As the executor of Iulius Caesar’s will and estate, Antonius presented the dictator’s bloodied and desecrated body in the Forum Romanum and gave the speech of his life.31 By the time he had delivered his last words the common people had been swept up into a violent rage.32 They rampaged through the centre of the city, setting fire to the Senate House and adjacent market halls.33 Dragging out from the buildings anything combustible, they raised a heap at the southern end of the Forum, laid the body of Caesar upon the makeshift pyre and set it alight. Witnessing the violent commotion, the conspirators fled the city.34 In the confusion of events M. Aemilius Lepidus, who, on the day of the assassination had brought his troops into the centre of Rome to restore order, became Pontifex Maximus.35
Meanwhile, Octavius’ group, wary of the reception they might find in Rome, had set off from Lupiae and arrived at his stepfather’s villa in Puteoli near Neapolis (modern Naples) on 18 April.36 Once settled in, he corresponded with Antonius, Atia and the Senate. By coincidence, the neighbouring villa was owned by Cicero, who was entertaining the consuls designate for 43 BCE, C. Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and A. Hirtius. Octavius promised to be guided by the venerable 62-year-old Cicero in all respects. Cicero was quite taken by the respect he was shown by the younger man.37 It was likely now that Octavius learned the full details of his inheritance: net of 75 drachmai to be paid to each man in the city of Rome, he was to receive three quarters of Iulius Caesar’s property. It was an extraordinarily rich legacy. Caesar had instructed that Octavius be posthumously adopted as his son, and to join the gens Iulia.38 The young man would assume the full name of his benefactor and henceforth would be entitled to use the name C. Iulius Caesar.39 The heir to Caesar’s fortune well knew that name still carried great potency and prestige among large numbers of Romans – not least the men who had served with him during the Gallic Wars – and, in assuming it and the magical aura it bore, his standing would change forever.40 Theogenes’ prediction had come true. As for 20-year-old Agrippa, he must have realized that he was now best friends with one of the most prominent and soon-to-be powerful men in the Roman world and that his fate would be intricately bound to Octavius’.
Securing his inheritance would not be easy. With the will in his possession Antonius was also fully aware of the contents and its implications for himself as well as for Octavius. He had already read it. Before Octavius could be adopted into the gens Iulia, however, there was a formal state procedure which involved approving the change by a vote of the citizenry in the comitia centuriata witnessed by the praetors.41 The consuls were responsible for calling the voting centuries to assemble, and it was also within their right to delay the date for the meeting – which is exactly what Antonius did. He was intent on consolidating his own lofty position in the state. Believing that the popular support borne of sympathy for his younger adversary would ebb away given enough time, he would make his rival wait several months before convening the comitia and initiating the adoption process, while appearing to do everything he could to expedite it.42
M. Antonius was effectively sole head of state with eight months still left of his term of office. The Roman constitution required two consuls to be in office in peacetime, but its other consul Iulius Caesar was dead. To fill the vacant curule chair, Antonius approached P. Cornelius Dolabella – a profligate opportunist who had switched sides to join Iulius Caesar during the Civil War and who believed he had been promised the high office.43 Antonius had secured the public treasury (aerarium), which Caesar had stored in the Temple of Opis and, backed with this cash hoard, won over Dolabella, appointing him as suffect consul. Antonius indulged in other self-serving acts. Iulius Caesar had bequeathed his gardens to the Roman people, but Antonius had the collection of artworks, which adorned them, secreted away to private venues.44 He also took over a magnificent house, which had formerly belonged to Pompeius Magnus for his own use and hosted drunken parties for fair-weather friends and low-lifes there.45 What particularly incensed the Roman people was the way he abused the property: it was universally viewed as a travesty of the old man’s memory as a sober, modest and successful military commander, and which stood in contrast to the present consul’s tarnished reputation.46
Feeling his position to be secure, Antonius departed Rome on 18 April for Campania to arrange for the allocation of land grants the veterans of Caesar’s legions had been promised.47 It was a grave error of judgment. Octavius and his loyal friends decided the time was right to depart for Rome. Crowds of well wishers followed the young men on their journey to Rome. News of his imminent arrival in the city raced ahead of him. The historian Velleius Paterculus records the legend of their arrival in late April 44 BCE:
As he approached Rome an enormous crowd of his friends went out to meet him, and at the moment of his entering the city, men saw above his head the orb of the sun with a circle about it, coloured like the rainbow, seeming thereby to place a crown upon the head of one destined soon to greatness.48
Retired veterans who had served with Iulius Caesar turned out to greet the inheritor of his name.49 On reaching the city, Octavius gave a speech in the Forum Romanum in which he promised to distribute the largesse bequeathed them in Iulius Caesar’s will. His immediate challenge was to get hold of the cash Caesar had deposited in the Temple of Opis – a sum of 700,000,000 sestertii according to Cicero.50 He now learned that Antonius had taken charge of it. Octavius immediately went to Campania, probably in the company of Agrippa. The consul saw his rival as a naïve boy and set out to belittle him. Being told that he had a guest, Antonius made him wait in the vestibule for a long while before meeting him.51 When the two men finally met face-to-face Octavius politely asked for his share of his inheritance. Antonius exploded in a rage. He insulted his visitor by telling him he was too young, and that his shoulders were not broad enough to assume the heavy mantle of Iulius Caesar’s inheritance. He should leave the task to him, he said, as the older and stronger man. But Antonius – as so many others would do – had misjudged the young man; he would, instead, have benefited from reflecting on the reasons why the great dictator had chosen him to be his successor.
Antonius convened a new session of the Senate for 1 June. Cicero was no friend of Antonius.52 He felt compelled to go but his friends tried to persuade him to stay away from the city. The patriot set off at the end of May.53 Meantime, Octavius appeared before the new praetor urbanus, C. Antonius, and formally accepted the terms of Iulius Caesar’s testament (from this point on we will refer to Octavius as Caesar and his deceased adoptive father Iulius Caesar).54 His inheritance also came with a household (familia) of slaves and freedmen, many of whom Appian notes were wealthy.55 Young Caesar still needed to raise the cash for the donatives promised to the people in Iulius Caesar’s will. To that end he approached Pedius and Pinarius – his uncles Lucius and Quintus respectively – and they agreed for their nephew to sell their shares in the late dictator’s estate. Caesar paid for games in honour of Venus the Ancestress (ludi Veneris Genetricis) from whom Caesar, as a member of gens Iulia, claimed descent.56 During the spectacle, which ran 20–30 July, Octavius planned to have the gilded chair the dictator was authorized to use. Antonius promptly vetoed the move, and immediately found himself at loggerheads with Iulius Caesar’s veterans who saw it as an insult to the man’s name and honour. During the last few days of the games, a comet (sidus) was seen in the sky.57 It was interpreted by the people as a sign that Iulius Caesar’s spirit had ascended to heaven.58 The month was renamed in honour of the great dictator – July.59 ‘For these reasons,’ writes Dio, ‘the soldiers also, particularly since some of them received largesses of money, readily took the side of Caesar’.60
Iulius Caesar had been a polarizing figure in life, and remained so in death. To some he was a folk hero, a brilliant commander who had won wars against foreign foes, a charismatic leader who had distributed the spoils of war to the people, a challenger against the entrenched interests of the patricians. To others he was a ruthless tyrant, a dangerous criminal who had committed treason when he crossed the Rubicon, a crooked politician who had twisted the system in pursuit of absolute power. Reconciling these awkward dichotomies would be difficult for his young heir. His legacy was both a blessing and a curse. How he managed the connection with his deceased adoptive father, from whom he derived authority, would be key to successfully establishing himself as his own man.61 The appearance of the comet provided just the opportunity he needed. Revealing his growing awareness in the value of propaganda, in another tactically brilliant move Caesar had a statue of his great uncle cast. Above the head he placed a star, which came to be called the Iulium sidus – the ‘Julian star’ – and erected it inside the Temple of Venus Genetrix.62 With Iulius Caesar safely elevated to the heavens, his heir could deepen his terrestrial roots. He minted coins which showed Iulius Caesar’s divinity, while showing himself as a mere mortal man.63 In another example, the words and symbols contrast the autocratic power of the dictator with the limited power of one of the three magistrates dedicated to reestablishing the constitution.64 The more subtle message could also be read as Iulius Caesar’s power was framed in illegality, whereas the new was legally sound. To what extent Agrippa was involved in creating the messaging and imagery is unclear, but it is highly unlikely the coins were minted without the blessing of the triumvirs and their advisors.
