Transcript The Second Triumviratepowerpoint (dhill v1).

The Second Triumvirate
Triumviri respublicae
Constitendua
Sources for the period
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Plutarch’s Lives of
Antony and Brutus
Appian’s Civil Wars
Cicero’s “ Philippics”
Suetonius’ Life of
Augustus
Cary, A History of
Rome
Scullard, From the
Gracchi to Nero
Landless Roman Peasants
Italian Allies
- Served in the armies that
had won an empire
- Wanted farmland and a minimum
standard of living
- Served in the armies that
had won an empire
- Wanted citizenship and equal
Treatment
Senate
- Intense rivalries
-Jealously protected
privileges and power
-Did not address needs for
reform
Roman Plebs
Equites
- Laborers and poor of the capital
- Access to grain and bread at
affordable prices
- Wealthy and distinguished non-senators
- Wanted honors and recognition and did
not want senators to look down on them
The Period from 44BC- 28bc
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Formation and breakdown of the
Second Triumvirate; power vacuum left
by Caesar’s death, candidates for power,
Senate response, fate of the assassins
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Role of Significant individuals;
Octavian , Antony, Cicero,
Cleopatra, Fulvia and Octavia
 Civil War; Battle of Mutina, Philippi,
Perusine, Naulochas and Actium
The Power Vacuum
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The legacy of Julius Caesar’s death was
the political vacuum that was left after the
Ides of March.
Caesar’s series of dictatorships and the
many titles and honors granted by the
Senate had effectively dismantled the
mechanism of government. Free elections
had not been held since 49BC
Whoever was to fill the vacuum would
need wealth and a loyal army.
Augustus
David Shotter
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“Caesar's assassination on the Ides (15th) of March, 44 BC
threw into turmoil the plans and feelings of his adoptive son.
No less was the turmoil that descended upon the Republic,
for Caesar's murderers, led by Marcus Brutus and Cassius,
apparently had no plans for the future other than believing
that the death of the tyrant would automatically lead to the
restoration of the Republic. In practice, this meant little more
than that the nobility would be free to resume their selfindulgent pursuit of wealth, honour and glory. Such freedom
had little to offer those left on the margins-the equestrians,
the people, the legions and the provincials.”
Octavian and Antony
Heirs apparent?
As individuals what do they have and what do
they lack to take up the mantle of Caesar?
OCTAVIAN
Sources of power
NAME OF CAESAR:
Patrician birth
Clientale
Loyal army
Wealth?
MARK ANTONY
SOURCES OF POWER
•In possession of CaesarS will
•Consul for 44BC
•Loyalty of veterans
•From the Civil War
PERSONAL QUALITIES
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“Antony grew up a very beautiful youth, but, by the
worst of misfortunes, he fell into the acquaintance
and friendship of Curio, a man abandoned to his
pleasures; who, to make Antony’s dependence upon
him a matter of greater necessity, plunged him into
a life of drinking and dissipation, and led him
through a course of such extravagance, that he ran,
at that early age, into debt to the amount of two
hundred and fifty talents. …. After this, for some
short time, he took part with Clodius, the most
insolent and outrageous demagogue of the time, in
his course of violence and disorder;”
Antony
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“He had also a very good and noble appearance; his beard
was well grown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline,
giving him altogether a bold, masculine look, that reminded
people of the faces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures.
It was, moreover, an ancient tradition, that the Antonys were
descended from Hercules .. For, whenever he had to appear
before large numbers, he wore his tunic girt low about the
hips, a broadsword on his side, and over all a large, coarse
mantle. What might seem to some very insupportable, his
vaunting, his raillery, his drinking in public, sitting down by
the men as they were taking their food, and eating, as he
stood, off the common soldiers’ tables, made him the delight
and pleasure of the army. In love affairs, also, he was very
agreeable; he gained many friends by the assistance he gave
them in theirs, and took other people’s raillery upon his own
with good-humor. And his generous ways, his open and
lavish hand in gifts and favors to his friends and fellowsoldiers, did a great deal for him in his first advance to
power,”
Octavian
Nicholas of Damascus
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“First I shall speak of his birth and breeding, his parents his nurture and
education from infancy, by means of which he came to such an estate.
His father was Gaius Octavius, a man of senatorial rank. His forbears,
renowned for both wealth and justice, left their estates to him, an orphan, at
their death. His guardians spent his money, but he remitting his just claims was
satisfied with the remainder.
