-31 BC- The Battle of Actium (modern day Preveza, Greece)!
-Before the battle, shit was looking grim for Marc Antony. His troops were sick and dying, plus his foreign allies and even his own men were deserting him.
-Many reasons for why, as even his own senior staff was deserting him, but one excuse was that Cleopatra was obnoxious in her position as leader of the troops.
-To try and break out, Antony sent his fleet out from the bay to try and break through Octavian and Agrippa's blockade, but to no avail. What was he going to do??
-Desperate, Antony tried to break out with his fleet on more time, except this time the goal was just to get Antony and Cleopatra out so they could get back to Alexandria.
-This officially kicked off the Battle of Actium!
-As Antony moved to push Agrippa's fleet out of the way, Octavian was too busy fighting Antony's other fleet in the south, and so Cleopatra saw that the middle was now temporarily open. She decided to go for it!
-Cleopatra's fleet actually hadn't been fighting because on Cleopatra's ship was Antony's treasury. So, they were purely on the defensive... as long as the treasure wasn't captured or Antony killed, there was hope.
-Antony saw what Cleopatra was doing so he quickly transferred to a smaller, quicker vessel and followed her through the opening.
-By the next morning, obviously Antony and Cleopatra had escaped, but the battle was over and Octavian was the clear victor. However, Antony's infantry remained on land.
-Antony's troops couldn't believe that Antony had fled, so they offered to surrender if they were given Octavian's word that they would be given fair treatment. Octavian decided to take them up on their offer, and so all of Antony's troops were then incorporated into Octavian's forces and treated as if they had been in his army all along, and were even given spoils, payment, etc. (which pissed off some of the troops in Octavian's original officers, of course).
-Octavian then landed on the island of Samos (off the west coast of Asia Minor) while Antony and Cleopatra fled back to Alexandria.
-As Octavian planned for his invasion of Egypt, he sent home thousands of soldiers who had completed their service.
-However, these troops were dismayed when they returned home because they weren't given any money or land, as the city was once again bankrupt and couldn't afford to hook them up with anything.
-Because of this, the soldiers began to riot, and even Agrippa couldn't calm them down when he returned to Rome.
-Octavian then returned and promised payment and land once Antony was defeated, which actually worked in calming them down!
-Not everyone was dominated by (or happy with) Octavian.
-Marcus Lepidus (the Younger), son of the triumvir Marcus Lepidus, started to make plans to assassinate Octavian once he returned to Rome.
-However, Octavian's powerful ally and political adviser Gaius Maecenas had been left in charge of managing Rome, and when he found out about Lepidus the Younger's conspiracy he acquired the names of all the co-conspirators and had them executed immediately.
-Meanwhile, Antony and Cleopatra were kind of fucked, stuck in Egypt and surrounded by Romans and Roman client states who had gone over to Octavian's side.
-Shit quickly grew worse for them, as four legions inside Egypt had defected to Octavian's side as Octavian himself marched through Syria to Egypt.
-Also, Octavian was meeting very little resistance from the Egyptian troops who were supposed to defend Egypt, who probably knew something was up and a regime change was just around the corner.
-August 1, 31 BC- Antony sent out a naval fleet to attack Octavian's fleet, but Antony's fleet immediately surrendered when they reached Octavian's fleet. After this, his cavalry and infantry began to desert him.
-Soon, Antony was all alone. He marched back to the palace to blame Cleopatra for everything (and maybe kill her?), but Cleopatra had arranged for her servants to tell him that she was already dead. Antony then went and tried to kill himself in his room by falling on his sword, but before he died the servants came to tell him that actually Cleopatra wasn't dead after all but had summoned him to her half-built mausoleum that had been under construction during this time.
-They cried together, and Antony drank one last goblet of wine before dying.
-As for Cleopatra, she didn't kill herself (at least not yet), but instead begged for her life and Octavian decided to let her live (probably just so he could parade her through Rome in a triumph).
-According to legend, Cleopatra then killed herself with a poisonous snake smuggled in by a servant. Who knows though, but either way she definitely died in captivity during this time.
-Octavian then surveyed Alexandria, and famously visited the Tomb of Alexander the Great, which he adorned with flowers (and also placed a golden diadem on his Alexander's mummified head!).
-The Roman Empire was now fully under Octavian's control!
Monday, December 4, 2017
Sunday, December 3, 2017
The Donations of Alexandria
-41 BC- the Parthians began to attack the Roman Empire in Syria. Their forces were led by the brilliant Parthian prince Pacorus I.
-Before the Romans could react appropriately, the Parthians had already conquered both Judea and Syria and had quickly converted these former Roman provinces into new "independent" (puppet) kingdoms.
-This happened because Marc Antony was too distracted with internal Roman politics, his own military preparations, AND an insane schedule of partying 24/7.
-38 BC- Pacorus I and his army were finally crushed near Antioch by Marc Antony's chief lieutenant, Publius Ventidius Bassus. However, Ventidius failed to successfully mount a counterattack against a nearby Parthian stronghold on the Euphrates River.
-Antony believed that it was possible Ventidius was taking bribes from the Parthians to hold back, so Antony fired him and took over control himself.
-However, Antony himself turned back from the siege of the stronghold (lol) when winter came, using the bad weather as an excuse.
-The Parthians then gave him a "gift" of some money in exchange for a truce.
-37 BC- Marc Antony was ready to attack the Parthians again. Shit had calmed down among the triumvirs and he now had the alliance of Egypt as well to boost his troops. It's estimated that he now had like 100,000 troops under his command!
-He also had another kid with Cleopatra.
-Cleopatra now had four kids:
-Caesarion (from Julius Caesar)
-Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene (twins from Marc Antony)
-Ptolemy Philadelphus (from Marc Antony)
-Antony then reconquered Syria and also invaded Judea, Pontus, and maybe some other client states between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire.
-He was sick of their weakness and inability to act as buffer states, so why not just annex them into the Roman Empire itself or at least install a puppet king that could be easily controlled?
-36 BC- Marc Antony finally orders a full invasion of Parthia!
-However, this ended up being a complete shitshow.
-Antony made the same mistakes as previous Romans (like Crassus, etc.) in not knowing the territory well and relying on local guides who were actually spies for the Parthian government.
-Also, the supply lines and siege weapons were eventually destroyed in a surprise raid by the Parthian cavalry!
-Antony still hadn't managed to capture a major city, his siege weapons were destroyed, and his supply line was in ruins. He was fucked. He ordered a swift retreat back to Roman territory.
-To make matters worse, the Armenians took advantage of the situation and joined with the Parthians against Rome. As Antony traveled through Armenia back to Roman territory, the Armenians didn't offer any help or guidance. It was also really cold in the Armenian mountains, and Antony's troops were rapidly dying.
-Without fighting a single battle, Antony lost 25,000 men by the time he returned home. He even considered suicide!
-Meanwhile, Octavian was doing quite well. However, he faced a serious problem- with no threat to the empire in the west, he had no reason to have a bunch of legions.
-His troops were ready to retire or be transferred over to be under Senate control. So, in order to maintain control of the troops, he picked a fight with the inhabitants of Illyricum, a region loosely controlled by Rome along its coast but beyond that was infested with barbarians not exactly friendly to Rome.
-Octavian used this as an excuse to pacify the region.
-Octavian marched off with his troops and spent two years pacifying the hordes (on land) and crushing the pirates (in the eastern Adriatic Sea). He pushed as far as the Danube River.
-These wars greatly improved his reputation back in Rome.
-34 BC- While Octavian was fucking around in Illyricum, Marc Antony was licking his wounds in Alexandria with Cleopatra.
-It's also worth noting that he was still married to Octavia (who was back in Rome) during this time, but I guess Antony DGAF.
-This really pissed off Octavian because it made his sister look bad. Also, Cleopatra was "Eastern" (i.e. NOT Roman).
-In defense of Antony, however, why would he want to return anyway? He was banging Cleopatra, partying all the time, and living a life of decadence in Alexandria, a badass city of the ancient world. Rome was gross.
-Octavian would actually come to really love how awesome Alexandria was when he eventually conquered it, and this would inspire him to remake Rome by using Alexandria as a model.
-34 BC- Antony hadn't forgotten about the Armenian betrayal. He invaded Armenia, crushing their army, and captured their ruler, King Artavasdes II, taking him back to Alexandria as a prisoner and installing a new king as a puppet- his own son, Alexander Helios!
-This made Rome uneasy...Alexander Helios was Antony's illegitimate son, and also Antony celebrated a triumph after conquering Armenia... in Alexandria, NOT Rome. This had never happened before.
-Antony then announced a new edict after his triumph during a massive banquet- the Donations of Alexandria!
-During the banquet, Antony appeared dressed as Bacchus/Osiris and Cleopatra as Venus/Isis. Caesarion was dressed as Horus (the son of Isis). The donations:
-Caesarion was proclaimed the TRUE son and heir of the GOD Julius Caesar (implying that Octavian was not). Therefore, Caesarion was proclaimed King of Egypt in addition to King of Kings!
-Alexander Helios was named King of Armenia, Media/Atropatene (modern-day Azerbaijan and northwest Iran), and Parthia.
-Cleopatra Selene was named heir to the Roman province of Cyrenaica and the region of Libya (I guess?).
-Ptolemy Philadelphus was heir to the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.
-Obviously, the Senate reacted by believing that Antony had lost his fucking marbles and was turning the Eastern Roman provinces into his own personal kingdom.
-Octavian actually wasn't bothered by this on the inside; what really bothered him was the massive navy Antony was building, in addition to Caesarion being declared as Julius Caesar's "true heir".
-In reaction to the Donations of Alexandria, Octavian, Agrippa, and Gaius Maecenas (Octavian's chief political adviser) began secretly plotting to deal with Marc Antony. How could they bait him into making the first move?
-In front of the Senate, Octavian tried to talk as much shit on Antony as he could.
-When word reached Antony that Octavian had been talking shit, Antony shot back at Octavian by saying that Octavian had forged his adoption papers, was a megalomaniac, etc.