Scheming to keep them away from Rome, Antonius also contrived to give commissions to Brutus and Cassius to procure grain for the public dole. Antonius had proposed that Brutus should take up the new posting in Crete, which he had declined, and he continued on his way to Italy. Cicero followed shortly after him and on 31 August arrived back in Rome. Crowds of well-wishers turned out in strength to greet and accompany him into the city.65 The elder statesman was the only leading man of the Senate who had survived the last civil war, and for many in these uncertain times he was a figure of continuity; but Cicero could not replace Iulius Caesar. When Antonius convened the Senate the following day, Cicero again declined to attend, fearing there might be an attempt on his life; Antonius sent soldiers to his house threatening to burn it down, and only after he was given assurances did he go to the meeting.66 On 1 September Antonius left Rome. The next day Cicero took the floor of the Senate House and, under the watchful gaze of Consul Dolabella, launched into the first of fourteen oratorical tirades against Antonius, speeches which became known as the Philippics after the style of the acclaimed statesman Demosthenes of Athens.67
The popularity of Caesar’s heir continued to rise, much to Antonius’ chagrin.68 It was finally the old dictator’s veterans who called for Antonius and the young Caesar to reconcile their differences. Reluctant he may have been, but Antonius was not a complete fool and he acceded to shaking hands with the younger man in the Temple of Iupiter on the Capitolinus Hill.69 At a meeting of the Senate on 1 September Antonius proposed a motion for a holiday in Iulius Caesar’s honour.70 His legal heir still had no official standing in the Res Publica and he made it known that he wished to be considered as a candidate for one of the popular tribunes.71Antonius overruled the request. A public spat broke out between the men, in which the consul claimed he had been the subject of an assassination attempt when someone – allegedly Octavius – bribed one of his guards. To the allegation Caesar responded that he would be willing to stand watch over Antonius’ bed in person while he slept to ensure his safety. The rumour of an attempt on the consul’s life at the instigation of Caesar raced through the city.72 As usual he consulted his friends, among whom were Atia, Philippus and Agrippa. His parents urged him to flee for his own safety, but the others insisted he was innocent and, taking their counsel, Caesar decided to remain in Rome. The following day Antonius’ own advisors recommended he defuse the situation and the matter was dropped. For the moment the two men were reconciled but it was becoming clear that they were not friends or allies, but rivals.73
Antonius and his wife left for Brundisium where the legions from Macedonia had arrived before transferring to Gallia Cisalpina.74 He intended to secure the army for himself. On meeting him, the soldiers cheered, fully expecting a large bonus from the former deputy of Iulius Caesar.75 Instead Antonius paid them what they considered a paltry 400 sestertii each and they objected loudly. His response was hardly designed to inspire loyalty. He ordered the centurions step forward and had them butchered to death in front of the troops.76 The shocked soldiers agreed to follow Antonius, but their resentment festered.
Rome had become a dangerous place for the young Caesar, who realized he needed a contingency plan. Again he turned to his friends for advice. Nikolaos lists them as ‘Marcus Agrippa, Lucius Maecenas, Quintus Juventius, Marcus Modialius and Lucius [?]’.77 By this time Agrippa had established himself as a highly regarded and trusted advisor. New to the group was the equestrian C. Cilnius Maecenas (born 29 April 70 BCE), a wealthy man proud of his Etruscan heritage who had connections and, in time, would become known as a generous patron of the arts.78 Caesar now had in his circle of close friends (amici) the two great talents who would advise him and support him in his rise to power – and help him to retain it. Additionally, he had assumed a large number of civilian supporters since Iulius Caesar’s death. Romans judged a high status man by his entourage (clientela) – the number and calibre of people who assembled at his house each morning for the salutatio to pay their respects, followed him as he attended business in the city and voted according to his wishes in elections. But he also needed to gather troops who would fight for him, if necessary, and to that end the group headed to Campania.79 Joining his brain trust on the journey from Rome was heavy muscle. ‘Other officers, centurions, and soldiers followed,’ writes Nikolaos, ‘as well as a multitude of slaves and a pack train carrying the pay-money and the supplies.’80
As they travelled south, the young men stopped to persuade the magistrates and free citizens of coloniae and municipiae through which they passed with stirring words and donations of 2,000 sestertii in cash to woo them to his side.81At Capua, Agrippa and Caesar met with retirees (evocati) – men who could be recalled to defend the Res Publica –of Legiones VII and VIII that had settled in the region on land provided by adoptive father.82 The result of this charm offensive was that 3,000 men rallied to him and followed Caesar and Agrippa on their march to Rome before Antonius returned.83 The high-spirited return journey to Rome had the effect of drawing yet more recruits to his signa.84 Once safely back in the city Caesar gave a rousing speech about his great uncle’s life and achievements, which won him plaudits from the plebs. He also took this opportunity to express opposition to Antonius’ schemes. Meanwhile Antonius himself was approaching and when he reached Rome he found two of the four legions – the Martia and IV – from Macedonia in mutiny.85 Caesar took the initiative and appealed to them to join him.86 Despite Antonius’ exhortations they changed sides, adding both men and elephants to his rival’s growing army.87Antonius raised a complaint with the Senate at Caesar’s antics and sped off to Ariminium, fearing that other parts of his army from Macedonia would be induced to defect.88
Almost a year after the dictator’s bloody murder, the assassins still roamed free. D. Iunius Brutus was beginning his new assignment as governor of Gallia Cisalpina and Antonius saw him as a potential ally.89 Yet Decimus, who had three legions (one entirely of new recruits) and a number of gladiators under his command, saw Antonius as a threat and refused to have any dealings with him.90 The rebuff delighted Cicero who, since 2 September 44 BCE, had been delivering his series of Philippics denouncing Antonius for his political ambition, while praising Caesar.91 However, many wanted to see justice done for the unlawful murder of Iulius Caesar and Decimus was recalled.92 He adamently refused to surrender his commission.93Antonius, with four legions including the troops from Macedonia, soon had Brutus and the two legions under the renegade’s command blockaded in Mutina (Modena) – the city which gave its name to the ensuing war (Bellum Mutinense).94 He ordered his men to dig a circumvallation around the wealthy city and prepared to lay siege.95
In the meantime, the conservative bloc of senators led by Cicero, who stood resolutely against the Caesarians, pushed through the House a motion which charged the new consuls for 43 BCE, A. Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa, to assemble an army to relieve D. Brutus and declared Antonius and Lepidus public enemies for having seized Gallia Cisalpina with an armed force – in effect, staging an attack on the Res Publica.96 Where, the Senate asked, would it find an army to save its men?
