Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Eleven

By the autumn of 39 BC, Octavian let his heart rule him. On the face of it this was out of character for him. He had fallen in love with Livia Drusilla who was about nineteen years old. She was also beautiful and intelligent. However, a snag in Octavian's adoration was instantly apparent. She was already married to a noble cousin of hers, Tiberius Claudius Nero, and also pregnant with his second baby. And by now Scribonia had given birth to Julia. The marriage of Octavian to Scribonia-a political arrangement only was not a healthy marriage. Scribonia was quite a bit older than Octavian and a gravis femina, a dignified, serious woman. Octavian divorced Scribonia on the same day that his daughter, Julia was born. His only explanation: "I couldn't bear the way she nagged at me." The man Livia was married to was from another branch of the Claudian clan. Tiberius had switched sides between the optimates (republican senators) and the Caesarians several times over they years. When the republican cause was defeated at Philippi he performed yet another volte face and became a supporter of Mark Antony. Tiberius took his support of Antony all the way to the siege at Perusia and beyond, trying to cause a slave revolt against Octavian by promising them their freedom. Octavian's forces defeated them and Tiberius and Livia were forced to flee to Sextus in Sicily.

The Treaty of Misenum let Tiberius and Livia come back to Rome, as Sextus had put their names down on a list of returning exiles to be restored. After a long and harrowing exile, Tiberius, Livia and their son, little Tiberius were back in Rome. Their circumstances were reduced as he had to forfeit his property because he was an exile and opponent of the Triumvirate. This forfeiture also included a home on the Palatine Hill, but apparently this was not the only property he owned as he had another home there also to come back to. Livia's thoughts on her husbands constant side-switching that had led to their circumstances are not known, and their bittersweet homecoming to Rome also included news that Livia was pregnant again. Interestingly, Octavian may have been introduced to Livia by his former wife, Scribonia. He wasn't going to let any obstacles come between him and his new-found love. Octavian met with Livia very soon after her return to Rome and asked her to marry him. She quickly said yes and Tiberius meekly agreed to a divorce. They were probably engaged in late September or early October 39 BC. Thought to be a bit scandalous, due to the speed and machinations of their affair, nevertheless a grand betrothal banquet was held.

As with other people of the nobility at the time, Livia owned little slave boys (usually from Syria or Africa) called deliciae (darlings). These boys probably prefigured court jesters in that they had license to say anything and not be penalized for it. The little boys went around a room of guests, naked trying to entertain and amuse guests with their remarks. During the banquet one of these boys saw Livia and Octavian sharing a dining couch while the unceremoniously dumped Tiberius shared one with a male guest. He came to Livia and said: "What are you doing here, mistress? For your husband is over there." The couple waited a time before the wedding due to Livia's unborn child by Tiberius. Octavian's conservative (although hypocritical) nature and the fact that he had served in the priesthood himself, led him to consult the proper religious authority, the pontifices: could he marry Livia while she was pregnant? Even though the pontifices said they could marry, the couple delayed their wedding until after the birth of her second child, another boy born on 14 January and given the praenomen Drusus. The Roman people suspected that he was the product of adultery with his stepfather. This is factually wrong because Octavian did not meet Livia until after she had conceived in the spring of 39 BC, but of course, the gossip was too delicious and salacious to pass up. The couple was wed on 17 January 38 BC in the timeless custom of the Roman marriage ceremony.

The ceremony dramatized the bride's taking leave of her father's house to the groom's. Apparently Livia's father was dead because Tiberius gave her away. Indeed she must have spent the night before her wedding at his home-I wonder how that went! During the ceremony an animal sacrifice would have been offered to the gods. Then by age old custom Livia would have said to Octavian, "Ubi tues Gaius, ego Gaia."-"Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia." This was the heart of the ceremony and everyone present would have shouted "Feliciter!"-"Congratulations." Then Octavian would have led Livia in a street procession from Tiberius's house to his own. Flute players would have led the way followed by torchbearers. As the procession moved along people would have been happily singing raunchy songs. Once at Octavian's home which would have been decked out in flowers for the occasion a few more rituals would have been performed, and then men who had been married only once would have carried Livia through the front door; this was to avoid the bride tripping on the threshold-a very bad omen to the Romans. Then after a splendid wedding breakfast and more bawdy songs guests would have begun leaving for the new couple to enjoy some privacy.

Tiberius, by law, would have stayed with his father as he was three and the paterfamilias had absolute authority over his children. Octavian also gave the elder Tiberius the infant Drusus. It is not known what Livia's feelings were about this. But what we know of her from other records tends to indicate that her feelings were for the future grandeur of her postition rather than her children. Livia was able to get both her sons back anyway five years later in 33 BC, when Tiberius died. Octavian's marriage is important historically because it appears to be the first occasion in his life where he was led by his heart and also because Livia becomes important in his life, especially later on when she may have influenced the succession upon Octavian's (Augustus Caesar's) death. Their marriage also portended trends in the future and not just significant because Octavian was now married into the noble Claudii family. For Livia had been one of the exiles who had once been on Sicily with her husband, in a group of people that had amassed around the last hope of the Republic-Sextus Pompeius. Livia, in marrying the Republic's deadliest nemesis is a valuable historical marker that the ruling class was starting to realize there was no going back to the old days and starting to accomodate the new. Speaking of Sextus Pompeius, interesting events were starting to happen with and around him starting in 38 BC, just a very short time after the Treaty of Misenum. While Sextus' popularity with the Roman people was growing stronger, some disagreements had already arisen between Octavian and Sextus with the result that Octavian already felt that the treaty was a mistake.