-Antony wrote all of this shit in letters which were eventually read aloud in the Senate.
-Fun fact: Antony also claimed in his letters that Octavian performed sexual favors for Julius Caeser in order to be named his heir. That must have been fun for Octavian to hear while they were listening to Antony's letters being read aloud in front of everyone!
-January 1, 33 BC- the triumvirate officially expires! Octavian then publicly stated that he was no longer a triumvir and just wanted to move on with things.
-Antony, however, refused to relinquish his position as triumvir and give up power!
-Because of this, Octavian was able to leverage the Senate against Antony.
-Antony no longer had any legal status in terms of being a person of authority- he wasn't a consul, governor, or general...he was just some dude now.
-However, Antony still had supporters in the Senate, and the two consuls during this time were actually both pro-Antony.
-Although the Senate was more or less against Antony, that didn't mean that they were pro-Octavian (after all, Octavian was now just some dude too haha). So, Octavian arrived at the Senate with armed bodyguards and announced that, like Antony, he too wasn't going to give up power either!
-Because of this, many senators (including both consuls) walked out of the meeting, packed up their shit, and fled Rome. It was now obvious that Octavian's true nature had been revealed- he was a tyrant, not some goody two-shoes!
-Anyway, so Octavian found out and publicized some news (by breaking into the Temple of Vesta (a huge sacrilege!) and stealing Antony's will) that Antony, among other un-Roman things, wanted to buried in Alexandria after he died!
-Octavian used this as an excuse to declare Marc Antony an enemy of the state.
-Antony knew that war was coming, especially all the senators whom had fled Rome arrived in Alexandria, and soon he used his massive navy to sail for an invasion of Greece!
-His co-general was Cleopatra (lol) for some reason.
-Antony and Cleopatra landed in Greece in late 32/early 31 BC.
-They decided ot land in the Gulf of Ambracia, which was a weird choice. By docking his fleet so far south instead of up north, Octavian was able to ferry his troops across Italy from Brundisium into Greece without any issues.
-Maybe Antony didn't want to appear as an invader...OR maybe he wanted to keep a secure line back to Egypt in case he needed to escape. It's unclear.
-Antony's supply hub was at Methoni (SW corner of the Peloponnese).
-Agrippa struck first by quickly assaulting this port with his navy. In fact, he struck so fast that Antony was unable to react, and then Octavian sent 50,000 troops across the Adriatic into Greece and then marched them south.
-Regardless of whether he had prepared for it or not, Antony was now trapped in Greece! Many high-ranking officials immediately began going over to Octavian's side...
-Antony would have to escape immediately or else he was fucked!
-Before the Romans could react appropriately, the Parthians had already conquered both Judea and Syria and had quickly converted these former Roman provinces into new "independent" (puppet) kingdoms.
-This happened because Marc Antony was too distracted with internal Roman politics, his own military preparations, AND an insane schedule of partying 24/7.
-38 BC- Pacorus I and his army were finally crushed near Antioch by Marc Antony's chief lieutenant, Publius Ventidius Bassus. However, Ventidius failed to successfully mount a counterattack against a nearby Parthian stronghold on the Euphrates River.
-Antony believed that it was possible Ventidius was taking bribes from the Parthians to hold back, so Antony fired him and took over control himself.
-However, Antony himself turned back from the siege of the stronghold (lol) when winter came, using the bad weather as an excuse.
-The Parthians then gave him a "gift" of some money in exchange for a truce.
-37 BC- Marc Antony was ready to attack the Parthians again. Shit had calmed down among the triumvirs and he now had the alliance of Egypt as well to boost his troops. It's estimated that he now had like 100,000 troops under his command!
-He also had another kid with Cleopatra.
-Cleopatra now had four kids:
-Caesarion (from Julius Caesar)
-Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene (twins from Marc Antony)
-Ptolemy Philadelphus (from Marc Antony)
-Antony then reconquered Syria and also invaded Judea, Pontus, and maybe some other client states between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire.
-He was sick of their weakness and inability to act as buffer states, so why not just annex them into the Roman Empire itself or at least install a puppet king that could be easily controlled?
-36 BC- Marc Antony finally orders a full invasion of Parthia!
-However, this ended up being a complete shitshow.
-Antony made the same mistakes as previous Romans (like Crassus, etc.) in not knowing the territory well and relying on local guides who were actually spies for the Parthian government.
-Also, the supply lines and siege weapons were eventually destroyed in a surprise raid by the Parthian cavalry!
-Antony still hadn't managed to capture a major city, his siege weapons were destroyed, and his supply line was in ruins. He was fucked. He ordered a swift retreat back to Roman territory.
-To make matters worse, the Armenians took advantage of the situation and joined with the Parthians against Rome. As Antony traveled through Armenia back to Roman territory, the Armenians didn't offer any help or guidance. It was also really cold in the Armenian mountains, and Antony's troops were rapidly dying.
-Without fighting a single battle, Antony lost 25,000 men by the time he returned home. He even considered suicide!
-Meanwhile, Octavian was doing quite well. However, he faced a serious problem- with no threat to the empire in the west, he had no reason to have a bunch of legions.
-His troops were ready to retire or be transferred over to be under Senate control. So, in order to maintain control of the troops, he picked a fight with the inhabitants of Illyricum, a region loosely controlled by Rome along its coast but beyond that was infested with barbarians not exactly friendly to Rome.
-Octavian used this as an excuse to pacify the region.
-Octavian marched off with his troops and spent two years pacifying the hordes (on land) and crushing the pirates (in the eastern Adriatic Sea). He pushed as far as the Danube River.
-These wars greatly improved his reputation back in Rome.
-34 BC- While Octavian was fucking around in Illyricum, Marc Antony was licking his wounds in Alexandria with Cleopatra.
-It's also worth noting that he was still married to Octavia (who was back in Rome) during this time, but I guess Antony DGAF.
-This really pissed off Octavian because it made his sister look bad. Also, Cleopatra was "Eastern" (i.e. NOT Roman).
-In defense of Antony, however, why would he want to return anyway? He was banging Cleopatra, partying all the time, and living a life of decadence in Alexandria, a badass city of the ancient world. Rome was gross.
-Octavian would actually come to really love how awesome Alexandria was when he eventually conquered it, and this would inspire him to remake Rome by using Alexandria as a model.
-34 BC- Antony hadn't forgotten about the Armenian betrayal. He invaded Armenia, crushing their army, and captured their ruler, King Artavasdes II, taking him back to Alexandria as a prisoner and installing a new king as a puppet- his own son, Alexander Helios!
-This made Rome uneasy...Alexander Helios was Antony's illegitimate son, and also Antony celebrated a triumph after conquering Armenia... in Alexandria, NOT Rome. This had never happened before.
-Antony then announced a new edict after his triumph during a massive banquet- the Donations of Alexandria!
-During the banquet, Antony appeared dressed as Bacchus/Osiris and Cleopatra as Venus/Isis. Caesarion was dressed as Horus (the son of Isis). The donations:
-Caesarion was proclaimed the TRUE son and heir of the GOD Julius Caesar (implying that Octavian was not). Therefore, Caesarion was proclaimed King of Egypt in addition to King of Kings!
-Alexander Helios was named King of Armenia, Media/Atropatene (modern-day Azerbaijan and northwest Iran), and Parthia.
-Cleopatra Selene was named heir to the Roman province of Cyrenaica and the region of Libya (I guess?).
-Ptolemy Philadelphus was heir to the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.
-Obviously, the Senate reacted by believing that Antony had lost his fucking marbles and was turning the Eastern Roman provinces into his own personal kingdom.
-Octavian actually wasn't bothered by this on the inside; what really bothered him was the massive navy Antony was building, in addition to Caesarion being declared as Julius Caesar's "true heir".
-In reaction to the Donations of Alexandria, Octavian, Agrippa, and Gaius Maecenas (Octavian's chief political adviser) began secretly plotting to deal with Marc Antony. How could they bait him into making the first move?
-In front of the Senate, Octavian tried to talk as much shit on Antony as he could.
-When word reached Antony that Octavian had been talking shit, Antony shot back at Octavian by saying that Octavian had forged his adoption papers, was a megalomaniac, etc.
-Antony wrote all of this shit in letters which were eventually read aloud in the Senate.
-Fun fact: Antony also claimed in his letters that Octavian performed sexual favors for Julius Caeser in order to be named his heir. That must have been fun for Octavian to hear while they were listening to Antony's letters being read aloud in front of everyone!
-January 1, 33 BC- the triumvirate officially expires! Octavian then publicly stated that he was no longer a triumvir and just wanted to move on with things.
-Antony, however, refused to relinquish his position as triumvir and give up power!
-Because of this, Octavian was able to leverage the Senate against Antony.
-Antony no longer had any legal status in terms of being a person of authority- he wasn't a consul, governor, or general...he was just some dude now.
-However, Antony still had supporters in the Senate, and the two consuls during this time were actually both pro-Antony.
-Although the Senate was more or less against Antony, that didn't mean that they were pro-Octavian (after all, Octavian was now just some dude too haha). So, Octavian arrived at the Senate with armed bodyguards and announced that, like Antony, he too wasn't going to give up power either!
-Because of this, many senators (including both consuls) walked out of the meeting, packed up their shit, and fled Rome. It was now obvious that Octavian's true nature had been revealed- he was a tyrant, not some goody two-shoes!
-Anyway, so Octavian found out and publicized some news (by breaking into the Temple of Vesta (a huge sacrilege!) and stealing Antony's will) that Antony, among other un-Roman things, wanted to buried in Alexandria after he died!
-Octavian used this as an excuse to declare Marc Antony an enemy of the state.
-Antony knew that war was coming, especially all the senators whom had fled Rome arrived in Alexandria, and soon he used his massive navy to sail for an invasion of Greece!
-His co-general was Cleopatra (lol) for some reason.
-Antony and Cleopatra landed in Greece in late 32/early 31 BC.
