Augustus Ascendant Part 2

Octavian was now the undisputed master of Rome-he just downplayed a role so many others would have and did play up. Perhaps the more keen-eyed observers would have noticed the prescence of two teenagers, riding on his chariot's right and left trace horses during his triumph. These were the sons' of the two closest women in his life. Gaius Claudius Marcellus was his sister Octavia's 14-year-old son and the other young man was Tiberius Claudius Nero, his wife Livia's 13-year-old eldest son.

Octavia, who appears to have been a very loving and giving person anyway-loved her son "cheerful in mind and disposition" deeply. Octavian's interest in the youth certainly echoed Julius Caesar's interest in his years earlier as he was also a handsome and intelligent boy. Tiberius was no slouch in many areas either, but he had to play second fiddle in Octavian's plans because he was not related by blood-being Livia's son by her first husband.

Octavian was not only in complete control of the Roman empire-but was already starting to think about the long-term survival of his regime and his dynasty! Part of this planning and scheming was not just because it was Octavian's intelligence and nature to be this way-but due to his always unsteady health it was not too early to think of succession plans. If Octavian's nephew lived up to his promise, Octavian couldn't ask for a more suitable heir-and would keep control of the empire "in the family" at the same time.

Here is a quote from Anthony Everitt's Augustus on page 204 that explains more: "There was another thing: Octavian liked and trusted youth. He and his "band of brothers," his two trusted former school friends, Agrippa and Maecenas, had set out together on their great enterprise to avenge Caesar's murder and win power in their late teens. The challenges they faced called forth their talent; now Octavian was looking forward to promoting the new younger generation that was about to emerge. Perhaps as early as 29 B.C., he arranged for the minimum age of officeholders to be reduced: in the case of a quaestor, from thirty years to twenty-five, of a consul, from forty-two to thirty-seven. Senators' sons were expected to familiarize themselves with administration; they were allowed to wear the purple-striped toga, which was the uniform of a senator, encouraged to attend Senate meetings, and given officer posts during their military service."

It wasn't for lack of trying that Octavian and Livia didn't produce an heir of their own. They had each had children by former spouses, and some sources from the classical era put it down to physical incompatibility, but it is more likely that a physical illness led one or the other to become infertile. The boys were still too young to help govern the new regime. Octavian's childhood friends, Agrippa and Maecenas still had huge responsibilities in this area.

Agrippa had been described as "more of a rustic at heart than a man of refined tastes." However, here it must certainly be stated that Agrippa admired fine art and even argued that all paintings and sculptures should be nationalized rather than be viewed by a chosen few in private collections! Not only that, but Agrippa collected art himself and spent the incredible sum of 1.2 million sesterces on two paintings-one of them featured the Greek hero Ajax and the other Aphrodite. A man who practiced what he preached, Agrippa had these paintings put in public baths he built.

Greatly dissimilar to Agrippa it was said Maecenas could almost "outdo a woman in giving himself up to indolence and soft luxury." He was very taken with silks and jewels. Maecenas was also an epicure and made popular a new delicacy-the flesh of young donkeys-to Rome's upscale dining tables. He was supposedly the first man to have a heated swimming pool in Rome. Interesting also, is the fact that he was married to the gorgeous but conceited Terentia. The couple was forever fighting, but Maecenas remained in love with her and would always seek reconciliation. Apparently Terentia caught Octavian's eye and eventually had an affair with him. This doesn't seem to have set relations back between the two men and Maecenas was hardly monogamous himself-although he certainly never tried to seduce Livia! Although one of his affairs was with a freedman and friend of Octavian, a famous actor, Bathyllus.

It would seem from every possible historical source that Octavian only slept with women, but he didn't take the slightest offense to the various sexual habits among members of his inner circle. It would seem that Maecenas didn't take any offense at Octavian's making fun of his effulgent style of writing either. Macrobius, a writer of the fifth century A.D., quotes on example: "Goodbye, my ebony of Medullia, ivory from Etruria, silphium from Arretium, diamond of the Adriatic, pearl from the Tiber, Cilnian emerald, jasper of the Iquvians, Pesenna's beryl, Italy's carbuncle-in short, you charmer of unfaithful wives."

