Templum Divi Iuli

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016

TEMPLUM DIVI IULI
(Temple of the Comet Star)

The Temple of Caesar - Templum Divi Iuli - also known as Temple of the Deified Julius Caesar, or Temple of the Comet Star, is located in the Roman Forum of Rome, located near the Temple of Vesta.

Temple of the Comet Star

It was begun by Augustus in 42 BC, after the senate deified Julius Caesar posthumously.
Augustus dedicated the prostyle temple to Caesar (his adoptive father) on August 18, 29 BC, after the Battle of Actium.
It stands on the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum (Forum), between the Regia, Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Basilica Aemilia, on the site of Caesar's cremation (Caesar's testament was read at the funeral by Mark Antony).
Caesar was the first resident of Rome to be deified and so honored with a temple.
A fourth flamen maior was dedicated to him after 44 BC and Mark Antony was appointed as his flamen.
The high platform on which the temple was built served as a rostra ('Rostra ad divi Iuli') and, like the rostra at the opposite end of the Forum, was decorated with the beaks of ships taken at the battle of Actium.

The Temple of Caesar was the only temple to be entirely dedicated to the cult of a comet (referred to as a 'comet star').
The comet, upon its appearance some time after Caesar's murder (44 BC), was considered to be the soul of the deified Julius Caesar, and the symbol of the "new birth" of Augustus as the unique Roman ruler and Emperor.
Here the account by Pliny with parts of a public speech delivered by Augustus about the comet, his father Caesar and his own destiny:

'The only place in the whole world where a comet is the object of worship is a temple at Rome. His late Majesty Augustus had deemed this comet very propitious to himself; as it had appeared not long after the decease of his father Caesar. People believed that this star signified the soul of Caesar received among the spirits of the immortal gods.'

In Greek and Roman culture, comet is an adjective determining the distinctive characteristic of a special star.
So "comet star" means "long-haired star", and it was represented this way on coins and monuments.
The "Divine Star" was represented and worshiped on coins and probably in the temple itself, as a "comet star" or as a "simple star": the simple star has been used as a general symbol of Divinity since 44 BC; after the appearance of the comet, the simple star was transformed into a comet by adding the tail to one of the rays of the simple star.
According to Appian the place near the Regia ,and probably part of the Main Square of the Roman Forum, was a second choice, because the first intention of the Roman people was to bury Caesar on the Capitoline Hill among the other Gods of Rome.
However, the Roman priests prevented them from doing so (in fact, the cremation was considered not safe due to the many wooden structures there), and the corpse of Caesar was carried back to the Forum near the Regia, being the Regia the personal headquarters of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus: this is the reason why, after a violent quarrel about the funeral pyre, and the destiny of the ashes of Caesar, the Roman people, the men of Caesar's party, and the men of Caesar's family, decided to build the pyre in that place.
It seems that in that very place at that time there was probably a tribunal which, after the funeral of Caesar, and the building of the Temple, was then moved in front of the Temple of Caesar, probably in the location of the so-called Rostra Diocletiani.
The tribunal was a 'tribunal praetoris sub divo' with gradus and was known as 'tribunal Aurelium', a structure built by C. Aurelius Cotta around 80 BC, near the so-called Puteal Libonis, a bidental used for the sacred oath before the trials.
The corpse of Caesar was carried to the Roman Forum on an ivory couch, and set up on the Rostra in a gilded shrine modeled on the Temple of Venus Genetrix, the goddess from whom the family of the Iulii claimed to have come from.
Mark Antony delivered his famous speech, and a public reading of the Will of Caesar was made, while a mechanical device, positioned above the bier itself, was showing an image of Caesar made of wax, turning it round and round, so that people were able to clearly see the 23 wounds in all parts of the body and on the face.
So the crowd moved by the words of Mark Antony, by the Will of Caesar and by the sight of the image of wax tried to carry the corpse to Capitol among the gods and failed.
In the end the corpse was set on a funeral pile created near the Regia by using all the wooden things available in the Forum, like wooden benches, and then cremated with a great fire that lasted all the night long.
For the cult of the murdered pontifex maximus, a sacred man, against whom to use cutting weapons and object was strictly prohibited, an altar and a column were briefly erected in the very place of the cremation.
The column was of Numidian yellow stone, and had the inscription 'Parenti Patriae,' i.e. to the founder of the nation, but this first monument was taken down and removed by the anti-Caesarian party almost immediately.
In 42 BC Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony decreed the building of a Temple to Caesar.
After some time after the death of Caesar, in the sky of Rome a comet appeared and was clearly visible (every day and for seven days, starting one hour before the sunset).
This comet appeared for the first time during the ritual games in front of the Temple of Venus Genetrix (Venus was the supposed ancestor of the Julii family), in the Forum of Julius Caesar, and everyone in Rome thought it was the soul of Caesar deified called among the other gods.
After the appearance of that sign Augustus delivered a public speech giving an explanation of the appearance of the comet.
The speech is partially known since we have a partial transcription of it by Pliny the Elder.
After the public speech Augustus wanted a few series of coins devoted to the comet star, and to the deified Caesar ("Divus Iulius") to be struck and widely distributed.
So we can have an idea about the type of representation of the comet star of the deified Julius Caesar.
Augustus loved to be considered the real subject of any kind of Messianic prophecies and accounts, so during the public speech about the appearance of the comet, he specified that he, the new ruler of the world, was born (politically) at the very appearance of his father Julius Caesar as a comet in the sky of Rome, and his father was announcing his own (political) birth.
So he was the one who had to be born under the comet, and whom the appearance of the comet was announcing.
Other messianic prophecies about Augustus are told Suetonius, including the story of the massacre of the innocents conceived in order to kill the young Octavius soon after his own birth.
At some time during his princedom, Augustus ordered that all the books of prophecies and Messianic accounts had to be gathered and utterly destroyed.
The temple therefore ended up to represent both Julius Caesar, as a deified being, and Augustus himself as the newborn under the comet, and the comet star itself was object of public worship.
The consecration of the Temple lasted many days, during which Troy siege reconstructions, gladiatorial games, hunting scenes and banquets were held.
During this occasion the hippopotamus and the rhinoceros were shown in Rome for the first time ever.
It seems that the doors of the Temple were left opened so that it was possible to see the statue of the deified pontifex maximus Julius Caesar from the main square of the Roman Forum.
Augustus used to dedicate the spoils of war in this temple.
The altar and the shrine had the right of asylum.
Every four years, in front of the Rostra ad Divi Iuli, a festival was held in honour of Augustus.
The Rostra ad Divi Iuli were used to deliver funeral speeches by the Emperors.
Drusus and Tiberius delivered a double speech in the Forum. - Drusus was reading his speech from the Rostra Augusti, and Tiberius was reading his own from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli, one in front of the other.
The emperor Hadrian delivered a speech (perhaps a funeral one) from the Rostra ad Divi Iuli in 125 AD, as it can be seen on the coins series struck for the occasion.