: Octavius, at the age of about nine [twelve?] years, was an object of no little
admiration to the Romans, exhibiting as he did great excellence of nature,
young though he was; for he gave an oration before a large crowd and received
much applause from grown men. After his grandmother's death he was
brought up by his mother Atia and her husband Lucius Philippus, who was a
descendant of the conquerors Philip of Macedonia
Octavius lived soberly and in moderation; his friends know of something else
about him that was remarkable. For an entire year at the very age at which
youths, particularly those with wealth, are most wanton, he abstained from
sexual gratification out of regard for both his voice and his strength.”
After Caesar’s death
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“This was the beginning of good both for himself and all mankind, but
especially for the state and the entire Roman people. He sent immediately
to Asia for the money and means that Caesar had previously dispatched
for the Parthian War, and when he received it along with a year's tribute
from the people of Asia, contenting himself with the portion that had
belonged to Caesar he turned the public property over to the state
treasury. At that time, too, some of his friends urged him as they had at
Apollonia to go to Caesar's colonies and to levy an army, inducing the
men to join an expedition on his behalf by employing the prestige of the
great name of Caesar. They declared that the soldiers would gladly follow
the leadership of Caesar's son and would do everything for him; for there
persisted among them a wonderful loyalty and good will toward Caesar
and a memory of what they had accomplished with him in his lifetime,
and they desired under the auspices of Caesar's name to win the power
which they had formerly bestowed upon Caesar. However, the
opportunity for this did not seem to be at hand. He therefore turned his
attention toward seeking legally, through a senatorial decree, the dignity
his father had held; and he was careful not to acquire the reputation of
being one who was ambitious and not a law abiding man.”
Coins of the First Century BC
Numismatics and self
representation
The number and variety of coins minted during the
period testifies to the intense political competition
Stage 1:
Maneuvering
(44-43 BCE)
Antony’s problems?
Sympathetic to both sides
Competition of Octavian and Lepidus
Hostile Senate
Octavian’s Problems
Magistracy
Money?
Revenge.
Alliances; Optimate or Populare?
Cicero, the power broker,
positions himself
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“ Atticus I fear the Ides of March have brought us
nothing except joy and a satisfaction for our hatred
and grief…..Twas a fine deed, but half done….Well
here is Antony posting up( in return for a massive
bribe) a law allegedly carried by the Dictator in the
Assembly under which the Sicilians become Roman
citizens, a thing never mentioned in his
lifetime!...Octavius is here with me-most respectful
and friendly. His followers call him Caesar, but
Plilippus does not, so neither do I. My judgement is
that he cannot be a good citizen. There are too many
around him. They threaten death to our friends( the
assassins) and call the present state of things
intolerable.” April 44BC
Cicero to the Senate
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“ Look at young Gaius Caesar-he’s scarcely
more than a lad but he has raised a devoted
army of those veterans of Caesar’s who have
never known defeat…His is an astonishing, I
might say superhuman ,quality of mind and
spirit…we must give him our formal support,
so that his defence of the res publica may be
not just his own private enterprise but a
commision from us.” January 43BC
Octavians immediate goals
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“ If he were to ignore the inheritance and the
adoption, he would be betraying Caesar and
doing a wrong to the people over the
distribution of money to them. As he finished
speaking, he burst out with the assertion that
it was right for him, not simply to put himself
in danger, but actually to die, if when Caesar
had chosen him above everyone else for such
a great role, he was to show himself worthy..”
Appian
The Deeds of the Divine Augustus
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What were Octavian’s goals?
How does hindsight affect reliability?
Compare the styles of writing between Caesar and
“1. In my nineteenth year,Augustus?
on my own initiative and at my own
expense, I raised an army with which I set free the state, which
was oppressed by the domination of a faction. For that reason,
the senate enrolled me in its order by laudatory resolutions, when
Gaius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius were consuls (43 B.C.E.),
assigning me the place of a consul in the giving of opinions, and
gave me the imperium. With me as propraetor, it ordered me,
together with the consuls, to take care lest any detriment befall the
state. But the people made me consul in the same year, when the
consuls each perished in battle, and they made me a triumvir for
the settling of the state.
2. I drove the men who slaughtered my father into exile with a
legal order, punishing their crime, and afterwards, when they
waged war on the state, I conquered them in two battles.”