Howver crazy his private life, Maecenas was amazing during times of crisis-showing tireless energy and unwavering skill at giving superb political advice. What was even better for both Octavian and the regime in many ways is that he didn't seek public office and honors, preferring to remain in the background. Maecenas did champion the greatest poets of the age also, and made sure that rare talents like Virgil and Horace were able to publish their works without censorship and stayed in favor with the new order.

Agrippa, for his part detested Maecenas' effeminate and luxurious manners. Agrippa was a very non-cynical, direct and loyal man in an era when men of unquestioned loyalty were sometimes hard to find. Without Agrippa's excellent generalship it is doubtful-impossible maybe that Octavian could possibly have got as far as he got. He received the corona rostrata for his role in the Naulochus campaign. Without Agrippa, the war against Sextus Pompeius would have been lost and he was also the strategist behind the victory at Actium. For Actium, Agrippa got the right to display an azure banner. Also of more fiscal value, Agrippa had the freehold country estates in Egypt. Agrippa was so trusted (as well he should have been), he was for all practical purposes Octavian's deput-almost his equal even, but always in Octavian's somehow larger shadow.

A historian that lived close to Agrippa's time says Agrippa "was...well-disciplined to obedience, but to one man only, yet eager to command others, in whatever he did he never admitted the possibility of delay. With him an idea was implemented as soon as it was thought of." The image portrayals left to us by history of Agrippa show a man with very stern and determined features. He definitely even looks like a man whose anger was to be feared-possibly even by his friend and master?

Agrippa did have official posts unlike the "unofficial" minister of culture-Maecenas-in a post that didn't exist. Agrippa was as unpurusing of the adornments of authority as Maecenas was, although for a completely different reason. Maecenas simply didn't care to hold the actual reigns of power (being satisfied with influence), Agrippa cared for it with great zest-but only for its reality.

There are no historical records of Agrippa's private opinions on political matters. However, as Anthony Everitt states in Augustus: "...we may surmise that he watched Octavian's growing affection for Marcellus with unease. As the young man grew up, Agrippa could well find an inexperienced heir interfering in his freedom of action, interposing himself between him and Octavian. That would not do."

The information for this post came from pages 203 to 206 in Anthony Everitt's Augustus. I really enjoyed this whole bit written here-and believe there is much more to come. I intentionally didn't "condense" information from this part as I found it so interesting. This is everything I have ready to go and I wanted to post it this evening in case I am offline (or not online much) for the next few days. I hope to post again soon-but am not promising anything -on anything I do as I have been struggling with health stuff more than usual-now it seems an overwhelming sense of exhaustion has taken hold of me along with everything else! Thanks again Jon and others for the great comments! I hope anyone stopping by has a beautiful Christmas (and if you don't celebrate Christmas a beautiful holiday season)-and a wonderful and joyous 2010!

Back To Rome Part Five

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back To Rome Part One

Well it has been since 12 May since I have been back to the Roman era. Think I might be able to stay on track a bit more? The only thing I have to say in my defense-which is really no defense-is that I have been struggling worse than usual with my health and insomnia these last 4-6 months-and it was none too good before with my back pain and all. That and the number of different subjects I get into when I am at least feeling well enough to research and type have really put me so far behind on this blog. I hope to stay more on top of things in the future. The post size some days may vary quite a bit as my back pain is starting to make me take so many time outs on occasion that I just say forget it and wait until I feel better physically to post more. I also want to condense the Roman era information in a way that allows me to do just as much about it but without being so unnecessarily wordy. I still want to get into different historical subjects and eras here from time to time too. I will try to stay with Rome for the next six to eight posts!

This continues from the post on 12 May 2009: Speaking of doing the barest minimum to help Antony: Octavian knew Antony needed to replace the men he lost, but didn't let him raise legions in Italy as he was entitled to. Not only that, but Octavian was not even going to keep his promise in the Treaty of Misenum to send Antony four legions in return for the 120 ships Antony gave him! So let Antony have his 'victory' celebrations, and sacrifices, Octavian knew the real score. He wrote to Antony with an obscured but stinging sarcasm that in light of his resounding victory over the Parthians, Antony should have no trouble at all raising any soldiers he needed in his own half of the empire. Then to rub extra salt in the wound, Octavian send his sister, who had been in Rome (since last seeing Antony at Tarentum) to join her husband. In addition, Octavia brought huge stocks of clothing for his troopsm, money-even gifts for his staff.