Caesar's Comet was known to ancient writers as the Sidus Iulium ("Julian Star") or Caesaris astrum ("Star of Caesar"). The bright, daylight-visible comet appeared suddenly during the festival known as the Ludi Victoriae Caesaris - some four months after the assassination of Julius Caesar, as well as Caesar's own birth month. According to Suetonius, as celebrations were getting underway, "a comet shone for seven successive days, rising about the eleventh hour, and was believed to be the soul of Caesar."
The Comet became a powerful symbol in the political propaganda that launched the career of Caesar's great-nephew (and adoptive son) Augustus. At the back of the temple a huge image of Caesar was erected and, according to Ovid, a flaming comet was affixed to its forehead: 'To make that soul a star that burns forever, above the Forum and the gates of Rome.'

ARCHITECTURE

Temple of the Comet Star

Augustus used the temple to dedicate offerings from the spoils of war. It included a colossal statue of Julius Caesar, veiled as Pontifex Maximus, with a star on his head and bearing the lituus augural staff in his right hand.
In the cella of the temple there was a famous painting by Apelles of Venus Anadyomene.
During the princedom of Nero the painting by Apelles deteriorated and it could not be restored, so the emperor substituted for it another by Dorotheus.
There was also another painting by Apelles, depicting the Dioscuri with Victoria.
Vitruvius says that the temple was an example of pycnostyle front porch (i.e. six closely spaced columns on the front), however, the real arrangement of the columns is again uncertain, as it could be both prostyle or a peripteral.
The temple measured 26.97 m (width) x 30 m (length), corresponding to 91 by 102 Roman feet.
The podium or platform area was at least 5.5 m high (18 Roman feet) but only 3.5 m at the front.
The columns, if Corinthian, were probably 11.8/12.4 m high, corresponding to 40 or 42 Roman feet.
Which type of order was originally used for this temple is still uncertain.
Ancient coins evidence with representations of the Temple of Divus Iulius suggests the columns were either Ionic or composite, but it is a fact that fragments of Corinthian pilaster capitals have been found on the site by archaeologists, so we may hypothesize that the temple had an Ionic pronaos combined with Corinthian pilasters on the cella walls.
In Ancient Rome, Corinthian and composite were actually part of the same order, but it seems that composite was common on civil buildings and arches exteriors and less common on temples exteriors. Many temples and religious buildings of the Augustan Age were Corinthian, such as the Temple of Mars Ultor, the Maison Carrée in Nîmes and others.
The temple was destroyed by a fire during the reign of Septimius Severus, and then restored: being the coins from the period of Augustus and Hadrian, there is also a possibility that the order of the temple was changed during the restoration by Septimius Severus.
The entablature and the cornice found on the site have a modillions and rose structure typical of the Corinthian order.
The actual position of the staircase of the podium is also uncertain, and is a problem still to be solved.
It has been supposed that staircase was frontwards in front of the podium and at the sides, or that it was backwards, at the rear of the podium and at the side.
There is no clear evidence about the real position of the staircase of the podium.
The backwards position is a reconstruction model based on a hypothesized similarity between this temple and the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar.
This similarity is not proved, and is merely based on the fact that during public funeral and Mark Antony's speech the body of Julius Caesar was set on an ivory couch and in a gilded shrine modeled on the Temple of Venus Genetrix.
The frontwards position is based on some evidence from the 19th century excavations, and the overall impression from the actual site and the ancient coins.

ROSTRA

Dio Cassius reports the attachment of the rostra from the battle of Actium to the podium.
They are the so-called 'Rostra ad Divi Iuli', a podium used by orators for official and civil speeches, and especially for Imperial funeral orations.
The podium is clearly visible in the coins from the Hadrian period, and in the Anaglypha Traiani, but the connection between the rostra podium and the temple structure is not evident.
So also in this case there are many different hypothetical reconstructions of the general arrangement of the buildings of this part of the Roman Forum: according to the first one, the Rostra podium was attached to the Temple of Divus Iulius, and is actually the podium of the Temple of Divus Iulius with the rostra (i.e. the prows of warships) attached in frontal position.
According to the other reconstruction, the Rostra podium was a separate platform built west of the temple of Divus Iulius and directly in front of it, so the podium of the Temple of Divus Iulius is not the actual platform used by the orators for they speeches, and was not the platform used to attach the prows of ships taken at Actium.
This separate and independent podium or platform, known as 'Rostra ad Divi Iuli', is called also 'Rostra Diocletiani', due to the last arrangement of the building.

OTHER ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

By an accurate analysis of the Ancient coins, it is possible to determine two different series of decorations for the upper part of the frontal pediment of the temple.
Fire tongues (but the identification is uncertain) decorated all the pediment as old Etruscan-fashioned decoration antefixes (probably something like the decoration of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill).
The fire tongues seem to recall the flames of the Comet (Star), as they can be seen on the Augustan period coins.
The frieze was a repetitive scroll pattern with female heads, gorgons and winged figures.
The tympanum, at least during the first years, probably had a colossal Star, as it can be seen on the Augustan coins.
The cornice had dentils and beam type modillions (one of the first examples ever in Roman temple architecture) and undersides decorated with narrow rectangular panels carrying flowers, roses, disks, laurel crowns and pine-cones.
A statue at the very vertex of the frontal pediment, and two statues at the end corners of the pediment (the usual, classical type of decoration for the pediments of the Roman temples), are dated to Hadrian's reign.
Other Augustan Era buildings appear on coins with that particular type of 'Etruscan-style' pediment decoration.
The niche and the altar in the front of the temple podium are also a problem of scarce data interpretation.
They were visible in 29 BC when the temple was dedicated and when the Augustus coins series with the temple of Divus Iulius was struck (from 37 BC to 34 BC).
For the period after the coinage of that Series there is no clear evidence.
At a certain time the altar was removed, and the niche filled in, and closed with stone slabs, so that a continuous wall was created in the podium of the temple.
Since the altar had the right of asylum, it seems strange that the altar had been removed soon after 14 BC.
It has been suggested that the filled in niche may have not been the altar of Julius Caesar, but the Puteal Libonis, the old bidental used during the trials at the Tribunal Aurelium (see above) for the public oath.

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016

Augustus and the Pax Romana

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016

AUGUSTUS and the PAX ROMANA

Since the Pax Romana was established by Augustus, it is sometimes called Pax Augusta. Its span was approximately 206 years.

After Actium and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian was in a position to rule the entire Republic under an unofficial principate, - but he had to achieve this through incremental power gains. He did so by courting the Senate and the people while upholding the republican traditions of Rome, appearing that he was not aspiring to dictatorship or monarchy. Marching into Rome, Octavian and Marcus Agrippa were elected as dual consuls by the Senate. Years of civil war had left Rome in a state of near lawlessness, but the Republic was not prepared to accept the control of Octavian as a despot or 'king'. At the same time, Octavian could not simply give up his authority without risking further civil wars among the Roman generals and, even if he desired no position of authority whatsoever, his position demanded that he look to the well-being of the city of Rome and the Roman provinces. Octavian's aims from this point forward were to return Rome to a state of stability, traditional legality, and civility by lifting the overt political pressure imposed on the courts of law and ensuring free elections - in name at least.

THE FIRST SETTLEMENT

In 27 BC, Octavian made a show of returning full power to the Roman Senate and relinquishing his control of the Roman provinces and their armies.

Under his consulship, however, the Senate had little power in initiating legislation by introducing bills for senatorial debate.

