Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (48 page)
Read Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus Online
Authors: Lindsay Powell
Tags: #Bisac Code 1: HIS002000, #HISTORY / Ancient / General / BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military, #Bisac Code 2: BIO008000 Bisac Code 3: HIS027000
Augustus had long ago come to realize that he could not run the empire alone. That insight was part of his genius. He urgently needed a new right hand man to take Agrippa’s place. He found him in Ti. Claudius Nero. Ancient historians portray him as man with a boorish manner and brooding temperament, happier among soldiers than senators, but someone who could be relied on to carry out his mission.
60
Above all, Augustus appreciated his virtue of
moderatio
.
61
As he had done with Agrippa, he required Tiberius to marry his only daughter. His stepson was already happily married to the 24-year-old Vipsania Agrippina (daughter of Agrippa and Pomponia Caecilia Attica) by whom he had had a son and named after his younger brother.
62
Despite his protests, Augustus insisted he divorce her. He relented and in a political wedding married Iulia, who was still heavy with the child of her former husband. It was an ominous start to a new relationship, as Suetonius observed:
This caused him no little distress of mind, for he was living happily with Agrippina, and disapproved of Iulia’s character, having perceived that she had a passion for him even during the lifetime of her former husband, as was in fact the general opinion. But even after the divorce he regretted his separation from Agrippina, and the only time that he chanced to see her, he followed her with such an intent and tearful gaze that care was taken that she should never again come before his eyes.
63
To the marriage, Iulia brought with her a 2-year old-daughter, Vipsania Agrippina. In the summer, Iulia finally gave birth to a son.
64
As he was his friend’s son, Augustus decided to name him Agrippa Postumus.
65
He would be raised in his mother’s household with Tiberius’ son, Drusus, then approaching his first birthday. With a soldier’s temperament, Tiberius was inclined to follow orders. His mission was to make his new marriage work and he tried to be a good and affectionate husband.
66
Conveniently for him, Augustus needed his talent for military affairs and he was sent to the western Balkans, which had only just been quelled by Agrippa the year before, but again revolt. He would spend the next four years in combat. Iulia relocated to Aquileia (modern Aquilea), a town at the head of the Adriatic Sea and near the war zone, where Tiberius could visit her. She bore him child while there, but it died in infancy.
67
Tiberius was disinclined to try for another.
Tiberius still pined for Agrippina with the passion of a heartbroken lover.
68
The youngest daughter of Agrippa and his first wife Pomponia Caecilia Attica had moved on, however. In 11 BCE she married C. Asinius Gallus Saloninus, son of the famous orator of the same name.
69
Their marriage was successful and they had at least six sons together, some of whom led distinguished careers.
70
From afar Tiberius seethed with loathing for the man who had captured the heart of the only woman he ever truly loved. She died in 20 CE, aged 56. Tacitus remarks that Vipsania was the only one of Agrippa’s children to die a peaceful death, the rest either succumbing to mortal wounds in combat or alleged poisoning or starvation.
71
In 9 BCE Tiberius’ younger brother, Nero (Drusus the Elder), who was just about to embark on the fourth year of war in Germania Magna, became consul.
72
On their mother’s birthday, 30 January, the family of Augustus along with the chief magistrates and priests of the several religious colleges, gathered on the
Campus Martius
to inaugurate the
Ara Pacis
. It had taken three and a half years to complete.
73
Carved from gleaming white marble, measuring 11.6m (38ft) by 10.6m (35ft), the altar was a marvel then and is rightly considered today to be one of the architectural masterpieces of the age of Augustus.
74
The sacrificial altar stands on a raised podium within a sacred enclosure in the style of a
templum
. A single opening measuring 3.6m (12ft) wide, approached by ten steps on the west side, allows access to this altar.
75
On the exterior wall of the enclosure, above a lower panel decorated with volutes of acanthus, a procession is depicted in half-relief. The good and the great of Rome are shown here: the Vestal Virgins, the
Pontifex Maximus
, members of the religious colleges and their retinues of attendants, the consuls accompanied by
lictores
with their ceremonial bundles of axes and rods, and many other state officials. Following them are men, women and children who are Augustus’ friends and family.
76
The procession is shown on both sides of the external north and south walls flanking the entrance, and forming a single line seen from opposite sides, so that the participants move towards the steps at the front of the altar. The figures are life-size and appear to be the individual likenesses of the actual participants in the event.