It found an unexpected ally. Caesar had five legions – two which had defected from Antonius, two of evocati and one of new levies – at Alba.97 The men who had defected put on a display of military manoeuvres and Caesar rewarded them all with a bonus of 500 drachmai, and a promise of more if they brought him victory.98 Believing him to be on their side, the Senate praised Caesar.99 He had consistently expressed the view that his sole interest was to see the assassins of his great uncle face charges for their heinous crime. Perceiving him as a non-threat, and indeed, as a political asset against Antonius, he was granted the right to stand for the consulship ten years before the legal period and was promoted to the rank of propraetor, an honour normally granted to men who had served as consul and were at least 35-years-old.100 Urged on by Cicero, the Senate issued an ultimatum to Antonius that he should suspend the siege, return the province to Decimus, withdraw to behind the Rubicon and present himself to the Conscript Fathers.101Caesar was now directed to assist the consuls and, keen to humble Antonius and crimp his ambitions, he obliged. He soon reflected that he had, in fact, been duped by the Senate. All they really wanted was his army – since a propraetor had no authority in the presence of a serving consul – and to provoke a war between him and Antonius.102 With Agrippa and Salvidienus at his side, he rode despondently beside consul Hirtius in the direction of the conflict zone in the foothills of the Italian Alps.103
Separately Pansa made his way northwards with four legions.104 Antonius learned that the consul was en route and moved quickly to intercept him before he could reach Mutina. At daybreak on 15 April, on the Via Aemilia outside the small town of Forum Gallorum, Antonius’ men appeared on either side of the road and ambushed the consul’s army.105 Appian would later, and somewhat melodramatically, describe how the novice troops watched in amazement at the battle-hardened veterans fighting each other in virtual silence, since they knew the practised war cries of one side would not strike terror into the other.106 Pansa had been taken by complete surprise, and was mortally wounded in the battle.107 Claiming victory, Antonius suspended what might have been a general rout, but was astonished to run straight into Hirtius’ army marching up from the south.108 His men, exhausted from the encounter with Pansa, were themselves routed by the fresh troops of Hirtius who snatched his two legionary eagle (aquila) standards.109 It was a humiliating end to the day, but Antonius was lucky to escape back with his cavalry – and his life – to camp. What Agrippa was doing throughout is, frustratingly, not revealed in the extant accounts.
Antonius returned to the siege at Mutina.110 The combined army of the consuls arrived and attempted to break through Antonius’ lines and relieve the city.111 Assisting them were Caesar and his friend Agrippa.112 Iulius Caesar’s old officer Hirtius assumed command and, when he asked the adopted son for his legions, as the junior commander of the two he had no choice but to release them. On 27 April the two armies clashed before the walls of Mutina.113 The army relieving the city probed Antonius’ defences but, when he did not engage them, they switched their attack to another point along the circumvallation. Antonius shadowed their movements with his cavalry. Eventually he ordered two legions to burst out of the entrenchments and the real battle ensued. Soon he needed to call up reserves from his camps. His own camp was scaled with Hirtius leading the charge, but he fell in the attack near Antonius’ personal tent (praetorium).114 Appian reports that Caesar charged in and retrieved the consul’s body. Decimus now led a sortie out of the city.115 Under intense attack on two fronts Antonius’ army crumpled. Seeing no chance for victory, under the cover of darkness, Antonius abandoned the siege, slipped away with as many men as he could take and retreated over the Alps to Gallia Narbonensis.116 There his ally Aemilius Lepidus was in command. L. Munatius Plancus, proconsul of Gallia Comata with three legions, and C. Asinius Pollio, proconsul of Hispania Ulterior with two legions, also both rallied to him.117
When the news of Antonius’ flight and Brutus’ survival reached Rome, Cicero read out the report with impish delight.118 Though Hirtius had been killed during the battle at Mutina and Pansa was fast approaching death. A thanksgiving of fifty days was granted to the two consuls and Caesar in equal measure and payments were issued to the troops.119 Caesar was told to report to Brutus, a situation the young man found intolerable – the man had, after all, been a party to the murder of his adoptive father. Decimus urged Caesar to cross the Apennines and intercept Antonius’ relief army under P. Ventidius.120 But Caesar now presented his own demand to the Senate: he wanted a triumph.121 His request was denied. It granted one to Brutus instead.122 Caesar had served his usefulness for the Senate. With Antonius apparently out of the way, Cicero believed Caesar could now be sidelined. On 24 May he wrote a letter to D. Brutus with the chilling phrase, ‘praise and compliment the youth – then remove him’.123 He, like so many others, underestimated the man he so dismissively disparaged. The political reality had changed and Caesar knew it. Caesar needed a new strategy.124 He wrote to Lepidus and Pollio explaining the indignities he had suffered, suggesting that as Caesarians they would share Antonius’ fate if they did not unite with him.125 Lepidus replied encouraging him to reconcile with Antonius.126 Caesar then presented a revised demand before the Senate. He wanted nothing less than the consulship.127 When his request was again refused he dispatched a team of centurions to re-present his demand, this time more persuasively. The armed soldiers were a menacing presence in the civic chamber. While the Conscript Fathers dithered, one of the officers by the name of Cornelius, threw back his cloak, placed his hand on the pommel of his gladius and said, ‘this will do it if you don’t!’128 The Senate relented and agreed to Caesar’s demand: aged just 19 he was consul.129 When his transverse crested emissaries returned with the good news, his jubilant legionaries urged Caesar to lead them to Rome. He consented. This was an opportunity to assert his mandate, and his troops deserved their reward.130 On his arrival in the city, he demanded that the public money be brought to him and that the 2,500 drachmai per man that had been previously ordered to be paid to each man in Cicero’s motion be distributed with a promise to give them the remainder when he received it.131 From now on he would not enter the Senate House without a military escort.132 On 22 August 43 BCE Caesar and Pedius were sworn in as consuls.133
There was one other outstanding matter. The long delayed lex curiata was finally passed: the man formerly known as C. Octavius Thurinus was formally adopted into gens Iulia and permitted to use the name of C. Iulius Caesar.134 The metamorphosis of the new Caesar was complete.
Sixteen months after the murder of Iulius Caesar consul Pedius presented a resolution before the Senate. It officially required the prosecution of the assassins. The Lex Pedia, passed on 27 November when tribune P. Titius secured the Popular Assembly’s vote, prohibited the murderers from receiving fire and water.135 Agrippa was rewarded for his loyalty. He was put in charge of leading the high-profile prosecution against the ring leader, C. Cassius Longinus.136 Cassius had long since left Rome along with co-conspirator M. Iunius Brutus.137 Agrippa secured verdicts against Cassius: he was condemned in absentia and declared an outlaw. The leading assasin now had a price on his head. It is possible, but not substantiated, that after the trial Agrippa may have benefited from the case by acquiring some of Cassius’ confiscated assets.138
Agrippa’s political career begins here. There is tantalizing evidence that he was appointed a tribune during his lifetime.139 This is the most likely moment in his long career that he could have assumed this position. The ten tribunes normally assumed the office on 10 December and served for a year (see Appendix 1). A tribune had the authority to convene assemblies of the plebs and propose acts which were binding (plebiscita), as well as the right to convoke the Conscript Fathers and propose senatus consulta. Having his own man in such a position would greatly help the young Caesar. In the office of tribune, Agrippa could veto any act committed by a magistrate, which included the senatus consulta, and even block fellow tribunes, all without fear of arrest or injury or the offender being declared an outlaw.