Also a Praetorian Guard (the bodyguard of a general) of 2,000 men. Octavia also brought 70 warships (the ships left of the ones Antony had originally given to Octavian). 3 things betrayed the real message of this seemingly nice and un-Octavian like gesture. 1) The provisions for Antony's troops spoke loud and clear of Octavian's knowledge of the real events in the Parthian campaign. 2) Sending 2,000 men instead of the promised 20,000 was a slap in the face. 3) By sending Octavia to Antony when it was known he was living with Cleopatra was both spiteful and rude. Some historians want to give Octavian a break and would have us think that he just sent Octavia to get Antony away from Cleopatra, however, Octavian knew Antony much too well for that by now.

He was banking on Antony acting rashly and put the harsh glare of bad publicity on himself. He guessed right, when Octavia reached Athens she got a message from her husband that said to send the men and supplies and then return to Rome! Octavian advised his sister to move out of Antony's enormous house and set up her own independent household. She did indeed obey her husband but didn't follow her brother's advice. Historical sources paint a very kind picture of Octavia-almost saintly. A lot could be due to Octavian's propaganda machine, but there are far too many instances of factual statements about Octavia and her life about things that would not be worth bothering to lie about that suggest she was a truly kind woman.

From some of Octavia's own letters we can also infer that she was under a great deal of pressure from being stuck between her brother and her husband. Octavia did everything in her power to save her marriage. She also cared for Antony's children from his previous marriage as if they were her own. She also was a great hostess entertaining Antony's friends in Rome on business-and at the same time doing everything in her power to get what those friends wanted from Octavian. Only the most rosy-glasses could prevent someone from seeing the inevitable break between Octavian and Antony. How violent and rending of a schism to themselves, their families and friends-and of course the citizenry of Rome remained to be seen. Antony had the strength of a bull-proverbial of course, but at many times completely lost focus. Octavian on the other hand was energetic towards his duties and focused, but suffered bouts of poor health throughout his life. Octavian was a first class schemer and plotter with a great dash of opportunism added into the mix. Antony-although a great general, except for the previously mentioned fiasco, reacted to events-many times in a quite heroic fasion-like the time he saved Octavian's life in the Forum to name a few.

But how many politicians from antiquity to the present day last long if they are not guiding or at least predicting events but reacting to them as they come? The issue of what each of the men truly wanted from their high positions in the world. This also no doubt added a great deal of tension to their relationship. Mark Antony was definitely happy with the way things were as long as he could remain in the spotlight as a leading citizen of Rome. Octavian, on the other hand was out to change the whole structure on which Roman power was based and projected-although he made a show of being a traditionalist in some areas and was truly of a conservative bent in many areas, but Octavian wanted nothing less than to rule Rome completely while hiding the absolute nature of his rule with misleading propaganda and the pretense-but nothing more than that-of "restoring the republic."

I hope to be back very soon with another post. I plan to never go longer than three weeks between articles again-and hopefully no matter what I am working on, a lot less time than that. I will change the title to something snazzier than "Back to Rome" after a bit, once I have the chance to see what the main issues are going to be. All the best to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Eighteen

It was also paramount in Roman society that there should not be any doubt as to who a Roman citizen's father was. This is precisely why Octavian himself ordered a favorite freedman of his to commit suicide after he had been convicted of adultery with freeborn Roman women. This policy of the properness of "who it was ok to have sex with" was a preventative measure to keep foreign genes out of the Roman gene pool. Citizens were supposed to marry citizens, and to wed a foreigner was looked down upon; if not illegal, such a union was not recognized by law-especially when it came to the matter of heirs to a will. For Mark Antony this meant that he could screw around with Cleopatra-but not marry her. For Octavia, a woman who appears to have been a wonderful, intelligent, loving spouse this may have stung a bit, but she understood the social mores of her time. Octavian, her loving brother was the one who absolutely hated the thought of Antony's liason with the eastern seductress. Then amidst Octavian dealing with his feelings about his Antony, some very interesting news started coming in from the east in the winter of 36 to 35 BC. This news-largely in the form of letters home from officers and others involved in Antony's Parthian campaign told a different story than Antony's gleaming tales of easy victory. In fact, it seems that his Parthian campaign came very close to defeat.

