The Architect of the Roman Empire (44-27 B.C.)

305 Pages·1928·29.88 MB·English

by  Holmes

THE ARCHITECT
OF THE
ROMAN E M P I RE
BY
T. RICE HOLMES
HON. LITT.D. (DUBLIN) ; HON. D.LITT. (OXON.) ; F.B.A.
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ISTITVTO
PER LA STORIA DI ROMA ANTIOA
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1928
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON I AMEN HOUSE, B.C. 4
EDINBURGH GLASGOW LEIPZIG
COPENHAGEN NEW YORK TORONTO
MELBOURNE CAPETOWN BOMBAY
CALCUTTA MADRAS SHANGHAI
HUMPHREY MILFORD
PUBLISHER TO THE
UNIVERSITY
Printed in Great Britain
PREFACE
WHILE The Roman Repvblic, which was mainly con
cerned with the years 81-44 B.C., was passing through
the press, I began to work upon a history of the Augustan
Age, but, feeling that I might not live to finish it, decided
to publish this instalment, which covers the period from
the death of Caesar to the foundation of the Principate.
Although, apart from one important fragment, the extant
correspondence of Cicero, which so enlivens the history of
the Caesarian Age, terminated in July, 43, the writers
upon whom we have thereafter to rely make it possible
to construct a tolerably vivid narrative, the credibility of
which is confirmed by numismatic and epigraphical
evidence. If Cleopatra had but written reminiscences
with the candour of My Story that recent volume which
y
French critics have compared with the Confessions of
Rousseau and the Memoirs of Casanova, . Should the
hunters of papyri ever unearth such a work, it would
v certainly take rank in the Loeb Series as a ' best seller \
The letters and the memoirs written by Augustus (copies
of which may conceivably be brought to light by the
excavations at Herculaneum) might reveal errors in the
most truthful account that can be based upon our avail
able materials ; but it is better to risk a few mistakes
than to sacrifice the vitality which detail can give. More
over, close study of some recent period is a good prepara
tion for that of ancient history. As the present writer
has remarked {The Roman Republic, i, 339), in checking
original records, printed and manuscript, by the testimony
of survivors who had watched or had taken part in the
events which he described, he learned how mistakes in
detail arise and what kinds of statements are open to
suspicion.
I must express gratitude to friends. During the last
vi PREFACE
three years I have been so crippled that research in public
libraries has become increasingly difficult. Mr. Arthur I.
Ellis of the British Museum has more than once saved me
time and trouble by searching catalogues for press-marks,
filling up tickets, and having the volumes brought to me ;
Mr. Johnston Bell has lent me some books which are not
in the joint library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies ;
Mr. Hugh Last, Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford, has
in two successive years given me bibliographical informa
tion for which I would otherwise have had to await the
publication of his articles in The Year's Work in Classical
Studies.
1 AKEHUBST STREET,
ROEHAMPTON, S.W. 15,
July 13, 1927.
[About three weeks ago Miss Margaret Alford, a member of the
Hellenic and Roman Societies, who was, then personally unknown to
me, but whom I may now call a friend, heard that I was disabled
and wrote to me, offering * to verify references, look out passages, or
the like ' as often as I might desire her aid. I have only had occasion
to ask her to check three references, which she did instantly and with
scholarly thoroughness ; but she has made me feel that I may ask for
her help again and again, if I should ever need it. It is difficult to
express adequately gratitude for such kindness.
November 23, 1927.]
NOTE. In referring to Ferrero's Greatness and Decline of Rome I have
cited the original—Grandezza e decadenza di Borna—as well as the trans
lation whenever I could ; but some passages which in the translation
appear as foot-notes, are not to be found on the corresponding pages of
my copy of the Italian edition, but in a separate volume of appendices,
to which I have not had access.
General readers, who have no use for mere citations of authorities,
will not, I hope, neglect those foot-notes which contain more. I suggest,
however, that the best plan would be to read the narrative first from
beginning to end without looking at foot-notes, which might be reserved
for later reading. To the few who not only desire truth, but wish to
satisfy themselves that it has been discovered, they and the appendices
may be useful ; to others, I trust, inoffensive.