On the south side, at the front of the procession is Augustus, shown as
Pontifex Maximus
. Further down the line stands a man, notably taller than the rest, whose body faces the viewer full on as though momentarily waiting; his head – turned to look at the people ahead of him – is respectfully covered (
velatus
) with his toga. This is M. Agrippa (
plate 37
).
77
In this pose he cannot be missed. It actually breaks up the group.
78
He is shown this way perhaps in an artistic compromise recognizing the fact of his death, which occurred while the frieze was being carved.
79
A boy in a tunic stands behind him clutching the edge of his toga while he looks up at the lady – who may be Augustus’ wife Livia Drusilla – behind. Her identity is uncertain: she may be Iulia, or Livia or Octavia or she may even be an eastern princess. Some believe the boy is either Caius or Lucius. Another suggestion is that he is a barbarian child from the East as he wears the style of shoes and a diadem wrapped tightly around his forehead that would be worn in the Bosporus or Parthia.
80
Under peace treaties, such children were often handed over as hostages to be schooled in Rome and would be returned to their nations fully Romanized in language and customs to become agents of change in their own societies when they re-integrated at home.
81
If this interpretation is correct, the coded message is Agrippa, is both a guarantor of Rome’s word and guardian to the vulnerable princeling.
The Roman boys Caius and Lucius appear, not in the procession, but on the north side among the mythological figures Aeneas or Iulus who are connected with the foundation of the city.
82
The
Ara Pacis
is, thus, rich with meaning on many levels. The legendary past meets the golden present which points to a glorious future of peace.
83
This is the only monument from the Roman period showing Caius and Lucius with their both natural and adoptive fathers. Indeed, this is the first monument anywhere to depict the entire imperial family – Julian, Claudian and Vipsanian – assembled together.
84
The joint founders of the
Pax Augusta
, Agrippa and Augustus, are connected through Iulia and the two boys.
Pliny the Elder wrote that Agrippa had escaped the clutches of Fate and survived through an unnatural birth, the risk of death from exposure to war and compromised health on account of his feet. His children and grandchildren were not so lucky.
85
His sons, Caius and Lucius, were doted on by their adoptive father, who lavished attention on them and regularly wrote letters to them when he or either of them was travelling.
86
Augustus also took a highly active interest in the education of the young men, teaching them how to read and write, which they did by copying his handwriting. As effective head of state, he strove to set an example as a family man. He encouraged them to stay fit and healthy by teaching them to swim.
87
Whenever he dined with his family, he insisted that Caius and Lucius reclined beside him on his own couch, and when they travelled with him, they rode in the carriage in front or on either side of his. He named a new colonnade and basilica after them in 12 BCE and sponsored gladiatorial games in their honour.
88
The two boys were promoted as the young Caesars, and they appeared together on the most-minted coin of Augustus’ reign.
89
On the obverse is Augustus’ ever youthful profile, but on the reverse Caius and Lucius Caesar stand proudly in their togas on either side of two large, round, golden shields and gold-tipped spears – an indication that they had reached the age at which they could serve in the army – accompanied by various items associated with religious ritual. The Roman public took the youngsters to their hearts. They demanded that the older boy be made consul, but attempting to respect the minimum age qualification – he was twenty-two years too young – Augustus agreed for to be made
consul designatus
, which he would assume when he reached age 20, but in the meantime he was granted permission to take a seat in the
Curia Iulia
to study proceedings and given a priesthood.
90
Meantime, Augustus also permitted him to host gladiatorial games and banquets. When Caius came of age in 5 BCE (
plate 40
), he was appointed
princeps iuventutis
, ‘prince of the youth’, and granted with it the command of a unit of cavalry.
91
The following year, Lucius was given the same honour.
92
The indulgent attention of their adoptive father, their public popularity and the flattery of strangers, had an unintended effect on the boys, however. The little princes were growing up to behave more like spoilt brats than potential heads of state, an unintended consequence Augustus tried to change.
93
In 1 BCE, Caius, then old enough to join the army, was assigned command of a legion stationed at a camp on the Danube River (Danuvius, Ister); but, unlike his natural father Agrippa, rather than learning the warrior ethos, he preferred to stay out of harm’s way and delegated missions to others to lead.