The image is of an Egyptian basalt bust of Livia Augusta created around 31 BC, now in the Louvre in Paris. I am hoping to have the next article here soon. I should have enough ready to go for between five to seven posts. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Ten

Publius Virgilius Maro (Virgil) was a poet of the age who had come up from the lower or middle ranks of Italian society. However, his father saw to it that he got a good education. Virgil went to Rome and studied rhetoric. Suetonius describes him as "tall and bulky with a dark complexion and the appearance of a countryman. He had changeable health [and] ate and drank little. He was always falling in love with boys." By the time Virgil was around thirty years old he had left Rome and the dream of having a public career. He was almost at the summit of his talent as a poet and lived in Neapolis (modern Naples). Virgil's first major works had been published called the Ecologues which were a series of ten poems that described a pastoral ideal of life in the countryside. In Virgil's paradise of handsome young shepherds and beautiful shepherdesses very real and painful events are in the background; such as the young poet losing his farm to Octavian's veteran settlers and its thankful return due to Octavian's intervention. As much as Virgil's original experience of the naked power of the triumvirs may have wounded his soul, he did find an accord with the new regime. Maybe Virgil, along with many other people, not only in Italy but through the Meditteranean world were hoping that the concord reached with the Treaty of Brundisium heralded the dawn of a new age.

Back in the era of the classical world, before mass printing became available a professional writer who didn't have money needed to find rich patrons to give him the necessary tools to publish his work as there was no extensive middle class market to provide income from book sales. This is probably the first reason Virgil came to support Octavian-the need for financial backing. But he also acted out of real political ideals, for in the years after Brundisium, the new regime seemed to offer hope, peace and prosperity. There was a messianic message in his fourth ecologue:
"The Firstborn of the New Ages is already on his way from heaven down to earth.
With him, the Iron Age shall end and Golden Man inherit all the world. Smile on the baby's birth, immaculate Lucina [goddess of childbirth]; your own Apollo is enthroned at last."
Many historians believe that with this verse, Virgil is not only trumpeting the return of a Golden Age but also this poem could have been a wedding hymn, should either Antony and Octavia or Octavian and Scribonia produce a male child. To whomever the poem was written for the issue became a moot point. In 39 BC both women gave birth to daughters; Scribonia had Julia and Octavia had Antonia.

The dawn of the new age was to be short lived. Sextus Pompeius still lurked in the background. He had attempted to help Mark Antony gain the upper hand and been rejected at the last moment. Now Sextus put a blockade around Italy. In Rome prices skyrocketed. This is one of the few times Octavian was out of touch with public opinion. The people of Italy wanted Octavian to make peace with Sextus. Not only did he refuse to do this, he levied a new tax on property owners to pay his soldiers. Once again rioting broke out in Rome, the people's patience had snapped after all they had gone through. Courageously-or perhaps foolishly, Octavian decided to face the mob of protesters, as he had done with the mutinous soldiers on the Campus Martius. This time, however, the crowd began lobbing projectiles at him and didn't stop even after injuring the young man. Mark Antony on hearing news of what was happening dashed to the Forum. When the protesters first eyed Antony they didn't throw anything at him because it was known he favored peace with Sextus, but they did warn him not to interfere. When Antony refused to go back they also began stoning him. Mark Antony was able to summon reinforcements and eventually rescued Ocatavian from the crowd, after being able to get him only after much harrassment.

I think this incident illustrates two things at least. Octavian, although not a great warrior definitely had a kind of courage. The twenty-four year old showed determination and grit in facing both crowds. It also shows-I think anyway-that Antony wanted to continue in power with Octavian in the way things had now been setttled-otherwise why risk his life to save him? Octavian did finally realize he had to give in on the matter of Sextus. In the summer of 39 BC a very cautious peace conference was arranged between the triumvirs and Sextus at Misenum, a headland at the northern end of the Bay of Naples. Sextus himself had rejected advice to make all-out war or at least wait and see if the famine in Rome would give him greater leverage. The concessions Antony and Octavian made to Sextus at the Treaty of Misenum were not essential to their hold on power. Sextus could also proclaim the treaty was a rather good deal for him as he was no longer an outlaw, and was even given membership in the College of Augurs (the committee of senior statesmen who were charged with seeing that the correct measures had been prescribed to placate the gods were carried out) and also nominated for the consulship in the forthcoming year of 38 BC. In private, however, Sextus already regretted not taking the advice to stand firm.

