of the three friends who had fled to Caesar that managed not to get killed. This wasn't due to any political acumen on his part, but instead an interest in more earthy pursuits. Caesar had given Antony command of Italy, but he spent his time assembling a harem of actresses for senators, vomiting in the popular assembly and last but not least-a favorite show he liked to put on of dressing up as the god Dionysus and driving a chariot pulled by lions. Caesar could easily forgive Antony these frivolities. Mark Antony was one of the ablest and most dashing soldiers the Republic had ever seen-and Rome had seen quite a great number of brilliant soldiers and generals. He was worthy of the soldiers he led and he shared with them their own interests, jokes and pursuits. Caesar crossed the Adriatic in 48 BC in the middle of winter to bring the fight to Pompey. Antony also served him well in this endeavor and drummed up four extra back-up legions for Caesar and he was always in the middle of the fighting during the times when the two armies would timorously jab at each other like two boxers trying to take each others measure. There was something quite extraordinary that Julius Caesar had imbued his men with. They seemed to have an almost supernatural resilience and stamina. Marcus Bibulus, in charge of Pompey's Adriatic fleet, had pushed his own body to the limits of endurance in his efforts to keep Caesar from running through his blockade, refusing to delegate even the smallest tasks. Yet once again, Caesar succeeded in running the blockade and the crushed and exhausted Bibulus died of a fever.

The image is a Roman cameo of the goddess Athena. I hope to post the next segment very soon-perhaps tonight, but I need to break for awhile as once again my back is killing me. After the next post (number 50 yay!:-) I will probably be doing work for my other blog for several days-but I will definitely try not to get behind on this one. I am still very happy to be doing this blog and have found some great history books at various sales and discount places-I need to work on a way to not be so overly-wordy and stay concentrated on the most important events. I would also like to do something to give a thumbs up to several fantastic books, of which Tom Holland's RVBICON is one, that have helped me both enjoy and understand this extremely interesting era of ancient history.

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Twelve

Cicero was almost driven to hysteria. He was certainly no soldier or military strategist, but he could see what a catastrophe the abandonment of Rome had been. In one of his desperate letters to Atticus, he complained, "As it is, we wander about like beggars with our wives and children, all our hopes dependent upon a man who falls dangerously ill once a year, and yet we were not even expelled but summoned from our city!" (Cicero, To Atticus, 8.2.). Domitius Ahenobarbus was the only one who attempted to take a stand against Caesar. Ahenobarbus did not have any strategic plans worth mentioning. His attempt was born more by his hatred of Julius Caesar and stubbornness. He decided to make his stand at the town of Corfinium, which was the same town the Italian rebels had decided to make their capital forty years earlier. Using this town wasn't a very smart move by Domitius. The idea of the Republic meant little to many who lived there. But one thing they did know was that Julius Caesar was an heir to Marius, that great proponent of Italian's rights and the enemy of Pompey-the same Pompey who was the ally of Sulla. Sulla, who had killed so many Italians in decades before. The town surrendered and Domitius was brought before Caesar. He begged for death. Caesar refused and sent Domitius on his way. Living in the 21st century, this might have seemed to be an act of mercy. However, in the ancient Republic there was no worse humiliation than to owe one's life to the favor of another.

This policy of clemency also had the effect of reassuring fence-sitters that Caesar was no Sulla. There would be no proscription lists and even his greatest enemies lives would be spared. It is also interesting to note here that during the Catiline conspiracy of 63 BC, Caesar had proposed the novel idea of life imprisonment for the guilty. This unheard of idea was rejected at the the time. but obviously Caesar's famed ideas of clemency didn't start only after crossing the Rubicon. The news of the "Pardon of Corfinium" was gladly received in Rome. There was absolutely no chance that there would be a popular uprising against Caesar now. The only republican stronghold was the port city of Brundisium. This was a great port in the southeast, on the heel of the Italian peninsula and it was Rome's gateway to the East. If Caesar could capture Brundisium the war would be over. A desperate race against time started for both sides now. Caesar was brought the news that half of the enemy's army had already sailed, commanded by the two consuls. However, Caesar also learned as he made haste south from Corfinium that Pompey was still at port with the other half. He knew that Pompey would have to wait until the fleet returned from Greece.

When Caesar arrived at Brundisium, he ordered his men to throw a breakwater across the gap in the harbor's mouth. Pompey's move was to have three story towers built on the decks of merchant ships, then sending them across the harbor to bombard missiles on Caesar's engineers. A pitched battle continued for days. The breakwater was still not complete when sails were spotted at sea. Pompey's fleet was returning from Greece. The ships were able to dock and Pompey was able to evacuate. Julius Caesar's last hope of a quick and relatively painless end to the war evaporated. By morning the sails of Pompey's fleet were no longer to be seen. It was just about two and a half months since Caesar had crossed the Rubicon. Pompey was very lucky for his reputation in the East. He began taking command of the eastern province's legions and sent out summonses to client kings that he had either put or confirmed on their thrones. These kings came to Pompey's aid with a fervor that showed it was Pompey himself and not the Republic they were rallying to. Cicero confessed to Atticus that Pompey had told him of his plans to defeat Caesar, and these plans distressed him. The grain supplies were to be cut off and the provinces occupied. "From the very first, Pompey's plan has been to plunder the whole world, and the seas too, to whip up barbarian kings into a frenzy, to land armed savages on our shores, and to mobilize vast armies," a worried Cicero wrote. (Cicero, To Atticus, 8.11.).