This interested Octavian greatly and other political higher-ups in Rome and a confidential investigation was commissioned to get the real story. Indeed it turns out that Mark Antony did make a series of mistakes that added up to a disaster. The campaign started out well enough but Antony started it too late in the year to afford a single setback or he would find himself fighting or retreating in the winter: think Napoleon or Hitler in later ages. Apparently Antony was so upset at himself he actually prepared for suicide several times. He was still a general in the midst of the quagmire, even after losing 20,000 men, one-third of his army, during the month it took to retreat to the relative safety of what would be modern Aremenia. I won't go into too may details of the actual battle as I am so behind on the major questions I want to at least ask if not answer on this blog, but I will try to find a link that describes it in full detail. When Antony's crippled army reached Syria, Antony started drinking heavily, as his sense of self-esteem was probably at the lowest point in his life. The soldiers that were left to him did stick by their general. According to Plutarch Antony's men, "greeted him with cheerful faces and gripped his hand as he passed: they begged him not to let their sufferings weigh upon him, but to go and take care of himself."

Messengers had been sent to ask Cleopatra for money and clothing for the soldiers. Apparently she took her sweet time (perhaps not wanting to be taken for granted?) but eventually brought everything that was required. After the soldiers were completely outfitted and supplied, Antony returned to Alexandria to contemplate how to proceed. When Octavian had absorbed all of the information about his colleague's debacle he decided to take a wait and see approach. Here is where some interesting thoughts about Octavian's motives come in. There are no records of any secret dealings or thougthts Octavian may have had with regard to sharing power with Antony until one or the other died. Who knows-maybe Octavian was just an intelligent and normally very careful opportunist and had no desire to unseat Mark Antony and rule the empire alone? But the sheer volume of evidence of his behavior-to me anyway (and not to worry-other "real" historians;-) argues very much against this. Octavian's slow but relentless and ruthlessness in chipping away at Antony's power and prestige (amongst other competitors) and his absolute refusal to do the barest minimum-even below minimum I think to help his fellow triumvir-taken as a whole points to an eventual plan to have sole rulership of the Roman world. I do think that Octavian truly adored his sister and am not entirely sure if he had an extra psychological push to get rid of Antony because of his dealings with Cleopatra; this situation probably added to the impetus to take Antony out, but I think this was the plan all along-ever since Octavian learned of his adoption by Julius Caesar.

The image is a Roman mosaic of a lion on a roundel. I do not know exactly when the next article will be here. I have developed the worse case of the summertime blahs on record I think-been very lazy regarding blogging lately. I do hope to come up with a schedule where I work on material for each blog three days of the week when I can with a day of rest. Hopefully I will get somewhat back on track soon. Thanks again to anyone following or commenting on this blog!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Seventeen

In the spring of 36 BC, when Antony left for Parthia with 60,000 legionaires, to take long overdue revenge for Crassus's defeat in 53 BC, many of these republican diehards hoped that he would achieve a great triumph over the enemy and few doubted that he would and thus restore his predominance in the Triumvirate. Mark Antony did indeed announce victory of the Parthians in the autumn of that same year. Octavian kept up with his colleagues doings in the east. Communications were slow but a variety of individuals from businessmen to state officials wrote home with news and gossip. At this point in his life Octavian obviously had great power already but he was expected to keep the Senate informed and Mark Antony involved. Octavia was back in Rome while Antony was on his military campaign. Octavia was an intelligent and adoring mother, sister and wife, so she worked hard to not only be a good mother to her six children and stepchildren, but also to advocate Antony's interests and try to dull the sharp edges in relations between her husband and brother. Mark Antony also engaged in geopolitics in the east. In 40 BC, Parthian cavalry led by Pakur, the intelligent and capable son of King Urud had invaded the province of Syria killing the governor.