Cicero finds a vitriolic voice
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“In that man were combined genius, method, memory, literature,
prudence, deliberation, and industry. He had performed exploits in war
which, though calamitous for the republic, were nevertheless mighty
deeds. Having for many years aimed at being a king, he had with great
labor, and much personal danger, accomplished what he intended. He
had conciliated the ignorant multitude by presents, by monuments, by
largesses of food, and by banquets; he had bound his own party to him by
rewards, his adversaries by the appearances of clemency. Why need I say
much on such a subject? He had already brought a free city, partly by
fear, partly by patience, into a habit of slavery.
With him I can, indeed, compare you as to your desire to reign; but in all
other respects you are in no degree to be compared to him. But from the
many evils which by him have been burned into the republic, there is still
this good, that the Roman people has now learned how much to believe
every one, to whom to trust itself, and against whom to guard. Do you
never think on these things? And do you not understand that it is enough
for brave men to have learned how noble a thing it is as to the act, how
grateful it is as to the benefit done, how glorious as to the fame acquired,
to slay a tyrant? [118] When men could not bear him, do you think they
will bear you? Believe me, the time will come when men will race with
one another to do this deed, and when no one will wait for the tardy
arrival of an opportunity.”
2nd Philippic
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“To other men the republic now seemed established, but it did
not appear so at all to me, as I was afraid of every sort of
shipwreck, as long as you were at the helm. Have I been
deceived? or, was it possible for that man long to continue
unlike himself? While you were all looking on, documents
were fixed up over the whole Capitol, and exemptions were
being sold, not merely to individuals, but to entire states. The
freedom of the city was also being given now not to single
persons only, but to whole provinces. Therefore, if these acts
are to stand,--and stand they can not if the republic stands
too,--then, O conscript fathers, you have lost whole provinces;
and not the revenues only, but the actual empire of the Roman
people has been diminished by a market this man held in his
own house.”
Cicero’s Philippics
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“ Some 20th century historians have detected
fanaticism and obsession in Cicero at this time,
especially so far as his loathing of Antony is
concerned. . One certainly senses a coarsening of
his personality….This was the price Cicero was to
pay for his return to power. Although he held no
public office, the next 6 months saw him become the
first man in Rome, with as a great a domination
over the political scene as during his first
Consulship.” Everitt Cicero
The situation in 43BC
“ unstable equilibrium of conflicting elements’
Brutus and Cassius are
In Syria and
Macedonia
(provinces granted by
Senate)
Using them to gather troops
Octavian rebuffed by Antony
Appeals to Caesar’s veterans in
Campania and
raises two legions
Cicero leads the Senate
against
Antony
Antony declared an outlaw, deprives
Decimus Brutus of Gallic province.
Brutus refuses and Antony
lays seige at Mutina
Octavian defeats Antony’s
legions and two consuls
Are killed
Antony escapes
Senate Miscalculation
DEJA VU
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Assuming that they were now free of the risk of Antony the Senate
attempted to discard Octavian. Decimus Brutus was awarded a triumph and
major command and supreme command of the Eastern provinces was given
to Brutus and Cassius
Octavian realized that if Antony was defeated his fathers assassins would
rule Rome
Octavian refuses to aid Decimus Brutus against Antony and he is killed.
Octavian sends troops to Rome demanding a Consulship
When this was resisted Octavian marched on Rome with
his legions, seized the treasury in order to pay his troops
and made arrangements for Consular elections
Octavian and his cousin Quintus Pedius were elected. They
revoked the decree outlawing Antony and set up a court to
try the assassins. They were found guilty in their absence
Octavian was only 19 years old
Ancient Sources
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“Octavian and Antony composed their differences on
a small islet in the river Lavinius, near the city of
Mutina. Each had five legions of soldiers whom they
stationed opposite each other… Lepidus by himself
went before them, searching the island, and waved his
military cloak as a signal to them to come.” Appian
What does this passage reveal about the relative
roles of the three men?
Ancient Sources
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“ This triumvirate was very hateful to the Romans and
Antony most of all bore the blame, because he was older than
Caesar and had greater authority than Lepidus, and withal
he was no sooner settled in his affairs but he turned to his
luxurious and dissolute ways “ Plutarch
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“ But upon intelligence that Antony , after his defeat, had
been received by Marcus Lepidus, and that the rest of the
generals and armies had all declared for the Senate, he ,
without any hesitation, deserted from the part of nobles;
alleging as an excuse for his conduct the actions and sayings
of several amongst them.” Suetonius
Modern Sources
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“ The Triumvirate of Antony , Lepidus and
Octavian was to an even greater extent than the
partnership of Pompey Caesar and Crassus, an
unstable equilibrium of conflicting elements.”