I plan to have the next post here in a day or two unless something prevents. The image is of a mosaic unearthed at Herculaneum, one of two major cities destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 AD, the other city being Pompeii. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Eleven

Oddly, Caesar himself spent the remaining part of the day as if he didn't have a care in the world. He had a bath and attended a banquet where he talked with guests in a light-hearted way, as it nothing important was happening at all. He rose at dusk and hurried to a carriage along dark and less traveled roads. At last he was reunited with his troops on the banks of the Rubicon. Before crossing the Rubicon Caesar is reported to have said "Let the dice fly high!"-there are actually several different historical variations of the same theme of Julius Caesar and the "dice" at this point. Besides spinning tops when they were very young, dice were also a favorite pastime of Roman men when they got a bit older, so he could very well have said something to this effect-as though destroying the constitution and ignoring ancient laws were just a game of chance. When Caesar began to cross the Rubicon's waters into Italy no one at the time could know it but 460 years (not including Sulla of course) of the free Republic were coming to an end.

Caesar continued south unopposed and news of his onslaught was carried into Rome by waves of refugees-who sent yet more waves of people fleeing Rome. Pondering Caesar's progress with terror, Cicero asked, "Is it a general of the Roman people we are talking about, or Hannibal?" Thoughts that a Pompeian victory over Caesar would be an easy accomplishment were now turning to thoughts of terror. Senators and others who had opposed the proconsul were wondering if their names might be soon appearing on proscription lists in the Forum, as had been the case in Sulla's day. As a whole, the Senate confronted their would-be savior Pompey. One senator accused him of having deceived the Republic, and Favonius, a close friend of Cato, mocked him openly asking him to stamp his foot and produce the legions and cavalry he had promised. Pompey, however, had already given up on Rome and the Senate was issued an evacuation order. Pompey warned that anyone staying behind would be branded as a traitor. He then fled south and left the capital to its fate. Civil wars always slice through family and friendships in a cruel fashion. Many citizens, even now found the choice of backing Caesar or Pompey as hard a decision to make as ever. Many found the decision especially cruel and hard to make. Marcus Junius Brutus was such a man. He was a serious thinker and earnest in his beliefs. He was also deeply committed to both Caesar and Pompey. Brutus's mother, Servilia, had been the great love of Caesar's life and it was said that Brutus was their love-child. Whatever the truth of this may have been, one fact was that Brutus's legal father had been one of the young Pompey's many victims during the horrors of the first civil war. Brutus, however, was an intellectual of rare depth and honor, and Pompey was now the savior of the Republic.

In the end, Brutus could simply not support Caesar. He was too dedicated to the cause of legitimacy. Also, no matter how close to Caesar he may have been, he was even more bound to Cato, who was both his uncle and his father-in-law. In the end not only Brutus, but most of the Senate obeyed Pompey's orders and left Rome. There were many good strategic reasons behind the surrender of the capital. However, this soon turned out to be a tragic miscalculation. The great majority of citizens could not afford to leave. The idea of the Republic could not survive as an intellectual construct outside the gritty confines of Rome. Its streets, temples and marketplaces had provided the lifeblood of its vitality over the course of the centuries. The flight of the aristocracy cut the ties and ideals that bound them to the poorest citizens of Rome. This would not have mattered as much if it were to be a short conflict. Very soon though, it became clear that only Caesar had hopes of achieving a quick victory. Some thought that Pompey's forces could suffer the same fate as Spartacus's army over twenty years earlier-trapped in the heel of the peninsula. Such a disaster would have to be prevented at all costs and the Senate began to ponder what once would have seemed absurd-that it should reconvene in the provinces. Certain provinces had already been given to its key leaders: Spain went to Pomey, Syria to Metellus Scipio and Sicily to Cato. This wasn't a good time for any of them. Cato, thinking of the outcome of his greatest gamble, put on mourning clothes and grieved over the news of every battle, whether it was a victory for the Republican side or not.