Octavian was no longer in direct control of the provinces and their armies, but he retained the loyalty of active duty soldiers and veterans alike.

The careers of many clients and adherents depended on his patronage, as his financial power was unrivaled in the Roman Republic.

The sum of his power derived first of all from various powers of office delegated to him by the Senate and people, secondly from his immense private fortune, and thirdly from numerous patron-client relationships he established with individuals and groups throughout the Empire.

All of them taken together formed the basis of his auctoritas, which he himself emphasized as the foundation of his political actions.

To a large extent, the public were aware of the vast financial resources that Augustus commanded.

He failed to encourage enough senators to finance the building and maintenance of networks of roads in Italy in 20 BC, but he undertook direct responsibility for them.

This was publicized on the Roman currency issued in 16 BC, after he donated vast amounts of money to the 'Aerarium Saturni', the public treasury.

Augustus's power, however, was based on the exercise of "a predominant military power and the ultimate sanction of his authority was force, however much the fact was disguised.

The Senate proposed to Octavian, the victor of Rome's civil wars, that he once again assume command of the provinces.

The Senate's proposal was a ratification of Octavian's extra-constitutional power.

Through the Senate, Octavian was able to continue the appearance of a still-functional constitution. 

Feigning reluctance, he accepted a ten-year responsibility of overseeing provinces that were considered chaotic.

The provinces ceded to him for that ten-year period comprised much of the conquered Roman world, including all of Hispania and Gaul, Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt.

Moreover, command of these provinces provided Octavian with control over the majority of Rome's legions.

While Octavian acted as consul in Rome, he dispatched senators to the provinces under his command as his representatives to manage provincial affairs and ensure that his orders were carried out.

The provinces not under Octavian's control were overseen by governors chosen by the Roman Senate.

Octavian became the most powerful political figure in the city of Rome and in most of its provinces, but he did not have sole monopoly on political and martial power.

The Senate still controlled North Africa, an important regional producer of grain, as well as Illyria and Macedonia, two martially strategic regions with several legions, however, the Senate had control of only five or six legions distributed among three senatorial proconsuls, compared to the twenty legions under the control of Augustus, and their control of these regions did not amount to any political or military challenge to Octavian.

The Senate's control over some of the Roman provinces helped maintain a republican façade for the autocratic Principate.

Also, Octavian's control of entire provinces followed Republican-era precedents for the objective of securing peace and creating stability, in which such prominent Romans as Pompey had been granted similar military powers in times of crisis and instability.

On 16 January 27 BC the Senate gave Octavian the new titles of 'Augustus' and 'Princeps'.

'Augustus' is from the Latin word 'Augere' (meaning to increase), and can be translated as "the illustrious one".

It was a title of religious authority rather than political authority.

According to Roman religious beliefs, the title symbolized a stamp of authority over humanity - and in fact nature - that went beyond any constitutional definition of his status.

After the harsh methods employed in consolidating his control, the change in name served to demarcate his benign reign as Augustus from his reign of terror as Octavian.

His new title of Augustus was also more favorable than Romulus, the previous one which he styled for himself in reference to the story of Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome), which symbolized a second founding of Rome.

The title of Romulus was associated too strongly with notions of monarchy and kingship of Tarquin, an image that Octavian tried to avoid.

Princeps comes from the Latin phrase 'primum caput', "the first head", originally meaning the oldest or most distinguished senator whose name would appear first on the senatorial roster.

In the case of Augustus, however, it became an almost 'regnal' title for a leader who was first in charge.

Princeps had also been a title under the Republic for those who had served the state well; for example, Pompey had held the title.

Augustus also styled himself as 'Imperator Caesar divi filius', "Commander Caesar son of the deified one".

With this title, he boasted his familial link to deified Julius Caesar, and the use of 'Imperator' signified a permanent link to the Roman tradition of victory.

The word Caesar was merely a cognomen for one branch of the Julian family, yet Augustus transformed Caesar into a new family line that began with him.

Augustus was granted the right to hang the 'corona civica' above his door, the "civic crown" made from oak, and to have laurels drape his door-posts.

This crown was usually held above the head of a Roman general during a triumph, with the individual holding the crown charged to continually repeat to the general "memento mori", or "Remember that you are mortal".

Additionally, laurel wreaths were important in several state ceremonies, and crowns of laurel were rewarded to champions of athletic, racing, and dramatic contests.

Thus, both the laurel and the oak were integral symbols of Roman religion and statecraft; placing them on Augustus' door-posts was tantamount to declaring his home the capital.

However, Augustus renounced flaunting insignia of power, such as holding a scepter, wearing a diadem, or wearing the golden crown and purple toga of his predecessor Julius Caesar.

If he refused to symbolize his power by donning and bearing these items on his person, the Senate nonetheless awarded him with a golden shield displayed in the meeting hall of the Curia, bearing the inscription 'virtus, pietas, clementia, iustitia' - "valor, piety, clemency, and justice."

THE SECOND SETTLEMENT

By 23 BC, some of the un-Republican implications were becoming apparent concerning the settlement of 27 BC.

Augustus' policy of holding of an annual consulate drew attention to his dominance over the Roman political system, at the same time cutting in half the opportunities for others to achieve what was still purported to be the head of the Roman state.

Further, he was causing political problems by desiring to have his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus follow in his footsteps, and eventually assume the Principate in his turn, alienating his three biggest supporters – Agrippa, Maecenas, and Livia.

Feeling pressure from his own core group of adherents, Augustus turned to the Senate for help.

He appointed noted Republican Calpurnius Piso for co-consul in 23 BC, after his choice Aulus Terentius Varro Murena was executed as part of the Marcus Primus Affair, in an attempt to bolster his support there, especially with the Republicans.

(Murena had fought against Julius Caesar and supported Cassius and Brutus.)

In the late spring Augustus suffered a severe illness, and on his supposed deathbed made arrangements that would ensure the continuation of the Principate in some form, while at the same time put into doubt the senators' suspicions of his anti-republicanism.

Augustus prepared to hand down his signet ring to his favored general Agrippa.

However, Augustus handed over to his co-consul Piso all of his official documents, an account of public finances, and authority over listed troops in the provinces while Augustus' supposedly favored nephew Marcellus came away empty-handed.

This was a surprise to many who believed Augustus would have named an heir to his position as an unofficial emperor.

Augustus bestowed only properties and possessions to his designated heirs, as an obvious system of institutionalized imperial inheritance would have provoked resistance and hostility among the republican-minded Romans fearful of monarchy.

With regards to the Principate, it was obvious to Augustus that Marcellus was not ready to take on his position; nonetheless, by giving his signet ring to Agrippa, it was Augustus' intent to signal to the legions that Agrippa was to be his successor, and that no matter what the constitutional rules were, they would continue to obey Agrippa.

Soon after his bout of illness subsided, Augustus gave up his annual consulship.

The only other times Augustus would serve as consul would be in the years 5 and 2 BC, both times to introduce his grandsons into public life.

This was a clever ploy by Augustus; his ceasing to perennially be one of two annual consuls allowed aspiring senators a better chance to fill that position, while at the same time Augustus could exercise wider patronage within the senatorial class.

Although Augustus had resigned as consul, he desired to retain his consular imperium not just in his provinces but throughout the empire.