“ The best that can be said of the Second
Triumvirate is that it was too bad to last. It was
ruinously wasteful in men and wealth and it rested
on nothing firmer than a precarious balance of
essentially antagonistic ambitions .” Cary- A History of
Rome.
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“Unlike the first Triumvirate, which was merely a
private agreement between Pompey ,Caesar and
Crassus…the Second Triumvirate was a formal
magistracy legally appointed which could dominate
the Senate and the State.” Scullard
David Shotter
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“Unlike the essentially private triumvirate of
Pompey, Caesar and Crassus in 60 BC, this
Second Triumvirate was formally agreed upon
and given the legal status to act as the
government of Rome and the Empire. But
despite its high-sounding purpose-to heal the
Republic's afflictions-its real aim was the
service of personal and factional ambition”
Reasons for its Formation
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The Second Triumvirate came into
existence in 43BC by means of a tribunes
law proposed by P Titius. The purpose of
the alliance was officially to set the state
in order and to defeat the Republican
armies of Brutus and Cassius. Unofficially
the Triumvirate was a means by which
three men in command of large armies
could pursue their individual aims in
defiance of the Senate. The actions of the
Triumvirate reflect the reasons for its
formation.
Actions of the Triumvirate
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Octavian to resign his consulship and Ventidius should take it for the
rest of the year
A new magistracy of Antony ,Octavian and Lepidus should hold
for five years with consular power
That these three should designate the yearly magistrates
That a distribution of the provinces should be made, giving
Antony the whole of Gaul, Spain was given to Lepidus while
Octavian was to have Africa, Sardinia, and Sicily
Only the assignments beyond the Adriatic were postponed as these
were controlled by Brutus and Cassius
Lepidus was to be consul the following year and retain 3
legions….and the other legions divided between Octavian and
Antony so that each would have twenty legions to lead to war.
To encourage the army with expectation of booty, they promised
them eighteen cities of Italy…as though they had been captured
from an enemy in war.
The final carve of the Empire
Treaty of Brundisium
Proscriptions
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The purpose of the proscriptions was to confiscate
estates in order to have money and land for their
troops, and to destroy their enemies. Caesar had
shown that clemency did not pay.
They resulted in the death of 300 Senators and
2000 equites , including Cicero. See Appian
Those Republicans that managed to escape joined
Sextus Pompey
Read Appian for the ill omens seen in Rome
130+ senators (Livy)
200 senators + 2000 equites (Appian)
300 senators + 3000 equites (Plutarch)
Only one ex-consul known (Cicero), out of nearly
100 known names
Death of a “learned man and a
lover of his country”
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"Cicero heard [his pursuers] coming and ordered his servants to set the
litter [in which he was being carried] down where they were. He…looked
steadfastly at his murderers. He was all covered in dust; his hair was long
and disordered, and his face was pinched and wasted with his anxieties so that most of those who stood by covered their faces while Herennius
was killing him. His throat was cut as he stretched his neck out from the
litter….By Antony's orders Herennius cut off his head and his hands.”
Plutarch
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Antony then had Cicero's head and hands nailed to the
speaker's podium in the Senate as a warning to others.
Cicero's son, also named Marcus, who was in Greece at this
time, was not executed. He became consul in 30 BC under
Octavian, who had defeated Antony after the Second
Triumvirate collapsed. As consul, the younger Marcus got to
announce Antony's suicide to the Senate. It is unfortunate
that we have no record of this speech.
Stage 2;
Elimination of
Rivals
AN UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM OF CONFLICTING ELEMENTS
Antony &
Octavian
Battle of
Philippi 42BC
Brutus &
Cassius
Octavian
The Perusine
War41BC
Lucius
Antonius &
Fulvia
Antony
Battle of
Naulochus36BC
Octavian
Battle of Actium
31BC
Sextus Pompey
Antony &
Cleopatra
“Such being his temper, the last and crowning mischief that
could befall him came in the love of Cleopatra, to awaken
and kindle to fury passions that as yet lay still and dormant
in his nature, and to stifle and finally corrupt any elements
that yet made resistance in him of goodness and a sound
judgment. He fell into the snare thus.