To hunt down and bring to justice the remaining conspirators, who between them commanded more than twenty legions as well as a fleet of warships and cash, the Caesarians needed to combine forces.140 Among his first motions as consul Caesar had the decrees declaring Antonius, Lepidus, and the soldiers commanded by them, public enemies, repealed.141 Caesar immediately wrote to Antonius offering assistance if he needed it against D. Brutus. Antonius replied curtly that he would deal with the man himself. In one grisly account Antonius declined to meet Decimus but ordered him killed and, when the instruction was carried out, had his enemy’s head brought to him.142 Appian records that another assassin, Minucius Basilus, was killed by his slaves, some of whom he was in the process of castrating by way of punishment at the time.143
Caesar then marched with five legions to Gallia Cisalpina and, on the banks of the Lavinius River near Mutina, met Antonius and Lepidus.144 At a two day conference, they carved up the Roman world among themselves.145 Caesar assumed responsibility for Africa, Sardinia and Sicily. Antonius was assigned the Gallic provinces, except Aquitania, and Lepidus received Aquitania, the Hispanic provinces and Italy.146 Eighteen towns in Italy, mostly those which had supported the conspirators, were earmarked to be divided up as though they were war spoils among their troops as an incentive for services to be rendered.147 The commission they set up, entitled the Triumviri Rei Publicae Constituendae Consulari Potestate – ‘Three Men with Consular Power for Confirming the Commonwealth’, abbreviated as III VIR RPC (plate 18) – was later recognized by law with the passing of the Lex Titia on 27 November.148 It was a temporary arrangement, intended to last just five years, but the new Triumvirate gave formal expression to its power backed by military might, as Iulius Caesar’s dictatorship had done.149 To bind the men together, young Caesar married Antonius’ daughter Clodia.150 Agrippa was not chosen as one of the triumvirs, but his close association with young Caesar effectively made him an unofficial junior partner at the council.
It was becoming clear to all that a new civil war would ensue soon. To prosecute it the Commission of Three Men would need money in abundance. Between them they had forty-three legions, but the treasury to pay for them was effectively bare. The triumvirate resorted to confiscating the assets of its political enemies. Following the examples of Marius and Sulla years before, proscriptions were drawn up.151 Proscribed persons were entered on to a list and their money and property were forfeited, and for those who resisted the prospects were exile or death.152 The triumvirs haggled over names, where an enemy of the one might be a family member or friend of the other.153 When they completed their ‘barter of murder’, as Plutarch describes it, the names of 300 senators and 2,000 equestrians were on the list.154 On 24 November the triumvirs marched with a large contingent of troops into Rome and began enforcing the confiscations; but they sent ahead of them a small group who would visit the richest and most important men first. Among the first wave of victims was 64-year-old M. Tullius Cicero, placed on the list by Antonius as revenge for the sustained verbal attacks he had suffered in his Philippics.155 He was tracked down to his villa in Formiae (Formia) preparing to depart for Macedonia. On 7 December he was visited by a detachment of soldiers led by tribune Popilius and centurion Herennius.156 Cicero bowed to his captors, leaned his head out of the litter, and bared his neck with his own hands to the legionaries. Herennius botched the execution. It took him three saw cuts to finally decapitate Cicero.157 His hands – as much tools of the orator’s trade as his voice – were also hacked off. They were taken to Rome where Antonius ordered the severed head and hands to be placed above the bronze beaks of captured ships that decorated the Rostra from where the orator had often spoken.158
As word of the proscription spread, Rome’s affluent and powerful panicked. To calm the situation, consul Pedius, who had received a copy of the list containing just seventeen names, issued an edict in earnest that no more would be added and published the names.159 Next day he was found dead. Foul play was not suspected, but his edict failed. The list was posted up in the Forum.160 The triumvirs were intent on carrying out their plan and the proscriptions proceeded, resulting in the liquidation of almost a third of the Senate.161 Butchered bodies lay un-buried in the streets and the heads of many were displayed on spikes on the Rostra.162 Innocents who were not on the list also fell victim to the spite of accusers who used the proscription as cover to settle old scores.163 Amidst this horrific slaughter one man showed humanity. Agrippa interceded to have a man removed from the list of the proscribed. A certain Marcus, being a deputy of Brutus, was captured at Philippi pretending to be a slave and had been purchased by a man named Barbula. Marcus’ true identity was revealed and Agrippa successfully negotiated to scratch his name from the list.164
As winter gripped Italy, Rome was a grim place to be in. The mood in the city was chaotic, fearful and tragic. When Lepidus celebrated his triumph for his victory in Hispania, crowds turned out and cheered, but their broad smiles and hollers masked deep sadness and despair.165 The burned out ruins of houses owned by some of the proscribed were dotted around the city. Those still standing had been picked bare of their contents. Buyers for the assets had proved too few, some not wishing to take part in the immoral trade or fearing the properties would bring bad luck to their new owners, others unwilling to be seen in public with precious items.166 Consequently, the prices the Triumvirs had hoped to achieve at auction were not realized. When the proceeds were tallied up the three commissioners were still short of their financial goal by 20,000,000 drachmai. Undaunted, they then turned to the 1,400 richest women of the city to make up the difference.167 But they met with stout defiance. Only 400 women finally subjected themselves to the required assessments.168 Now desperate, the triumvirs decreed that any man – Roman or foreigner or freedman – with wealth of more than 100,000 drachmai was required to advance them loans at an interest rate of one fiftieth of the value of their property and to contribute one year’s income to the cost of the war.169
On 1 January 42 BCE, with Antonius’ allies M. Lepidus and L. Munatius Plancus sworn in as consuls, the Senate passed resolutions in honour of Iulius Caesar.170 The Ides of March was declared a die nefastus – a day on which public business could not be conducted – and the building in which the Senate met was renamed the Curia Iulia.171 Anyone seeking sanctuary there in future could not be forcibly removed. Eventually it was barricaded off so it could not be entered. It was also declared that his wax effigy could not be displayed by living members of his family during funerals.172 The official process of transforming him into a divinity had begun.
Lepidus remained in Rome, but his colleagues set off to wage their wars of vengeance.173 War would be fought on three fronts.174 Many of the families able to evade the proscriptions headed to northern Greece to join Brutus and Cassius or Africa to be with Cornificius, but others moved southern Italy to join Pompeius’ son Sextus.175 Caesar and Salvidienus departed for Sicily to campaign against Sex. Pompeius, who had taken the island by forcing the surrender of its governor Clodius Bithynicus.176 He had engaged Sextus at Scylae, but he quickly ran into trouble on account of the inexperience of his crews; his fleet was scuppered, and his opponent slipped away.177 Salvidienus retreated to Balarus to carry out repairs. Antonius despatched eight legions to Macedonia under the command of C. Norbanus Flaccus and Decidius Saxa. Norbanus took up a position in Thrace.