This desire, along with the Marcus Primus Affair, led to a second compromise between him and the Senate known as the Second Settlement.

REASONS for the SECOND SETTLEMENT

The primary reasons for the Second Settlement were as follows.

First, after Augustus relinquished the annual consulship, he was no longer in an official position to rule the state, yet his dominant position remained unchanged over his Roman, 'imperial' provinces where he was still a proconsul.

When he annually held the office of consul, he had the power to intervene with the affairs of the other provincial proconsuls appointed by the Senate throughout the empire, when he deemed necessary.

When he relinquished his annual consulship, he legally lost this power because his proconsular powers applied only to his imperial provinces.

Augustus wanted to keep this power.

A second problem later arose showing the need for the Second Settlement in what became known as the "Marcus Primus Affair".

In late 24 or early 23 BC, charges were brought against Marcus Primus, the former proconsul (governor) of Macedonia, for waging a war without prior approval of the Senate on the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, whose king was a Roman ally.

He was defended by Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena, who told the trial that his client had received specific instructions from Augustus, ordering him to attack the client state.

Later, Primus testified that the orders came from the recently deceased Marcellus.

Such orders, had they been given, would have been considered a breach of the Senate's prerogative under the Constitutional settlement of 27 BC and its aftermath - i.e., before Augustus was granted imperium proconsulare maius - as Macedonia was a Senatorial province under the Senate's jurisdiction, not an imperial province under the authority of Augustus.

Such an action would have ripped away the veneer of Republican restoration as promoted by Augustus, and exposed his fraud of merely being the first citizen, a first among equals.

Even worse, the involvement of Marcellus provided some measure of proof that Augustus's policy was to have the youth take his place as Princeps, instituting a form of monarchy – accusations that had already played out.

The situation was so serious that Augustus himself appeared at the trial, even though he had not been called as a witness.

Under oath, Augustus declared that he gave no such order.

Murena disbelieved Augustus's testimony and resented his attempt to subvert the trial by using his auctoritas.

He rudely demanded to know why Augustus had turned up to a trial to which he had not been called; 

Augustus replied that he came in the public interest.

Although Primus was found guilty, some jurors voted to acquit, meaning that not everybody believed Augustus's testimony, an insult to the 'August One'.

The Second Constitutional Settlement was completed in part to allay confusion and formalize Augustus' legal authority to intervene in Senatorial provinces.

The Senate granted Augustus a form of general imperium proconsulare, or proconsular imperium (power) that applied throughout the empire, not solely to his provinces.

Moreover, the Senate augmented Augustus' proconsular imperium into 'imperium proconsulare maius', or 'proconsular imperium' applicable throughout the empire that was more (maius) or greater than that held by the other proconsuls.

This in effect gave Augustus constitutional power superior to all other proconsuls in the empire.

Augustus stayed in Rome during the renewal process, and provided veterans with lavish donations to gain their support, thereby ensuring that his status of proconsular 'imperium maius' was renewed in 13 BC.

FURTHER POWERS

During the second settlement, Augustus was also granted the power of a tribune ('tribunicia potestas') for life, though not the official title of tribune.

For some years, Augustus had been awarded 'tribunicia sacrosanctitas', or the immunity from physical attack given to a Tribune of the Plebeians.

Now he decided to assume the full powers of the magistracy in perpetuity.

Legally, it was closed to patricians, a status that Augustus had acquired some years earlier when adopted by Julius Caesar.

This power allowed him to convene the Senate and people at will, and lay business before them, to veto the actions of either the Assembly or the Senate, to preside over elections, and to speak first at any meeting.

Also included in Augustus' tribunician authority were powers usually reserved for the Roman censor; these included the right to supervise public morals and scrutinize laws to ensure that they were in the public interest, as well as the ability to hold a census and determine the membership of the Senate.

With the powers of a censor, Augustus appealed to virtues of Roman patriotism by banning all attire but the classic toga while entering the Forum.

There was no precedent within the Roman system for combining the powers of the tribune and the censor into a single position, nor was Augustus ever elected to the office of censor.

Julius Caesar had been granted similar powers, wherein he was charged with supervising the morals of the state, however, this position did not extend to the censor's ability to hold a census and determine the Senate's roster.

The office of the 'tribunus plebis' began to lose its prestige, due to Augustus' amassing of tribunal powers, so he revived its importance by making it a mandatory appointment for any plebeian desiring the praetorship.

Augustus was granted sole imperium within the city of Rome itself, in addition to being granted proconsular imperium maius and tribunician authority for life.

Traditionally, proconsuls (Roman province governors) lost their proconsular "imperium" when they crossed the Pomerium - the sacred boundary of Rome - and entered the city.

In these situations, Augustus would have power as part of his tribunician authority but his constitutional imperium within the Pomerium would be less than that of a serving consul.

That would mean that, when he was in the city, he might not be the constitutional magistrate with the most authority.

Thanks to his prestige or 'auctoritas', his wishes would usually be obeyed, but there might be some difficulty.

To fill this power vacuum, the Senate voted that Augustus's imperium proconsulare maius (superior proconsular power) should not lapse when he was inside the city walls.

All armed forces in the city had formerly been under the control of the urban praetors and consuls, but this situation now placed them under the sole authority of Augustus.

In addition, the credit was given to Augustus for each subsequent Roman military victory after this time, because the majority of Rome's armies were stationed in imperial provinces commanded by Augustus through the 'legatus', who were deputies of the princeps in the provinces.

Moreover, if a battle was fought in a Senatorial province, Augustus' proconsular imperium maius allowed him to take command of (or credit for) any major military victory.

This meant that Augustus was the only individual able to receive a triumph, a tradition that began with Romulus, Rome's first King, and first triumphant general.

Lucius Cornelius Balbus was the last man outside Augustus' family to receive this award in 19 BC.(Balbus was the nephew of Julius Caesar's great agent, who was governor of Africa and conqueror of the Garamantes.)

Tiberius, Augustus' eldest son by marriage to Livia, was the only other general to receive a triumph - for victories in Germania in 7 BC.
Many of the political subtleties of the Second Settlement seem to have (not surprisingly) evaded the comprehension of the Plebeian class, who were Augustus' greatest supporters and clientele.
This caused them to insist upon Augustus' participation in imperial affairs from time to time.
Augustus failed to stand for election as consul in 22 BC, and fears arose once again that he was being forced from power by the aristocratic Senate. In 22, 21, and 19 BC, the people rioted in response, and only allowed a single consul to be elected for each of those years, ostensibly to leave the other position open for Augustus.
Likewise, there was a food shortage in Rome in 22 BC which sparked panic, while many urban plebs called for Augustus to take on dictatorial powers to personally oversee the crisis.
After a theatrical display of refusal before the Senate, Augustus finally accepted authority over Rome's grain supply "by virtue of his proconsular imperium", and ended the crisis almost immediately.
It was not until AD 8 that a food crisis of this sort prompted Augustus to establish a 'praefectus annonae', a permanent prefect who was in charge of procuring food supplies for Rome.