CONTENTS
PART I
CH APTE E I
THE DEATH STRUGGLE OF THE REPUBLIC
The Roman Republic in decline
1
Caesar's assassins disillusioned
2
Flight of Brutus and Cassius
- 4
Cleopatra returns to Egypt
4
Cicero despondent
5
Antony conciliates the Senate
5
Which assigns to him the province of Macedonia for 44 5
But he tampers with Caesar's papers 6
His correspondence with Cicero . . . ' 6
His law for the benefit of discharged soldiers 6
Dolabella executes Caesarian rioters 7
Cicero approves his action 7
Prospects of Antony 8
He enlists discharged soldiers 8
Anxieties of Cicero 9
C. Octavius . . 10
Hearing at Apollonia of the murder of Caesar, he returns to Italy 11
Cicero anxious about his intentions 12
Octavius accepts his adoption by Caesar 13
Antony returns from Campania to Rome 13
He refuses Octavian's demand for payment of Caesar's legacy 14
Octavian forbidden to exhibit Caesar's chair in the Circus 14
Cicero warned to keep away from the Senate 15
Antony obtains a plébiscite empowering him to exchange Mace
donia for the Gallic provinces 15
Agrarian law . . . . .. 16
Assignment of temporary provinces to Brutus and Cassius 17
Cicero's advice to Brutus . . .. 17
Provinces assigned to Brutus and Cassius 17
Octavian in opposition to Antony gains popularity 18
They are outwardly reconciled . . .. 19
Cicero intends to absent himself from Italy till the end of Antony's
consulship . . . .. 20
But on the point of departure he is induced to return 22
viii CONTENTS
He delivers the First Philippic . . .. 24
Antony's reply . . . . .. 24
Cicero composes the Second Philippic . 25
Renewed enmity between Antony and Octavian 26
Alleged attempt of Octavian to assassinate Antony 27
Antony goes to Brundisium to meet the Macedonian legions 28
Octavian enlists veterans in Campania . 28
Hostile reception of Antony by the Macedonian legions . 29
Failing to coerce, he is forced to conciliate them 29
Octavian corresponds with Cicero . 29
Cicero doubts whether he should support Octavian 30
Octavian in Rome . . . .. 31
He starts for Cisalpine Gaul . . 31
Cicero's last extant letter to Atticus 31
Antony in Rome . . . .. 32
Hearing that two of his legions have joined Octavian 33
He assigns provinces to his supporters and marches for Cisalpine
Gaul 33
Decimus Brutus in Cisalpine Gaul 34
Antony orders him to surrender the province: he refuses and
occupies Mutina . . . .. 34
Cicero prepares to support Decimus and Octavian 35
The Third Philippic . . . .. 36
The Fourth Philippic . 37
Meeting of the Senate . 37
Calenus moves that envoys be sent to Antony . 38
Cicero replies in the Fifth Philippic 38
Proposing action against Antony and honours for Octavian 38
The debate continued . . .. 39
Honours for Octavian and rewards for his troops decreed 39
But envoys are sent to Antony . . .. 40
The Sixth Philippic . . . . . 41
Troops levied . . . . .. 41
The Seventh Philippic . 42
The envoys return with a defiant reply from Antony 42
A state of war declared . 43
Cicero comments on Antony's reply 43
The Eighth and Ninth Philippics 44
M. Brutus in the East . 44
The Tenth Philippic 45
CONTENTS
IX
Antony's laws annulled . 46
Trebonius murdered by Dolabella 46
Who is proclaimed a public enemy 46
A proposal to send a second embassy to Antony dropped 47
The Thirteenth Philippic 47
Cicero admonishes Lepidus and Plancus 48
Plancus protests fidelity to the Senate . 49
Cicero corresponds with Cassius and Brutus 49
Rumours and dispatches from Mutina . 50
Operations of Hirtius and Octavian against Antony 50
Battle of Forum Gallorum 52
Cicero supports a motion for rewarding the victors 54
Antony defeated and Mutina relieved 54
Octavian ignored, despite Cicero's advocacy, in the award of
honours . . . . . 55
Brutus offended by Cicero's support of Octavian 55
Antony marches to join Lepidus in Transalpine Gaul 56
Decimus unable to pursue him effectively 57
Octavian resents his neglect by the Senate 58
Cicero disappointed by the failure of Decimus 58
Decimus outwitted by Antony . 59
Operations of Plancus in Transalpine Gaul 60