-They decided ot land in the Gulf of Ambracia, which was a weird choice. By docking his fleet so far south instead of up north, Octavian was able to ferry his troops across Italy from Brundisium into Greece without any issues.
-Maybe Antony didn't want to appear as an invader...OR maybe he wanted to keep a secure line back to Egypt in case he needed to escape. It's unclear.
-Antony's supply hub was at Methoni (SW corner of the Peloponnese).
-Agrippa struck first by quickly assaulting this port with his navy. In fact, he struck so fast that Antony was unable to react, and then Octavian sent 50,000 troops across the Adriatic into Greece and then marched them south.
-Regardless of whether he had prepared for it or not, Antony was now trapped in Greece! Many high-ranking officials immediately began going over to Octavian's side...
-Antony would have to escape immediately or else he was fucked!
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Apollo and Dionysus
-After the Battle of Phillipi, Marc Antony stayed in the East with eight legions. Octavius, of course, went back to Rome.
-Around this time, Marc Antony also sent diplomats to Sextus Pompey in Sicily in hopes of securing some sort of a secret alliance. He also told them to harass the Italian coast as much as possible in order to fuck with Octavian, and he also secured the support of the blockage.
-Meanwhile, Octavian decided that it was time to get married, so he divorced his first wife (Claudia Pulchra) in 40 BC and married Scribonia, an older chick and, more importantly, Sextus Pompey's aunt (by marriage).
-Octavian was also perhaps hoping to get Sextus Pompey to join his side against Marc Antony, or at least maybe stay neutral.
-40 BC- the governor of Gaul died, and this was good for Octavian because he was one of Marc Antony's toadies. In order to make sure Gaul would be run by someone more in line with Octavian, Octavian marched on Gaul with his legions to secure it to his side. Of course, this pissed off Marc Antony, who traveled to Rome in order to confront Octavian. There had been 11 legions stationed in Gaul, so the province was extremely relevant to his interests.
-Marc Antony finally arrived with his legions in Brundisium, ready to kick Octavian's ass.
-However, the troops were sick of fighting and war against fellow Romans, so both sides decided that they wouldn't fight.
-Thus, the Treaty of Brundisium was established in 40 BC, reconfirming the the triumvirate and re-establishing their respective territories.
-It was decided that Marc Antony would oversee all of the empire east of the Adriatic Sea; Lepidus would oversee all of Africa; Octavian would over see all of the non-African land west of the Adriatic Sea.
-The East was considered the better deal because it was more developed (compared to the West) and was next to the Parthian Empire, whom the Romans really wanted to conquer.
-The West was underdeveloped, crowded with barbarians, and its government had the boring task of land allocation for veterans from all of the previous wars. It was also plagued with grain shortages, angry citizens, angry military veterans, etc.
-However, Sextus Pompey still remained in the game as the leader of a pirate fleet operating out of Sicily. With his powerful navy he constantly blockaded Rome.
-Marc Antony and Octavian were also broke during this time. The wars had taken up so much of their resources! So, how were they going to pay their armies?
-Octavian faced a choice- either go back on the contract with his soldiers and their promise of land allotment, OR seize land that already belonged to citizens (like senators' estates or farms) which would severely piss off a lot of people.
-Scores of homeless citizens (most likely former vets) began to migrate to Rome en masse and riot. Soldiers began to riot too when they realized that there wasn't enough land to go around.
-Although he was broke, Marc Antony was living the dream in the East! He had previously migrated from Greece to Asia Minor, but he quickly realized that Egypt had way more resources and would be a great ally in the conquest of Parthia. However, the threat of the Parthians invading Roman lands was also present, and they actually invaded Syria and other neighboring regions in 40 BC but were repelled by Roman forces within the next couple of years.
-During this time, Egypt was a client state of Rome ruled by Queen Cleopatra, who had styled herself as an avatar of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
-Like Cleopatra, Marc Antony began to claim that he was a living avatar of the Roman god Bacchus (or Dionysus to the Greeks) and because of this he started partying nonstop! It's also worth noting that Isis was sister to Osiris (whom the Romans had always associated with Bacchus). So it was a match made in heaven with these two!
-Cleopatra met Marc Antony in 41 BC in Tarius, Asia Minor. She knew that Marc Antony was important because she needed to have a strong Roman ally that would secure her reign in Egypt. They instantly fell in love and by the end of 41 BC Cleopatra was pregnant with twins!
-Around this time Antony and Cleopatra had moved to Alexandria and were partying 24/7.
-During one party, a bunch of Roman aristocrats (including Octavian himself) came dressed as Greek/Roman gods; Octavian came dressed as Apollo (interesting because of the philosophical concept of the Apollonian and Dionysian made popular by Friedrich Nietzsche).
-It was during this time that Antony also began to participate in the strange rites of shadowy Eastern mystery cults.
-Back in Rome, Lucius Antony (brother of Marc Antony) and Fulvia (Marc Antony's wife) tried to start a rebellion in Italy against Octavian. Antony, of course, claimed to know nothing.
-Of course, it was easily squashed by Octavian, who sent Agrippa to crush the rebels.
-Marc Antony's brother, Lucius Antony, killed himself, and Fulvia was exiled before dying in Greece.
-Before she died, Fulvia met Marc Antony, who blamed her for making Octavian stronger by rebelling against him and losing, which ultimately made popular opinion of him (Octavian) stronger.
-Around this time, Marc Antony also sent diplomats to Sextus Pompey in Sicily in hopes of securing some sort of a secret alliance. He also told them to harass the Italian coast as much as possible in order to fuck with Octavian, and he also secured the support of the blockage.
-Meanwhile, Octavian decided that it was time to get married, so he divorced his first wife (Claudia Pulchra) in 40 BC and married Scribonia, an older chick and, more importantly, Sextus Pompey's aunt (by marriage).
-Octavian was also perhaps hoping to get Sextus Pompey to join his side against Marc Antony, or at least maybe stay neutral.
-After the Treaty of Brundisium was established, Sextus Pompey realized that he had been kind of ignored in all of this, so he just continued to fuck around and be a pirate leader, which was seriously fucking with Rome's grain supply at this point.
-Finally, the triumvirate decided to do something, so they offered Sextus Pompey a job as governor of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia if he would stop being a shit. He'd also be consul of Rome the following year.
-By bringing Sextus Pompey back, a lot of the loyal Republic liberator families (in addition to families that had been proscribed) were also welcome back home.
-Among these people was the patrician Livia Drusilla, whom Octavian had fallen for.
-Octavian was into her, in fact, that he divorced Scribonia on the same day that she gave birth to their daughter (Julia (the Elder)). He then married Livia three days after she gave birth to her second son, Drusus (the Elder)). Livia's first son, Tiberius, would eventually be adopted by Octavian (and, of course, take Augustus' place as ruler of the empire after he died).
-Sextus Pompey realized, however, that he had made a terrible mistake- he had agreed to stop harassing the triumvirate, but in exchange for this he was given control over islands that he already controlled (haha) and was no longer the last defender of the Republic.
-Octavian, estimating that this peace wouldn't last long, so he decided to straight-up break the treaty and strike at Sextus Pompey first!
-He planned a two-pronged attack, one from the north and one from the east. He was hoping to trap Sextus Pompey at Messana in the northeast.
-However, it got kind of fucked up because the northern assault actually got defeated by Sextus Pompey's forces. Also, Octavian was an inexperienced naval commander, and actually got his ass kicked by Sextus Pompey's super aggressive assaults. In fact, Octavian almost died on one occasion (with most of his fleet being obliterated)!
-So, Octavian decided to try again, but this time he had to be more careful. Agrippa (only 26 years old at the time!) was called upon to help him, and Octavian had him appointed consul when he returned to Rome in 37 BC.
-They spent the entire year building a new fleet, and Agrippa also designed a new system of canals that linked an inland lake to the sea, and used this inland lake to train his naval troops for battle!
-37 BC- the triumvirate was legally over, but obviously they weren't going to give up power, so they met to establish how to continue.
-They met and agreed to keep things as is, but Antony traded 120 ships for four legions with Octavian. Antony upheld his end of the bargain and sent the ships, but Octavian never handed over the legions! What a dick!
-Octavian's second assault on Sextus Pompey this time consisted of a 3-pronged attack, with Agrippa attacking the north coast and Lepidus attacking from the south with 10 legions! Octavian himself would lead troops across the strait of Messina.
-Agrippa was successful in his assault, and although there were rumors that Lepidus was considering forming an alliance with Sextus Pompey and backstabbing Octavian, it was still looking grim for ol' Sextus Pompey.
-Agrippa's navy was evenly matched with Sextus Pompey's, but Agrippa's ships were better and stronger, so he won.
-Sextus Pompey rallied his remaining ships and fled to Asia Minor, where he ran around trying to make new alliances.
-Unfortunately for him, he was eventually caught and executed in 35 BC. Any hope of liberating the Republic at this point was finally over.
-Meanwhile, Lepidus believed that he had amassed enough power to challenge Octavian, and demanded control of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia.
-However, Lepidus wasn't popular enough with his own troops, and they ended up deserting him for Octavian!
-Octavian used this as an excuse to kick Lepidus out of the triumvirate, so Lepidus then retired and lived the rest of his life chilling on an Italian state.
-Around this time, Marc Antony also sent diplomats to Sextus Pompey in Sicily in hopes of securing some sort of a secret alliance. He also told them to harass the Italian coast as much as possible in order to fuck with Octavian, and he also secured the support of the blockage.
-Meanwhile, Octavian decided that it was time to get married, so he divorced his first wife (Claudia Pulchra) in 40 BC and married Scribonia, an older chick and, more importantly, Sextus Pompey's aunt (by marriage).
-Octavian was also perhaps hoping to get Sextus Pompey to join his side against Marc Antony, or at least maybe stay neutral.
-40 BC- the governor of Gaul died, and this was good for Octavian because he was one of Marc Antony's toadies. In order to make sure Gaul would be run by someone more in line with Octavian, Octavian marched on Gaul with his legions to secure it to his side. Of course, this pissed off Marc Antony, who traveled to Rome in order to confront Octavian. There had been 11 legions stationed in Gaul, so the province was extremely relevant to his interests.