CONSTITUTIONAL STABILITY

A final reason for the Second Settlement was to give the Principate constitutional stability, and staying power, in case something happened to Princeps Augustus.
His illness of early 23 BC showed that the regime's existence hung by the thin thread of the life of one man, Augustus himself, who suffered from several severe and dangerous illnesses throughout his life.
If he were to die from natural causes, or fall victim to assassination, Rome could be subjected to another round of civil war.
The memories of Pharsalus, the Ides of March, the proscriptions, Philippi, and Actium, barely twenty-five years distant, were still vivid in the minds of many citizens.
Proconsular imperium was conferred upon Agrippa for five years, similar to Augustus' power, in order to accomplish this constitutional stability.
The exact nature of the grant is uncertain, but it probably covered Augustus' imperial provinces, east and west, perhaps lacking authority over the provinces of the Senate.
That came later, as did the jealously guarded tribunicia potestas.

Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus

Augustus' powers were now complete.
In fact, he dated his 'reign' from the completion of the Second Settlement, July 1, 23 BC.
Almost as importantly, the Principate now had constitutional stability.
Later Roman Emperors were generally limited to the powers and titles originally granted to Augustus, though often newly appointed Emperors would decline one or more of the honorifics given to Augustus in order to display humility.
Just as often, as their reign progressed, Emperors would appropriate all of the titles, regardless of whether they had been granted them by the Senate.
Later Emperors took to wearing the civic crown, consular insignia, and the purple robes of a Triumphant general (toga picta), which became the imperial insignia.

MILITARY EXPANSION

Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus chose Imperator ("victorious commander") to be his first name, since he wanted to make an emphatically clear connection between himself and the notion of victory.
By the year 13, Augustus boasted 21 occasions where his troops proclaimed "imperator" as his title after a successful battle.
Almost the entire fourth chapter in his publicly released memoirs of achievements known as the 'Res Gestae' was devoted to his military victories and honors.
Augustus also promoted the ideal of a superior Roman civilization with a task of ruling the world (to the extent to which the Romans knew it), a sentiment embodied in words that the contemporary poet Virgil attributes to a legendary ancestor of Augustus: 'tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento'—"Roman, remember by your strength to rule the Earth's peoples!"
The impulse for expansionism apparently was prominent among all classes at Rome, and it is accorded divine sanction by Virgil's Jupiter in Book 1 of the 'Aeneid', where Jupiter promises Rome 'imperium sine fine', "sovereignty without end".
By the end of his reign, the armies of Augustus had conquered northern Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal) and the Alpine regions of Raetia and Noricum (modern Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia), Illyricum and Pannonia (modern Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.), and had extended the borders of the Africa Province to the east and south.
Judea was added to the province of Syria when Augustus deposed Herod Archelaus, successor to client king Herod the Great (73–4 BC).
Syria (like Egypt after Antony) was governed by a high prefect of the equestrian class rather than by a proconsul or legate of Augustus.
Again, no military effort was needed in 25 BC when Galatia (modern Turkey) was converted to a Roman province shortly after Amyntas of Galatia was killed by an avenging widow of a slain prince from Homonada.
The rebellious tribes of Asturias and Cantabria in modern-day Spain were finally quelled in 19 BC, and the territory fell under the provinces of Hispania and Lusitania.
This region proved to be a major asset in funding Augustus' future military campaigns, as it was rich in mineral deposits that could be fostered in Roman mining projects, especially the very rich gold deposits at Las Medulas.
Conquering the peoples of the Alps in 16 BC was another important victory for Rome, since it provided a large territorial buffer between the Roman citizens of Italy and Rome's enemies in Germania to the north.
Horace dedicated an ode to the victory, while the monument Trophy of Augustus near Monaco was built to honor the occasion.
The capture of the Alpine region also served the next offensive in 12 BC, when Tiberius began the offensive against the Pannonian tribes of Illyricum, and his brother Nero Claudius Drusus moved against the Germanic tribes of the eastern Rhineland.
Both campaigns were successful, as Drusus' forces reached the Elbe River by 9 BC - though he died shortly after by falling off his horse (?).
It was recorded that the pious Tiberius walked in front of his brother's body all the way back to Rome.
Muziris in the Chera Kingdom of Southern India, as shown in the Tabula Peutingeriana, with depiction of a "Temple of Augustus" ("Templum Augusti"), an illustration of Indo-Roman relations in the period.
To protect Rome's eastern territories from the Parthian Empire, Augustus relied on the client states of the east to act as territorial buffers and areas that could raise their own troops for defense.
To ensure security of the Empire's eastern flank, Augustus stationed a Roman army in Syria, while his skilled stepson Tiberius negotiated with the Parthians as Rome's diplomat to the East.
Tiberius was responsible for restoring Tigranes V to the throne of the Kingdom of Armenia.
Yet arguably his greatest diplomatic achievement was negotiating with Phraates IV of Parthia (37–2 BC) in 20 BC for the return of the battle standards lost by Crassus in the Battle of Carrhae, a symbolic victory and great boost of morale for Rome.
Augustus used the return of the standards as propaganda symbolizing the submission of Parthia to Rome.

Temple of Mars Ultor

The event was celebrated in art such as the breastplate design on the statue Augustus of Prima Porta (see above), and in monuments such as the Temple of Mars Ultor ('Mars the Avenger') built to house the standards.
Parthia had always posed a threat to Rome in the east, but the real battlefront was along the Rhine and Danube rivers.
Before the final fight with Antony, Octavian's campaigns against the tribes in Dalmatia were the first step in expanding Roman dominions to the Danube.
Victory in battle was not always a permanent success, as newly conquered territories were constantly retaken by Rome's enemies in Germania.
A prime example of Roman loss in battle was the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, where three entire legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed by Arminius, leader of the Cherusci, an apparent Roman ally.
Augustus retaliated by dispatching Tiberius and Drusus to the Rhineland to pacify it, which had some success although the battle of AD 9 brought the end to Roman expansion into Germany.
Roman general Germanicus took advantage of a Cherusci civil war between Arminius and Segestes; they defeated Arminius, who fled that battle but was killed later in 21 due to treachery.

to be continued.......

Imperator Caesar Augustus

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016

(IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI FILIUS AUGUSTUS)

Imperātor Caesar Dīvī Fīlius Augustus; (23 September 63 BC – 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of the Roman Principate, ruling from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.

He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavii family.
His maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC (see previous article), and Octavian was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son and his heir.

Marcus Lepidus 

Mark Antony

He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate, to defeat the assassins of Caesar.

Following their victory at Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves, and ruled as military dictators.

The Triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its members.

Lepidus was driven into exile, and stripped of his position, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian in 31 BC.

After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the 'outward facade' of the free Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, the executive magistrates, and the legislative assemblies.

Caesar Augustus

In reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator.

By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and those of Tribune and Censor.

It took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule.

He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis ("First Citizen of the State").

The resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate.
The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana (The Roman Peace).

The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession.

Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia; expanding possessions in Africa; expanding into Germania; and completing the conquest of Hispania.
Beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy.

He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard, created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome, and rebuilt much of the city during his reign.
Augustus died in AD 14 at the age of 75.

He may have died from natural causes, although there were rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him.
He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son (also stepson and former son-in-law) Tiberius.

WHO WAS AUGUSTUS ?