The conspirators had also been making preparations of their own. M. Brutus assembled an army in Eprius and Macedonia with help of money from Trebonius in Asia.178 Adding to his numbers Brutus had secured the army of Illyricum from its unpopular commander Vatinius at Dyrrhacium.179 When M. Antonius’ brother landed at Apollonia with his expeditionary force, Brutus met him, won over his soldiers, adding them to his force, and took Caius prisoner.180 Separately Cassius secured twelve legions from Bithynia, Iudaea and Syria and a prized unit of mounted Parthian archers.181 The two commanders met at Smyrna (modern İzmir) and agreed to combine their army of nineteen legions, with Orodes of Parthia offering help, and prepared to leave for Macedonia.182 They too had extorted large sums from communities in Asia Minor, such as Tarsus and Laodikeia, who had been forced to pay ten years’ of taxes at one time, and if they could not find the cash, were compelled to melt statues and turn them into coin.183
As the opposing forces jockeyed for position, Rome’s eastern allies and client kingdoms found themselves forced to pick sides. Queen Kleopatra VII of Egypt (plate 19), a close ally of the former Roman dictator, sent a fleet to Antonius and Caesar in Greece. It was forced to return home when blocked by Cassius.184 Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia who refused to pay, was summarily executed by Cassius’ nephew for plotting against the Res Publica.185 His treasury and supplies were confiscated. Cassius laid siege to Rhodes and, having defeated their fleet of thirty-three ships at Myndos and then taken the city, imposed a fine of 1,500 talents, saw fifty of its leading citizens executed, and confiscated all the portable silver and gold.186 Brutus meanwhile defeated the army of Lykia in a surprise attack, and in Xanthus the citizens committed mass suicide rather than surrender. Other cities reluctantly threw in their lots with the self-styled ‘liberators’.187
By September Brutus had eight legions and Cassius nine. Many, however, were not at full strength.188 The combined force, representing some 80,000 men, advanced through Thrace. Additionally, Brutus brought cavalry, comprising 4,000 from Gaul and Lusitania, 3,000 from Thrace and Illyricum and 2,000 from Parthia and Thessaly; Cassius contributed 2,000 Spanish and Gallic regular cavalry and 4,000 mounted bowmen, Arabs, Medes, and Parthians. A large additional force of infantrymen and about 5,000 horse were provided by the allied kings and tetrarchs of Galatia in Asia. En route they outflanked Norbanus’ army of eight legions with the help of 3,000 cavalry under Reskupolis (Rhescupolis), prince of Thrace; they would have trapped them at Thasos had Antonius not arrived in time.189 Brutus and Cassius picked a site at Philippi on the high ground to establish their separate camps near marshes, connecting by them a rampart, and anchored their fleet at Neapolis.190
Norbanus had established and fortified his position at Amphipolis, much to Antonius’ delight.191 Antonius dug a second camp audaciously in view of Cassius on the plain, having found no other elevated site, only then to discover that the plain was prone to flooding by the nearby Thasos River. He built entrenchments, raising numerous towers and on all sides with ditch, wall and palisade. Antonius ordered his men to dig a dyke through the marsh in order to isolate Cassius’ camp from the Via Egnatia by which the supplies reached him. Cassius’ men responded by building a wall to block their path.
After reaching Dyrrhachium, Caesar was taken ill, finally reaching Amphipolis in late September.192 He erected his camp opposite Brutus’. Caesar recovered sufficiently to join Antonius, only to have to be carried about in a litter when his malady returned.193 A comment by Pliny the Elder infers Agrippa was there attending to
[Caesar’s] illness at the battle of Philippi; his flight, and his having to remain three days concealed in a marsh, though suffering from sickness, and, according to the account of Agrippa and Maecenas, labouring under a dropsy.194
The triumvirs’ combined force of nineteen legions matched their opponents’, though Antonius and Caesar had more cavalry.195 With them Antonius tried to provoke battle, but Brutus and Cassius refused to engage; having the greater supplies they hoped to prolong the standoff and starve their opponent into submission.196 With limited supplies and no means to replenish them, Antonius knew he could not wait.197 He formulated a plan of action. Each day he arrayed his troops on the plain in battle formation, while part of his force hidden from view by reeds erected a causeway.198 After ten days the work was complete. His subterfuge had been discovered, however. Cassius had noticed the constructions and had his men build a transverse wall of their own across the marsh from his camp to the sea, intercepting Antonius’ causeway so that those inside could not escape to him, nor could he render them assistance. Incensed by Cassius’ tactical counter measures, on 3 October Antonius’ troops burst out, scaled the wall with ladders and tools and broke into Cassius’ camp, which was defended by only a few men, and began tearing down the rampart and filling in the ditches.199 Watching in disbelief from afar, acting without orders, Brutus’ men responded and charged at the triumvirs’ flank; for a while they had the upper hand and wrought havoc in Caesar’s camp, the commander himself having left only a while before.200 Cassius had taken the bulk of his soldiers south to work on the causeway, and they were now exposed in the open. In the dust which swirled over the battlefield neither side could not see their allies’ progress and they began to think the worst.201 Both sides hacked at each other, struggling to maintain a firm foothold on the islands of dry ground to prevent themselves falling into the marsh.202 Cassius’ side faltered under pressure from the enemy’s right wing, and his cavalry fled in the direction of the sea; he did not relay a call for assistance from Brutus thinking him already dead.203 Instead he scrambled to higher ground to get a better view. From there he spotted a unit of cavalry riding towards him. They were Brutus’ coming to his aid; but Cassius believed them to be the enemy.204 In despair and resignation, believing all was lost, Cassius committed suicide.205 Brutus learned of his friend’s end, but nevertheless rallied the troops and promised them rewards, for in his mind the war was not lost.206 By the end of the battle, Cassius and Brutus suffered 8,000 men dead, but Caesar had sustained twice as many casualties.207 The bloodied and bruised sides parted in what was taken to be a draw and retired to their camps.
Antonius’ hoped for relief supplies failed to arrive when their ships came under attack in the Straits of Otranto from a fleet commanded by Murcus and Domitius Ahenobarbus and were forced to retreat.208 Rather than face starvation, Antonius and Caesar had to force Brutus to engage them in a last decisive action, in the knowledge that, with supplies aplenty and the better position, Brutus could bide his time.209 Brutus was blithely ignorant of his opponents’ plight until twenty days after the first battle. Foolishly he gave in to his officers’ demands for a fight. On the other side of the field, the two triumvirs roused their men.210
On 23 October, at approximately 3.00pm, the battle commenced.211 Caesar lead his men to press against Brutus’, pushing them back until their line broke, and seized their enemy’s camp. Antonius’ men advanced also, driving down on the fugitives, dispatching cavalry along the Via Egnatia to block the path of any escapees.212 There were defections. As his friend Lucilius attempted to draw Antonius off, Brutus managed to break out with what remained of four legions and scrambled into the surrounding hills.213 But the battle was lost, and the war with it. Rather than be taken prisoner, next morning, assisted by his friend Strato Messala, Brutus took his own life.214 In a mark of respect, Antonius and Caesar gave their opponent an honourable funeral, and they were kind to Strato.215
Among the survivors who surrendered was Q. Horatius Flaccus (the poet Horace) who had served as a military tribune at the insistence of M. Brutus.216 Learning of Brutus’ demise, the other conspirators took their own lives.217 The triumvirs declared an amnesty and the surviving soldiers transferred their allegiance to them.218 Some 14,000 of the defeated soldiers switched to Antonius and Caesar. There was bad news among the good. By a remarkable coincidence, on 23 October Caesar’s reinforcements – including the Legio Martia, a Praetorian Cohort of 2,000 men, 4 alae of cavalry and other specialist troops – aboard transports with an escort of triremes were intercepted, rammed and set alight in the Adriatic Sea by Domitius Ahenobarbus and Murcus with 130 warships.219 Rather than face capture or being burned alive, the men of the Martia committed suicide; others drowned, while the survivors on the remaining seventeen ships surrendered to Murcus.220