-Marc Antony finally arrived with his legions in Brundisium, ready to kick Octavian's ass.
-However, the troops were sick of fighting and war against fellow Romans, so both sides decided that they wouldn't fight.
-Thus, the Treaty of Brundisium was established in 40 BC, reconfirming the the triumvirate and re-establishing their respective territories.
-It was decided that Marc Antony would oversee all of the empire east of the Adriatic Sea; Lepidus would oversee all of Africa; Octavian would over see all of the non-African land west of the Adriatic Sea.
-The East was considered the better deal because it was more developed (compared to the West) and was next to the Parthian Empire, whom the Romans really wanted to conquer.
-The West was underdeveloped, crowded with barbarians, and its government had the boring task of land allocation for veterans from all of the previous wars. It was also plagued with grain shortages, angry citizens, angry military veterans, etc.
-However, Sextus Pompey still remained in the game as the leader of a pirate fleet operating out of Sicily. With his powerful navy he constantly blockaded Rome.
-Marc Antony and Octavian were also broke during this time. The wars had taken up so much of their resources! So, how were they going to pay their armies?
-Octavian faced a choice- either go back on the contract with his soldiers and their promise of land allotment, OR seize land that already belonged to citizens (like senators' estates or farms) which would severely piss off a lot of people.
-Scores of homeless citizens (most likely former vets) began to migrate to Rome en masse and riot. Soldiers began to riot too when they realized that there wasn't enough land to go around.
-Although he was broke, Marc Antony was living the dream in the East! He had previously migrated from Greece to Asia Minor, but he quickly realized that Egypt had way more resources and would be a great ally in the conquest of Parthia. However, the threat of the Parthians invading Roman lands was also present, and they actually invaded Syria and other neighboring regions in 40 BC but were repelled by Roman forces within the next couple of years.
-During this time, Egypt was a client state of Rome ruled by Queen Cleopatra, who had styled herself as an avatar of the Egyptian goddess Isis.
-Like Cleopatra, Marc Antony began to claim that he was a living avatar of the Roman god Bacchus (or Dionysus to the Greeks) and because of this he started partying nonstop! It's also worth noting that Isis was sister to Osiris (whom the Romans had always associated with Bacchus). So it was a match made in heaven with these two!
-Cleopatra met Marc Antony in 41 BC in Tarius, Asia Minor. She knew that Marc Antony was important because she needed to have a strong Roman ally that would secure her reign in Egypt. They instantly fell in love and by the end of 41 BC Cleopatra was pregnant with twins!
-Around this time Antony and Cleopatra had moved to Alexandria and were partying 24/7.
-During one party, a bunch of Roman aristocrats (including Octavian himself) came dressed as Greek/Roman gods; Octavian came dressed as Apollo (interesting because of the philosophical concept of the Apollonian and Dionysian made popular by Friedrich Nietzsche).
-It was during this time that Antony also began to participate in the strange rites of shadowy Eastern mystery cults.
-Back in Rome, Lucius Antony (brother of Marc Antony) and Fulvia (Marc Antony's wife) tried to start a rebellion in Italy against Octavian. Antony, of course, claimed to know nothing.
-Of course, it was easily squashed by Octavian, who sent Agrippa to crush the rebels.
-Marc Antony's brother, Lucius Antony, killed himself, and Fulvia was exiled before dying in Greece.
-Before she died, Fulvia met Marc Antony, who blamed her for making Octavian stronger by rebelling against him and losing, which ultimately made popular opinion of him (Octavian) stronger.
-Around this time, Marc Antony also sent diplomats to Sextus Pompey in Sicily in hopes of securing some sort of a secret alliance. He also told them to harass the Italian coast as much as possible in order to fuck with Octavian, and he also secured the support of the blockage.
-Meanwhile, Octavian decided that it was time to get married, so he divorced his first wife (Claudia Pulchra) in 40 BC and married Scribonia, an older chick and, more importantly, Sextus Pompey's aunt (by marriage).
-Octavian was also perhaps hoping to get Sextus Pompey to join his side against Marc Antony, or at least maybe stay neutral.
-After the Treaty of Brundisium was established, Sextus Pompey realized that he had been kind of ignored in all of this, so he just continued to fuck around and be a pirate leader, which was seriously fucking with Rome's grain supply at this point.
-Finally, the triumvirate decided to do something, so they offered Sextus Pompey a job as governor of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia if he would stop being a shit. He'd also be consul of Rome the following year.
-By bringing Sextus Pompey back, a lot of the loyal Republic liberator families (in addition to families that had been proscribed) were also welcome back home.
-Among these people was the patrician Livia Drusilla, whom Octavian had fallen for.
-Octavian was into her, in fact, that he divorced Scribonia on the same day that she gave birth to their daughter (Julia (the Elder)). He then married Livia three days after she gave birth to her second son, Drusus (the Elder)). Livia's first son, Tiberius, would eventually be adopted by Octavian (and, of course, take Augustus' place as ruler of the empire after he died).
-Sextus Pompey realized, however, that he had made a terrible mistake- he had agreed to stop harassing the triumvirate, but in exchange for this he was given control over islands that he already controlled (haha) and was no longer the last defender of the Republic.
-Octavian, estimating that this peace wouldn't last long, so he decided to straight-up break the treaty and strike at Sextus Pompey first!
-He planned a two-pronged attack, one from the north and one from the east. He was hoping to trap Sextus Pompey at Messana in the northeast.
-However, it got kind of fucked up because the northern assault actually got defeated by Sextus Pompey's forces. Also, Octavian was an inexperienced naval commander, and actually got his ass kicked by Sextus Pompey's super aggressive assaults. In fact, Octavian almost died on one occasion (with most of his fleet being obliterated)!
-So, Octavian decided to try again, but this time he had to be more careful. Agrippa (only 26 years old at the time!) was called upon to help him, and Octavian had him appointed consul when he returned to Rome in 37 BC.
-They spent the entire year building a new fleet, and Agrippa also designed a new system of canals that linked an inland lake to the sea, and used this inland lake to train his naval troops for battle!
-37 BC- the triumvirate was legally over, but obviously they weren't going to give up power, so they met to establish how to continue.
-They met and agreed to keep things as is, but Antony traded 120 ships for four legions with Octavian. Antony upheld his end of the bargain and sent the ships, but Octavian never handed over the legions! What a dick!
-Octavian's second assault on Sextus Pompey this time consisted of a 3-pronged attack, with Agrippa attacking the north coast and Lepidus attacking from the south with 10 legions! Octavian himself would lead troops across the strait of Messina.
-Agrippa was successful in his assault, and although there were rumors that Lepidus was considering forming an alliance with Sextus Pompey and backstabbing Octavian, it was still looking grim for ol' Sextus Pompey.
-Agrippa's navy was evenly matched with Sextus Pompey's, but Agrippa's ships were better and stronger, so he won.
-Sextus Pompey rallied his remaining ships and fled to Asia Minor, where he ran around trying to make new alliances.
-Unfortunately for him, he was eventually caught and executed in 35 BC. Any hope of liberating the Republic at this point was finally over.
-Meanwhile, Lepidus believed that he had amassed enough power to challenge Octavian, and demanded control of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia.
-However, Lepidus wasn't popular enough with his own troops, and they ended up deserting him for Octavian!
-Octavian used this as an excuse to kick Lepidus out of the triumvirate, so Lepidus then retired and lived the rest of his life chilling on an Italian state.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
The Second Triumvirate
-January 1, 43 BC- Everyone in the high offices of the government changes over (as they did every year). The move was usually lateral, as they usually would go from like consul to pro-consul or would move out as administrators of provinces or whatever.
-Marc Antony was pro-consul and was to take over the position as governor of Macedonia, but at the last minute he changed his mind and wanted to govern Cisalpine Gaul instead.
-However, a dude named Decimus Brutus was still governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and his term wasn't up yet, so so he refused to roll over just because of Marc Antony (who had gotten the tribunes to change the law, I guess).
-So, instead of using diplomacy or legality, Marc Antony just gathered up an army and marched off to Cisalpine Gaul to remove Brutus by force!
-Obviously, the Republic was completely fucking broken at this point.
-Antony traveled to the Po Valley in Cisalpine Gaul and began to lay siege to the city of Mutina (where Brutus was holed up).
-There were two new consuls of Rome at this time: Gaius Vibius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, both big Julius Caesar supporters who had served under him in his armies and had been appointed consuls by Caesar himself.
-Although they had been Caesar supporters, they still didn't like Antony fucking around now that they were in positions of high authority. Antony was no Julius Caesar.
-They declared him an enemy of the state once he marched off to Cisalpine Gaul.
-Meanwhile, Octavian knew that he had to do something to continue his upward momentum, so he moved into Roman politics as pro-praetor.
-The Senate allowed him to do this because he had legions backing him, plus the Senate was in strong need of more troops if they were going to take out Marc Antony and his army.
-Octavian agreed to merge his army with the Senate's, but remained as the leader of the combined troops. Then, he left Rome with the army to go fight Marc Antony!
-When he arrived in the Po Valley, however, he was immediately put in his place as a noob general by the much more experienced Aulus Hirtius, who I guess had come along.
-Hirtius didn't want to take his chances and attack Marc Antony without total victory being assured, so he waited for Pansa too arrive with his three legions that he brought up from Rome as reinforcements.
-Marc Antony quickly decided to stop laying siege to the city and instead attacked Pansa's forces before Pansa could link up with Octavian and Hirtius.
-Antony fought Pansa in a battle now known as the Battle of the Forum Gallorum (possibly near Castelfranco Emilia, Emilia-Romagna). Antony, with the advantage of experience and surprise, crushed Pansa's legions! Pansa himself was actually injured in the battle as well, and would actually die a few days later. Rumor has/had it that Octavian actually had Pansa's Greek doctor poison him, but who really knows for sure?