Gaius Julius Caesar

People quite often become confused regarding this individual's identity, as he had a number of names, some of which were really titles (which later became names), and some names which he held in common with, and some which he usurped from, his great uncle Gaius Julius Caesar.

At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father.

Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius (or Octavian - which can be another point of confusion)) between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC (after Julius Caesar's death).

Upon his adoption, he took Caesar's name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards.

He quickly dropped "Octavianus" from his name, and his contemporaries typically referred to him as "Caesar" during this period; - historians, however, refer to him as Octavian between 44 BC and 27 BC.

In 42 BC, Octavian began the Temple of Divus Iulius (Temple of the Divine Julius), or Temple of the Comet Star, and added 'Divi Filius' (Son of the Divine) to his name, in order to strengthen his political ties to Caesar's former soldiers by following the deification of Caesar, becoming Gaius Julius Caesar Divi Filius.

In 38 BC, Octavian replaced his praenomen "Gaius" and nomen "Julius" with 'Imperator', the title by which troops hailed their leader after military success, officially becoming Imperator Caesar Divi Filius.

In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the Roman Senate voted new titles for him, officially becoming Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus.

It is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.

BIOGRAPHY

While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Rome, Augustus was born in the city of Rome on 23 September 63 BC.
He was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum.
He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his father's victory at Thurii over a rebellious band of slaves.
Due to the crowded nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his father's home village at Velletri to be raised.
Octavius only mentions his father's equestrian family briefly in his memoirs.
His paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War.
His grandfather had served in several local political offices.
His father, also named Gaius Octavius, had been governor of Macedonia.
His mother, Atia, was the niece of Julius Caesar.
In 59 BC, when he was four years old, his father died.
His mother married a former governor of Syria, Lucius Marcius Philippus.
Philippus claimed descent from Alexander the Great, and was elected consul in 56 BC.
Philippus never had much of an interest in young Octavius.
Because of this, Octavius was raised by his grandmother (and Julius Caesar's sister), Julia Caesaris.
In 52 or 51 BC, Julia Caesaris died.
Octavius delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother.
From this point, his mother and stepfather took a more active role in raising him.

Gaius Octavius Thurinus

He donned the toga virilis four years later, and was elected to the College of Pontiffs in 47 BC.
The following year he was put in charge of the Greek games that were staged in honor of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, built by Julius Caesar.
According to Nicolaus of Damascus, Octavius wished to join Caesar's staff for his campaign in Africa, but gave way when his mother protested.
In 46 BC, she consented for him to join Caesar in Hispania, where he planned to fight the forces of Pompey, Caesar's late enemy, but Octavius fell ill and was unable to travel.
When he had recovered, he sailed to the front, but was shipwrecked; after coming ashore with a handful of companions, he crossed hostile territory to Caesar's camp, which impressed his great-uncle considerably.
Velleius Paterculus reports that after that time, Caesar allowed the young man to share his carriage.
When back in Rome, Caesar deposited a new will with the Vestal Virgins, naming Octavius as the prime beneficiary.

HEIR to GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

The Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC.

Octavius was studying and undergoing military training in Apollonia, Illyria, when Julius Caesar was killed on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC.

He rejected the advice of some army officers to take refuge with the troops in Macedonia and sailed to Italy to ascertain whether he had any potential political fortunes or security.

Gaius Julius Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law, (if Caesarion - by Cleopatra - was his legitimate son, then it was only by Egyptian law), and so had adopted Octavius, his grand-nephew, making him his main heir.

Mark Antony later charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favors, (this was possible, but unlikely), and Suetonius describes Antony's accusation as political slander.

After landing at Lupiae near Brundisium, Octavius learned the contents of Caesar's will, and only then did he decide to become Caesar's political heir as well as heir to two-thirds of his estate.

Upon his adoption, Octavius assumed his great-uncle's name Gaius Julius Caesar.

Roman citizens adopted into a new family usually retained their old nomen in cognomen form (e.g., Octavianus for one who had been an Octavius, Aemilianus for one who had been an Aemilius, etc.), however, though some of his contemporaries did, there is no evidence that Octavius ever himself officially used the name Octavianus, as it would have made his modest origins too obvious.

Historians usually refer to the new Caesar as Octavian during the time between his adoption and his assumption of the name Augustus in 27 BC, in order to avoid confusing the dead dictator with his heir.
Octavian could not rely on his limited funds to make a successful entry into the upper echelons of the Roman political hierarchy so, after a warm welcome by Caesar's soldiers at Brundisium, Octavian demanded a portion of the funds that were allotted by Caesar for the intended war against Parthia in the Middle East.

This amounted to 700 million sesterces stored at Brundisium, the staging ground in Italy for military operations in the east.

A later senatorial investigation into the disappearance of the public funds took no action against Octavian, since he subsequently used that money to raise troops against the Senate's arch enemy Mark Antony.

Octavian made another bold move in 44 BC when, without official permission, he appropriated the annual tribute that had been sent from Rome's Near Eastern province to Italy.

Octavian began to bolster his personal forces with Caesar's veteran legionaries, and with troops designated for the Parthian war, gathering support by emphasizing his status as heir to Caesar.

On his march to Rome through Italy, Octavian's presence and newly acquired funds attracted many, winning over Caesar's former veterans stationed in Campania.

Roman Legionaries

By June, he had gathered an army of 3,000 loyal veterans, paying each a salary of 500 denarii.
Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BC, Octavian found consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in an uneasy truce with the dictator's assassins.
They had been granted a general amnesty on 17 March, yet Antony succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome.
This was due to his "inflammatory" eulogy (paraphrased in Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar')given at Caesar's funeral, mounting public opinion against the assassins.
Mark Antony was amassing political support, but Octavian still had opportunity to rival him as the leading member of the faction supporting Caesar.
Mark Antony had lost the support of many Romans and supporters of Caesar when he initially opposed the motion to elevate Caesar to divine status.
Octavian failed to persuade Antony to relinquish Caesar's money to him.
During the summer, he managed to win support from Caesarian sympathizers, however, who saw the younger heir as the lesser evil, and hoped to manipulate him, or to bear with him during their efforts to get rid of Antony.
Octavian began to make common cause with the Optimates, the former enemies of Caesar.

Marcus Tullius Cicero 

In September, the leading Optimate orator Marcus Tullius Cicero began to attack Antony in a series of speeches portraying him as a threat to the Republican order.
With opinion in Rome turning against him, and his year of consular power nearing its end, Antony attempted to pass laws that would lend him control over Cisalpine Gaul, which had been assigned as part of his province, from Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins.
Octavian meanwhile built up a private army in Italy by recruiting Caesarian veterans and, on 28 November, he won over two of Antony's legions with the enticing offer of monetary gain.
In the face of Octavian's large and capable force, Antony saw the danger of staying in Rome and, to the relief of the Senate, he fled to Cisalpine Gaul, which was to be handed to him on 1 January.

CONFLICT with MARK ANTONY

Decimus Brutus refused to give up Cisalpine Gaul, so Antony besieged him at Mutina.

Antony rejected the resolutions passed by the Senate to stop the violence, as the Senate had no army of its own to challenge him.

This provided an opportunity for Octavian, who already was known to have armed forces.