The image is a Roman coin (denarius I believe-will check) of Julius Caesar as "Pereptual Dictator." I hope to have the next post here very soon, perhaps this afternoon. I have to take a small break for a bit -my back is killing me!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Ten

Thus the wrangling and escalation continued. Curio vetoed anything that would cause Caesar to lose his command. Now more voices were heard that Pompey had better be ready to make good on his threat to make Caesar obey. Once again many men could not decide what to do or what might happen. Pompey seemed very assured that he could take on Caesar's legions, should the need arise. Caelius, writing to Cicero, believed that Caesar's well trained and experienced army was far more likely to win over anything Pompey could put together, "In peacetime, while taking part in domestic politics, it is most important to back the side that is in the right-but in times of war, the strongest." (Cicero,To Friends, 8.14.). Caelius was hardly the only man to be thinking along such cynical lines. In the years after Sulla's dictatorship there was a generation of young men who didn't want to take the usual path to power, and the chasm between this set of fast living, high rolling men and the senior statesmen of the Senate, with their gravitas and dignitas was getting wider every day. The great orator Hortensius died in the summer of 50 BC leaving a vacancy in the augural college. This office was very prestigious and it involved determining if the right way had been chosen to placate the gods by those who studied portents in the natural world.

The arrogant old-line aristocrat Domitius Ahenobarbus was going up against the young upstart Mark Antony to fill the vacancy. Ahenobarbus had the complete support of the senatorial establishment behind him and was favored to win. However, Mark Antony, who had come a long way since the wild days of his youth was elected to the augurate. The gulf between the two factions opened up further and many wondered if a civil war was once again on the horizon. The great majority of people who didn't like either side or liked certain men who represented both factions increasingly found themselves in a funk and didn't know what to do. Cicero said, "I'm fond of Curio, I wish to see Caesar honored in the manner which is his due, and as for Pompey, I would lay down my life for him-all the same, what really counts with me is the Republic itself." War-like sentiments were in the air, those who would make peace were thought of as appeasers and the discussion in Rome was all about war. Deep in the winter, in 50 BC, Gaius Marcellus, one of the two consuls went to Pompey's villa in the Alban Hills. The other consul had begun his term of office on the anti-Caesar side, but had changed his decision like Curio had, and probably for similar reasons. Marcellus had remained unmoving in his opposition to Caesar and with just days left in his term of office, he wanted to appeal to Pompey to oppose Caesar with all his might and once again save the Republic.

A great number of senators and a crowd of worried, yet excited onlookers watched the exchange between the two men. A solemn Marcellus told Pompey, "We charge you to march against Caesar and rescue the Republic." In reply Pompey said, "I will do so, if no other way can be found." (Appian, 2.36). Pompey took the sword and the command of two legions at Capua. Pompey also began to raise fresh levies, which was unconstitutional, and also hypocritically denounced by Caesar's supporters. Curio brought this news to Caesar, who by this time was threateningly stationed at Ravenna with his 13th legion. Curio's term of office had ended and he had no desire to stay in the capital to be targeted with prosecution or even worse. Mark Antony had taken his place as tribune and through the month of December launched a series of vicious attacks on Pompey and used his veto power to stop any anti-Caesarian legislation. Antony again made himself useful to Caesar on 1 January 49 BC, when, despite the stern opposition of the new consuls, who were extremely anti-Caesar, he read a letter to the Senate. This letter had been delivered by Curio himself. In the letter, Caesar, the powerful and war-like proconsul said he wanted peace. He listed his many great achievements and proposed that both he and Pompey end their commands simultaneously. The Senate was anxious about the effect this letter would have on public opinion and suppressed it. Metellus Scipio then stood up and delivered the final knock-out punch to hopes of peace and a compromise solution. He named a date by which Caesar should surrender command of his legions or be considered an enemy of the Republic. This motion was voted on and only two senators opposed it-Curio and Caelius. Mark Antony with his power as a tribune then vetoed the bill. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Senate. On 7 January 49 BC a state of emergency was declared. Pompey moved troops into Rome, and the tribunes were told that their safety could no longer be guaranteed. Antony, Curio and Caelius desguised themselves as slaves, hid in a wagon and fled north toward Ravenna. The news of Pompey's emergency powers reached him by 10 January. Caesar immediately sent a detachment of his troops south to seize the nearest frontier towns inside Italy.

The image is a fresco, done in 1464, that is an interpretation of a young Cicero reading. Peace and be well anyone stopping by!

Empires: Rome -Sulla: Dictator Part One

Many Romans felt that if the census was not done properly the whole fabric of society would crumble. Sulla had chosen an ironic place to keep prisoners of war, and that 'irony' was about to become more terrible. He had sent orders for the Senate to meet him at the temple of Bellona, which was within hearing range of the Villa Publica. It was Bellona who had warned Sulla to win victory quickly or see the Capitol destroyed. With his choice of her temple to give his speech to the senators at, Sulla was going to make two things known at least. He was favored by the gods-in his case it would be very appropriate to add goddesses-he also felt favored by the goddess Venus, and was sent by divine power to be the savior of Rome. When Sulla began speaking of victory over Mithridates, the senators began to hear screams of agony coming from the Samnite prisoners in the Villa Publica. "Some criminals are receiving their punishment, there is no need for worry, it is all being done on my orders," Sulla told his 'captive' audience. (Plutarch, Sulla.30.). Sulla was making a gesture that wasn't lost on anyone, by executing the Samnite prisoners in the Villa Publica. If the very census was flawed upon which rested the hierarchies of status and prestige that it decreed, then the very bedrock upon which the whole edifice rested was corrupt and needed desperate intervention. Sulla-with divine blessings would perform the necessary repairs, no matter how much blood would be spilled.