This invasion represented the greatest challenge since Mithridates of Pontus fifty years before to Roman hegemony. Antony realized that the client states that acted as a bulwark between the Parthians and Rome needed to be stronger. So Mark Antony created a new map, slicing up great territories for men he could count on. These men were all Greek speaking west Asians. Amyntas in Galatia, Polemo in Pontus, Archelaus-Sisiness in Cappadocia, and Herod in the tiny but very strategically important kingdom of Judea. If Antony was going to be responsible for the eastern part of the Roman empire he needed leaders steadfast enough to repel military stikes and powerful enough to react effectively to them. Still the royal figure that Antony placed his greatest trust in was Cleopatra in Egypt. The pair renewed their allegiance ( it would be wrong to think of it as a love affair at this point) when Antony was forty-five and Cleopatra thirty-three. The two came to a quick agreement about the future of their partnership (with equal speed Cleopatra became pregnant again). Egypt's resources would be at Antony's beck and call. In return for her letting Antony make use of Egypt's substantial resources Cleopatra received fittingly substantial territories. Among these were coastal cities from Mount Carmel )in the south of modern Lebanon), part of Cilicia(southeast modern Turkey), and other areas to the north and south of Judea.

Cleopatra had every reason to be greatly pleased with herself. She had made enormous strides towards rebuilding the Ptolemaic empire as it had been at the height of its power two centuries before. It is very important to note that in Rome at this time no one saw anything wrong with Antony's statecraft. His reorganization of the east showed great political forethought and made sense. Also, Antony appeared to be an able judge of the men best suited to lead the client kingdoms of Rome. Cleopatra was hardly what you would call well-liked by the Roman political class. But they had known her since the days of Julius Caesar and it was apparent she was a competent ruler. It mattered not a whit to mot that Antony had replaced Caesar as Cleopatra's lover. Octavian, however, had a much different view of the restored relations between the two. First of all it was an insult to his dear sister, Octavia. He also couldn't help but notice the semi-divine names that Antony's illegitimate children were given around this time: Alexander Helios (Greek "Sun") and Cleopatra Selene (Greek "Moon"). Due to their illegitimate status the children had no hereditary claims in either Rome or Egypt, but the new cognomens had to make one think about what was being planned for their future. An even greater embarrassment and possible threat to Octavian was growing up quickly in Egypt. Cleopatra's co-monarch, Ptolemy XV Caesar or Caesarion was the child of Julius Caesar.

He was now eleven years old and was the murdered "gods" real, not adoptive son. For a quick study like Octavian, he must have realized the implications of this down the road if Cleopatra and Antony should ever hatch some grand political scheme. Octavian, in this particular case, must have wished the Roman idea of marriage was not so unsentimental. This is not to say love didn't flower in many Roman marriages, but a Roman couple were almost always locked into a marriage of convenience(many times second or later marriages allowed for freer choice). The Romans had a largely unsentimental view of sexual relations, and romantic love, so glorified in later ages was rare. As for expressing feelings of affection in public and immoderate sexual activity, Marcus Porcius Cato the Censor (or Cato the Elder, father of the Cato that has already been mentioned on this blog) who lived in the second century BC, once expelled a man from the Senate for kissing his wife in public. A Roman man did not feel feelings of guilt about taking a different sexual partner and didn't feel bound to a particular sexual object of his desire. He would not have understood such modern terms as "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality", which put people in sexual groups. What the man did was what mattered, not what he was.

Some ancient sources reveal that it didn't matter whether the husband chose a young man or woman-as long as he did not play the "passive" or "receptive" role with another man. The previously mentioned poet Horace shows thoughts fairly common of his age: "When your organ is stiff, and a servant girl or a young boy from the household is near at hand and you know you can make an immediate assault, would you sooner burst with tension? Not me. I like sex to be there and easy to get." I find the word "assault" he used (or at least the way it translated) very interesting. For I can't imagine what the helpless servant girl or boy must have felt during these sessions where they were made, it would seem, less than human by their masters-simply objects to quench a desire-an object under ''assault." Besides the adulterer or fornicator only supposed to play the "active" role in sexual relations, their was a second rule that the men were supposed to only give their lustful attentions to non-citizens and slaves. Freeborn boys and women were supposed to be off-limits. There is a large amount of evidence that this custom was broken quite a few times.

The image is of Mark Antony's donations of territory to Cleopatra and his illegitimate children with her as of 34 BC. I hope to be back with more fairly soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!