Cicero also defended Octavian against Antony's taunts about Octavian's lack of noble lineage and aping of Julius Caesar's name, stating "we have no more brilliant example of traditional piety among our youth."

At the urging of Cicero, the Senate inducted Octavian as senator on 1 January 43 BC, yet he also was given the power to vote alongside the former consuls.

In addition, Octavian was granted 'Propraetor Imperium' (commanding power), which legalized his command of troops, sending him to relieve the siege along with Hirtius and Pansa (the consuls for 43 BC).

In April 43 BC, Antony's forces were defeated at the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina, forcing Antony to retreat to Transalpine Gaul.

Both consuls were killed, however, leaving Octavian in sole command of their armies.

Aemilius Lepidus

The senate heaped many more rewards on Decimus Brutus than on Octavian for defeating Antony, then attempted to give command of the consular legions to Decimus Brutus - yet Octavian decided not to cooperate.

Instead, Octavian stayed in the Po Valley, and refused to aid any further offensive against Antony.

In July, an embassy of centurions sent by Octavian entered Rome and demanded that he receive the consulship left vacant by Hirtius and Pansa.

Octavian also demanded that the decree should be rescinded which declared Antony a public enemy.

When this was refused, he marched on the city with eight legions.

He encountered no military opposition in Rome, and on 19 August 43 BC was elected consul with his relative Quintus Pedius as co-consul.

Meanwhile, Antony formed an alliance with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, another leading Caesarian.

SECOND TRIUMVIRATE

In a meeting near Bologna in October 43 BC, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed a junta called the Second Triumvirate.

This explicit arrogation of special powers lasting five years was then supported by law passed by the plebs, unlike the unofficial First Triumvirate formed by Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Marcus Licinius Crassus.

The triumvirs then set in motion proscriptions in which 300 senators and 2,000 equites allegedly were branded as outlaws, and deprived of their property and, for those who failed to escape, their lives.

The estimation that 300 senators were proscribed was presented by Appian, although his earlier contemporary Livy asserted that only 130 senators had been proscribed.

This decree, issued by the triumvirate, was motivated in part by a need to raise money to pay the salaries of their troops for the upcoming conflict against Caesar's assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus.

Rewards for their arrest gave incentive for Romans to capture those proscribed, while the assets and properties of those arrested were seized by the triumvirs.

Contemporary Roman historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir was more responsible for the proscriptions and killing, however, the sources agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies.

Marcus Velleius Paterculus asserted that Octavian tried to avoid proscribing officials whereas Lepidus and Antony were to blame for initiating them.

Cassius Dio defended Octavian as trying to spare as many as possible, whereas Antony and Lepidus, being older and involved in politics longer, had many more enemies to deal with.

    

BATTLE of PHILIPPI

On 1 January 42 BC, the Senate posthumously recognized Julius Caesar as a divinity of the Roman state, - Divus Iulius.

Octavian was able to further his cause by emphasizing the fact that he was 'Divi filius', "Son of the God".

Antony and Octavian then sent 28 legions by sea to face the armies of Brutus and Cassius, who had built their base of power in Greece.

After two battles at Philippi in Macedonia in October 42, the Caesarian army was victorious and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide.

Mark Antony later used the examples of these battles as a means to belittle Octavian, as both battles were decisively won with the use of Antony's forces.

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa 

In addition to claiming responsibility for both victories, Antony also branded Octavian as a coward for handing over his direct military control to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa instead.

After Philippi, a new territorial arrangement was made among the members of the Second Triumvirate.

Gaul and the provinces of Hispania and Italia were placed in the hands of Octavian.

Antony traveled east to Egypt where he allied himself with Queen Cleopatra VII, the former lover of Julius Caesar and mother of Caesar's infant son Caesarion.

Lepidus was left with the province of Africa, stymied by Antony, who conceded Hispania to Octavian instead.

Octavian was left to decide where in Italy to settle the tens of thousands of veterans of the Macedonian campaign, whom the triumvirs had promised to discharge.

The tens of thousands who had fought on the republican side with Brutus and Cassius could easily ally with a political opponent of Octavian if not appeased, and they also required land.

There was no more government-controlled land to allot as settlements for their soldiers, so Octavian had to choose one of two options: alienating many Roman citizens by confiscating their land, or alienating many Roman soldiers who could mount a considerable opposition against him in the Roman heartland. Octavian chose the former.

There were as many as eighteen Roman towns affected by the new settlements, with entire populations driven out or at least given partial evictions.

DIVORCE and REBELLION

There was widespread dissatisfaction with Octavian over these settlements of his soldiers, and this encouraged many to rally at the side of Lucius Antonius, who was brother of Mark Antony and supported by a majority in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Octavian asked for a divorce from Clodia Pulchra, the daughter of Fulvia (Mark Antony's wife), and her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher.
He returned Clodia to her mother, claiming that their marriage had never been consummated (?).
Fulvia decided to take action.
Together with Lucius Antonius, she raised an army in Italy to fight for Antony's rights against Octavian.
Lucius and Fulvia took a political and martial gamble in opposing Octavian, however, since the Roman army still depended on the triumvirs for their salaries.
Lucius and his allies ended up in a defensive siege at Perusia (modern Perugia), where Octavian forced them into surrender in early 40 BC.
Lucius and his army were spared, due to his kinship with Antony, the strongman of the East, while Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon.
Octavian showed no mercy, however, for the mass of allies loyal to Lucius; on 15 March, the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination, he had 300 Roman senators and equestrians executed for allying with Lucius.
Perusia also was pillaged and burned as a warning for others.
This bloody event sullied Octavian's reputation and was criticized by many, such as Augustan poet Sextus Propertius.

Pompey Magnus

Sextus Pompeius was the son of First Triumvir Pompey Magnus (Pompey the Great), and still a renegade general following Julius Caesar's victory over his father.
He was established in Sicily and Sardinia as part of an agreement reached with the Second Triumvirate in 39 BC.
Both Antony and Octavian were vying for an alliance with Pompeius, who was a member of the republican party, ironically, not the Caesarian faction.
Octavian succeeded in a temporary alliance in 40 BC when he married Scribonia, a daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo who was a follower of Sextus Pompeius as well as his father-in-law.
Scribonia gave birth to Octavian's only natural child, Julia, who was born the same day that he divorced her to marry Livia Drusilla, little more than a year after their marriage.
While in Egypt, Antony had been engaged in an affair with Cleopatra, and had fathered three children with her.
Aware of his deteriorating relationship with Octavian, Antony left Cleopatra; he sailed to Italy in 40 BC with a large force to oppose Octavian, laying siege to Brundisium.
This new conflict proved untenable for both Octavian and Antony, however.
Their centurions, who had become important figures politically, refused to fight due to their Caesarian cause, while the legions under their command followed suit.
Meanwhile, in Sicyon, Antony's wife Fulvia died of a sudden illness while Antony was en route to meet her.
Fulvia's death and the mutiny of their centurions allowed the two remaining triumvirs to effect a reconciliation.
In the autumn of 40, Octavian and Antony approved the Treaty of Brundisium, by which Lepidus would remain in Africa, Antony in the East, Octavian in the West.
The Italian peninsula was left open to all for the recruitment of soldiers, but in reality, this provision was useless for Antony in the East.
To further cement relations of alliance with Mark Antony, Octavian gave his sister, Octavia Minor, in marriage to Antony in late 40 BC.
During their marriage, Octavia gave birth to two daughters (known as Antonia Major and Antonia Minor).