-However, Antony was then surprised by Hirtius' legions, who were able to quickly guess what Antony was up to. Antony's legions were crushed and ended up fleeing once it got dark.
-Octavian had stayed behind on orders to guard the camp, which Antony would later use to try and call out Octavian as a coward.
-Hirtius then attacked Antony's camp, this time with Octavian present! Octavian himself actually fought in this battle as well, although Hirtius ended up getting killed.
-Ultimately, Antony's forces ended up losing, and Antony fled yet again after lifting his siege on Mutina.
-Because both Pansa and Hirtius were now dead, Octavian had full control over all eight legions!
-Brutus then chased after Antony, who had fled into the Alps.
-Octavian refused to accompany Brutus, preferring to remain in Cisalpine Gaul.
-Soon, Antony arrived in Gaul and linked up with the 11 legions stationed there.
-Brutus tried to flee back to Cisalpine Gaul, but realized that Octavian was waiting for him there with his own legions and wasn't necessarily an ally anymore.
-Brutus was screwed, but actually ended up dying in an unexpected way- he was captured by a Gallic tribe looking to appease Marc Antony, and ended up presenting Brutus' head to Antony later!
-Back in Rome, Antony's defeat was celebrated by everyone, but it quickly became obvious that there was a serious problem- Octavian now controlled like 10 legions, AND he was legally Caesar's son and heir. Antony controlled the other 10. A storm was brewing...
-Meanwhile, in the East, Marcus Brutus (THE Brutus) and Cassius, a co-conspirator senator who had plenty of influence in the East, were raising legions themselves to defend the Republic from both Octavian AND Antony.
-Back in Rome, Octavian had sent centurions to the Senate demanding that he be named consul since both Pansa and Hirtius were dead.
-The Senate refused, so this time Otavian marched his army down from Cisalpine Gaul to Rome itself! Obviously intimidated, the Senate granted him consulship.
-Antony and Octavian obviously hated each other, but knew that fighting each other would just be suicide for both of them. So, they decided to form an uneasy alliance in order to fight off Brutus and Cassius' liberator army.
-Thus, the Second Triumvirate was born! Antony, Octavian, and the patrician Marcus Lepidus.
-Lepidus was arguably the third wheel in this triumvirate, but he was important because he acted as a buffer between Octavian and Antony if shit got too out of balance.
-The triumvirate knew that the first thing they needed to do was crush Brutus and Cassius. One major problem, however, was that they had no money.
-In order to raise an army on the cheap, they decided to enforce a proscription- basically, a death list that would cause those named to be enemies of the state and their properties forfeited to the government as a result.
-Obviously, those who were steadfast liberators of the Republic and allies of Brutus and Cassius, including senators, were to be named in the proscription.
-Although it was against Octavian's wishes, Cicero was on the list due to Antony's extreme insistence.
-Thus, Cicero was executed by triumvirate agents in December 43 BC.
-At this point, the Second Triumvirate was like a three-headed dictator, and this was actually ratified legally under the Senate to be allowed to exist for a period of five years!
-Antony also was said to have reviewed every decapitated head after an execution in order to make sure it was legit, even while he was eating dinner!
-One problem with the proscriptions, besides it being heinous and barbaric, was that the mass killing of the senators caused all the new property on the market to become seriously undervalued, and because of this the triumvirate didn't make as much money as they had planned. So, they added to the proscription list!
-They also resorted to straight-up thuggery by breaking into the treasury at the Temple of Vesta.
-They also instituted a tax on the Italian peninsula- this was previously considered unthinkable, as Italians had ALWAYS been exempt from taxes!
-Taxes were actually more unpopular with the public than the proscriptions!
-Finally, the triumvirate scraped together enough cash to raise an army and go to war against Cassius and Brutus. Lepidus was left behind to manage Rome, and Antony and Octavian marched off to war with 19 legions!
-They landed in Greece before the liberator navy could establish a blockade.
-They ended up positioning their forces west of the town of Phillipi (near modern-day Kavala, Greece).
-This was chosen as a good place to fortify and confront the triumvirate army due to the difficult terrain. Plus, to the north were rocky hills, and to the south were marshlands.
-Cassius' plan was to chill and hold position until the naval blockade could be set up, and then the triumvirate army would be trapped and surrounded.
-Antony led the legions to go check out the layout of the land while Octavian stayed back at camp, apparently sick again (or being a coward? Who knows?).
-While it was obvious that he liberators were expecting a direct assault, Antony noticed that the southern swamps actually weren't that bad! Perhaps it would be possible to lead the legions through the swamp to attack...
-Antony began to construct a causeway through the swamp...
-However, it only took a few days before Cassius' legions noticed something fishy going on in the swamps, and quickly began to prepare to surround Antony's initial penetrating force as they made their way through the swamp.
-Pressed for time, Antony quickly ordered a full assault through the swamp! Antony was lucky, as Cassius wasn't expecting a full-on attack so quickly.
-Meanwhile, Brutus realized that because the triumvirate army was preoccupied by the swamp batle, it would be a good time to mount a counterattack on the main triumvirate camp, occupied only by Octavian and reserve troops.
-Brutus was actually successful in his assault, and took over Cassius' position.
-Strange position for both armies now, as Brutus had defeated Octavian, but Antony had defeated Cassius.
-Cassius ended up dying (either by having a slave kill him or just by committing suicide himself; it's unclear), and when Brutus found out he was sad, as he had once stated that Cassius was "The last of the Romans". Brutus decided to regroup, refortify, and stick to the original plan, but the morale of his troops was quickly going down and his generals were pressuring him to launch another attack.
-October 23, 42 BC- Brutus launches an attack against his better judgement, and in a straight-up slugfest against the triumvirates his army fell.
-Although he still had four legions left, it was obvious that the battle was over...so Brutus committed suicide.
-The Battle of Phillipi marked the final end of the Roman Republic, as well as the pinnacle of Mark Antony's life.
-Pompey's son, Sextus Pompey, would continue fighting the Second Triumvirate from his base in Sicily, but this wasn't really considered a major threat. It was, however, pretty irritating, as he was constantly trying to create a naval blockade to block trade routes to Rome.
-Although Marc Antony honored the corpse of Brutus and gave proper respects, Octavian didn't give a FUCK and decapitated the body. He then ordered the head to be shipped off to Rome and to be thrown at the feet of a statue of Julius Caesar.
-Antony then remained in the East; he was planning on a massive invasion of the Parthian Empire!
-Marc Antony was pro-consul and was to take over the position as governor of Macedonia, but at the last minute he changed his mind and wanted to govern Cisalpine Gaul instead.
-However, a dude named Decimus Brutus was still governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and his term wasn't up yet, so so he refused to roll over just because of Marc Antony (who had gotten the tribunes to change the law, I guess).
-So, instead of using diplomacy or legality, Marc Antony just gathered up an army and marched off to Cisalpine Gaul to remove Brutus by force!
-Obviously, the Republic was completely fucking broken at this point.
-Antony traveled to the Po Valley in Cisalpine Gaul and began to lay siege to the city of Mutina (where Brutus was holed up).
-There were two new consuls of Rome at this time: Gaius Vibius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, both big Julius Caesar supporters who had served under him in his armies and had been appointed consuls by Caesar himself.
-Although they had been Caesar supporters, they still didn't like Antony fucking around now that they were in positions of high authority. Antony was no Julius Caesar.
-They declared him an enemy of the state once he marched off to Cisalpine Gaul.
-Meanwhile, Octavian knew that he had to do something to continue his upward momentum, so he moved into Roman politics as pro-praetor.
-The Senate allowed him to do this because he had legions backing him, plus the Senate was in strong need of more troops if they were going to take out Marc Antony and his army.
-Octavian agreed to merge his army with the Senate's, but remained as the leader of the combined troops. Then, he left Rome with the army to go fight Marc Antony!
-When he arrived in the Po Valley, however, he was immediately put in his place as a noob general by the much more experienced Aulus Hirtius, who I guess had come along.
-Hirtius didn't want to take his chances and attack Marc Antony without total victory being assured, so he waited for Pansa too arrive with his three legions that he brought up from Rome as reinforcements.
-Marc Antony quickly decided to stop laying siege to the city and instead attacked Pansa's forces before Pansa could link up with Octavian and Hirtius.
-Antony fought Pansa in a battle now known as the Battle of the Forum Gallorum (possibly near Castelfranco Emilia, Emilia-Romagna). Antony, with the advantage of experience and surprise, crushed Pansa's legions! Pansa himself was actually injured in the battle as well, and would actually die a few days later. Rumor has/had it that Octavian actually had Pansa's Greek doctor poison him, but who really knows for sure?
-However, Antony was then surprised by Hirtius' legions, who were able to quickly guess what Antony was up to. Antony's legions were crushed and ended up fleeing once it got dark.
-Octavian had stayed behind on orders to guard the camp, which Antony would later use to try and call out Octavian as a coward.
-Hirtius then attacked Antony's camp, this time with Octavian present! Octavian himself actually fought in this battle as well, although Hirtius ended up getting killed.
-Ultimately, Antony's forces ended up losing, and Antony fled yet again after lifting his siege on Mutina.
-Because both Pansa and Hirtius were now dead, Octavian had full control over all eight legions!
-Brutus then chased after Antony, who had fled into the Alps.
-Octavian refused to accompany Brutus, preferring to remain in Cisalpine Gaul.
-Soon, Antony arrived in Gaul and linked up with the 11 legions stationed there.
-Brutus tried to flee back to Cisalpine Gaul, but realized that Octavian was waiting for him there with his own legions and wasn't necessarily an ally anymore.
-Brutus was screwed, but actually ended up dying in an unexpected way- he was captured by a Gallic tribe looking to appease Marc Antony, and ended up presenting Brutus' head to Antony later!
-Back in Rome, Antony's defeat was celebrated by everyone, but it quickly became obvious that there was a serious problem- Octavian now controlled like 10 legions, AND he was legally Caesar's son and heir. Antony controlled the other 10. A storm was brewing...