The two triumvirs offered a great sacrifice for their victory and quickly manoeuvred to marginalize their absent third partner.221 Lepidus, suspected of having surreptitious links with Sex. Pompeius, was stripped of his army and provinces – he would only regain them if the accusations were proved to be false. Antonius and Caesar renegotiated the split of territories. Antonius acquired all the Gallic provinces, while Caesar assumed responsibility for the Hispanic provinces, Numidia, Sardinia and Sicily.222 Gallia Cisalpina joined Italy as a neutral or ‘common’ territory under the nominal control of Caesar. Antonius headed for Asia, while Caesar returned to the homeland, accompanied by Agrippa.223
With the civil war over, the military overhead had become a heavy financial and managerial burden. The triumvirs agreed to reduce the forty-three legions to thirty-two: seventeen were assigned to Antonius and fifteen to Caesar.224 The demobbed troops, however, who had loyally served the Caesarians expected to receive their rewards for services rendered. It fell to Caesar’s to resettle the men of the eleven legions plus the qualifying veterans of the remaining units. Fully recovered from the setback at Scylae, Salvidienus was dispatched with six legions to the Iberian Peninsula to retake the Hispanic provinces from Sex. Pompeius.225 Before he left the region, Caesar established a new city for retired veterans of the legions and men of his Praetorian Cohorts close to the battle site and named it Colonia Iulia Victrix Philippi.226
Riding at the head of three legions, Caesar returned to Rome (adventus)in January 41 BCE.227 The crossing from Greece had left him debilitated, causing many to think he was dying.228 The Senate decreed that celebrations of thanksgiving should be held to mark the return of civil peace, and Caesar was asked to lead them.229 He erected statues at the Temple of Concord and led the state in sacrifices and prayers. The thorny issue of finding land on which to resettle the thousands of retiring legionaries still remained to be solved. It would be a reckoning for those who had supported the wrong side. The towns in Italy known for their hostility to the triumvirs were now called to account for their choice and all their territories, slaves and farm equipment were confiscated.230 The displaced landowners, now a new class of poor, had little choice but to turn to friends and family for help, or to migrate to Rome hoping to be accepted on the list for the free distribution of grain.231 Caesar was not unsympathetic to their plight, but having no money to purchase the land, and faced with angry troops – who even challenged him on a visit to the theatre where he barely managed to escape with his life – his options were limited.232
In Antonius’ absence from Rome, his interests were being represented by his brother Lucius (who had been elected consul for that year) and his wife Fulvia.233 Married to Antonius in 47 or 46, they had two sons together, M. Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius, and were a formidable political force. They schemed to remove Caesar from the scene in the hope of seeing their blood relative rule Rome uncontested.234 Accusing Fulvia of meddling in politics and seeking power for herself, Caesar divorced Clodia, telling her mother – who he could not abide for her bad temper – that he returned her a virgin.235 Fulvia meanwhile toured Italy to stir up trouble for Caesar by reminding the veterans of the role her brother Marcus had played in securing their futures, pointedly reminding them that Caesar had been ill most of the time, and tried to have the land allocations delayed until he returned from the East to ensure his men received what was due them, whereafter both men should share the credit.236 Fulvia’s patience exhausted, she publicly stated her allegiance to her brother and effectively stood in opposition to Caesar.237 She was intent on war and, with remarkable alacrity, Fulvia raised new legions in Italy and for a while some even occupied Rome itself. L. Antonius rallied his troops at Praeneste (Palestrina), which he made his base of operations.238 Lucius requested reinforcements from the legions loyal to his brother in Gaul under the command of Q. Fufius Calenus, P. Ventidius Bassus and C. Assinius Pollio. Still in the East, M. Antonius was entirely unaware of the brewing conflict.
Caesar had four legions in Italy, but he urgently recalled Salvidienus and the six legions he had with him in the Hispanic Provinces and, obeying orders, crossed the Alps unhindered.239 Meanwhile, food supplies in the capital were dwindling owing to Sex. Pompeius’ successful blockade of Sicily, and what grain there was was being consumed by the soldiery.240 Caesar struck back and despatched cavalry to Bruttium where Sextus was known to be raiding.241 Lucius accused Caesar of provoking a war between Antonius and his children, and Caesar retorted back that it was Lucius who was intent on war and on breaking up the triumvirate, not he. Finally the troops who had served under Iulius Caesar and Antonius sent representatives to intercede and broker a settlement between the parties, but negotiations broke down because they distrusted each other.242 War was now inevitable. Caesar had his four legions at Capua supplemented with six brought by Salvidienus, plus several Praetorian Cohorts; Lucius had the six accorded him as consul.243 The soil of Italy would soon be turned red with the blood of her own sons. Meanwhile the coasts were already under attack. Ahenobarbus was patrolling the Adriatic with seventy ships, two legions, units of archers and slingers, light-armed troops and gladiators, and using them to devastate the regions subject to the triumvirs. He attacked Brundisium, blockaded the inhabitants behind their walls, ravaged the surrounding territory, captured some of Caesar’s triremes and burned others.244 Caesar deployed one of Salvidienus’ legions to relieve Brundisium.245 Both sides ran recruitment drives throughout Italy. The communities under threat from colonization saw Lucius as a champion of their cause and rallied to him, the settled veterans turned to Caesar.
Leaving Lepidus in Rome with two legions, Caesar departed to lead his campaign in person, likely with Agrippa at his side.246 The war began when a mutiny broke out among two of Lucius’ legions at Alba Longa. Caesar arrived at the city and laid siege to it.247 Learning that C. Furnius was bringing reinforcements for Lucius’ army, Caesar attacked his rear. Furnius retreated to Sentinum (a place near modern Sassoferrato in Umbria) on the Via Flaminia.248 It turned out to be a futile exercise. News arrived of a setback in Rome. Three cohorts had since taken the city under cover of darkness.249 Lepidus had proved unable to mount any form of resistance and had fled to Caesar.250 From his base at Praeneste, L. Antonius had entered with his main army, cavalry and gladiators. Lucius had even been welcomed by the inhabitants. He spoke to the citizens dressed in his military regalia and proclaimed Caesar and Lepidus were enemies. He proclaimed his brother Marcus would voluntarily resign, end the triumvirate and restore the old Res Publica. Believing Rome to be on his side Lucius sped north to join Ventidius and Pollio; he had moved on Salvidienus who had taken up the siege at Sentium in Caesar’s absence.251 He breached the gates, plundered the city and torched it. Neighbouring Nurcia surrendered without a fight.252
Perhaps recognizing his own increasingly evident failings as a military man, Caesar now turned to his friend Agrippa, whose role is better documented from this point on. He gave Agrippa charge of his legions and tasked him with taking Sutrium (Sutri).253 Likely promoted to the position of legatus, Agrippa marched the 66km (41 miles) northwards from Rome to the town in Etruria (map 2). Its location on the Via Cassia was strategically important to Lucius as it was one of two main roads on the western side of Italy by which he could reach Pollio and Ventidius in Gallia Narbonensis.254 Agrippa believed that once Sentium had fallen Lucius would turn his attention to Sutrium.255 He entered and quickly secured the city, whose ancient stone walls clung to a narrow hill of volcanic tufa, and were surrounded by ravines. A slender neck on the western side alone connected it with the surrounding country. The plan was a simple one: Agrippa would draw Lucius’ forces to him while Salvidienus would arrive by way of the Via Flaminia to entrap him. ‘It all turned out as Agrippa had anticipated,’ writes Appian.256 When Lucius received information that Agrippa was at Sutrium he took the bait, turned around and headed back with celerity to the hilltop town. However, he found his way north was blocked by the arrival of Salvidienus’ troops. Appian says that Salvidienus was himself being trailed by Pollio and Ventidius and Lucius was trying to move north to join up with them.257 He could not go forward and Agrippa’s men could strike at his rear. It was clear Lucius could not get through and he needed a way out. ‘Salvidienus and Agrippa harassed him on both sides,’ writes Appian, ‘watching especially for an opportunity to catch him in the defiles’. 258 However, the same ravines around the town provided him with an escape route and, once free of Sutrium, he headed with his army to Perusia (Perugia) some 150km (93 miles) to the north.259 Agrippa must have been bitterly disappointed to have failed to capture or kill Lucius on his first major command; but he would soon have a second chance.