Could this have been because he realized something that may not have occurred to the triumvirs? The Treaty of Misenum did bring Sextus back inside the political life of Rome, but it also gave the priceless gift of separating opposition politicians from Sextus. The deal between Sextus and the triumvirs was sealed with a marriage bond as had happened between Antony and Octavian at Brundisium. Sextus' infant daughter was formally betrothed to Marcellus, who was three years old and Antony's stepson and Octavian's nephew. Plutarch tell us that Menodorus, one of Sextus's admirals spoke to Sextus out of hearing of the guests: "Shall I cut the cables and make you master not just of Sicily and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?" Sextus is supposed to have replied: "Menodorus, you should have acted, not spoken to me beforehand. Now we must be content with things as they are. I do not break my word." This famous exchange has some silver-tongued qualities that make some historians doubt its veracity. However, Plutarch's records could very well have been the truth. It tells us two things that are very much in keeping with Sextus's character. In calling himself Pius, "dutiful" or "honest", Sextus was thinking mostly of his father's memory, but it also showed that Sextus thought of himself as a Roman of the republican values of being honest and straightforward. Also the story tells of the lack of the cut-throat and killer instinct in Sextus, which can be verified by his political career-especially in comparison to Antony and Octavian. After the peace conference, the men left for their different destinations. Octavian to Gaul where reports of resistance were coming in. Antony to the east and the Parthians and Sextus back to Sicily. Many of the refugees in Sextus's entourage bade him goodbye and left for Rome.

The image is of a stamp issued of a mosaic of Virgil found at an ancient villa in Tunisia. I have more information that is ready to go and hope to have the next post here soon. Thanks to anyone following or commenting on this blog!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Nine

Antony's ally and governor of all Gaul beyond the Alps, Quintus Calenus, had passed away suddenly. Octavian had rushed off to Gaul to take command of Calenus's eleven legions. This amounted to a declaration of war in Antony's mind. He began making plans for an invasion of Italy to unseat his junior colleague. Now it was critical that Octavian prevent an alliance between Antony and Sextus. Mark Antony's next moves are very revealing as to how much he knew he would need Sextus's support. Antony sent Sextus's mother, Mucia, to Sicily bearing an amicable message to Sextus from Antony. Mark Antony then wed Scribonia, Sextus's aunt-in-law in a typical pact sealing gesture. Antony had left for Italy not only leaving Fulvia on her sickbed but without even saying goodbye. This is the last act of her estrangement from her husband that she was able to bear, and Fulvia died soon after this. Apparently Antony had just wanted to teach Fulvia a lesson about her political meddling, for he was extremely upset by her death and blamed himself for it. Mark Antony left for the port of Brundisium. He had just a small number of troops but had two hundred ships. This was further enhanced by a secret alliance with Domitius Ahenobarbus who controlled a powerful republican fleet.

Many on the republican side were now placing a lot of hopes in Mark Antony. Sextus Pompeius was undoubtedly loyal to their cause, but compared to Antony he was an unexperienced military leader. This last set of actions between Antony and the republicans definitely show that Antony was determined to triumph over Octavian where his brother Lucius and wife, Fulvia had failed. No doubt by this time Antony was fed up with his junior triumvirs antics. Just who the hell did Octavian think he was? Added to what must have been a sense of enormous personal irritation with Octavian was the fact that the relationship between the two was also unbalancing Roman politics and delaying the invasion of Parthia. The port of Brundisium which was stationed by Octavian's men closed its gates to the republican force. Antony immediately began a siege of the port and sent word to Macedonia asking for immediate reinforcements. In a move that revealed the magnitude and depth of Antony's anger, he asked Sextus Pompeius, with whom he had no formal alliance to start naval attacks against Italy, to which the young Sextus happily agreed to. Octavian began heading towards Brundisium. Numerically he had far more troops than Antony, but he didn't do anything except keep a lookout outside Antony's siege laying fortifications. Once again Octavian fell ill at this time of crisis, this time the particular ailment is not recorded.

Just before Rome was about to be put through another all out civil war, Roman soldiers intervened. This started with Octavian's legionaires making a secret decision that they would only fight Antony's men if they could not get them to reconcile. Friendships increased the two armies as they were able to fraternize. This time there would not be a war for there would not be any men on either side willing to fight it. Certainly it was a blow to the triumvirs' prestige and authority but Antony and Octavian couldn't do anything about it. Ordering punishments for the peace-making soldiers would only make matters worse. Maecenas-Octavians friend from his boyhood days was one of the peace negotiators appointed to end the dispute. The agreement that was finally hammered out was very beneficial for Octavian, as he was left with Gaul and Calenus's legions. This seems to have been allowed by Antony because he had decided that he could no longer look at Octavian as a troublemaker who would soon be gone by a perhaps likely illness or more unlikely mistake. This time he wanted a permanent settlement and codification of their relationship in regards to the empire at large and their personal relationship. The Treaty of Brundisium renewed the Triumvirate for another five years and the empire was cut in half.

Octavian was given all of the west including Gaul, and Antony all of the east from Macedonia onwards. Ledpidus, whose importance was decreasing as time went on was ablt to keep Africa. Now that the political landscape had changed again it was Octavian's duty to get rid of Sextus Pompeius and Antony's to punish the Parthians for Carrhae. They still needed something to further and strengthen their agreements. The two men had never got along with, nor trusted each other. The Treaty of Brundisium would be worth about as much as the paper it was written on if steps weren't taken to bind them together. The solution to binding Antony and Octavian personally as well as politically was made feasible by two recent deaths. The same year that Fulvia had died, 40 BC, Octavian, Octavian's sister's elderly husband, Gaius Claudius Marcellus had passed away also. Octavia was a very eligible widow (Marcellus had left her with two daughters and an infant son). The idea of sealing the treaty with the marriage of Antony to Octavia was to good to pass up.