Sulla left Rome for Praeneste-the final holdout of the Marian cause to make his victory complete. On his way there he learned that the city had surrendered and Marius's son was dead. Rome was now without consuls. Sulla wasn't worried about this at all-he celebrated the vanquishing of his most hated enemy's bloodline by awarding himself the title of Felix- "The Fortunate One." The reign of Sulla was to be a ferocious and savage bloodbath. His death squads began killing even as the Samnites were being slaughtered in the Villa Publica. Even Sulla's most ardent supporters, so used to blood being spilled, were appalled at the carnage. In the early stages of the purge a list was posted in the Forum. It condemned the entire Marian leadership to death. Their properties were declared forfeit. Their sons and grandsons were barred from holding office. Anyone who helped to hide or protect them was also condemned to death. Eventually more lists appeared-hundreds and maybe thousands of names were involved. Names were being put on the lists who had no Marian sympathies whatsoever. However, the wealth of these people made them targets. Swimming pools, villas and pleasure gardens could now be the equivalent of a death sentence. A large part of the surfeit of wealth that was gained from the execution of people on the proscription lists wound up in the hands of Sulla's supporters and proteges.

The severed heads of those killed in the bloodbath would be brought back to Rome. Sulla might keep a prized victims head as a trophy in his house, after he had given the bounty hunter the promised fee. This grotesque system of accounting finally led to a break in the relationship between Sulla and Crassus. Crassus who had exploited the system of the proscription lists so much to add to his own wealth-of which he already had plenty, had only gotten away with so much of it because he was Sulla's ally of the battle of the Colline Gate. Sulla's patience with him had finally snapped when Crassus had put the name of an innocent millionaire on a death list with a little too much insouciance. Crassus was one of the few men in Rome who could afford not to care about a break with Rome's new master. Sulla's conservative nature had not changed a bit over the years. He had a patrician's contempt for new ideas, even after bringing the massive cycles of bloodshed and upheavals upon Rome. Sulla, who once had made his bed in flophouses was now the richest man in Roman history. He didn't wish to impose a radical new system of government on Rome, but he had to find a way to 'legalize' his position because he was too scared to put himself before the judgment of the voters.

Lucky as ever, there was an example in Rome's ancient past when citizens had wielded absolute power without being elected. Sulla 'lightly' strongarmed the Senate into bringing out the antiquated old office of dictator and appoint him to it. Not a believer in term limits, Sulla said he was to remain dictator until the constitution had been 'revised.' Of course, only he would be the decider of when this task was complete. Sulla had twenty-four lictors compared to a consuls twelve, and this summed up nicely how greatly out of proportion Sulla's power was to that of other magistrates. A huge irony that cast a very large shadow over Sulla's 'revising' of the consitution was that his job as dictator was to make sure that no man in the future could do the very things he had done to gain power in Rome. Sulla felt he had to be perceived as without guilt in starting the civil war. He also voiced the idea through his propaganda that overarching ambition had tempted Marius and Sulpicius into puttin themselves above the Republic and that it was the corruption and decay or the Republic's own institutions that had helped them to rise to power. But as always Sulla was portrayed as the savior and corrector of problems such as these. Sulla must have got a psychological kick out of changing some the the laws. For instance, each magistracy was to have an age barrier, and Sulla who had courted prostitutes and other streetwise types in his twenties, must have delighted in the fact that these new laws would discriminate against young rising stars. The new laws Sulla enacted made sure that there would only be a single path to the ultimate prize of the consulship with no short-cuts or side-stepping. Sulla's revisions also made middle-age the 'appropriate' age when a man became powerful. The image is a model of the Campus Martius as it would have appeared around 300 AD. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lictor

Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part Seven

Finally, after chasing after other anti-Marian alliances around the Meditteranean, young Crassus had sailed to Greece and became an ally of Sulla. There was, however, even one who outshone Crassus in Sulla's eyes. Gnaeus Pompeius had also raised a private army, and this army had won a series of brilliant victories over the Marian forces who were blocking Sulla's path to power. When the two met they greeted each other as Imperator-or General. This was a title that usually took an accomplished soldier many years to earn. Gnaeus Pompeius-"Pompey" was twenty-three years old. He had inherited the largest private estate in Italy from his father, the deceitful Pompeius Strabo. As the young man had apparently attempted to court Cinna also, before Sulla's arrival, perhaps he had also inherited his father's penchant for switching sides. It must also be said that Gnaeus Pompeius had no personal squabble with the Marians and the mutiny in Cinna's camp could have shown the young man who was the better 'deal.' Pompey had a gift for knowing where the most bountiful opportunities were.

