War Drums Part Four

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Thirteen

He did decide on what was needed immediately: a large enough area of water that was surrounded by forest to supply wood to build a new fleet. In a turn of amazing lucidity, Agrippa knew just the right place-from Homer no less. Homer believed that the lake of Avernus was the gateway into Hades. Hades of course was where the dead went to shadowy, dull and vitiated existences. Agrippa was not superstitious or scared of the gloomy aura of the location. His idea was both wonderfully simple and brilliant at the same time. He wanted to build a canal south from Avernus to the Lucrine lake and then to sea. In this area Agrippa hoped to build a new fleet, train the men and himself in an area that he hoped Sextus would not even have knowledge of. This enormous undertaking needed huge amounts of men and material to succeed. Some of Octavian's wealthy backers put money into the project. Agrippa himself probably brought funds from Gaul, and money was also raised from the provinces. Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, the other major friend from Octavian's childhood had given Mark Antony pleas for help. Antony had spent the winter in Athens and said he would come back to Italy by spring or early summer of 37 BC. It was also in Antony's interest to make sure the west was peaceful and he also needed to recruit troops for the war against Parthia, as the Treaty of Brundisium allowed.

Once Antony sailed to Brundisium with a large fleet he realized the port was closed to him! He then sailed to Tarentum and invited Octavian to join him. By now Antony must have been furious with Octavian-and rightly so-and was unsure of whether to lend a hand now or not. Octavia was with her husband on this voyage and was extremely distressed at the thought of more tension between her brother and husband. According to Plutarch Octavia wrote to her brother: "If the worst should happen and war break out between you, no one can say which of you is fated to conquer the other, but what is certain is that my fate will be quite miserable." Octavian took his sister's advice. He was definitely not ready for a war with Antony. As a matter of fact, the two had an actual reason to meet as their triumvirate was about to officially expire. All Octavian felt he must do is keep Antony, who had already won so much military glory from getting involved in his conflict with Sextus. Octavian needed to start winning his own wars if he were to secure his position as a continued co-ruler of the empire. The triumvirs agreed to have their summit at Tarentum. Maecenas, who was the unofficial minister of culture set the agenda. He had a knack for talent-spotting in the realm of words and had given the freedom of his house in Rome to a group of poets.

The highest ranking of these would have been Virgil and Horace who was Maecenas' favorite was also there. Horace agreed with Epicurean philosophy in that pleasure was the only good. Maecenas provoked no surprises by gathering some poets to take with him on the journey to Tarentum. After a long journey on the road with some discomfort on the way; although they did get to take in some sights such as the city of Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetere), one of the richest cities in Italy and one that Cicero had called a second Rome. Capua, having a fine ampitheater was a great city for gladiatorial combats. Capua is where Spartacus once fought with the gladiatorial bravery that had so impressed Cicero. The three men arrived in the elegant Greek city of Tarentum. The area Octavian and Antony were to meet at had a stream to separate the suspicious men. However, by accident the two had arrived at the same time. Antony who was lodged at Tarentum got out of his carriage and jumped without any bodyguards into a small boat and began rowing to Ocatavian's side of the riverbank. Octavian realized that he would lose face if he didn't return Antony's gesture of trust and also got into a boat alone. The men met in midstream and instantly got into an argument! This was due to the fact that each one of them wanted to disembark on the other's land as a show of politeness and respect. Octvian ended up winning the argument due to the fact the Octavia was also with Antony at Tarentum, and he wouldn't get to see his sister unless they met on Antony's side of the river. This argument is not of any importance in itself. However, it does illustrate the fact that when the men disagreed it was always Octavian who would win. When Octavian was in pursuit of a goal he went after it with a laser-like focus.

Antony, who felt secure as the senior triumvir had the unmindful self-confidence to let the younger man have his way. Octavian did manage to keep Antony from any thoughts of joining against him with Sextus. The Triumvirate which had expired on December 31 of the previous year, 38 BC was renewed for another five years. They also took back all of the concessions made to Sextus and promised to help each other. Antony offered 120 ships from his fleet to Octavian. This may seem like a large number-and it was-but these ships were expensive to maintain and not very useful to a general expecting conflict on the Asian landmass. For the 120 ships, Octavian promised Antony four legions. By this time people in Rome were becoming used to treaties signed with pomp and circumstance, but broken almost immediately. This time there were no celebrations like those that had taken place after Brundisium, although a coin of Antony's issued at Tarentum, shows Antony's and Octavian's heads facing each other. This was unusual on Roman coinage, although somewhat common among the Greek kings who wanted to emphasize harmony between husband and wife; perhaps Antony saw his relationship with Octavian in the same light as that of a fractious marriage that he hoped would get better! Octavian was now ready for a war with Sextus. He was certainly grateful for Antony's ships bu he had not the slightest intention of finding Antony his four legions. This brings to mind some important historical questions in regards to Octavian's good faith. We know he took this new entente with Antony seriously. However, when the pattern of Octavian's behavior is viewed as a whole over the years it shows that he behaved as a quick thinking opportunist. He grabbed hold of every gain or gift that came his way and gave as little as possible back in return.

I hope to have the next article here soon. I have got a lot caught up recently-and it is still my terrible typing that is keeping me behind in where I want to be with this blog. It is good at least to know I have some information ready to go. The image is a modern photo of Lago di Lucrino-the Lucrine lake mentioned in the first part of the article. Thanks again to anyone following or commenting on this blog!