Octavian had certainly shown a ruthlessness in his quest for power until now, and personal obligations or feelings of love probably didn't play a huge part in his decision making. However, Plutarch tells us that Octavian was "deeply attached to his sister, who was, as they saying is, a wonder of a woman." So it is unlikely in this particular instance that Octavian would have offered his sister in marriage to his womanizing and uncertain colleague if he did not truly want a rapprochement with Antony. Also, Octavian could have had his adoptive father's life and example in his thoughts. While Julius Caesar's daughter, Julia, was alive and married to Pompey the Great, both Caesar and Pompey had got along just fine. Spectacular celebrations took place at Brundisium to honor the historic alliance. The triumvirs entertained each other in their respective camps, Octavian "in military and Roman fashion and Antony in Asiatic and Egyptian style."

After that they went to Rome, where the wedding of Antony and Octavia was held. Antony had a coin struck of the occasion showing their heads. This is the first known time a woman's image appeared on a Roman coin. There was only one event that broke the rare peace and tranquility of these days. Octavian's friend and commander of the legions in Gaul, Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, had started a secret correspondence with Mark Antony. This happened at a time before the Treaty of Brundisium, when it looked as if Octavian and Antony might be fighting each other soon. Salvidienus suggested he might be ready to switch sides. We do not know the reasons for his doing this, and it is always interesting to me to guess at reasons (although frustrating also) for this and other betrayals in history. There could have been some hidden machinations or jealousies in Octavian's intimate entourage, or Salvidienus could have just thought Octavian's chances against a seasoned soldier like Antony were slim. If the ancient sources are correct, incredibly-Antony told Octavian of Salvidienus' plan of defection while he was besieging Brundisium-not after they were reconciled! If this is true perhaps Antony's motives for this were as a kind of peace offering? Octavian was loyal to a fault in his friendships and expected his friends to be the same towards him. But if anyone-much less a friend betrayed him he was merciless.

Octavian sent a summons to Salvidienus to come to Rome; which he unwisely ignored. After this, Octavian had the Senate declare him both an inimicus (personal enemy) and a hostis (public enemy) and executed. For Salvidienus it was a terrible end to a stellar career. He had come from very humble origins and was once a shepherd boy. He had even been designated the consul for the following year, 39 BC, without ever having civilian office or a Senate seat. Whatever really happened during this inscrutable affair, Appian records that: "Antony did not win general approval for making this admission" about Salvidienus. Ever since the days of Sulla, Rome had phases where it had been convulsed in hazardous and changing times. There were very few people without guilty secrets and many would have thought Antony could have turned a blind eye to Salvidienus, as other men had to his own wheelings and dealings. Again we can wonder if Antony just wanted to show how deeply and sincerely he was invested in his new friendship with Octavian. The execution of Salvidienus is a reminder of a blind spot in Antony's personality. Behind all of the shoulder rubbing, back patting, fun, games, drinking and easy women-there was a coldness and ruthlessness in Antony and also a failure to recognize the feelings of others. It is interesting to note here also that maybe he realized this with his guilt over Fulvia's death and that he knew of the attempt to be made on Julius Caesar and did nothing.

Thanks again to anyone following or reading this blog! I do hope to have the next post here soon, I might miss a day tomorrow or Wednesday and tried to type as much as I could tonight. The image is a marble bust of Octavian (Augustus Caesar) in a museum in Munich. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Eight

I will always wonder-especially as he suffered from ill health and escaped death from this and other causes numerous times-if Octavian believed he was not only a divi filius, son of a god-but that he was also especially favored in his destiny by the gods? Octavian showed a very methodical and patient approach to political matters. Two important things should be restated about the way he practiced politics: 1) He was cautious by nature and temperment and avoided acting impulsively. 2) He showed an unrelenting hatred to anyone who crossed him, not necessarily those that were in his way but those who had intentionally set out to do him harm out of their own hatred or ambition. Octavian was no boy-child who would have his fifteen minutes of fame and be swept from the gaming board. At the tender age of twenty-three he had earned his right to sit at the table with older, tougher, more experienced men, but we must ask once again-were these men wiser than Octavian? Unfortunately there is not much information about Octavian's personal life, especially in his youth. The historical facts we do have about this area fall into two groups: 1) Dynastic marriages. 2) Stories and propaganda circulated by his enemies.

The heir to Julius Caesar was considered the greatest catch in Rome. Because of the way Roman society was structured, both in republican and imperial times, it was important for Octavian to marry into as high a noble family as he could, in spite of the fact that he was connected with the very ancient Julii clan. This is because Octavian himself came only from a provincial family that was well to do, but only of equestrian status. The equites or knights were the affluent middle class. They occupied a level below that of the nobility and members of the Senate. This class would, however, often overlap socially with the others. Sometime in 43 BC, Octavian married the daughter of Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus, a member of Rome's most ancient nobility. This marriage only lasted a few months because Mark Antony and Octavian didn't trust each other and agreed it would be better to seal their alliance with a familial bond. Antony's wife Fulvia had a daughter by her first husband. This girl was just barely of marriageable age and too young for intercourse, but girls in ancient Rome were considered old enough to be married at about twelve and boys at fourteen. Husband and wife had to have reached puberty. Children could be betrothed in marriage as long as they understood what it was about, Roman thinking on the being at age seven-although we might disagree these days!

