The Rise and Triumph of Octavian (a.k.a.: Augustus)

  1. Background --the evolution of name...The evolution of name: from C. Octavius=>C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, = > Imp divi f., = > Imperator  Caesar divi f. Augustus.  The temple of Divus Julius and coin of Octavian. Portraits and a good, newly discovered earlier one.
  2. The Problem...
    1. Caesar's victories had secured the victory of a party --the Caesarian party--; the members of the party included senators, soldiers, financiers, namely all of those who had fought for and supported Caesar and now demanded that they too have a share in the profits of empire [do ut des]. It was the duty of the patron to reward his followers and clients, to allocate resources. The prosperity of patron and clients depended on the vitality of the relationship
    2. Caesar's death, however, left the party without a leader, the system without a patron. It created uncertainty and anxiety at all levels; some feared they might lose what they had gained, others hoped for more. Note that this is an intensely personal system; there was no viable institutional structure or loyalty ... Recall Nicols Dictum [The significance of extra legal institutions in a society in inversely proportional to the strength of its legal institutions.. The period 44-31 B.C., is best understood as a struggle between a number of Caesar's lieutenants to secure the clientele (and hence the power) of Caesar. 
    3. From the number of reconciliations forced on Antony and Octavian, (also showing Antony and Octavia --note the personal nature of the alliance!) it is clear that the great majority of the party members did not want more war, and certainly not against one another.
    4. What we need to account for is how a 19 year old came to control first the party and then the state. That is, how did Octavian come to identify the best interests of the state with those of his party and of himself?
      1. There can be little doubt about the fact that Octavian's early career consisted of little more than a series of unconstitutional and unprincipled actions. In this he was by no means unique. Evidence in the Res gestae [aka rg 1= RC §195]; also in RC §115 - 6.
      2. Only after 36 B.C., when his position in Italy was secure, did he begin to gain some respectability (by guaranteeing property; Octavian was a political revolutionary, not an economic or social one). Note the suppression of piracy, and a new emphasis on paying for land for the veterans. Read the rg for details... [...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...5th]. That is, he sought the support of those who wanted peace and security.
      3. A master of propaganda: use of name and divinity of Caesar early and then successfully conveys the impression that
        1. the civil war between him and Antony was a national war of redemption against a corrupt foreign foe.
        2. stress on his leadership Italians, while Antony acted in an increasingly un-Roman manner, see below.
      4. On the events, see below
  3. How did Augustus build his coalition (his party/clientele)? (ATTENTION: potential midterm question). He represents a distinct community of interests; these interests determine his options and his manner of response.
    1. Initially he obtained the support of the urban plebs and Caesar's vets, the nominal voters and the real "voters". In this respect being Caesar's heir was a critical factor...but how? Revolutionary?? Note the relevant sections in RG, esp. (§195, cc. 5 & 15 for the urban plebs and §116 for the vets; cf rg 3)
    1. So, too, did some members of the equestrian order support him fiscally. And why would some do so? but not others? Evidence...a reasonable conclusion based on the background of his known advisors.
    2. With the end of Sex. Pompeius (ca. 37; he was the renegade son of Pompeius Magnus), he restores order in Italy and thesecures the food supply to the City rg 25. What kinds of people would now support him?
    3. By skillful propaganda he is able to depict Antony as the dupe of Cleopatra and to suggest that his personal competition with Antony was really a war of national identity. Tota Italia. (RC §118 and below)
    4. Tho there was an accommodation, he never really won the whole-hearted support of the senate (about one-third of the senators take Antony's side). How he came to power could not be forgotten or forgiven.

