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!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Nine

In 52 BC news reached Rome of Caesar's victory over Vercingetorix and the Gauls at Alesia. The Roman people were overjoyed. There would be no invasion of bloodthirsty savages coming from the north. The Senate declared twenty days of thanksgiving. Marcus Rufus Caelius-now a tribune proposed a law that Caesar would not have to come to Rome in person to stand for the consulship. This bill was passed and became a law. On the face of it the bill might have seemed harmless. However, it meant in effect that Caesar could come from Gaul to be a consul and at not stage be a private citizen in between. To Cato and many others this was an intolerable situation because only a private citizen could be brought to trial. Cato, along with Caesar's other enemies in the Senate had been waiting almost ten years to bring him to trial for the crimes he committed when he was consul the first time around in 59 BC. The debate over what the future of Caesar would be continued to rage on. Cato would not hear of any attempts at a compromise, he wanted Julius Caesar destroyed for good. Caesar, though he was still far away in Gaul was able to flood Rome with bribes through his allies. Most people did not want to take sides, least of all Pompey. Finally, however, by September 51 BC Pompey was forced to say something.

The Republic's greatest general could not appear to be afraid of Caesar's legions in Gaul. Pompey's verdict was that Caesar should give up his command the following spring. If this were to happen it would give Cato, or any of his allies plenty of time to prosecute Caesar before the elections for consul later in the year. A question lurking in the background was if Caesar could find a tribune who would veto this. Pompey's reply certainly left no room for doubt about this potential fear, "You might as well ask, what if my son chooses to raise a stick against me?" (Cicero, To Friends, 8.8). At last the gauntlet had been thrown down between the two remaining triumvirs. Caesar saw this as a double-edged insult. The former son-in-law, Pompey, was reversing the status of their relationship and now acting as if he were a father who would punish an errant son. Secondly it was an assault on Caesar's self-interests. The elections of 50 BC brought more bad news for Caesar. The most gifted and charismatic of the tribunes that had been elected was Gaius Scribonius Curio. He had defied Caesar when he had been a consul and people had cheered him for it in the streets. In the intervening nine years relations between the two men had only worsened. Certainly now, citizens could hope Julius Caesar would have to admit defeat. Not quite-in a stunning volte-face, typical of the Republic, Curio had decided to support Caesar! Most assumed he had been bought off with Gallic gold. While this is probably pretty close to the truth it doesn't explain everything. The tribune was also playing a political game that had been played out many times before. By aligning himself with Caesar, Curio was attempting to do what Caesar had done for Pompey and to receive the same largesse for services rendered.

In Dr Tom Holland's book, RVBICON, he brings up some interesting points about the state of affairs that was coming to pass. He refers to one of these ideas as mutual assured destruction-a notion that most of us remember from the cold war. I think Dr Holland applies this concept in a very interesting way to Roman politics. Now would be a good time to quote directly from page 292 of his book: "Throughout the centuries of the Republic's history, its great men had sought to win glory, and to bring their enemies down. Nothing had changed over the years save the scale of opportunites on offer and the scope for mutual assured destruction that they brought. To the Romans of a later age mourning the death of their freedom, this was to be tragically clear. "By now, wrote Petronius of the Republic's last generation, "the conquering Roman had the whole world in his hand, the sea, the course of stars. But still he wanted more." And because he wanted more, he took more; and because he took more he wanted more. It is almost impossible for appetites so monstrous to be sated with the ancient limits of custom and morality. Pompey and Caesar, Rome's greatest conquerors, had won resources for themselves beyond all the imaginings of previous generations. Now the consequences of such obscene power were becoming grimly apparent. Either man had the capability to destroy the Republic. Neither wished to do so, but deterrence, if it were to have any value, obliged both to prepare for the worst. Hence Caesar's recruitment of Curio. So high were the stakes, and so finely poised the equilibrium of power, that the activities of a single tribune, Caesar hoped, might prove sufficient to tip the balance of terror-to make the difference between peace with honor and catastrophe beyond recall. So Curio trusted too."