More about Octavian's sexual life (outside of marriage) was bandied about by his enemies. In those times Romans often went on about the sexual idiosyncrasies of their opponents, to the point of being expected to produce bawdy verse. Octavian was well up to this task as these lines attributed to him (very likely authentic) about the reasons for Fulvia's political subversion: "Because Antony fucks Glaphyra (a current mistress), Fulvia is determined to punish me by making me fuck her in turn. I fuck Fulvia? What if Manius [a freedman of Fulvia] begged me to sodomize him, would I do it? I think not, if I were in my right mind, "Either fuck me or fight," says she. Ah but my cock is dearer to me than life itself. Let the trumpets sound." Accusations of homosexuality were probably inspired by his attractive but rather boyish appearance. Sextus Pompeius was one who accused Octavian of being an effeminate homosexual-a "queen." Lucius Antonius (another enemy obviously) said that Octavian sold himself to Aulus Hirtius, the consul who died at Mutina in 43 BC, during the last campaign of the civil war. The same campaign that led to Julius Caesar's victory at Munda. This wouldn't have been very long before Caesar returned to Italy and wrote his will. Perhaps to add that little detail that always seems to help lend truth to some accusations; Lucius claimed that Octavian used to soften the hair on his legs by singeing it with hot walnut shells! Octavian, perhaps because of his pretty boy looks rather than any actual history; for he truly seems to have only slept with women or preferred women greatly over men, had a reputation for sleeping with men. Even though he was likely one-hundred percent heterosexual the following incident will show how wide his reputation had spread.

This incident happened during a theater performance. An actor came onstage during a play, representing Cybele, the Great Mother. As he played a tambourine, another actor exclaimed, "Look how the queen's finger beats the drum!" In Latin the same phrase can also mean, "Look how the queen's finger sways the world!" The audience assumed this was a reference to Octavian, who was sitting with them in the theater, and they happily burst into applause. Antony was preparing to go to war against the Parthians in the spring of 40 BC. At this time he learned that Perusia had fallen and that Fulvia had been forced to flee Italy. Subsequently Fulvia met Antony in Athens. Here he gave her a severe dressing down and blamed her for the situation at Perusia. It is not known what Fulvia said in reply, but she became very ill after the couple traveled to Sicyon, a port on the Gulf of Corinth. Also not known is from what illness she suffered from but Appian believes she harmed herself and made her condition worse. Antony's mother Julia had fled Italy and went to Sicily due to concerns for her own safety. She visited her son in Sicyon and told him that Sextus Pompeius was willing to ally himself with Mark Antony against Octavian. Antony's reply to Sextus was discrete. He would regard Sextus as an ally if he went to war with Octavian, if not he would try to repair relations between them. Then with all of these events going on in the background, Octavian did something that was a violation of the terms of agreement between the triumvirs.

I hope to have the next article here soon. I have been working a lot on this information lately but have no idea how many posts it will translate into. The image is a Roman mosaic picturing dogs. After I get all of the information I have down -perhaps on some of these articles I will try to come up with an image better pertaining to the post. I spend a ridiculous amount of time looking for just the right image and still can't usually seem to find what I want, so for awhile all I promise is that the images will have some relation to Rome:-)Thanks for your thoughtful and intelligent comments and be well to anyone stopping by!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Seven

Cassius Dio explains that Antony "had earnestly devoted himself to his duties so long as he had been in a subordinate situation and had been aiming for the highest prizes; but now that he had got into power, he no longer paid strict attention to these things." Bad news has a way of coming in twos and threes as Antony was soon to find out. A consul of 41 BC was Lucius Antonius, Mark Antony's brother. Together with Antony's forceful wife they conspired to form a military attack against Octavian. Antony's wife, Fulvia, played such an active role in the anti-Octavian conspiracy that her powers seemed to equal those of a consul. Their plan was simple. Sympathize with the dispossessed Italian farmers and at the same time tell the legionaires that Octavian was plotting against the absent Mark Antony whom they were claiming to speak for. When Antony returned to Italy things would be set right. Lucius raised eight legions and backed an anti-Octavian protest in Rome. Then he marched north in hopes of joining with two of Antony's generals. Wisely, as the generals were unsure of Antony's true desires they didn't join the plot. Fulvia, in a fantastic show of the strength of her personality actually raised troops-and incredibly for a woman of her time issued orders directly.

Dio writes of her efforts: "And why should anyone be surprised at this, when she would wear a sword at her side, give out the watchword to the soldiers, and on many occasions give speeches directly to them?" Octavian wisely relied on his boyhood friend, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who had a natural gift for military strategy and generalship to get him out of this mess. Agrippa and Salvidienus were able to outmaneuver Lucius, who sought refuge in the strongly fortified hilltown of Perusia (modern Perugia in Umbria, Italy). He waited in vain for the two Antonian generals to come to his aid. However, without instructions from Antony they didn't go all the way to Perusia and pulled back-much to the fury of Fulvia. Octavian then sealed off the town with a ditch and rampart seven miles long. Once again Octavian had a close brush with death being surprised by an enemy sortie while performing a sacrifice for victory outside the town's walls. Both sides exchanged stone and lead sligshots at each other. Archaeologists have found some of these lead balls and many have rude messages scratched on them: "I seek Fulvia's clitoris"; "I seek Octavian's arse"; "Hi, Octavius, you suck dick"; and much more lamely, "Lucius is bald." Lucius was defeated and the defeated legions were pardoned.