Events 44-28 B.C

  1. Caesar's Heir General Comments
    1. Groups in conflict. Remember. Our problem: how does Octavian at 19 with no more than a name end up in sole possession of empire in 13 years.
      1. Caesarians vs. Liberators: the great majority of the Senate and the Equestrian order wanted little to do with either but were more sympathetic to the Liberators.
      2. Octavian vs. Antony (a split in Caesarian party)
    2. Family: from a municipal family, but allied by marriage to family of Caesar. Caesar was his great-uncle.
    3. Early career: favored by son-less Caesar but no word about what Caesar's actual plans were for him aside from adoption. But this is not necessarily an indication that Oct was intended to be his political heir.
    4. In Apollonia at time of assassination. Returns to Italy where he learns of inheritance. Should he accept? Danger from Liber. and from Antony who was known to be disappointed and was moreover consul. Accepts his legacy: Perhaps feeling of duty to avenge, ambition
  2. Conflict with Antony--first phase 44-42.
    1. Oct visits Antony seeking legacy in wealth and name. Fails to get the former, but builds successfully on the latter.
    2. In summer of 44, the comet. . . Julius deified; Oct takes it as personal "star".
    3. Antonius and Oct reconciled by soldiers for the moment.
    4. Oct spends summer collecting Caesar's vets on own initiative; the consul Ant collects his legions and tries to displace D. Brutus who has governed Gaul and whom the Senate, on Cicero's suggestion, has urged to retain province.
    5. Ant returns to Rome in Nov. and tries to get Oct declared a public enemy. Backfires when two of his legions go over to Oct.
    6. In December Ant. leaves Rome and tries to take province of Gaul from Brutus. Siege at Mutina (in Po Valley).
    7. In Jan 43, two new consuls take office. Cicero persuades Senate to send relief to Brutus, n.b. a liberator. Two consuls enroll army but the only real force is that of Oct. Cicero has him deputized as pro-praetor (from then on Oct. has imperium of one sort or another). At or near Mutina, Ant is defeated twice and hurries off to Lepidus in Gaul. The consuls die; Oct has both armies.
    8. Cicero and Senate, thinking the danger is past, slight Oct and reject his demand of consulship. Marches on Rome and is elected consul.
    9. Meets Antony at Bologna and establish 2nd Triumvirate. Late 43.(RC §115)
  3. Triumvir (charged with reorganizing the Roman state).Map of the wars
    1. Terms of alliance (N.B. Given legal standing by Lex Titia)
      1. Division of empire--Antony's share the largest; Octian's the smallest illustrates the political reality
      2. Patronage system of offices worked out
      3. Proscription (RC §115) 300 senators (of 900) and 2000 members of the equestrian order were designated for "legal murder".
      4. Prosecution of war against Liberators.
    2. Liberators tried and condemned in absentia then defeated twice (mostly by Ant.) at Philippi in Macedonia in Nov., 42.
    3. New settlement: Ant. adds East to his area; Oct and Lepidus trade. Oct. to settle vets in Italy (100,000 of them) and checks Sex Pompeius (explain who he is) and opens sea again; Republicans
    4. Perusia:
      1. Oct. had to get land to pay off vets.
      2. Oct. brings it off and Ant.'s wife and brother worry that Oct. influence becoming too great.
      3. Major result, however, is that Oct. with collapse of Antonians he occupies Gaul.
    5. Reconciliation--it was expected that Ant. would attack Oct for his actions in West, but vets do not allow it. Reconciled at Brundisium in 40.  Antony and Octavia
    6. Oct. problem still Sex Pompeius who controls seas and grain supply to Italy. . ..
    7. Oct begins re-organizing the West. Emphasis on order, security and prosperity (note he is a political, but not a social or econom. revolutionary). Italian tradition emphasized and encouraged.
  4. Ant in East
    1. Problems too. Organization of east after extortions of Libr. and Parthian invasion. Hampered by Oct who does not fulfill promises of soldiers.
    2. In 37, in need of support he takes up with Cleopatra - tho married still to Octavia
    3. In 36, invades Parthia, but loses 1/3rd of soldiers in winter campaign..
    4. In 34 achieves limited successes in Parthia/Armenia and celebrates triumph in Alexandria.
    5. Egyptianizing tendency of Ant.--imp't because Oct. uses it for his propaganda
      1. Re-establishment of Ptolemaic empire out of Roman provinces
      2. Marriage to Cleopatra--not in Roman law but symbolic
      3. On occasion of triumph, the "Donations of Alexandria"
        1. Caesarion recognized as legitimate son of Caesar and proclaimed King of Kings (what does that mean for Oct?)
        2. Common children given property out of Roman empire. Worst--he appears with Cleopatra as Bacchus and Isis; incarnate gods on earth. (Note again, not unusual to suggest that one is a god.)
  5. The Final Break
    1. There had always been an uneasy truce between the two.
    2. In 33, word of "Donations" arrives in Rome.
    3. Actium, September 31 leaves Oct. the master. Site of Actium.   War against Cleopatra, not Antony. Portraits of Cleopatra (one, two, three). Her death.

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In the center could be seen the bronze-plated fleets battling at Actium. All Leucate, in a ferment of moving martial array, came into view; the waves shone out with gold. On one side was Augustus Caesar leading Italians into battle, having with him the senate and the populace, the little Gods of Home and the Great Gods of the race. he stood on the high quarter deck of his ship; gaily his brow discharged twin beams of light, and on his head downed his father's Julian star. Elsewhere Agrippa, with the aid alike of winds and gods, led his towering line, and his forehead shone with war's haughty distinction, the ship-rams of the Naval Crown. Opposing them was Antony; with him, on board, he had Egyptians and the whole strength of the East even to most distant Bactria; on his side was the wealth of the Orient and arms of varied design, and he came victoriously from the nations of the Dawn and the Red sea's shore, followed --the shame of it!-- by an Egyptian wife. Vergil, Aeneid.

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Please open the Class Reporting Tool. Working in groups of at least three note: What were the three most important factors facilitating the rise of Octavian? please include excerpts from the most important of the ancient evidence.