The image is a map showing ancient Roman jurisdictions of Gaul. I hope to have the next post here soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Eight

A further gift was that the consulships of Appius and Domitius had ended with the two men accused of taking bribes to fix the upcoming consular elections. The corruption seemed to be endemic. The four candidates standing for election had all been indicted. The elections were postponed for six months. Particularly embarrassed was Domitius-who had supposedly exemplified senatorial respectability. Cicero said of Domitius' consular colleague Appius, that he didn't even have a reputation to lose. The crisis deepened to the point that citizens all over the Republic began saying Pompey should be made dictator. Cato was enraged by the very thought of this and Pompey made a show of turning down the offer. However, the tension and the murmurings would not die down. This was a godsend to Pompey who could make a show of looking modest and waiting for the right moment. Cato wanted a strong contender for consul who could stem the tide of pro-Pompey support. He made the decision to support a once ardent partisan of Pompey that was now disaffected after being jettisoned by his former patron. This unfortunately reignited a vicious blood feud between Milo-Cato's man and Pompey's former protege and a man from a wealthy and extemely aristocratic family named Publius Clodius.

The two men had been involved in gang warfare with each other in 58 BC, when Milo had indicted Clodius for employing violence when he had been in office as a tribune. Anarchy was closing in on Rome as 53 BC ended. For the third time in four years elections were postponed. When Milo and Clodius-along with their heavies-met on the Appian Way on 18 January 52 BC, the anarchy worsened. This was because Clodius had been killed in the violence. Before and during his year as a tribune of the people Clodius had played the role of "defender" of the poor to the hilt, which was nothing more than a political stunt. It was a stunt that had worked very well though, and as news of his death spread to the slums wails of grief could be heard. The violence kept on escalating and the Senate House was burned to the ground and once again the Forum was lit an ominous red color. The fire from the Senate had spread and destroyed a neighboring monument-the Basilica Porcia. This is where Rome's first permanent law court had been built by an ancestor of Cato. Now Pompey's time had come. As much as Cato loathed the idea, his thoughts were that any type of government was better than the savagery of the anarchy that was spreading. Cato had proposed a compromise that stopped short of making Pompey an actual dictator. This idea would have Pompey instead serving as sole consul for a year. The Senate met in Pompey's theater and asked him to save the Republic.

The legions of Pompey restored order to Rome in less than a month and Milo was sent into exile. Cato himself acknowledged that Pompey had done a good job, although with his usual gruff manner. Caesar must have been glad he had yet another familial marriage proposal to make, this time to his great-niece Octavia. This time however, Pompey declined the offer. He didn't do this to end his alliance with Caesar but to show that he couldn't be taken for granted. Also, now that Pompey had senatorial respect there were offers that could provide him with more prestige than any connections of Julius Caesar. When Publius Crassus had died with his father at Carrhae, he left behind his beautiful and cultured wife Cornelia. Cornelia was also intimately connected with a great number of patrician families and she was a descendent of Scipio-the general who had defeated Hannibal and captured Carthage. When the two married Pompey was connected to the very heart of the aristocracy. There was also a little bit of revenge for Pompey in the marriage pact. Cato, who had once decided he was unworthy of his nieces hand, had himself been jilted by Cornelia's mother! Pompey was finally able to bask in what Cicero described as his "abilities and good fortune, which have enabled him to achieve what nobody else could have ever done." The question was-how long would this newfound peace last?