Lucius was sent to be the governor of Spain, a situation that wouldn't have happened without him being Antony's brother who was still far too powerful for Octavian to take on directly. Octavian must have been enraged by the plotters, however, for Perusia was given to the troops to plunder and accidentally burned to the ground. According to Suetonius other prisoners of war were far less fortunate than Lucius and his higher-ups: " [Octavian] took vengeance on crowds of prisoners and returned the same answer to all who sued for pardon or tried to explain their prescence among the rebels. It was simply: "You must die!" According to some historians he chose 300 prisoners of equestrian or senatorial rank, and offered them on the Ides of March at the altar of the god Julius, as human sacrifices." This scenario is repeated by Cassius Dio and very likely true-we know all too well how Octavian would behave to those that crossed him. Senatorial decree forbid human sacrifice in 97 BC but it appears through Roman history as a recurrent practice. Roman religious ceremonies show traces of the ritual. It is known that on three occasions during times of great crisis for the Republic during the third and second centuries BC that two pairs of Gauls and Greeks, each a man and a woman, were buried alive in the cattle market (forum boarium). Lucius Sergius Catiline (of the Catiline conspiracy) was said to have sacrificed a boy and eaten his entrails in the 60s BC.

The most recent verified instance of human sacrifice took place during Julius Caesar's triumph in 46 BC, when enraged he had two rioting soldiers sacrificed to the war god Mars. Lucius surrendered in January or February 40 BC, only a matter of weeks before the anniversary of the Ides of March. Octavian performed the mass sacrifice on a commemorative altar placed at the site of Caesar's cremation in the Forum. The sacrifice rocked Rome to the very heart of its being, both because of the number and status of the victims. For Octavian, this marked the end of his blood-letting in honor of his deified adoptive father. The Roman citizenry long remembered the extravagant savagery as these lines show...our fatherland's Perusian graves, The Italian massacre in a callous time. Mark Antony claimed ignorance of what Lucius and Fulvia were doing. But Octavian wrote him many letters about the debacle, so it should be said he had to have known about it. Also, it would have been very strange for Fulvia to do this without her husband's knowledge. In all probablility he knew exactly what was happening, although it may not have been his idea. Step by step, Octavian was gaining immensely valuable political experience and showing good judgment also in letting other men in his entourage perform tasks he wasn't as good at; such as letting Agrippa take the lead in military conflicts.

The Perusian war showed the ineptness of Antony and his crowd-tending to make mistakes in both organization and execution. The twenty-three year old Octavian by contrast was now stronger than ever. It had been a year and a half since Philppi. The times since then must have been horribly vexing for the young man-he had come close to dying several times now. But the bad times seemed to bring out the best in his steely and calculating judgment and character. Never good at things military anyway; Octavian's reputation for physical cowardice on the battlefield may have been deserved. But there were also times when he showed great courage in other matters. Octavian showed an unwavering moral courage in his duties to pursue the unpopular but necessary policy of land confiscation that had come close to costing him his life on the Campus Martius. He had also been extremely brutal and bloodthirsty at times. After Philippi, could it have been the combination of sickness, nervous exhaustion and knowing how much better Antony's command was than his? After Perusia was he showing that you dare not cross him, but also showing that he knew he had to deal with certain people later? As much as Octavian brought to the table that was new, by his faithful treatment of Julius Caesar's memory and priestly duties, he was also showing a side to him that sympathized with the old values of the Republic (although only in certain areas and hypocritical about some as we will see later).

Thanks again to anyone following or commenting on this blog! I am still just slightly ahead of having material ready to be posted. I may not be online tomorrow-not sure yet. Best to anyone stopping by and have a beautiful weekend! The image is a marble bust of Mark Antony.

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Six

Sextus made plans to starve the city. He was helped by the republican admirals Ahenobarbus and Murcus who stengthened the blockade by putting ships off Brundisium and the Ionian Gulf. Real pirates saw an opportunity in this confusion and raided southern Italy. Sextus was hoping to make the move for a return to Rome and take back his family's confiscated property. There is more than enough reason to think that Sextus hoped he could easily come to an agreement with Mark Antony, who would no doubt be happy for any help getting rid of this young interloper and maddening colleague-Octavian. Antony also decided that he could play the god game as well as Octavian. The god Antony presented himself to Asia as could even be argued to be a much more exciting and mysterious one than simply being the son of a god. The New Dionysus, also widely known as Bacchus, was a multidimensional god. He was the patron of wine, agriculture and the abundance of nature. He was a god of mystery cults, whose rituals induced ecstatic, transcendent states and an uplifting of the soul from the mundane world through physical or spiritual intoxication. Dionysus provided a fascinating way of representing a euphoric, mystical eastern irrationalism that was countered by the western clarity and unambiguity of Apollo, god of reason and light.