WAR with POMPEIUS

Sextus Pompeius threatened Octavian in Italy by denying shipments of grain through the Mediterranean to the peninsula.
Pompeius' own son was put in charge as naval commander in the effort to cause widespread famine in Italy.
Pompeius' control over the sea prompted him to take on the name Neptuni filius, "son of Neptune" (seriously ?).
A temporary peace agreement was reached in 39 BC with the treaty of Misenum; the blockade on Italy was lifted once Octavian granted Pompeius Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and the Peloponnese, and ensured him a future position as consul for 35 BC.
The territorial agreement between the triumvirate and Sextus Pompeius began to crumble once Octavian divorced Scribonia and married Livia on 17 January 38 BC.
One of Pompeius' naval commanders betrayed him, and handed over Corsica and Sardinia to Octavian.
Octavian lacked the resources to confront Pompeius alone, however, so an agreement was reached with the Second Triumvirate's extension for another five-year period beginning in 37 BC.
In supporting Octavian, Antony expected to gain support for his own campaign against Parthia, desiring to avenge Rome's defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC.
In an agreement reached at Tarentum, Antony provided 120 ships for Octavian to use against Pompeius, while Octavian was to send 20,000 legionaries to Antony for use against Parthia.
Octavian sent only a tenth of those promised, however, which Antony viewed as an intentional provocation.
Octavian and Lepidus launched a joint operation against Sextus in Sicily in 36 BC.
Despite setbacks for Octavian, the naval fleet of Sextus Pompeius was almost entirely destroyed on 3 September by general Agrippa at the naval Battle of Naulochus.
Sextus fled to the east with his remaining forces, where he was captured and executed in Miletus by one of Antony's generals the following year.
As Lepidus and Octavian accepted the surrender of Pompeius' troops, Lepidus attempted to claim Sicily for himself, ordering Octavian to leave.
Lepidus' troops deserted him, however, and defected to Octavian since they were weary of fighting - (by this time almost everybody was wearying of all the fighting) - and were enticed by Octavian's promises of money.
Lepidus surrendered to Octavian, and was permitted to retain the office of pontifex maximus (head of the college of priests), but was ejected from the Triumvirate, his public career at an end, and effectively was exiled to a villa at Cape Circei in Italy.
The Roman dominions were now divided between Octavian in the West and Antony in the East.
Octavian ensured Rome's citizens of their rights to property in order to maintain peace and stability in his portion of the Empire.
This time, he settled his discharged soldiers outside of Italy, while also returning 30,000 slaves to their former Roman owners - slaves who had fled to join Pompeius' army and navy.
Octavian had the Senate grant him, his wife, and his sister tribunal immunity, or 'sacrosanctitas', in order to ensure his own safety, and that of Livia and Octavia, once he returned to Rome.

WAR with MARK ANTONY and CLEOPATRA

Meanwhile, Antony's campaign turned disastrous against Parthia, tarnishing his image as a leader, and the mere 2,000 legionaries sent by Octavian to Antony were hardly enough to replenish his forces.
On the other hand, Cleopatra could restore his army to full strength; he already was engaged in a romantic affair with her, so he decided to send Octavia back to Rome.
Octavian used this to spread propaganda implying that Antony was becoming less than Roman because he rejected a legitimate Roman spouse for an "Oriental paramour".
In 36 BC, Octavian used a political ploy to make himself look less autocratic and Antony more the villain by proclaiming that the civil wars were coming to an end, and that he would step down as triumvir - if only Antony would do the same.
Antony, of course,  refused.
Roman troops captured the Kingdom of Armenia in 34 BC, and Antony made his son Alexander Helios the ruler of Armenia.
He also awarded the title "Queen of Kings" to Cleopatra, and 'King of Kings' to Caesarion - acts that Octavian used to convince the Roman Senate that Antony had ambitions to diminish the preeminence of Rome.
Octavian became consul once again on 1 January 33 BC, and he opened the following session in the Senate with a vehement attack on Antony's grants of titles and territories to his relatives and to his queen (the Donations of Alexandria).
The breach between Antony and Octavian prompted a large portion of the Senators, as well as both of that year's consuls, to leave Rome and defect to Antony.
However, Octavian received two key deserters from Antony in the autumn of 32 BC: Munatius Plancus and Marcus Titius.
These defectors gave Octavian the information that he needed to confirm with the Senate all the accusations that he made against Antony.
Octavian forcibly entered the temple of the Vestal Virgins and seized Antony's secret will, which he promptly publicized.
The will would have given away Roman-conquered territories as kingdoms for his sons to rule, and designated Alexandria as the site for a tomb for him and his queen.
In late 32 BC, the Senate officially revoked Antony's powers as consul and declared war on Cleopatra's regime in Egypt.
In early 31 BC, Antony and Cleopatra were temporarily stationed in Greece when Octavian gained a preliminary victory: the navy successfully ferried troops across the Adriatic Sea under the command of Agrippa.
Agrippa cut off Antony and Cleopatra's main force from their supply routes at sea, while Octavian landed on the mainland opposite the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu) and marched south.
Trapped on land and sea, deserters of Antony's army fled to Octavian's side daily while Octavian's forces were comfortable enough to make preparations.
Antony's fleet sailed through the bay of Actium on the western coast of Greece in a desperate attempt to break free of the naval blockade.

The Battle of Actium

It was there that Antony's fleet faced the much larger fleet of smaller, more maneuverable ships under commanders Agrippa and Gaius Sosius in the battle of Actium on 2 September 31 BC.
Antony and his remaining forces were spared only due to a last-ditch effort by Cleopatra's fleet that had been waiting nearby.
Octavian pursued them, and defeated their forces in Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC - after which Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.
Antony fell on his own sword, and was taken by his soldiers back to Alexandria where he died in Cleopatra's arms.
Cleopatra died soon after, reputedly by the venomous bite of an asp or by poison.
Octavian had exploited his position as Caesar's heir to further his own political career, and he was well aware of the dangers in allowing another person to do so the same.
He, therefore, followed the advice of Arius Didymus that "two Caesars are one too many", ordering young Caesarion (17) to be killed (Julius Caesar's son by Cleopatra), while sparing Cleopatra's children by Antony, with the exception of Antony's older son.
Octavian had previously shown little mercy to surrendered enemies, and acted in ways that had proven unpopular with the Roman people, yet he was given credit for pardoning many of his opponents after the Battle of Actium.

PAX ROMANA

And so the seemingly endless civil wars that had almost ruined the Roman Republic and its Empire came to an end, with Octavian as the most powerful military and political leader in Rome.
The task that then faced Octavian was to prevent a further outbreak of conflict.
Still Roman politics and politicians were divided.
Some supported the Republic ,and others a form of Caeserism (autocracy).
Octavian's task was to reconcile the two factions by carefully wrapping and disguising his own autocracy, (the Principate), within the folds of the Roman Republic.

to continue the story of Octavian and the Roman Principate go to:

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016

AUGUSTUS and the PAX ROMANA

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2016