The image is a statue of Cato contemplating suicide in the Louvre museum. The statue was started by one artist and completed by another. Sometimes having insomnia helps in that there is always work to do for my blogs! I hope to have the next post here very soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cato_the_Younger

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Seven

Citizens had gone to the polls only weeks after Pompey had staged his games in September 55 BC. They voted with his theater complex rising like a small mountain in the background and delivered a blow to his prestige. In the previous year Pompey had been able to block the candidacies of Cato and Domitius Ahenobarbus. Now for the year 54 BC both men were elected to magistracies. Domitius as consul and Cato as praetor. One ally of Pompey, Appius Claudius, was elected to the consulship, but Appius could not be counted on as a reliable ally, he was more a "see which way the wind is blowing" type. Even though Pompey had conquered nations and built his grandiose theater, Appius had very aristocratic blood in his veins-and this in his opinion counted for much more. In the uncertain see-saw world of Roman politics Pompey was a man who at this point in his life should have been able to bask in the glow of power and glory. This election, however, showed him how tenuous and fleeting these desires could be in the late Republic-really for all of Roman history. Any reasonable standard would place him as the "first citizen" of the Republic. Pompey had just finished his second consulship. He was the governor of Spain and the commander of its army. And hadn't his generosity to Rome and her citizens been like the gift of a beneficient god?

But poor Pompey the Great-the more he tried to secure his power and position-the more they seemed to slip away from him. Every step he took to secure preeminence was accompanied by a step backwards. Even though Pompey's behavior was criminal in some of the methods he used to attain power (in the late Republic whose wasn't?), he had no desire to be another Sulla. The consulships of both Domitius and Appius, who were well known for their arrogance didn't hold much promise for a man of Pompey's somewhat insecure nature. As always, second to Crassus, the greatest thorn in his side was Cato, who would now be praetor for a year. But Cato's praetorship was nothing compared to his stature in the Senate. This infuriating, stubborn man didn't even have a rank officially as the equal of a consul. He didn't command any legions or have enough wealth to bribe the electorate or his fellow legislators. However, Cato's real power was about equal to Caesar or Pompey himself. Cato, with his staunch, unyielding principles and beliefs had become the exemplar of legitimacy through the years-almost to the point of becoming the embodiment of the Republic itself. Even if senators were taking bribes from Caesar in Gaul, Crassus or Pompey-they still identified themselves with Cato.

Julius Caesar perhaps could laugh about Cato's or any other senator's pretensions, but Pompey still very much wanted Cato's approval and did not. Pompey did indeed intimidate the establishment, but he still wanted to win its heart. This was perhaps another difference in the personalities of Julius Caesar and Pompey that led to an outcome that by rights should have gone in favor of Pompey. Pompey had been adored most of his life and still craved the love and respect of his fellow citizens. Julius Caesar wanted love also perhaps-but was more than willing when the last card was down-or more appropriately the last die were thrown-to settle for just being respected. In August 54 BC, Pompey's beloved wife Julia, Caesar's daughter, went into labor and miscarried. This time she did not survive the loss of her baby. Both Caesar and Pompey grieved equally over her loss. The death of Julia also threatened Caesar's political position, for he was still busy fighting in Gaul. There would be a short time the men would share in their grief. However, Pompey was now Rome's most eligible bachelor and when he remarried it could bring him into a new political alliance. With Crassus still in the alliance though, the men's power still balanced out pretty evenly, because one of the men couldn't take on the other two. But within a year of Julia's death news came in from Carrhae that Crassus was dead. This definitely shifted power in Pompey's favor and also excised a bitter prescence from his life. The image is a statue of Pompey-probably much romanticized in its physical form. I hope to have the next post here soon. I am caught up with information I have in written form so it might take two to three days, again I apologize for the backtracking. I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think it was important to the story, "What If " questions and interesting in and of itself. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Six

Pompey was perhaps preoccupied with the always jealous Crassus, who in 55 BC would have been preparing for his war against the Parthians. No one looking at the situation could have blamed Pompey for feeling extremely confident and powerful. In 55 his magnificent theater had been complete on the Campus Martius. This was the most gargantuan complex of buildings in Rome's history, and the Roman people were awestruck when it was revealed to them. These buildings were surrounded by a beautiful park. The great theater not only had an auditorium, but a public portico, a chamber for the Senate and a new house for Pompey himself. Wisely, Pompey had all of this surmounted by a temple to Venus. Not only was the temple used to justify the building of the whole complex, but Pompey also hoped that her temple would prevent current and future men jealous of his success from leveling this great work of architecture. The whole complex could be thought of as an egotistical monument to Pompey himself and the mere sight of its wonders was enough to provoke awe and jealousy in friend and foe alike. Rare plants, lovely statues and paintings, curtains woven with gold in the portico between the columns and great numbers of fountains all made Pompey's incredible theater the most romantic place in Rome.