”
Women and Power: the making
and breaking of Amicitae
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“Antony was so captivated by her that, while Fulvia his wife maintained his
quarrels in Rome against Caesar by actual force of arms,
Caesar had an elder sister, not of the whole blood, for Attia was his
mother's name, hers Ancharia. This sister, Octavia, he was extremely
attached to, as indeed she was, it is said, quite a wonder of a woman.
"I shall be miserable," said she, "without redress; for on what side soever
victory falls, I shall be sure to be a loser." Caesar was overcome by these
entreaties, and advanced in a peaceable temper to Tarentum, where those
that were present beheld a most stately spectacle; a vast army the up by the
shore, and as great a fleet in the harbour, all without the occurrence of
friends, and other expressions of joy and kindness, passing from one
armament to the other. Antony first entertained Caesar, this also being a
concession on Caesar's part to his sister; and when at length an agreement
was made between them, that Caesar should give Antony two of his legions
to serve him in the Parthian war, and that Antony should in return leave
with him a hundred armed galleys, Octavia further obtained of her
husband, besides this, twenty light ships for her brother, and of her
brother, a thousand foot for her husband. So, having parted good friends,
Caesar went immediately to make war with Pompey to conquer Sicily. And
Antony, leaving in Caesar's charge his wife and children, and his children
by his former wife Fulvia, set sail for Asia.
Antony’s undoing
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But the mischief that thus long had lain still, the passion for
Cleopatra, which better thoughts had seemed to have lulled
and charmed into oblivion, upon his approach to Syria
gathered strength again, and broke out into a flame.
Without meaning it, however, she was damaging Antony by
this conduct of hers; for he was hated for wronging such a
woman. 3 He was hated, too, for the distribution which he
made to his children in Alexandria; it was seen to be theatrical
and arrogant, and to evince hatred of Rome.”
“To the Romans with their parochial intolerance
of alien lands, religions, and absolute kings,
Antony had severed his Roman connections.”
Suzanne Cross
David Shotter
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“Success for Octavian and Agrippa against Sextus
Pompeius led in 39 BC to an agreement whereby
those Republicans who had taken refuge with Sextus
were allowed to return to Italy. The return of
members of some extremely prestigious families
allowed Octavian to claim credit for their
rehabilitation: importantly they could be used to add
distinction to Octavian's Caesarian faction and thus
save him from the appearance of regality from which
Julius Caesar had suffered because of the absence of
such luminaries.”
David Shotter
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“Octavian, the leader of the
Caesarian faction, was now the
champion of Republicans and the
defender of patriotism, nationalism
and traditional respectability; the
contrast with the faction of Julius
Caesar could not have been greater.”
Antony loses in the war of
propaganda
STAGE 3
Final Confrontation
David Shotter
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“The west was being prepared for a war that
was portrayed not for what it really was-a civil
war fought between two rivals for political
supremacy-but as a great national crusade to
defend Rome's integrity against Oriental
barbarism and corruption. Italy swore to
defend its champion in the forthcoming
crusade; 'Italy United' was the battle-cry for
the campaign against Antony and Cleopatra.”
Changing Power Ratios
70
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60
50
40
Octavian
Antony
Lepidus
30
20
10
0
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Qtr Qtr Qtr Qtr
Octavian’s
attack upon
Sextus was the
turning point in
his career. With
500-600 ships
and 45 legions
at his disposal
he had so far
outstripped
Antony that his
partner could
no longer catch
Battle of Actium
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The fleets which met at Actium
consisted of large polyremes from
fours up to tens in the joint Greek
and Roman fleet of Mark Anthony
against Octavian's fleet in which
none of the galleys were larger than
sixes, and most were smaller. The
pendulum in shipbuilding now
swung the other way so that the
large polyremes were outclassed
and outmanoeuvred by Octavian's
lighter, faster fleet.
The battle of Actium was the last
major sea battle for three hundred
years. The Roman Republic had
already eliminated most of its
potential naval rivals and the defeat
of the Greek/Egyptian navy at
Actium destroyed the one
remaining sea power which might
have constituted a threat to Roman
control of the Mediterranean sea
lanes. Rome emerged as the
undisputed master of the
Mediterranean.
Any understanding of Actium must consider the
later influence of Augustan propaganda.