-Meanwhile, in the East, Marcus Brutus (THE Brutus) and Cassius, a co-conspirator senator who had plenty of influence in the East, were raising legions themselves to defend the Republic from both Octavian AND Antony.
-Back in Rome, Octavian had sent centurions to the Senate demanding that he be named consul since both Pansa and Hirtius were dead.
-The Senate refused, so this time Otavian marched his army down from Cisalpine Gaul to Rome itself! Obviously intimidated, the Senate granted him consulship.
-Antony and Octavian obviously hated each other, but knew that fighting each other would just be suicide for both of them. So, they decided to form an uneasy alliance in order to fight off Brutus and Cassius' liberator army.
-Thus, the Second Triumvirate was born! Antony, Octavian, and the patrician Marcus Lepidus.
-Lepidus was arguably the third wheel in this triumvirate, but he was important because he acted as a buffer between Octavian and Antony if shit got too out of balance.
-The triumvirate knew that the first thing they needed to do was crush Brutus and Cassius. One major problem, however, was that they had no money.
-In order to raise an army on the cheap, they decided to enforce a proscription- basically, a death list that would cause those named to be enemies of the state and their properties forfeited to the government as a result.
-Obviously, those who were steadfast liberators of the Republic and allies of Brutus and Cassius, including senators, were to be named in the proscription.
-Although it was against Octavian's wishes, Cicero was on the list due to Antony's extreme insistence.
-Thus, Cicero was executed by triumvirate agents in December 43 BC.
-At this point, the Second Triumvirate was like a three-headed dictator, and this was actually ratified legally under the Senate to be allowed to exist for a period of five years!
-Antony also was said to have reviewed every decapitated head after an execution in order to make sure it was legit, even while he was eating dinner!
-One problem with the proscriptions, besides it being heinous and barbaric, was that the mass killing of the senators caused all the new property on the market to become seriously undervalued, and because of this the triumvirate didn't make as much money as they had planned. So, they added to the proscription list!
-They also resorted to straight-up thuggery by breaking into the treasury at the Temple of Vesta.
-They also instituted a tax on the Italian peninsula- this was previously considered unthinkable, as Italians had ALWAYS been exempt from taxes!
-Taxes were actually more unpopular with the public than the proscriptions!
-Finally, the triumvirate scraped together enough cash to raise an army and go to war against Cassius and Brutus. Lepidus was left behind to manage Rome, and Antony and Octavian marched off to war with 19 legions!
-They landed in Greece before the liberator navy could establish a blockade.
-They ended up positioning their forces west of the town of Phillipi (near modern-day Kavala, Greece).
-This was chosen as a good place to fortify and confront the triumvirate army due to the difficult terrain. Plus, to the north were rocky hills, and to the south were marshlands.
-Cassius' plan was to chill and hold position until the naval blockade could be set up, and then the triumvirate army would be trapped and surrounded.
-Antony led the legions to go check out the layout of the land while Octavian stayed back at camp, apparently sick again (or being a coward? Who knows?).
-While it was obvious that he liberators were expecting a direct assault, Antony noticed that the southern swamps actually weren't that bad! Perhaps it would be possible to lead the legions through the swamp to attack...
-Antony began to construct a causeway through the swamp...
-However, it only took a few days before Cassius' legions noticed something fishy going on in the swamps, and quickly began to prepare to surround Antony's initial penetrating force as they made their way through the swamp.
-Pressed for time, Antony quickly ordered a full assault through the swamp! Antony was lucky, as Cassius wasn't expecting a full-on attack so quickly.
-Meanwhile, Brutus realized that because the triumvirate army was preoccupied by the swamp batle, it would be a good time to mount a counterattack on the main triumvirate camp, occupied only by Octavian and reserve troops.
-Brutus was actually successful in his assault, and took over Cassius' position.
-Strange position for both armies now, as Brutus had defeated Octavian, but Antony had defeated Cassius.
-Cassius ended up dying (either by having a slave kill him or just by committing suicide himself; it's unclear), and when Brutus found out he was sad, as he had once stated that Cassius was "The last of the Romans". Brutus decided to regroup, refortify, and stick to the original plan, but the morale of his troops was quickly going down and his generals were pressuring him to launch another attack.
-October 23, 42 BC- Brutus launches an attack against his better judgement, and in a straight-up slugfest against the triumvirates his army fell.
-Although he still had four legions left, it was obvious that the battle was over...so Brutus committed suicide.
-The Battle of Phillipi marked the final end of the Roman Republic, as well as the pinnacle of Mark Antony's life.
-Pompey's son, Sextus Pompey, would continue fighting the Second Triumvirate from his base in Sicily, but this wasn't really considered a major threat. It was, however, pretty irritating, as he was constantly trying to create a naval blockade to block trade routes to Rome.
-Although Marc Antony honored the corpse of Brutus and gave proper respects, Octavian didn't give a FUCK and decapitated the body. He then ordered the head to be shipped off to Rome and to be thrown at the feet of a statue of Julius Caesar.
-Antony then remained in the East; he was planning on a massive invasion of the Parthian Empire!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Octavius - Octavian
-44 BC- Julius Caesar is dead!
-The conspirators believed that killing Caesar would restore the Republic to working order, but they were wrong.
-First mistake: they had no plan for what to do after this.
-Second mistake: they focused too much on Caesar, allowing for Marc Antony to escape the palace.
-Third mistake: they didn't anticipate how the common people would react- the working and middle class loved him!
-Once things quieted down, Marc Antony returned to the Senate and resumed his role as consul.
-Caesar's will was recovered, but to Antony's surprise Caesar had left him nothing! 75% of all of his wealth was left to his nephew, Gaius Octavius. Additionally, his will indicated that he was posthumously adopting Octavius as his sole heir!
-Caesar's troops now faced a tough choice- would they side with Marc Antony or Octavius?
-Octavius was the son of a man with the same name, a "novus homo" ("new man") and rising star.
-His mother, Atia, is portrayed as a scheming, Cersei Lannister-style hot/overbearing matriarch in the HBO tv drama "Rome".
-Octavius' father died, and his mother then married a politician named Lucius Marcius Philippus. However, his early years were spent mostly under the care of his grandmother, Julia.
-He was a fragile and sickly child.
-Best friend as a child was Marcus Agrippa, who would grow up to be a badass soldier, athlete, general, and key figure in Octavian consolidating power to become sole ruler of the empire.
-Octavius seemingly always wanted to go with Caesar and travel with the legions, but he kept on getting "sick", whether real or not, and developed a reputation as a weakling.
-He did finally make it to Hispania one time, but only after the battle had already been fought between Caesar and Pompey's sons.
-Got to spend a lot of time with Caesar during this trip (until Marc Antony kicked him out of the tent while they were in Gaul).
-Fun side-note: it was during this trip that Caesar decided to leave his inheritance to Octavius; if Octavius was dead or otherwise unable to receive the inheritance then it was to go to Brutus!
-Caesar had also planned for Octavius to go to Appalonia in Greece to learn oratory from the Greek masters and soldiering from the Macedonian legions. Then, Octavian would accompany Caesar on his invasion of Parthia and learn the art of war.
-When Caesar was assassinated, Octavius was in Greece.
-Octavius now faced a choice- stay in Greece and lay low, OR lead the five legions in Greece back to Rome and avenge his uncle.
-Instead, he decided to march back to Rome, but with a small army for protection.
-He stopped in Brundisium to visit the legions who had been stationed there in preparation for the invasion of Parthia.
-While he was there he found that the legions were still definitely on Caesar's side, having been whipped into a frenzy by Marc Antony's funeral oratory. Therefore, Octavian was hailed as a glorious new leader!
-Back in Rome, Octavian reminded everyone that Caesar had always put the people first, and showed them that he had planned on giving over most of his property to the Roman common folk (this was most likely a lie, of course). He also used Caesar's bloodstained toga to remind everyone of the brutal nature of the attack.
-Violent mobs then turned on the senators, raiding their homes, and ultimately forcing them to flee the city.
-Atia, Octavius' mom, begged Octavius not to accept the terms of Caesar's will. She feared that if he did this took on the role of Caesar's adopted son and heir, he, too, would be assassinated.
-Of course, Octavius rejected this advice, and took on the new name of "Gaius Julius Caesar" to reflect this, and his old named "Octavius" was changed to "Octavianus" to reflect that he had been adopted out of his biological family.
-So, before adoption, he's Octavius. After adoption, he's Octavian (why not Octavianus? Not sure). After he wins the civil war with Marc Antony, he takes the name "Augustus". However, hiis friends always called him Gaius, but he was also known as Julius Caesar, too. Very confusing!
-At this point, Marc Antony began working with the Senate to establish some sort of truce between the Caesar supporters and the anti-Caesar "liberators", but the masses who supported Caesar didn't want a truce, they wanted revenge!
-Octavian began to capitalize on this outrage by becoming a champion of the Caesar supporters, and quickly became a rival of Marc Antony.
-Marc Antony had a choice- either join with Octavian as a radical and seek revenge for Caesar's assassination, OR try to work out a deal and play nice with the Senate.
-Antony wisely decided to join Octavian's side, but the rivalry just continued as Antony resorted to backstabbing and making demeaning remarks to disrespect Octavian. He even denied Octavian's inheritance money and stalled his adoption proceedings in order to limit Octavian's power.
-Antony, with the support of the masses, forced the liberators into exile, and also appointed himself as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, even though this would cut short the governorship of the dude who was currently governor there already (Decimus Brutus).
-Decimus Brutus also had an army and wasn't likely to give up his governorship easily without a fight, but Antony knew that he could do this since Decimus Brutus was one of the liberators and Antony's army would gladly fight against Brutus' army.
-Antony then summoned five legions from Macedonia to Brundissium.
-Meanwhile, the liberators began to fight back against Antony and Octavian!
-Cicero used his amazing oratory skill to denounce Antony and have the Senate declare him an enemy of the state.
-Surprisingly, he didn't seem to attack Octavian really, seeing him as more reasonable (and perhaps smarter) than the violent, temperamental Antony.