Both Pompey and Crassus realized that they had been given an incredible opportunity to move up the ladder much faster than their fathers. The civil war had completely upended the chessboard of the politcal game. Pompey's enemies referred to him as "Adulescentulus carnifex"-or teenage butcher. To the Romans the passions of youth were violent and dangerous, and they thought only discipline and custom could control them. With Roman society in such an uproar and the rules of the game changing so rapidly-who could rein the young men in? Sulla was not going to be a good role model as far as teaching young men to control their violence. In order to paint a picture of himself as defender of Rome and not her oppressor, apparently Sulla induced one last uprising from the Samnites. Samnium and Campania were again looted and pillaged without any restraint and the Samnites were butchered wherever they could be found. The Samnites had joined the Marians as their cause was just about to fall. By 83 BC, after a year of civil war one consul had fled to Italy for the safety of Africa, while the younger Marius who was the other consul, was backed up into the hill town of Praeneste-which was twenty-five miles east of Rome!

The Samnites had begun a last ditch effort to wipe out Rome. They had started to mass before the Colline Gate on the northeastern wall of the city. The fighting started by the early afternoon and went long into the night. Once the fighting was over the victory was final. Sulla's enemies had no more armies left in Italy to continue the war. The bloodbath at the Colline Gate made Sulla the absolute unchallenged master of Rome. 3,000 prisoners were taken at the Colline Gate and were joined with other Samnites who had already been taken captive on the Campus Martius-a flood plain that stretched north beyond the walls of the Capitol. It was here that as far back as the kings, civilians had to come to take the oath that would make them soldiers. Campus Martius meant the Plain of Mars who was the god of war. Also here they were ranked in a strict hierarchy of wealth and status. At the top were those wealthy enough to buy their own horses, the equites. Below the equestrian class were five further classes of infantry. At the bottom were those citizens to poor to by a slingshot-the proletarii. These seven classes were further divided into units called centuries. This arrangement helped the class system to be promulgated with great intricacy. It also encouraged citizens to want to climb the ladder of success.

If you became an equestrian membership in the Senate became a possibility. If you were able to join the Senate the very tempting prospect of becoming a senior magistrate-a praetor or even a consul might become a reality. The Ovile or "sheepfold" was on the Campus Martius. This was a structure with barriers and aisles, very similar to the kind used to house livestock-thus its name. The Ovile was where the elections to the magistracies would be held, and the voters would be herded into different blocs. The organization of these blocs varied from election to election in a confusing fashion. The voting system was very heavily weighted in favor of the wealthier members of society. In fact, different things s skewed the results in favor of the rich that there was often little point in the other classes even turning out. However, for those citizens wealthy enough to get election fever, the excitement of voting day was one if not the greatest of Roman civic life. There was another building set back a bit from the Ovile called the Villa Publica, it was a walled complex of government buildings. This is where Sulla had the Samnite captives brought. They were in a beautifully adorned two story reception hall. This hall was appointed so magnificently because it was where the censors would collate data every five years that showed where a citizen stood in the labyrinth of Roman society. Every five years a citizen had to register himself there. Everything from the name of his wife, the number of his children, slaves-all the way down to his liquid cash and his wife's jewels and clothes had to be registered and reviewed there. As far as prestige went, Romans considered the censorship even greater than the consulship. The duties of a censor were considered so sensitive that only the most senior and reputable citizens could be entrusted with them.

The image is a painting called The Last Day of Pompeii by Briullov. For anyone reading this blog -I still have a pretty good sized amount of info to type out-but there is a lot of work yet to be done! I almost wanted to rush to the ending of the Caesar-Cleopatra-Antony-Octavian story, but the book I am using for nearly all of this research -Tom Holland's, RVBICON-published in 2003 by Doubleday in the United States is so excellent that it makes me want to include as much as I can. I can only do so much as everything I do needs to be written on notebook paper before typing it-and I am a poor typist and my fingers get sore from writing-so I would highly suggest to anyone that can buy this book to buy it-I am definitely going to find a way to get it. Dr. Holland has written a book that I think even a person with abolutely NO interest in history would find fascinating. Dr Holland earned the highest degree at Cambridge and then went on to get his PhD from Oxford so he knows his stuff to say the least! After I find a way to beg someone to buy me this book (yes I know I am pathetic-and poor:-). I will still be very happy with this series because of an entirely accidental find with a discount book (yes I actually own a few instead of library) that asks some questions about our characters that I don't want to give away yet. So I am very happy to do this blog and I hope that folks can bear with me -I do struggle with my illness and medication issues from time to time, and I do not want my other blog to just 'die' completely while I work on this one-and finally -finally after years of wanting to write a fictional story -I have finally settled on the basic storyline -what a joke eh? Almost forty -four and have always wanted to write -and not once -ever have I completed any of my fictional writing-it may come to nothing-but I would rather have tried and failed than not to have tried at all. Again -please do yourself a favor and buy Dr. Holland's book-I have enjoyed it so much I am even going to review it at my other blog-and other recent authors some completely new to me and some much adored oldies. I actually feel like seeing if the English mystery writer Ruth Rendell has an email -in all seriousness-so I can thank her for the years of pleasure she has given me as a loyal reader of her books-actually I will check to see if Dr Holland does too while I am at it! Peace and be well to anyone stopping by! ps a final note-it appears that Dr Holland has written three works of fiction -at least-maybe more by now-The Bone Hunter, Slave of My Thirst and Lord of the Dead-so I will keep an eye out for these and any others also.

Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part Six

With his gangs of slaves still tearing through the city, Marius had been elected to his long prophesied seventh consulship. He was not long in the office this time. Marius had problems with violent bouts of drinking and a fortnight later he was dead. This had left Cinna as the governments undisputed leader. Cinna had a tyrant's contempt for precedent and stayed in the consulship for three consecutive years. In 84 BC Sulla was prepared to invade Italy. Cinna thought he would surprise him by engaging his forces in Greece. This turned out to be a bad mistake as Cinna's soldiers mutinied and he was murdered in the resulting mayhem. Most Romans feared the return of Sulla's battle-hardened legions. Even with the loss of Cinna, the Marians had retained their grip on power as Sulla rejected proposals for peace proposed by neutrals in the Senate. They prepared to do battle for the ultimate prize of power in Rome. The blood feud between Sulla and Marius had been passed down a generation to Marius's son, a good looking playboy who had the same hatred for Sulla that his father did.

On 6 July 83 BC the ancient temple of Jupiter, the largest and holiest building in Rome had been struck by lightning. This was a very bad portent. As flames billowed across the Forum, which more than anything symbolized Roman unity, an even more ominous feature could be seen. As the fire raged it gave the Forum below it an angry reddish color. Red was the color of Mars, the god of war and bloodshed. Sulla later claimed that Bellona, Mars' female equivalent had given him a premonition of the disaster. Shortly after landing in Italy, one of his slaves had fallen into a hypnotic trance. In the trance it was revealed that unless victory were immediate, the Capitol would be destroyed by fire. As this same fire raged, the younger Marius hurried to the scene and instead of rescuing the prophecies of the Sibyl, or the statue of the god-he helped himself to the temple treasures that would enable him to pay for more legions. The Romans were stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They hated watching the younger Marius at the age of twenty-six abusing the constitution and getting himself elected to the consulship of 82 BC by doing so, but the alternative to the Marians hardly seemed better.

However unpopular the Marians may have been, there was a very sinister air that clung to Sulla. Sulla of course had his own record of violence by now and there was no great uprising of support to greet his return. Sulla's claim to be restoring the Republic was treated at best with suspicion and at worst with derision. One thing had changed by now-Sulla was no longer the pariah among his peers that he had been during his first march on Rome in 88 BC. Five years later his entourage had many noblemen in it, many of whome were pursuing personal vendettas against the Marians. Marcus Licinius Crassus, whose father had led the opposition to the Marians and subesquently been executed was from one of Rome's most celebrated patrician families. Crassus's brother had also been killed and the family's estates in Italy seized. These would have been of great size and value as the family was extremely wealthy. Young Crassus had even been able to live a life of relative luxury while living in exile in Spain. His father had once been a governor of Spain and had turned this position into yet another money making venture for the family. When Cinna had died, this had got the young man thinking of claiming his patrimony in full. Crassus, even though he was a private citizen, had taken the unheard of measure of recruiting his own private army of two and a half thousand men.

The image is an artists rendition of the temple to Jupiter. For anyone reading this or my other blog-sorry so very slow lately. I have had quite a time fighting exhaustion and weakness. Hopefully this will not be a long-term problem. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part Five

They were introduced to a city in which there were not the slightest shreds of independence left and all prosperity was gone. After Sulla met and vanquished two armies sent to Greece by Mithridates, the Roman conquest of Athens was confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. Shortly after their armies had met, Sulla and Mithridates held a summit. Both of these men had very good reasons to come to a peace settlement. Mithridates knew that his days of taking swings ay Roman power were over and he was desperate to hold onto his kingdom. Sulla was very anxious to get back home and make sure things were as he left them. Mithridates had to accept limits on his offensive power and return all of the territory he had conquered. What Mithridates had got away with, however, was remarkable. The murderer of eighty-thousand Italians was still on the throne of Pontus. He was the first man to emerge virtually unscathed from his conflicts with the Republic. Rome would come to regret not finishing him off for good.