Many eastern gods have both good and dark aspects. Antony in using everything he could come up with to milk the remaining wealth out of the eastern provinces, who had already financed their overlord's civil wars caused Plutarch to write acerbicly: "To most people, [Antony] came as Dionysus the Cruel and Eater of the Flesh, for he stripped many noble families of their property and gave it away to rogues and flatterers. In other cases, men were allowed to steal fortunes from owners who were still living by making out that they were dead." Now Antony showed a bit of foresight-he knew he had overstepped. He reduced his demand for nine years worth of taxes to two. Where else might he look for cash? Maybe it was at this time that the New Dionysus, also equivalent to the Egyptian god Osiris, thought of his divine sister, the New Isis-AKA Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt. Mark Antony would have met her in Rome when she was Caesar's mistress. He would have been aware of Egypt's immense wealth. In due course Antony invited Cleopatra politely, but firmly to make part of Egypt's wealth available to Rome. Antony sent one of his aides, Quintus Dellius from Tarsus in Cilicia (in modern southern Turkey) to procure Cleopatra. Dellius was another figure from the ancient Rome who had quite a past.

He was said to have been a sexual pet as a boy. He also had a reputation in these most dangerous times for turncoating at precisely the right moment. One of the more memorable insults has Dellius as a "circus-rider of the civil wars," vaunting with ease from horse to horse. Dellius was quite taken with Cleopatra's charm when he arrived in Alexandria and rightly guessed that Antony would be taken with her charms also. He advised Cleopatra to wear her sexiest garments in Antony's prescence. Antony was quite a womanizer but Dellius told her he always treated his women in a gentlemanly manner and never forced himself on them. Cleopatra was impressed by Dellius, to her he must have seemed like a knowledgeable adjutant and took his advice. She sailed to Tarsus on a magnficent barge. Plutarch painted the scene beautifully: " [She] was in a barge with a poop of gold, its purple sails billowing in the wind, while her rowers carressed the waters with oars of silver which dipped in time to the music of the flute, accompanied by pipes and lutes. Cleopatra herself reclined beneath a canopy of cloth of gold, dressed in the character of Aphrodite." There was an intricate play of goals here. Cleopatra was well aware of the role religion had in self-promotion. By offering herself to Antony as Aphrodite (whom many equated with the goddess Isis) she was not only making a sexual overture but also legitimizing Antony as the New Dionysus.

Cleopatra was very skillful in her relations with Mark Antony. She knew he was easygoing and belonged more to "the soldier than the courtier" as Plutarch remarked. These qualities were not quite what Cleopatra would have been used to growing up in the sophisticated court of the Ptolemies. In Antony's prescence, however, she appeared to enjoy his earthy sense of humor and taste for practical jokes. Cleopatra was to have dined at Antony's place first. She countered his invitation with one of her own. Antony always good with the ladies gave in and dined with her on her barge first. The next day the queen dined with Antony. The gastronomic pleasures lasted four days. The two then talked business. Antony requested financial support for the upcoming invasion of Parthia. Cleopatra was happy to oblige but with certain conditions. She wanted a few people making her life difficult executed-most of all her half-sister Arsinoe, who had stolen her throne for a short time and had been given sanctuary at the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Antony agreed. Cleopatra then invited Antony to spend the winter with her at cosmopolitan Alexandria. The "divine" couple happily set sail for Egypt where Antony donned an informal tunic in the Greek manner instead of the clothing of a Roman official. The couple formed a bacchanalian dining club called the Inimitable Livers and passed much of their days in revelry.

Then in February or March of 40 BC news reached Egypt that the Parthians were not going to sit around and wait for Antony to attack them, so they launched a preemptive invasion of Syria. Antony quickly left for Asia Minor. Critics of Antony said he lost himself in his adventures with Cleopatra to eastern decadence. The way he actually behaved was pretty much the same as he had all his life. The two had sex but were not in love, however, they did probably enjoy each other's company and maybe love blossomed later. Cleopatra gave birth to twins of Antony's-Alexander Helios (the Sun) and Cleopatra Selene (the Moon) later that year. At this time Mark Antony left Egypt without regret to do his duty as a Roman general. The couple would not see each other again for three and a half years. For Antony he had had a splendid holiday and little more, although the financial backing he received from his lover was crucial. However, there were major events taking place in the makeup of Antony's personality at this time. He was losing his sense of focus. There is a Greek word for what was happening to him-eklusis, the word for the unstringing of a bow-kind of a 'coming undone' although gradually.

The image is of the ruins of the temple to Venus at the remains of Emperor Hadrian's Villa Adriana. I hope to have the next article here soon. Thanks again to anyone reading or commenting on this blog!