-His orations were successful in turning popular opinion against Antony. However, this backfired on Cicero, as a few months later Antony used his power to have Cicero assassinated.
-A few months later in November 44 BC, Antony received word that two of those five Macedonian legions had switched their allegiance to Octavian instead of Antony. Octavian's time in Greece had allowed him to spend time and gain popularity with the Macedonian legions.
-Antony knew his time was running out. He quickly gathered up the three legions who remained loyal to him and headed to Cisalpine Gaul. He was also confident that all of the troops stationed outside of Italy in Western Europe would flock to his support since many of the military commanders were personal friends of his.
-The conspirators believed that killing Caesar would restore the Republic to working order, but they were wrong.
-First mistake: they had no plan for what to do after this.
-Second mistake: they focused too much on Caesar, allowing for Marc Antony to escape the palace.
-Third mistake: they didn't anticipate how the common people would react- the working and middle class loved him!
-Once things quieted down, Marc Antony returned to the Senate and resumed his role as consul.
-Caesar's will was recovered, but to Antony's surprise Caesar had left him nothing! 75% of all of his wealth was left to his nephew, Gaius Octavius. Additionally, his will indicated that he was posthumously adopting Octavius as his sole heir!
-Caesar's troops now faced a tough choice- would they side with Marc Antony or Octavius?
-Octavius was the son of a man with the same name, a "novus homo" ("new man") and rising star.
-His mother, Atia, is portrayed as a scheming, Cersei Lannister-style hot/overbearing matriarch in the HBO tv drama "Rome".
-Octavius' father died, and his mother then married a politician named Lucius Marcius Philippus. However, his early years were spent mostly under the care of his grandmother, Julia.
-He was a fragile and sickly child.
-Best friend as a child was Marcus Agrippa, who would grow up to be a badass soldier, athlete, general, and key figure in Octavian consolidating power to become sole ruler of the empire.
-Octavius seemingly always wanted to go with Caesar and travel with the legions, but he kept on getting "sick", whether real or not, and developed a reputation as a weakling.
-He did finally make it to Hispania one time, but only after the battle had already been fought between Caesar and Pompey's sons.
-Got to spend a lot of time with Caesar during this trip (until Marc Antony kicked him out of the tent while they were in Gaul).
-Fun side-note: it was during this trip that Caesar decided to leave his inheritance to Octavius; if Octavius was dead or otherwise unable to receive the inheritance then it was to go to Brutus!
-Caesar had also planned for Octavius to go to Appalonia in Greece to learn oratory from the Greek masters and soldiering from the Macedonian legions. Then, Octavian would accompany Caesar on his invasion of Parthia and learn the art of war.
-When Caesar was assassinated, Octavius was in Greece.
-Octavius now faced a choice- stay in Greece and lay low, OR lead the five legions in Greece back to Rome and avenge his uncle.
-Instead, he decided to march back to Rome, but with a small army for protection.
-He stopped in Brundisium to visit the legions who had been stationed there in preparation for the invasion of Parthia.
-While he was there he found that the legions were still definitely on Caesar's side, having been whipped into a frenzy by Marc Antony's funeral oratory. Therefore, Octavian was hailed as a glorious new leader!
-Back in Rome, Octavian reminded everyone that Caesar had always put the people first, and showed them that he had planned on giving over most of his property to the Roman common folk (this was most likely a lie, of course). He also used Caesar's bloodstained toga to remind everyone of the brutal nature of the attack.
-Violent mobs then turned on the senators, raiding their homes, and ultimately forcing them to flee the city.
-Atia, Octavius' mom, begged Octavius not to accept the terms of Caesar's will. She feared that if he did this took on the role of Caesar's adopted son and heir, he, too, would be assassinated.
-Of course, Octavius rejected this advice, and took on the new name of "Gaius Julius Caesar" to reflect this, and his old named "Octavius" was changed to "Octavianus" to reflect that he had been adopted out of his biological family.
-So, before adoption, he's Octavius. After adoption, he's Octavian (why not Octavianus? Not sure). After he wins the civil war with Marc Antony, he takes the name "Augustus". However, hiis friends always called him Gaius, but he was also known as Julius Caesar, too. Very confusing!
-At this point, Marc Antony began working with the Senate to establish some sort of truce between the Caesar supporters and the anti-Caesar "liberators", but the masses who supported Caesar didn't want a truce, they wanted revenge!
-Octavian began to capitalize on this outrage by becoming a champion of the Caesar supporters, and quickly became a rival of Marc Antony.
-Marc Antony had a choice- either join with Octavian as a radical and seek revenge for Caesar's assassination, OR try to work out a deal and play nice with the Senate.
-Antony wisely decided to join Octavian's side, but the rivalry just continued as Antony resorted to backstabbing and making demeaning remarks to disrespect Octavian. He even denied Octavian's inheritance money and stalled his adoption proceedings in order to limit Octavian's power.
-Antony, with the support of the masses, forced the liberators into exile, and also appointed himself as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, even though this would cut short the governorship of the dude who was currently governor there already (Decimus Brutus).
-Decimus Brutus also had an army and wasn't likely to give up his governorship easily without a fight, but Antony knew that he could do this since Decimus Brutus was one of the liberators and Antony's army would gladly fight against Brutus' army.
-Antony then summoned five legions from Macedonia to Brundissium.
-Meanwhile, the liberators began to fight back against Antony and Octavian!
-Cicero used his amazing oratory skill to denounce Antony and have the Senate declare him an enemy of the state.
-Surprisingly, he didn't seem to attack Octavian really, seeing him as more reasonable (and perhaps smarter) than the violent, temperamental Antony.
-His orations were successful in turning popular opinion against Antony. However, this backfired on Cicero, as a few months later Antony used his power to have Cicero assassinated.
-A few months later in November 44 BC, Antony received word that two of those five Macedonian legions had switched their allegiance to Octavian instead of Antony. Octavian's time in Greece had allowed him to spend time and gain popularity with the Macedonian legions.
-Antony knew his time was running out. He quickly gathered up the three legions who remained loyal to him and headed to Cisalpine Gaul. He was also confident that all of the troops stationed outside of Italy in Western Europe would flock to his support since many of the military commanders were personal friends of his.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Sic Semper Tyrannis
-Caesar was now in Rome!
-Cleopatra came to visit him and brought with him their son, Cesarian.
-This pissed off Cicero, but public opinion was positive towards Cleopatra.
-During this time, Pompey's sons began raising armies in Hispania to revolt against Caesar.
-Thus far it was 13 legions strong!
-Autumn 46 BC- Caesar raised two veteran legions and marched to Hispania, amassing recruits along the way. Caesar ultimately was able to gather about 40,000 in total (against Pompey's 70,000!).
-Both armies clashed at the Battle of Munda (most likely outside of modern-day Écija, Spain) in March 45 BC.
-Furious battle, but Caesar won in the end.
-Caesar then worked hard to pacify the region before returning back to Rome.
-Now that it was clear that Caesar wouldn't be defeated in battle, the Roman elite began to seriously plot Caesar's assassination.
-Although Marc Antony refused to be involved in the conspiracy, Caesar's old friend Brutus did not.
-They were also worried about Caesar's rapid drift towards autocratic rule- at this point, Caesar hadn't even bothered with appointing a co-consul!
-Caesar's public relations were declining as well.
-The triumph that was held upon his return portrayed his enemies (Pompey, Cato, etc.) as public enemies- these had been Roman senators! Sure, the Republic was corrupt and fucked up, but it still just seemed wrong in terms of how it was perceived by the average citizen.
-Cicero and Caesar also got into some drama because Cicero published a piece reflecting on the life of Cato, and this pissed off Caesar.
-Caesar even wrote a response piece defaming Cato's name, but the public fixated more on Caesar's lulzy antics rather than the actual piece.
-To make matters worse, Caesar installed a golden throne upon which he could sit and preside over the Senate, and also ordered a statue of himself to be carried along with the procession of the gods on holy days in Rome.
-He also took to wearing purple robes (supposedly meant to symbolize victory), but it actually resembled the traditional garb of Roman royalty.
-Caesar then stepped down as consul and bypassed the Senate so that there were no new consuls appointed to replace him. He then appointed himself dictator for 10 years, but in 44 BC he named himself dictator for life!
-He then tried to appoint himself king in order to try and tie it in with a prophecy about only a Roman king being able to conquer the Parthians, but obviously no one was into this.
-The Romans would accept an autocrat, but they would never accept a monarch!
-Caesar then began to mobilize troops to invade Parthia.
-He planned for the invasion to take place in April 44 BC.
-Claimed it was vengeance for the death of Crassus (haha).
-Wanted to invade via Armenia, then sweep through the northern steppes and conquer the barbarian hordes there before following the Danube River back into Europe and conquering Germania! Damn!!
-Of course, this would never happen. The number of anti-Caesar conspirators had swelled to about 60 (made up of people who feared him, old friends who felt marginalized, those who were just simply jealous, etc.).
-March 15, 44 BC- Caesar was lured into the Senate House, and then the conspirators surrounded him and stabbed him to death (23 times!).
-Contrary to what most people think, he most likely did NOT say "et tu Brute?".
-The conspirators then paraded through the streets, announcing that Rome had been liberated and Caesar was dead! However, they were actually met with stunned silence, not cheers like they had expected.
-The Roman common folk then went inside and locked their doors, knowing that a violent shitstorm was on the horizon!
-Cleopatra came to visit him and brought with him their son, Cesarian.
-This pissed off Cicero, but public opinion was positive towards Cleopatra.
-During this time, Pompey's sons began raising armies in Hispania to revolt against Caesar.
-Thus far it was 13 legions strong!
-Autumn 46 BC- Caesar raised two veteran legions and marched to Hispania, amassing recruits along the way. Caesar ultimately was able to gather about 40,000 in total (against Pompey's 70,000!).
-Both armies clashed at the Battle of Munda (most likely outside of modern-day Écija, Spain) in March 45 BC.
-Furious battle, but Caesar won in the end.
-Caesar then worked hard to pacify the region before returning back to Rome.