Antony joins Lepidus . 62
Decimus joins Plancus . 62
Disappointments and anxieties of Cicero 63
Lepidus declared a public enemy 63
A colony founded at Lugudunum 64
Plancus and Decimus inactive . 64
Cicero begins to lose faith in Octavian . 64
Octavian demands the consulship 66
Marches on Rome 66
And procures election . 67
Cicero's last letter to Octavian . 67
Laws passed under Octavian's influence 68
Octavian marches to join Antony 68
Pollio and Plancus join Antony . 69
The end of Decimus 69
Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian decide to form a triumvirate 69
Their reasons for holding a proscription . 70
Remarks on the proscription 71
X CONTENTS
CHAPTER II
THE TRIUMVIRATE
The Triumvirate legalized . . . . . 72
The proscription . . . . . . 72
Taxation . . . . . . . 74
The fate of Cicero . . . . . . 74
Caesar's memory honoured . . . . . 75
Brutus and Cassius in the East . . . . . 75
Cassius subdues and pillages Rhodes, Brutus the Lycian com
munities . . . . . . . 78
Brutus and Cassius meet at Sardes and move thence to the
Hellespont . . . . . . . 80
They solicit aid from Parthia . . . . . 80
Antony and Octavian prepare for war against Brutus and Cassius 80
Sextus Pompeius, having subdued Sicily, defeats a lieutenant of
Octavian . . . . . . . 81
Triumviral reinforcements cross the Adriatic . . . 82
Despite opposition Brutus and Cassius advance westward from the
Hellespont . . . . . .. 82
And encamp near Philippi . . . . . 84
Antony marches from Dyrrachium and encamps opposite them . 84
Octavian, though unwell, joins him . . . . 84
Preliminary operations of Antony . . . . 85
First battle of Philippi . . . . . . 85
Suicide of Cassius . . . . . . 86
Further operations . . . . . . 86
Transports conveying reinforcements for the Triumvirs captured 87
Second battle of Philippi . . . . . 87
Death of Brutus . . . . . . 88
Immediate consequences of his defeat . . . . 89
Antony and Octavian make a fresh compact and arrange to reward
their troops . . . . . . 89
Antony exacts money from Asia . . . . 90
Rewards adherents . . . . . . 91
Is visited by Cleopatra in Cilicia . . . . 91
And joins her in Egypt . . . . . . 92
Octavian in Rome . . . . . . 92
He encounters obstacles in providing allotments for the veterans 93
Fulvia and Lucius Antonius oppose him . . . 93
CONTENTS xi
The Perusian War . . . .. 95
Siege of Perusia . . . .. 96
Lucius surrenders . . . .. 98
Octavian's treatment of the garrison 98
Why Lucius made war and Antony remained inactive . 99
Affairs in Africa . . . 100
Lepidus allowed to take possession of the province 101
Octavian threatened by a coalition of Antony with Sextus
Pompeius . . . . . .. 101
Antony and Octavian reconciled . . .. 103
Marriage arranged between Antony and Octavia . . 104
The compact of Brundisium . . . .. 105
Fate of Salvidienus . . . . .. 106
Depredations of Sextus . . . . . . 106
Antony and Octavian make a treaty with him near Misenum . 107
Renewed hostility between Sextus and Octavian . . 108
The earlier operations . . . . . . 1 10
Naval preparations of Agrippa . . . . . 1 11
Antony and Octavia at Tarentum . . . . 1 12
Compact between Octavian and Antony for mutual support . 112
Prolongation of the Triumvirate . . . . 1 13
Renewed operations of Octavian against Sextus . . 1 13
Octavian's decisive victory . . . . . 1 16
Lepidus expelled from the Triumvirate . . . . 1 17
How Octavian dealt with mutiny . . . . 1 18
Honours awarded to him: his conciliatory measures: restoration
of tranquillity . . . . . . 119
Q. Labienus overruns Asia Minor 121
But is chastized by Ventidius . . .. 121
Antony at Samosata . 122
His preparations for war with Parthia . 122
His territorial gifts to Cleopatra . . . 123
He takes advantage of a crisis in Parthia 123
His plan of operations . . . .. 124
His campaign . 125
The retreat from Phraaspa 127
Antony returns to Alexandria . . .. 128
He sets up kings and acknowledges his paternity of Cleopatra's
twin sons . . . . . 128
The fate of Sextus Pompeius . . .. 129