Autumn was turning to winter, says Appian, when L. Antonius was forced to hunker down in Perusia.260 This city was to give its name to the entire war – Bellum Perusinum, the Perusine War.262 Agrippa and Salvidienus followed him there and they were soon joined by Caesar.261 Like Sutrium, Perusia was a hilltop town with formidable stone walls of massive travertine blocks erected between the sixth and third centuries BCE by Rome’s old enemies, the Etruscans.263 Its single arched gateways and thick wooden doors were locked firmly shut to keep out the invaders. The only way to take the place was to lay siege to it and starve the occupants into submission. All they needed was time, but Caesar and his generals were impatient for a resolution. Rather than watching their troops stand around in the cold and damp they ordered them to take out their entrenching tools and saws and set to work. A circumvallation of circuit wall with parapet and ditch measuring 56 stades (10,080m or 33,600ft) in circumference was constructed with extensions reaching into the Tiber River to prevent the defenders from escaping, and relief troops and supplies from getting in.264 With time on his side, Caesar would wait for Lucius, now trapped inside, to surrender. When not digging, sawing or hammering, the troops on both sides melted lead into sling shot (glandes). Crudely made ‘bullets’ have been discovered around Perugia bearing the names of Caesar and Salvidienus.265 The absence of bullets with Agrippa’s name implies he was the junior partner to Salvidienus. However, the Perusine War would provide an opportunity for Agrippa to show his mettle. Word was received that Pollio and Ventidius planned, or were already on their way, to relieve Lucius. Leaving Salvidienus in charge of the siege, Caesar and Agrippa roused their men and sped off across the Apennines to intercept Lucius’ allies before they could reach Perusia. It is in the Perusine War that Agrippa emerges for the first time as a competent commander of forces on land.
Plancus discovered and routed one of Caesar’s legions as it was marching to Rome. Pollio and Ventidius had mobilized their armies in late 41 BCE at the insistence of Fulvia, and were to be joined by Plancus.266 Caesar’s scouts spotted them as they approached. Perusia and he and Agrippa moved to block their progress. The appearance of Caesar’s deputies surprised the commanders from Gaul who avoided a head-on clash by veering off to neighbouring cities – Plancus to Spoletium (Spoleto), Pollio to Ravenna, Ventidius to Ariminium. Caesar placed detachments in front of each city to prevent them escaping and returned to Perusia. Once there, he ordered the ditch deepened and widened to 30ft in either dimension, raised the height of the parapet and erected 1,500 watchtowers along it, spaced 60ft apart. Tactically sited redoubts and emplacements provided protection for his men from which to launch attacks with artillery.267 As they expanded the fortifications many died in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with Lucius’ gladiators who made sorties from the besieged city. When completed Caesar could wait and let the gnawing feeling of hunger take effect.268
On 31 January Lucius tried to break out of the city with a unit of troops. Caesar was waiting for him. His soldiers, who included men of the Praetorian Cohorts, forcibly drove Lucius back.269 His allies now decided to assemble at Perusia to overwhelm Caesar’s siege. His deputies learned of their approach and stationed greater numbers of troops on the road to keep the enemy away.270 They successfully diverted them to Fulginiae or Fulginium (Foligno), a town 37km (22 miles) down the Via Flaminia and northwest of Perusia.
There Agrippa besieged them, and they [Pollio and Ventidius] lighted fires as signals to Lucius. Ventidius and Asinius [Pollio] were of the opinion that they should go forward and fight, but Plancus said that, as they were between Octavius and Agrippa, they had best await events. The opinion of Plancus prevailed. Those in Perusia rejoiced when they saw the fires, but when Ventidius delayed his arrival they conjectured that he, too, was in difficulties, and when the fires ceased they thought that he had been destroyed.271
Holing them up in Fulginiae served another purpose: Lucius was denied their assistance in Perusia, against which Caesar continued to apply pressure. The situation inside the city was dreadful:
There he [Lucius] took an account of the remaining provisions, and forbade distributing any to the slaves, and prohibited them from escaping, in case the enemy should gain better knowledge of his desperate situation. The slaves wandered about in crowds, threw themselves upon the ground in the city, and between the city and their forts, and ate grass or green leaves wherever they could find them. Those who died Lucius buried in long trenches, fearing that if he burned them, the enemy would discover what was taking place, and, if they were unburied, disease would result from the poisonous exhalations.272
Lucius’ men pleaded with him to lead them in an organised break out. Ordering his men to equip themselves with iron tools, ladders and wicker baskets, he attempted several times to attack Caesar’s defences, by filling in ditches and tearing at the parapets, but the circumvallation held.273 Coming at different sections of the circuit wall, the attacks stretched Caesar’s resources, but they held under pressure. Despite gallant and determined fighting, Lucius eventually sounded the retreat.274 Seeing the men withdraw, Caesar’s men beat their gladii against their shields, leading many of Lucius’ men to swing around and make a renewed attempt to scale the parapet, which failed again.
During the last days of February Lucius finally realized the hopelessness of his situation. He was trapped, running out of supplies and relief was not coming. He sent a message to Caesar asking for terms: a general pardon for his men who had originally come from Caesar’s side.275 The reply came that he would only allow the veterans a pardon – but not the young recruits. Lucius surrendered. Caesar’s troops cheered their leader and acclaimed him imperator.276 As the defeated men emerged out of the city, Caesar’s own troops cheered as they welcomed back old comrades. Caesar was touched by the scene and extended his pardon to all of the men.277 He was in not such a generous mood to the city fathers: they had caused rebellion and for the crime they were executed.278 The inhabitants were required to abandon their town and watch as Caesar’s soldiers entered and pillaged it. Meanwhile, a fire broke out and the entire town was consumed in flames.279
Defeated L. Antonius’ deputies fled – to Brundisium, Ravenna, Tarentum to meet up with Ahenobarbus and Murcus – pursued by Caesar and his generals. Between them, Lucius’ allies had thirteen legions and almost 6,500 cavalry.280 Agrippa went after Plancus. He intercepted him and his two legions 52km (32 miles) northwest of Fulginiae at Cameria (Camerino). Rather than resort to the sword, instead he tried diplomacy to persuade them to desert their commander and join Caesar’s side. He was successful, adding almost 12,000 men to the Caesarian cause without bloodshed. Indeed, Agrippa was the only one of Caesar’s generals able to convince an enemy to defect without having to fight to achieve it. Plancus himself slipped away to the coast. With their rebellion broken, Fulvia fled with her children to Brundisium, with 3,000 cavalry and Plancus aboard five ships bound for Macedonia. Pollio, however, was still at large and could yet pose a threat to the Caesarians. Meanwhile, Caesar rode to Gallia Transalpina. Defecting to him, Fufius Calenus, son of the governor of Gallia Narbonensis, robbed Antonius of eleven legions who were now sworn to support Caesar.281 To ensure their loyalty he replaced all senior officers of these units with his own men under the command of Salvidienus who was based on the Rhône, presumably at Colonia Copia Felix Munatia Lugdunum.282 Caesar returned to Rome with Agrippa.