Pompey had truly spared no expense or let any budgets constrain him. The paintings and statues were all masterpieces selected by the connoiseur Atticus and a board of experts. The most imposing thing of all about Rome's greatest new piece of real estate was the specially commissioned statue of Pompey himself. The great statue had been placed in the new Senate House, and now even when Pompey was not in Rome his shadow could fall over the senatorial proceedings. Pompey had decided that by the time his theater was completed that his globetrotting days were over. Hadn't he done enough? He had triumphed over three continents. Of course, he had no intention of giving up his command or the legions that came with it. He instead planned to govern Spain through subordinates. It was well and good for Caesar to continue fighting the Gauls and for Crassus to be preparing to fight the Parthians, but it was time for Pompey to stay home and enjoy his triumphs among his fellow Roman citizens. In a very real way Pompey the Great decided to bring his triumphal "trophies" to Rome. The accomplishments of Pompey would be to a very large extent represented by the exotic wildlife he had encountered as a conquering general. Much earlier in his life when he was in Africa he had stated, "Even the wild animals that live in Africa should be taught to respect the strength and courage of the Roman people." (Plutarch, Pompey, 12.).

The example of these wild animals was not only to entertain, but also to demonstrate to Romans the courage, strength and skill it took to become the masters of the world. This is why animals were rarely kept in zoos. Only when beast was matched against human could the lesson be taught. On one occasion, at least, the citizens didn't like what they saw and heard. An unheard of number of elephants-20-had been attacked by spearmen during a show at his theater. The elephant's cries and trumpetings of their pain and terror were so haunting to the spectators that everyone in the theater began to weep. Pliny the Elder reports that instead of cheering "the general and the lavish display which he had laid on especially to honor them, they rose to their feet, and through their tears, called down curses upon his head." What had gone wrong? Fourteen marble statues, each representing a nation conquered by Pompey, gazed down at the bloodbath in the arena with their unseeing eyes. Perhaps added to the sad calls of distress the elephants had made, the citizens had also realized that this carnage on display was not really there to glorify Rome herself, but was an orgy of self-glorification for Pompey. The image is a computer model of what Pompey's theater would have looked like. I hope to have the next post here very soon, sorry to be doing a bit of back-tracking at the moment. I just thought these details were to important to the overall history to leave out. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Five

Mark Antony was born in 83 BC to a good but poor family. In his youth, Antony showed little interest in politics. His main interests at that time seem to have been bedding women and running up huge debts. The muscular, bull-necked youth was also rumored to have been the "kept man" of a wealthy young aristocrat around the time he was sixteen years old. In his early twenties Mark Antony realized it was time to settle down. In the tradition of many ambitious, young Romans he went on a "grand tour" to finish his education by studying public speaking in Athens or perhaps another of the great cities of Asia Minor. Antony had a flair for what was called the Asiatic style of oratory. This style of speaking was expansive, boastful and swashbuckling-"in common with Antony's own mode of life." as Plutarch commented. Antony also had military training and quickly showed an aptitude for soldiering. He was brave, tough and had a gift for leadership. In 55 BC, when he would have been in his mid-twenties he played a small role in the Roman invasion of Egypt to re-install the previously mentioned Ptolemy XII Auletes (Cleopatra's father) to the throne. During the time he was in Alexandria he met Cleopatra for the first time and according to Appian he was "provoked by the sight of her."