Sulla wasn't finished with Greece by a long-shot however. In the province of Asia, Roman rule was restored. Sulla imposed a five years back tax on the cities and they were expected to pay the full costs of the war. Sulla returned to Greece in 84 BC and in a lasting slap in the face to the people of Athens, he took the columns of the temple of Zeus down for transport back to Rome. The Olympic games were so stripped of its stars that only the sprint could be held. The most satisfying revenge Sulla had was on Greek philosophy. There was a complete looting of Athenian libraries. In the future if anyone would like to study Aristotle, he would have to do so in Rome. It was Rome, however, that would see the full force of Sulla's ruthlessness. The government he had established had collapsed, and Sulla himself had been condemned to death in abstentia. His property had been razed and his family forced to flee. No one who had seen Sulla in action in the East could have any doubt as to what his response would be to these provocations.

The brutality of the political order Sulla had left behind, had been increasing fighting between political factions. It was a conflict over the perrenial boondoggle of the Italians' voting rights that had finally pushed the two consuls of 87 BC into open warfare. Cinna had been expelled from Rome by Octavius originally. However, he instantly thought of ways to get back at his former colleague. Cinna convinced the legion still camped at the besieged city of Nola to leave and march on Rome for the second time in just over a year. He also had a famous name backing him. Gaius Marius had returned from Africa and on his way to Rome he recruited an army of personal slaves as he traveled through Italy. Marius then joined forces with Cinna and turned on Rome. Marius had become psychotic with bitterness and rage, and he launched a brutal purge of his enemies. Octavius had refused to flee and had been killed as he sat in his consul's chair. His head had been brought to Cinna, who displayed it in triumph on the Rostra. Many other opponents of Marius had been brutally killed or had fled to safety. The image is of the famous Arch of Constantine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumphal_Arch_of_Constantine

Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part Four

Finally, after the shocking events of 88BC, Sulla began marching east. As the new year rolled around there was even an outward appearance of normality. The streets were empty of soldiers. Two consuls, elected by the Roman people, sat in their chairs of state and the Senate met to advise them-one could almost be forgiven for thinking not a lot had changed. Athens was the next destination of Sulla and his men. Athens had a very unique position in the Greek world. Here, more than any other Hellenic city there was a reverence and a devotion to her history. The Athenians never forgot -or neglected to tell anyone else that it was they who saved Greece at the Battle of Marathon. Athens was a very great power at one time and long ago had the greatest naval power in the Meditteranean. The Parthenon still stood upon the Acropolis, as a kind of reminder of her former glorious days. The Athenians memories of empire were just that-memories and the Romans regarded with great humor, the slightest hint that they still believed themselves a great power. However, even though Athenians may have regarded their Roman masters as bullying hicks, they knew better than to voice such opinions publicly. The Romans had no problem whatsoever plundering their defeated enemies, but they had always rewarded their friends, and Athens benefited from this policy as well.

The greatest 'gift' of this 'friendship' had come in 165 BC, following the final war against Macedon. The Senate had taken note that the island republic of Rhodes had been lacking in her enthusiasm in backing Rome in this conflict. Rhodes had been the major trading depot in the Meditteranean a long time. Rome had opened a toll-free harbor on the island of Delos and presented it to Athens. Subsequently Rhodes had seen her revenues go down the tubes. Athens had grown very wealthy from this arrangement-so wealthy in fact that by the start of the first century her currency had been recognized as legal tender throughout the Greek world. The Romans had shown that they could make or break economies with the same success they fought with on the battlefield. However, in 88BC with Mithridates armies camped in triumph on the opposite shores of the Aegean, the rules changed. The pro-Roman Athenian business elite watched in horror as their impoverished countrymen sent an embassy to Mithridates, which he welcomed, asking that if they provided him with a harbor if he would restore their democracy. The business classes in Athens knew what this would mean and began fleeing the city.

Democracy was officially restored. There were great scenes of jubilation and even greater scenes of slaughter. The revolution was led by a philosopher, Aristion. Aristion perhaps expected an easy go of things with Italy in a civil war and an alliance with Mithridates in the works. Democracy and independence both seemed to be in place to the jubilant Athenians. Little did they know how short-lived this revolution would be, for in the spring of 87 BC Sulla landed in Greece. Sulla headed directly for Athens. To their horror, the Athenians found themselves with five Roman legions commanded by Rome's most ruthless general camped outside the city's walls. The only tactic Aristion had was to compose songs about Sulla's face and his wife. These would be proclaimed from the city walls, as Sulla began to lose his patience-for both the comedy of which he was the subject and the people of Athens themselves. Sulla ordered the groves under which Plato and Aristotle chopped down. He sent an Athenian peace delegation back when they began to lecture him on the city's past saying, "Rome did not send me here to be lectured on ancient history." (Plutarch, Sulla, 13.) Once Sulla gave the order for the city to be brought back under heel and his troops license to plunder and kill, many Athenians committed suicide. These people remembered the fate of Corinth and could not bear to see the utter destruction of their city. The ruination brought by Sulla's troops was indeed terrible. All men who had served in the democratic government were executed and their supporters had the right to vote taken away. The businessmen who had run for their lives when the revolt had started came back to the city. The image is a bust of Sulla done at the height of his power.