Roman Empire: New Wars Old Enemies Part Five

Before they went their seperate ways after Philippi, Antony and Octavian confirmed their decision of how Rome's provinces were to be divided up and ruled. There were a few changes, however, and Lepidus got the short end of the stick. They suspected him of treasonable communication with Sextus Pompeius, leader of the republican forces in Sicily. Because of this Lepidus had to give up Spain to Octavian and Narbonese Gaul to Antony. If somehow Ledpidus could prove his innocence, Octavian might give up a province from his allocation. Mark Antony retained Narbonese Gaul (Long-haired Gaul) but gave up Cisalpine Gaul, which the triumvirs decided should be made part of Italy instead of continuing as a province, which had been Julius Caesar's idea first. This was an intelligent plan that would remove the threat of a potentially 'treasonous' provincial governor in command of an army that was only a few days march from Rome. Essentially-another Julius Caesar. Interesting, to me anyway, is how the men who had seized power illegally in Rome from Sulla on, sought to prevent other men from doing exactly the very things they had done! Mark Antony, as the senior man in the partnership and Octavian's spoils from the victory at Philippi were divided quite unevenly. Antony was to rule over the east, reorganize it and raise money to restore Rome's solvency.

Eventually he would make arrangements to go to war against the Parthians as Caesar had intended to do before his assassination. The idea being to not only 'prevent' the Parthians from causing trouble but to get vengeance and recover the standards lost by Crassus's disastrous defeat in 53 BC. In contrast to Antony, Octavian had the very thankless task of demobilizing a large number of troops and settle them in smallholdings in Italy. Approximately 14,000 survivors from the legions of Cassius and Brutus were added to the victorious army. The old Caesarian veterans who had been recruited in 49 and 48 BC, some forty thousand total were sent to Italy to become civilians. This was enough men to give Mark Antony eight more legions which he took to the east and three legions to Octavian in the west. Octavian faced a big problem. There was not enough land to accomodate the veterans and the treasury was empty, so compulsory purchase was not an option. Eighteen cities in Italy had their land confiscated and the freeholders kicked out. This outraged and inflamed public opinion to the point that those affected 'marched on Rome' themselves. Appian tells us: "People came in groups...young men, old men, women with their children, and gathered in the Forum and the temples, lamenting and declaring that they had done no wrong." Octavian simply told them the awful truth to the people saying, "From what other source, then, are we to pay the veterans their prize money?"

Even worse, the land that had been taken was still not enough and some former soldiers resorted to violence to grab farms they hadn't been granted, often with more fertile land. This led to the breakdown of law and order in many parts of Italy. Octavian's relations with his soldiers also began to falter as one alarming incident shows. Veterans had been told to go to the Campus Martius to hear announcements about the allocations. The men were so hungry for news that they arrived early, some before dawn. Octavian was late to the meeting and they became enraged. When a centurion gave the crowd a browbeating for their behavior they began yelling at him-and then they killed him. This was an occasion where Octavian made a very brave decision. If he now stayed completely away from the assembly what had been a crisis would end in calamity. So Octavian came, turning away when he saw the centurion's body and politely asked the legionaires if they would comport themselves with more restraint in the future. Then he gave out the expected land grants, some bounties and invited further petitions for reward. With cool calculation, Octavian had so disarmed the crowd that they showed remorse for what they had done and asked Octavian to punish the centurion's killers. He agreed to do this but wisely imposed two conditions: that the guilty admit to their deed and that the army as a whole condemn them.

This wasn't the end of the story by any means. During 41 BC Octavian was walking on a tightrope. On one side trying to pacify the veterans, on the other trying to mend fences with the civilian population. Cassius Dio reports: "He learned from actual experience that weapons had no power to make the injured feel friendly towards him." So Octavian no longer took senatorial estates or other kinds of private property. But once again, the veterans were not happy about this. Dio claims that yet more centurions were killed who were seen as taking his side: "They came very near to killing [Octavian] himself, making any excuse justify their anger." Relations deteriorated between the veterans and the dispossessed citizens to the point that there was rioting in Rome and once again Italy was coming unglued. An event similar to a general strike is reported by Appian: "The civilian population shut the workshops and made the elected officeholders leave, saying that they had no need of either office holders or crafts in a starving and plundered city."

And yet another confounding thorn was about to strike at the young divi filius. In a pattern seen from ancient times to the twenty-first century, the landless poor and just plain desperate had flocked to the big cities-in this case Rome. A multitude of men, women and children depended on the supply of subsidized grain to keep them from starving. Every year the city went through between 140,000 and 190,000 tons of wheat. More than 300,000 citizens alone were on the dole and received free supplies of grain. Some of the grain came from Italy but a large proportion came from Sicily, Africa and Sardinia. Italy was not agriculturally self-sufficient and Rome was very dependent on the whims of international politics. This is very similar to modern industrial societies and their reliance on imports of gas, oil and in some cases food and other goods. Pompey the Great had understood just how dependent the Republic was for its necessities on apen and free shipping lanes. That is why in 67 BC he undertook to clear the Meditteranean of pirates, who had become such a problem that they were threatening to starve Italy. Twenty-five years later Pompey's son controlled the same waters that his father had made safe. We can wonder if he had heard his father talk of the problem as a boy and thus learned the value of such a strategic stranglehold-ironically with Sextus Pompeius now playing the 'pirate'.

The image is of a "war elephant" of Hannibal represented on a plate. Rome's first encounter with elephants that served in wars with men was from its early death struggle with the maritime power Carthage in the third century BC. I hope to have the next article here soon-I think I am still running at least three or four "ahead"-which is actually good. Now if I were not such a lousy typist I could get the information here! Thanks again to anyone reading or commenting on this blog-best wishes to all of you!