From 54-50 BC he served under Julius Caesar, and became one of his most trusted officers, fighting bravely with him in Gaul. Mark Antony's appearance has been described as bold and masculine. He reminded people of traditional sculptures of Hercules, with his broad forehead and full grown beard. Antony decided to cultivate this image and would wear his tunic low over his hips with a large sword by his side and a heavy cloak. He was close to his soldiers and liked rough talk and getting drunk in public. He used to sit down and eat with his soldiers and they loved him for it. He so much enjoyed the pleasures of the opposite sex that it was known as a "weakness" for him and won him much sympathy, quoting Plutarch, "for he often helped others in their love affairs and always accepted with good humor the jokes they made about his own." When Antony had money he was very generous with both friends and soldiers under his command.

I will be mentioning Antony much more in future posts, just thought it would be good to give a little background on him. There were few senators or people in Rome for that matter with any appetite for civil war. In December, 50 BC, the Senate voted by a huge majority that Pompey and Caesar should demobilize their armies. It looked for a brief time that there might be peace. This was a prospect that Marcellus, Octavia's husband did not want. he believed that Julius Caesar could be easily defeated on the battlefield and wanted to see him dead. Marcellus decided to take a bold intiative. Without the other consul's consent, he put a sword in Pompey's hand and asked him to defend the Republic. In mentioning that Marcellus was Octavia's husband I wanted to bring up some matters about future posts for this story. Octavia was the sister of Gaius Octavius-the man who would become Rome's first emperor, she was born in 64 BC-a year prior to him. Gaius Octavius-Octavian will be mentioned many more times both before and after our immediate story here. I have held back mentioning him for two reasons-1) He doesn't figure prominently in our storyline yet. 2) I would like to examine his life in much greater depth after the "What If " questions.

An unexpected visitor had come calling at Pompey's door in 55 BC. It was none other than the premier guardian of the constitution of Rome itself-Cato. There was definitely no love lost between the two men, although Pompey would have loved to have Cato's approval. If there is one thing Pompey seemed to not understand is how anyone could not love him. He is a man who seems to have needed the roars of approval from his fellow citizens. In fact, in January of that year Cato had been badly beaten up by Pompey's men as he was attempting to block the second consulship of Pompey and Crassus. After this, Cato had continued to courageously campaign against the granting of five year commands to the two consuls. Cato considered this attempt to open Cato's eyes to the dangers of Julius Caesar well worth swallowing his pride for. For now Pompey wanted Caesar to have a five year command also. Cato begged Pompey to reconsider. Couldn't Pompey see he was playing with fire? Couldn't he see that the day would come when he wouldn't be strong enough to fight Caesar or to bear his father-in-laws weight on his shoulders? Surely if Pompey and Caesar ever came to loggerheads the Republic would be destroyed underneath the two giant men. Pompey rejected Cato's appeal. Perhaps the reason for this is that Pompey saw his father-in-law as an understudy. He was justifiably proud of his triumphs-but that was all. Pompey could not imagine a day when Caesar's power and glory would equal-much less eclipse his own. The image is of a Roman aureus (gold coin) struck in 41 BC. It shows a profile of Mark Antony on the left and Octavian on the right. For anyone reading or following this blog-thanks for sticking with me! I think I am finally to the point when the various threads of the story will start to come together and not jump around so much. I hope to have the next post here soon.

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Four

Wanting to prove himself as a general, Caesar went to rule Cisalpine Gaul and Transalpine Gaul (northern Italy and southern France). From here he launched an invasion of the rest of Gaul (central and northern France and Belgium). Julius Caesar found he needed more time to complete the conquest of Gaul, so he arranged, in a very Caesar like fashion for a second five year term as governor. By 49 BC, he added and enormous new province to the empire. He also had a "blooded," experienced army that would follow him to the ends of the earth in their loyalty to their general-not the Republic itself. In 53 BC, Crassus, wanting to win glory of his own commanded an expedition against the Parthian empire. The Parthians were skilled and fierce as fighters and invented the famed "Parthian shot," where they would ride up to an enemy, abruptly gallop away, while turning around in their seats to loose an arrow. They had become the dominating force on the Iranian plateau by the third century BC, and from about 190 BC they governed Mesopotamia (the heartland of the old Assyrian and Babylonian empires in modern Iraq) on and off. The Romans were dependent of infantry and found these skilled and agile warriors hard to defeat.