94
His brother was sent west.
95
Always a trouble spot, Armenia finally broke out in revolt in 1 BCE.
96
Augustus – now 62 – was eager to retain Roman control and needed someone to quickly restore order in the region and to secure the frontier with Parthia. This time he could not look to Agrippa. Tiberius had resigned from public life – ‘some think that, since the children of Augustus were now of age, he voluntarily gave up the position and the virtual assumption of the second rank which he had long held, thus following the example of M. Agrippa, who withdrew to Mytilene when Marcellus began his public career, so that he might not seem either to oppose or belittle him by his presence,’ writes Suetonius – and was skulking on Rhodes, leaving Iulia to her own devices in Rome.
97
Caius and Lucius lacked the military or diplomatic experience necessary to handle the situation,
98
his other generals were already committed elsewhere. Out of necessity, he chose C. Caesar as
orienti praepositus
, ‘commander of the East’, The 19-year-old was given
imperium
to carry out orders in Augustus’ name, which had been forfeited by Tiberius.
99
Shortly before leaving Rome, there was one last item to attend to. Before he departed Rome he was married to Tiberius’ niece, Livilla.
100
Augustus was by this time likely aware of Caius’ reticence to apply himself in military matters, and to offset his diplomatic inexperience, he appointed M. Lollius to be his official ‘companion and guide’.
101
Despite his apparent maturity from years of service, Lollius was an unwise pick. He had a reputation for avarice, deceit and spite, as well as underperforming as governor of the Three Gallic Provinces in 17 BCE.
102
Nevertheless he still had the confidence of Augustus. The highpoint of Caius’ two-year tour of duty was the peace treaty he negotiated with Frahâtak (Phratakes) V of Parthia on an island in the Euphrates River.
103
He was the son of King Frahâta (Phrates) from whom, eighteen years earlier, Tiberius had received back the
signa
lost by Crassus to the Parthians at Carrhae in 53 BCE, the ground work for which may have been laid by Agrippa. The Parthians agreed to drop their claim on Armenia, but insisted that the Mede Ariobarzanes be installed to rule over them.
104
For the moment there was peace between the two great world empires. When news of the accord reached Rome a new coin was minted showing the young man in the panoply of a commander bearing a round shield and riding a horse galloping past an array of army
signa
.
105
Lucius proudly read aloud Caius’ letter containing the report of the agreement to the members of the Senate.
106
Meantime, Frahâtak exposed Lollius as a bribe taker, and the Roman deputy was recalled to face charges.
107
While Romans rejoiced, the Armenians resented the choice of regent and now declared war on the one responsible for the imposition.
108
The conflict was settled the following year, when Ariobarzanes unexpectedly died and was replaced by his son, Artabazus.
109
Caius had shown some promise as a military commander in the East, after all, but while campaigning in Syria he was wounded.
110
In 1 CE, at the age of 21, he was finally elected consul with L. Aemilius Paulus as his co-consul. Then his luck began to run out. According to one version of the story of his demise, an upstart by the name of Addon (or Adduus) seized the town of Artagira.
111
Promising that he would reveal the Parthian king’s secrets, Addon tricked Caius into approaching the city’s walls and succeeded in seriously wounding the Roman commander.
112
In another version of the same story, Caius was attacked while reading documents delivered by the king’s governor of Artagerae, a man named Dones.
113
Avenging themselves on the treachery, the Roman army immediately laid siege to the stronghold, which managed to hold out for a while, before finally falling to the invader. The wound Caius had received caused him to fall seriously sick.
114
Dio remarks that Caius’ health was never known for being robust and the ensuing fever affected the clarity of his thinking.
115
In a letter he wrote to Augustus pleading to be relieved of duty and to be allowed to retire as a private citizen. His father reluctantly agreed to the request, and recalled him back to Italy. Aboard a merchant ship bound for Lykia Caius died on reaching Limyra on 21 or 22 February 4 CE. He was just 24 years of age and left no children.
116
C. Caesar was widely mourned. Many honours were heaped upon him in death by citizens and city officials of the Empire, including
Colonia Obsequens Iulia Pisana
(Pisa), where it was decreed that the proper rites must be observed for matrons to lament his passing.
117
Temples, public baths and shops shut their doors as women wept inconsolably. To commemorate his brief life a cenotaph was erected on the Limyrus River.
118