-Now that it was clear that Caesar wouldn't be defeated in battle, the Roman elite began to seriously plot Caesar's assassination.
-Although Marc Antony refused to be involved in the conspiracy, Caesar's old friend Brutus did not.
-They were also worried about Caesar's rapid drift towards autocratic rule- at this point, Caesar hadn't even bothered with appointing a co-consul!
-Caesar's public relations were declining as well.
-The triumph that was held upon his return portrayed his enemies (Pompey, Cato, etc.) as public enemies- these had been Roman senators! Sure, the Republic was corrupt and fucked up, but it still just seemed wrong in terms of how it was perceived by the average citizen.
-Cicero and Caesar also got into some drama because Cicero published a piece reflecting on the life of Cato, and this pissed off Caesar.
-Caesar even wrote a response piece defaming Cato's name, but the public fixated more on Caesar's lulzy antics rather than the actual piece.
-To make matters worse, Caesar installed a golden throne upon which he could sit and preside over the Senate, and also ordered a statue of himself to be carried along with the procession of the gods on holy days in Rome.
-He also took to wearing purple robes (supposedly meant to symbolize victory), but it actually resembled the traditional garb of Roman royalty.
-Caesar then stepped down as consul and bypassed the Senate so that there were no new consuls appointed to replace him. He then appointed himself dictator for 10 years, but in 44 BC he named himself dictator for life!
-He then tried to appoint himself king in order to try and tie it in with a prophecy about only a Roman king being able to conquer the Parthians, but obviously no one was into this.
-The Romans would accept an autocrat, but they would never accept a monarch!
-Caesar then began to mobilize troops to invade Parthia.
-He planned for the invasion to take place in April 44 BC.
-Claimed it was vengeance for the death of Crassus (haha).
-Wanted to invade via Armenia, then sweep through the northern steppes and conquer the barbarian hordes there before following the Danube River back into Europe and conquering Germania! Damn!!
-Of course, this would never happen. The number of anti-Caesar conspirators had swelled to about 60 (made up of people who feared him, old friends who felt marginalized, those who were just simply jealous, etc.).
-March 15, 44 BC- Caesar was lured into the Senate House, and then the conspirators surrounded him and stabbed him to death (23 times!).
-Contrary to what most people think, he most likely did NOT say "et tu Brute?".
-The conspirators then paraded through the streets, announcing that Rome had been liberated and Caesar was dead! However, they were actually met with stunned silence, not cheers like they had expected.
-The Roman common folk then went inside and locked their doors, knowing that a violent shitstorm was on the horizon!
Sunday, November 19, 2017
The End of the War
-Caesar set up Egypt (Aegyptus) as a client state in 47 BC with Cleopatra as the ruler.
-Meanwhile, in Numidia the Roman senate had escaped there to raise an army.
-Caesar knew he had to act quickly to solidify his grasp on the empire, so he marched back up the Mediterranean Sea to go through Asia Minor to Greece and then Rome.
-Meanwhile, Pharnaces II (son of Mithridates VI (and his sister Queen Laodice (gross!)) started a revolt in Pontus against the Romans- he also castrated any Roman citizens which pissed off Caesar more.
-Caesar marched on Pontus and a battle was fought at Zela (modern-day Zile, Turkey); this is where the phrase "Veni; vidi; vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") comes from (Caesar used this phrase when he was describing how easily he defeated the forces of Pontus according to Plutarch and Suetonius).
-Caesar then went through Greece after putting down the revolt in Pontus and then landed in Brundusium (modern-day Brindisi, Italy), where he was met by Cicero.
-Caesar then traveled to Rome, where Marc Antony had been ruling as dictator (he was the "Master of Horse" and therefore second-in-command).
-Antony had gone on a rampage of murder and excess in Caesar's absence, acting like a true tyrant!
-Caesar quickly removed him from power.
-Caesar then stepped down as dictator and elected himself consul, with Marcus Lepidus as co-consul.
-However, when Caesar planned to invade Numidia to crush the Numidian army, his troops revolted! They weren't properly getting paid due to Caesar's chronic lack of funds.
-Fortunately for Caesar, he was able to talk them all out of the revolt and got them to agree to invade Numidia!
-Unfortunately for Caesar, he was greatly outnumbered. Numidia had raised between 10-14 legions!
-Caesar only had ONE legion! He was also met with bad luck after landing in North Africa, as reinforcements kept on getting blown off course at sea and/or getting captured by Numidian forces.
-Caesar and the much larger Numidian army finally clashed at Thapsus (near modern-day Bekalta, Tunisia) in 46 BC.
-Amazingly, Caesar won through a combination of terrain advantage and sheer ferocity- the Numidian army was crushed!!
-Cato, who was leading the Roman Senate from Utica (modern-day Tunis), learned of Caesar's victory and committed suicide!
-Caesar then landed back in Rome.
-Celebrated with FOUR triumphs!
-Caesar then set up a census to make sure that the grain allotment system wasn't being abused.
-Ended up exposing the flaws and corrected them, saving a bunch of money.
-Because of this census, we know that during this time, Rome had a population of about 900,000 people.
-Caesar then realized that the city's economic system was really fucked up, so Caesar offered Roman citizenship to any foreign professionals who would come live in Rome. Then he set up a system that offered free land to citizens who wanted to move out of Rome and into vacant Roman territory.
-80,000 poor people agreed to this and moved out of Rome and into the countryside, while professionals and doctors from across the empire moved to Rome. Genius!
-Finally released his soldiers from service and granted them land throughout the empire. He then offered citizens to everyone within the empire itself.
-Caesar knew that the Roman empire had to be multi-ethnic- it couldn't survive as an empire that was dominated by Roman citizens only!
-During this time Caesar also expanded the Senate to approximately 1000 seats; he also appointed his political allies from all over the empire.
-Caesar then set up a program to repair the crumbling and neglected city, drain the swamps, and even changed the Roman calendar from lunar to solar.
-Used a Greek astronomer to come up with the system of a year which included 365 days.
-The month of July was named after Caesar!
-The Julian calendar would be used in the West until the 1500s, when Pope Gregory would alter the Julian calendar slightly (the Gregorian calendar, which we use today!).
-Caesar claimed after all of this that he was trying to restore and update Rome to a new and improved republic, but the nobility was very suspicious! They believed that Caesar now saw himself as a king and god of Rome.
-Some even began to whisper that Caesar must be killed!
-Meanwhile, in Numidia the Roman senate had escaped there to raise an army.
-Caesar knew he had to act quickly to solidify his grasp on the empire, so he marched back up the Mediterranean Sea to go through Asia Minor to Greece and then Rome.
-Meanwhile, Pharnaces II (son of Mithridates VI (and his sister Queen Laodice (gross!)) started a revolt in Pontus against the Romans- he also castrated any Roman citizens which pissed off Caesar more.
-Caesar marched on Pontus and a battle was fought at Zela (modern-day Zile, Turkey); this is where the phrase "Veni; vidi; vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered") comes from (Caesar used this phrase when he was describing how easily he defeated the forces of Pontus according to Plutarch and Suetonius).
-Caesar then went through Greece after putting down the revolt in Pontus and then landed in Brundusium (modern-day Brindisi, Italy), where he was met by Cicero.
-Caesar then traveled to Rome, where Marc Antony had been ruling as dictator (he was the "Master of Horse" and therefore second-in-command).
-Antony had gone on a rampage of murder and excess in Caesar's absence, acting like a true tyrant!
-Caesar quickly removed him from power.
-Caesar then stepped down as dictator and elected himself consul, with Marcus Lepidus as co-consul.
-However, when Caesar planned to invade Numidia to crush the Numidian army, his troops revolted! They weren't properly getting paid due to Caesar's chronic lack of funds.
-Fortunately for Caesar, he was able to talk them all out of the revolt and got them to agree to invade Numidia!
-Unfortunately for Caesar, he was greatly outnumbered. Numidia had raised between 10-14 legions!
-Caesar only had ONE legion! He was also met with bad luck after landing in North Africa, as reinforcements kept on getting blown off course at sea and/or getting captured by Numidian forces.
-Caesar and the much larger Numidian army finally clashed at Thapsus (near modern-day Bekalta, Tunisia) in 46 BC.
-Amazingly, Caesar won through a combination of terrain advantage and sheer ferocity- the Numidian army was crushed!!
-Cato, who was leading the Roman Senate from Utica (modern-day Tunis), learned of Caesar's victory and committed suicide!
-Caesar then landed back in Rome.
-Celebrated with FOUR triumphs!
-Caesar then set up a census to make sure that the grain allotment system wasn't being abused.
-Ended up exposing the flaws and corrected them, saving a bunch of money.
-Because of this census, we know that during this time, Rome had a population of about 900,000 people.
-Caesar then realized that the city's economic system was really fucked up, so Caesar offered Roman citizenship to any foreign professionals who would come live in Rome. Then he set up a system that offered free land to citizens who wanted to move out of Rome and into vacant Roman territory.
-80,000 poor people agreed to this and moved out of Rome and into the countryside, while professionals and doctors from across the empire moved to Rome. Genius!
-Finally released his soldiers from service and granted them land throughout the empire. He then offered citizens to everyone within the empire itself.
-Caesar knew that the Roman empire had to be multi-ethnic- it couldn't survive as an empire that was dominated by Roman citizens only!
-During this time Caesar also expanded the Senate to approximately 1000 seats; he also appointed his political allies from all over the empire.
-Caesar then set up a program to repair the crumbling and neglected city, drain the swamps, and even changed the Roman calendar from lunar to solar.
-Used a Greek astronomer to come up with the system of a year which included 365 days.
-The month of July was named after Caesar!
-The Julian calendar would be used in the West until the 1500s, when Pope Gregory would alter the Julian calendar slightly (the Gregorian calendar, which we use today!).
-Caesar claimed after all of this that he was trying to restore and update Rome to a new and improved republic, but the nobility was very suspicious! They believed that Caesar now saw himself as a king and god of Rome.
-Some even began to whisper that Caesar must be killed!
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