I have at least two-if not up to three or four more posts ready to go-fighting this exhaustion or whatever it is has sapped my strength so bad that it is even a bit trying to type-hopefully this will not last much longer, and I will try to post as I am able to. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Empires: Rome - The Playboy & The General Part Three

The officer informing Sulla of this was one of Marius's men and had come to take command of his army. As Sulla did some quick thinking in his tent, no one except him realized how dangerous this rivalry had become. Sulla had at Nola, 30,000 men under his command, only the legions of Pompeius Strabo, who were finalizing the campaign against the rebels on the other side of Italy had enough men to rival him. Marius, back in Rome didn't have any legions. How had Marius missed this line of thinking in Sulla's mind? Obviously the thought that Sulla would come out of the pen he had been forced into like a raging bull had never crossed Marius's mind. There was a reason for this however. In the history of the Republic, no Roman general had led his men against the city of Rome. What Sulla was thinking was unimaginable to Roman citizens. The Roman army was not the private militia of the general who commanded it, and its loyalty was owed to whoever was appointed to its command by due process of the constitution. What Sulla was pondering was a blasphemy in a way and Marius had no reason to think that the rules had changed.

Sulla had great popularity with his troops and when he broke the news to them from Rome they stoned Marius's envoy to death. Sulla left behind a single legion to continue the siege at Nola and marched northwards to Rome. The news of his decision to take power into his own hands was greeted in Rome with disbelief. However, as he got closer to the city delegations were sent to shame Sulla into stopping his putsch. His only reply to these men had been that he was marching on Rome "to free her of her tyrants." Sulla indeed did the unthinkable when he crossed the pomerium with his legions. The pomerium was the furrow that was said to have been originally ploughed by Romulus himself-the founder of the city-as a kind of sacred boundary. The citizens of Rome threw tiles and such things as they could find at Sulla's soldiers with such ferocity that they started to turn back for a bit until Sulla ordered that fire-arrows be shot at the rooftops, where the barrage of the citizens projectiles was coming from. Flames began to erupt down the length of Rome's highways and Sulla himself rode down the via Sacra-the greatest of them all in triumph. Sulla's men took up positions outside the Senate House. Marius and Sulpicius had fled the city after they had made a failed attempt to raise the city's slaves against Sulla's legions.

The unimaginable had happened. A Roman general had crossed over the sacred pomerium and was now the master of the city. Future generations would see this as a great turning point. This was the time the augurs of the Sibylline prophecies had warned-the passing away of an old age and the beginning of a new. Now that Sulla had besieged his own city, citizens long after his time would think, "It happened once and who might be the next to raise the stakes this high in the pursuit of personal glory and fame?" Very quickly, Sulla forced the Senate into passing sentences against Marius, Sulpicius and ten others. All but Sulpicius, who was betrayed by a slave and murdered, escaped, including Marius's young son. Marius himself would reach the safety of Africa after a series of close calls with death by contract killers.

Sulla was to continually cast his march on Rome and subsequent dictatorship as a defense of her most sacred institutions and ancient traditions. He was anxious to confront Mithridates, but understandably nervous about what might happen in his abscence. If he interfered too blatantly in the annual elections for consulship he would make a joke of his claim that he pulled of his coup to restore the Republic. Sulla's allies did not win election to the consulship in 87 BC. One of the candidates was a conservative as Sulla himself was. However, the other, Cornelius Cinna, had threatened Sulla with prosecution. Sulla decided that before he would agree to their taking office he made them both swear a public oath of loyalty on the sacred hill of the Capitol that they would not overturn his legislation.

To reward an ally, and also thinking it would help secure his own position, Sulla gave the command of Strabo's legions to Pompeius Rufus, his colleague in the consulship of 88 BC. This turned out to have rather unpleasant consequences for Rufus. He arrived at Strabo's camp to take command of his new army with only a bill in his hand. Strabo duly presented Pompeius Rufus to the troops and then left the camp-on business he claimed. The next day Rufus began a ritual sacrifice to celebrate his new command. Strabo's troops turned on him and he ended up being the sacrificial victim instead! Of course, Strabo claimed to be outraged and immediately came back to the camp, but no action was taken against his troops. Later generations would see Rufus's fate as a judgment of Sulla's coup-"there was nothing left which could shame warlords into holding back on military violence-not the law, not the institutions of the Republic, not even the love of Rome." (Appian 1.60.)

Hopefully the next post will be here soon-it is ready to go-just need to get my energy levels back somewhat after feeling so rotten for a few days now. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!