The Parthians were a problem for Rome because they had a tendency to meddle in Rome's eastern provinces and in the client kingdoms that acted as buffer regions between the two empires. Armenia was the great prize that both empires sought to control. Armenia was strategically important as it looked both eastward and westward. Parthia would have been an even more aggressive power prone to foreign adventurism were it not for murderous dynastic disputes that flared up frequently. A few years prior, the proconsul of Syria had supported a claimant to the Parthian throne that had not succeeded and needless to say angered the current ruling monarch. Relations between Rome and the Parthian empire were rocky and each side felt it had plenty of good reasons to launch a preemptive war against the other. Crassus and Pompey had always been enemies at heart-only cooperating because of opportunistic reasons. In large part it seems that Pompey engendered in Crassus an inferiority complex and most of the hatred seems to have been from Crassus towards Pompey. Now was Crassus' chance to win honors and glory that would rival Caesar and most importantly Pompey. This was not to be.

Crassus had an army of about 35,000 men and marched into Mesopotamia. Near Carrhae his army clashed with about 10,000 mounted Parthian archers. The terrain was open downland and ideal for the Parthians to pick off the helpless Roman legionaires one by one. Both Crassus and his son were killed in the fighting and only about 10,000 of his men survived. It was the most humiliating defeat ever for the proud Romans and many legionary standards were also captured. This was a debacle that demanded retribution from Rome when the political situation permitted it. The First Triumvirate took away quite a few men's blinders that Sulla's "restoration" of the Republic had worked. The pact between the three men was secret and illegal -but of course it didn't take a genius -especially for the higher-ups in Roman society to figure out what was going on. The trio had shown that if you had boatloads of money, soldiers loyal to you instead of the Republic that you could ignore the ruling class and in effect create a new government. The support of many citizens especially in Caesar's and Pompey's cases also helped in the takeover. As the 50's BC drew to a close the alliance started to crack despite Caesar's wishes and maneuverings. Crassus was dead and Pompey was jealous of Caesar's military triumphs in Gaul, and started becoming more accomodating to the optimates (conservative hard-liners in the Senate such as Cato).

Caesar had intended to stand for the consulship in 48 BC when his term of office was over as governor of Gaul which was set to end in late 50 BC or 49. Caesar wanted both an extension of his governorship and permission to stand for consul in abstentia. It was crucial to Caesar's plans that there was no interim of private citizenship during his office seeking. This was because Cato and his friends in the Senate were chomping at the bit to prosecute him for crimes he had committed when he was consul ten years previously. Certain of Pompey's support, Cato and his bloc of senators pressed for Caesar's early recall. Obviously Julius Caesar was willing to do anything to prevent this from happening, as he would certainly be found guilty of constitutional crimes. In 50 BC the Senate, led by Pompey and Cato ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome because his term in Gaul had ended. The Senate also forbade Caesar to stand for consul in abstentia. Caesar had bought the support of poor, young tribunes of the people who vetoed any hostile senatorial decrees. The most important of these men was the 33 year old Marcus Antonius-better known to us as Mark Antony. He is a central figure in upcoming posts and also in the upcoming "What If" questions and hasn't had much exposure on this blog whatsoever, so in the next post it would be a good time to introduce him.

The image is a silver Roman denarius showing the head of a defeated Gaul, from approximately 48 BC. Continuing to slowly plug along here. After the "What If " series of posts I am trying to decide if it would be a good idea to backtrack somewhat before heading into the lifetime of Octavian-Rome's first emperor. There are so many fascinating personalities from the era of the late Republic-and also background events going on that I think anyone reading this blog would find them interesting. I am working on an essay of one of my favorite Romans from this era and will at the very least post this at some point. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!!

Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Three

Julius Caesar knew that he had to attain the consulship on the road to ultimate power. He also knew he could not do this without help. The First Triumvirate was formed with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus-"Pompey" and Marcus Licinius Crassus-"Crassus" both of whom have already been mentioned. By the time Caesar became consul with his fellow triumvirs help in 59 BC, Pompey was thought to be the greatest man of his age. Pompey was not only a good general but had triumphed in a series of battles that were very important to Rome. Pirates had become such a threat that they were threatening the Republic's food supply. In 67 BC Pompey was given command of 120,000 soldiers and 500 ships. He divided the Meditteranean into twelve zones and within three months he had solved the pirate problem. The Lex Manilla gave him similar powers in the east. Rome's old foe Mithridates was still menacing her perceived interests. Pompey took over Rome's armies in the province of Asia, led them to a series of spectacular victories, with the end result being Mithridates committing suicide. Pompey then united the kingdom of Pontus with the province of Bithynia. He then marched as far east as the Caucasus, deposing or installing kings at will, making them client states of Rome and forming forty new cities.

Turning south, he deposed the last Seleucid king and annexed Syria. Pompey then continued into Judea and even entered the Temple, much to Jewish anguish. However, he confirmed the Macabee dynasty on the Judean throne as client kings. Pompey's eastern exploits were so well judged that they lasted 120 years and added 40 percent more revenue to the imperial treasury. He returned to Italy in 62 BC, laden with glory and plunder, with his victorious army behind him. Romans very much feared that Pompey would do what Sulla had done and march on Rome. Instead, he disbanded his armies and entered Rome as a civilian. He did expect a triumphal parade of suitable magnificence and, even more importantly land for his veterans. The Senate equivocated for a year on the former and flatly refused the latter. This turned out to be a big mistake on the Senate's part as it led him to join with Caesar. The deal was sealed with a kiss, so to speak, when Pompey married Caesar's daughter Julia to cement the alliance. Pompey was the feared "teenage butcher of Sulla's dictatorship.

The incredibly wealthy Crassus, who had defeated the slave revolt that Spartacus had led and once commented that a man could only count himself rich if he could afford to raise his own army, completed the troika of powerful men. It is modern historians who called the pact The First Triumvirate; at the time it was known by rather unfriendly nickname-"the three headed monster," because these three men together were the unofficial masters of Rome. They made all the laws they wanted, put their financial resources together to bribe the electorate, and by doing so winning the consulship for themselves and their friends. They also allowed themselves unusually long terms of governorships in the provinces fo five years. For example, even proconsuls would usually only serve one to three years. Caesar was so high handed that when he was consul he ignored the vetoes of his optimate colleagues! He also pushed through controversial legislation. The Senate never forgave this behavior and could only hope that infighting would erupt within the triumvirate. The leading conservative, traditional Roman values voice in the Senate at this time was Marcus Porcius Cato. He had very severe personal habits and trained himself to withstand extremes of heat and cold. Cato truly despised the decadence he saw in Rome-especially in the wild and licentious of some of its aristocratic youth. He very much considered Julius Caesar a proponent of this disrespectful lifestyle. Cato prided himself on never telling a lie and was an industrious worker. His reputation even inspired a proverb-"That cannot be true, even if Cato says it is." He would infuriate his friends as much as his enemies with his rustic and stern lifestyle. However, in an interesting quirk, whereas Caesar appears to have been an abstemious drinker, Cato was puritanical in all of his habits except for an enormous capacity for drink and a weakness for gambling. He had noted that "Caesar was the only sober man who tried to wreck the constitution."

The image is a painting by Jean Fouquet of Pompey and his troops entering the Temple at Jerusalem. I hope to have the next post here pretty soon as it is halfway written. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!