For his service and initiative Agrippa was rewarded with the post of praetor urbanus which he assumed around March of 40 BCE.283 This was an ancient magistracy stretching back to the age of the kings of Rome and was ranked first of the sixteen praetors under the Republic. The office was responsible for the administration of justice in the city.284 At the age of 24 he was well below the legal age required to take the position but it is an indication of Caesar’s growing power that he could install his man with complete disregard for the rules, and of his confidence in Agrippa to do the job.285 Early in July Agrippa supervised the staging of the Ludi Apollinares, which were the responsibility of the praetor urbanus.286 These games had been established as a regular fixture in the Roman calendar since 211 or 210 BCE and were based in religious observance.287 They honoured Apollo, in accordance with the Oracles of Marcius, which had predicted the military disaster at Cannae. Rather than gladiatorial blood games, as sponsor, Agrippa was required to put on a ceremonial parade (pompa), horse races, as well as stage performances, including praetextae – a type of tragic drama which took Roman historical figures as the subject matter; they were also referred to as Ludi Circenses because they were held in the Circus Maximus, during public holidays held between 6 and 13 July.288 Dio records that Agrippa ‘prided himself upon his production of the game called “Troy”, which was performed by the boys of the nobility’.289 Through the games, Agrippa discovered he had an interest for producing large-scale public spectacles. To pay for the games Agrippa would have received some money from the state treasury, but probably had to supplement the budget with his own funds, no doubt enhanced by additional contributions from his rich friend. Dio also makes the curious remark that Agrippa was ‘giving himself airs in various other ways on the strength of his being an intimate friend of Caesar’.290 Was the sudden surge of fame and power going to Agrippa’s head? If true, perhaps the reason for it was that before Caesar left for Gaul, he had delegated the entire defence of Italy to Agrippa.291 It must have been intoxicating to the young man more used to relative anonymity. Dio then suggests that, taking advantage of the fact that Agrippa’s focus was on the Ludi Circenses, Sextus crossed into southern Italy, causing havoc wherever he went.292 Learning of the raids, Agrippa instinctively knew what to do. He quickly mobilized his troops and set off to deal with the problem.293 Agrippa soon chased Pompeius away, but as a precaution he ‘left a garrison at certain points and sailed back again’.294 He then returned to his praetorian duties in Rome.
The tension between the triumvirs continued. Caesar considered himself above both Antonius and Lepidus. He now had more than forty legions, but no ships.295 Antonius’ success at Philippi, however, had raised his popularity among the retired and serving troops. He had a sizeable army of his own plus 200 ships.296 To rebalance the odds, Caesar needed an ally. Taking advantage of Lepidus’ frustration at having been deprived of his province, he returned Africa to him along with six legions he suspected of loyalty to Antonius, an act calculated to secure his allegiance over the other triumvir’s.297 Indulging his passions in the East M. Antonius belatedly learned that Caesar had seized his Gallic provinces and all the legions stationed there. Incensed by the report he sent messages to Sex. Pompeius to side with him and declared himself an enemy of Caesar.298 In August 40 BCE Antonius and Ahenobarbus, operating from Greece, and Pompeius in Sicily, united in an invasion of Italy.299 Along the Adriatic Coast, Antonius captured the colonia of Sipontum (Siponto in Puglia), and marched on the strategic port of Brundisium. He constructed a circumvallation around the city, installed his artillery and settled down for a long siege.300 In the south of Italy, Pompeius sent his deputy Menodorus to take Sardinia, while he attempted to capture Consentia and Thurii; he failed to take the latter and had to settle in for a long siege of the former.301 Back from Gaul and now facing war on two fronts, Caesar assessed the rapidly deteriorating situation.302 For the moment the threat posed by Sextus could wait. To deal with Antonius, he ordered Agrippa to Sipontum, and P. Servilius Rullus to Brundisium with five cohorts of Caesar’s soldiers.303 Agrippa called out the veterans who were settled in the coloniae and they initially followed him, under the impression they were heading to fight Pompeius; but learning that what had happened had been done at Antonius’ own request, and being in no mood to fight him, they turned around and went back secretly. Caesar was on his way to Brundisium and finding the veterans heading towards him, he stopped them and tried to persuade them to follow him.304 When he reached the port he found he could do nothing despite having the larger number of troops. Then, unexpectedly, Caesar then fell sick at Canusium (modern Canosa di Puglia). Meanwhile news reached him that Agrippa had taken the city of Sipontum by storm and secured it, and Pompeius had been repulsed from Thurii, though he was still attempting to take Consentia.305 Rullus was not so lucky. Coming to assist Caesar at Brundisium with 1,500 cavalry, Antonius, incensed at his setbacks, attacked Rullus by complete surprise and captured them all.
The localized conflict was now spiralling out of control as both sides appealed to colonies of veterans and municipalities for men and matériel. The opportunity for a truce came when news arrived of Fulvia’s unexpected death while at Sikyon near Corinth.306 Antonius reflected that he might have his differences with Caesar, but it was not worth plunging the Roman world into a war over them. Conveniently Antonius’ sister’s death – in part brought on by jealously at her husband’s rumoured cavortings with Queen Kleopatra of Egypt – provided a credible scapegoat for both triumvirs to blame the war on.307 In a public display of reconciliation, Caesar offered his own sister, Octavia Minor, as bride for the widowed triumvir.308 Antonius accepted. In September the triumvirs renegotiated their agreement – a document which became known as the Treaty of Brundisium. Intermediating between the rival triumvirs, Agrippa may have worked alongside Maecenas, Cocceius Nerva and Asinius Pollio.309 In this revised division of the world, Caesar received the Hispanic and Gallic provinces, Ilyricum and Sardinia; Antonius all the provinces belonging to the Romans across the Ionian Sea in Europe and Asia; Lepidus retained Africa; and Sextus held Sicily.310 Antonius ordered Sextus to pull back his forces to Sicily, while Ahenobarbus was offered the proconsular governorship of far away Bithynia.311 Against Sextus they all agreed to wage common war, thought it would fall to Caesar to prosecute it.312 Antonius would take the fight to Parthia in retaliation for the invasion of Asia Minor in 40.313 Caesar accepted a general amnesty for all forces which had gone over to the Antonius brothers, including defectors to Ahenobarbus and the remaining assassins of his father.314 The treaty also included a clause which allowed for Agrippa, as a friend of one of the triumvirs, to be consul.315
Agrippa returned to Rome and continued his work as praetor. He had proved to be a capable civil official of Rome and a dutiful deputy of Caesar. The same could not be said of Salvidienus. Following the conclusion of the treaty negotiations, he was accused of making criminal plans against Caesar.316 In Appian’s account Antonius revealed that Salvidienus had communicated his intention to desert him while besieging Brundisium.317 Caesar recalled his deputy to Rome pretending the matter concerned a redeployment. When he arrived, Caesar confronted him with the evidence and sentenced him to death. In Dio’s account, he was suspected of having been involved in a plot to assassinate him.318 In all the accounts he was condemned and committed suicide. No longer trusting the loyalty of Salvidienus’ legions, he gave them to Antonius.319 The outcome was a clear message to friends and clients of the heir to Iulius Caesar’s legacy that he would not tolerate disloyalty. For M. Agrippa, now Caesar’s leading general, there was no doubt about where his loyalty lay. In the days following the fateful 15 March 44 BCE he had tied his fortune firmly to his old school mate’s. From now on, his special relationship with the new Caesar would deepen and with it his personal influence over the Roman world.