Early historians saw the victory belonging to
Octavian. Egyptian sources suggest that it was
meant as cover for
the escape of Antony and Cleopatra. Yet others
suggest that Antony feared the disloyalty of his
soldiers fighting against the son of Caesar
THE ACTIUM PROJECT
A Research Project
of The University of South Florida and
The Greek Ministry of Culture
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Just before the battle
began, the fleets faced
one another in long
parallel lines and
launched thousands of
stone balls at one
another.
Strategy at
Actium
The forces of Antony and
Cleopatra, camped near the
swampy lowlands of Cape Actium,
had been depleted by malaria
before the battle even began-severely reducing the contingent
of oarsmen. Supply lines had
been cut, further weakening
morale and support. Faced with a
bleak situation that worsened
every day, Antony burned those
ships he could no longer man and
prepared with Cleopatra to
withdraw southward from the gulf
with as much of his force as
possible.
Octavian rejects the advances
of Cleopatra
Why did Octavian succeed ?
Octavian’s rise to power highlights the importance of
the army in this period. Although he inherited
Caesar’s power, his name, his clientale and his troops,
more importantly, he was able to learn from Caesar’s
mistakes. Through the amassing of troops, ably led by
Agrippa, the elimination of his enemies, Brutus,
Cassius, Sextus Pompey and finally Marc Antony and
Cleopatra, Octavian was able to acquire and maintain
power. His program of restoration rested on the tactful
allusion of republican government and the tight
control of military forces.
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What strategies did Octavian
Octavian combined
a number
of political ,
use to
succeed
diplomatic and military methods in his takeover of
the Roman Empire;
Octavian took note of the lessons of previous civil
wars.
He used his father’s name to raise troops and
gave himself military backing for his political
ambitions.
Octavian knew the benefits of amicitae. He allied
himself first with Cicero and then with Antony
against the Senate.
The Lex Titia, which gave legal credance to the
Triumvirate showed that Octavian utilized the
power of the tribunes as a weapon against the
Senate.
Octavian’s methods
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The most effective weapon he used against Antony was
propaganda. He played on Rome’s fear that Antony
planned to establish an Egyptian dynasty to control the
Roman Empire
His understanding of the importance of approval by the
masses led him to distribute land and free food and
erect new buildings in Rome. The need to defeat Sextus
Pompey was driven not only by the need to eliminate his
fathers enemies but also to rid the seas of pirates to
ensure the corn trade.
He promised peace and restoration of the Republic. In
this sense he showed greater patience and
diplomacy towards the Senate than his
predecessors.
Octavian realized his own shortcomings as a military
general and compensated accordingly.. He was fortunate
enough to have Agrippa leading the forces to victory at
“ Octavian..had the initial advantage of
prestige which the name Caesar gave him
among the soldiery; Agrippa organised
victory for him, and Antony played into
his hands. But if his success over Antony
was largely a gift of fortune, his personel
qualities of patience and pernacity
enabled him to take his chances at the
right moment; and in the second act of
his life they enabled him to consolidate
his victory as neither Sulla nor Caesar had
succeeded in doing.” Cary
Why did Antony Fail?
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He constantly underestimated Octavian
His Parthian invasion was costly in funds, men
and prestige
His association with Cleopatra, divorce from
Octavia and Donations of Alexandria, cost him
his dignitas in the eyes of Romans. In the war of
propaganda Antony suffered dearly
Finally without leadership Antony’s soldiers
lost faith in him
Yet again Octavian had learned
by Caesar’s mistakes.
The triumph that he celebrated
after Actium was a triumph over
Egypt not Antony
Final Word

“ The ultimate basis of the Principate, as established by Augustus, was
the imperium, unrestricted in scope, which gave its holder the supreme
command over the whole army of the Empire, so that all troops took the
military oath of allegiance to him and obeyed his orders. The maius
imperium which the Princeps held was essentially an extraordinary
imperium, because it conferred the sole independent command over all
the Roman troops, was not limited to any definite area and after a short
time, was freed likewise from any temporal restriction. Mommsen long
ago pointed out that this was the culmination of a series of extraordinary
imperia of a military nature which had been created from time to time
during the last century of the Republic and which must be regarded as
preparatory steps in the establishment of the Principate. In this respect
the career of Pompey the Great especially foreshadowed that of
Augustus.”

A E R Boak