Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

Octavian's coup d'état

Everybody knew that Caesar's ego would never allow him to play second fiddle to another senator, and it was equally well-known that another famous military leader, Pompey the Great, had similar ambitions. In January 49, more or less at moment when Agrippa and Octavius accepted the toga virilis and were recognized as grown-up men, civil war broke out, which culminated in the battle of Pharsalus (9 August 48) and the defeat of Pompey. From now on, Caesar was to rule the Roman world. Agrippa and Octavius must have witnessed his four-day triumph (more...), and Agrippa knew the dictator well enough to be able to convince him that he ought to pardon Agrippa's elder brother Lucius Vipsanius, who had fought against Caesar.

The Parthian expedition was canceled and the two friends returned to Italy. (In their company was another friend, Gaius Maecenas, who was to become a famous patron of letters.) They had already learned that in his will, Caesar had left his fortune and name to Octavius, which gave him considerable political influence: he could from now on call himself Gaius Julius Caesar. Historians usually call him Octavianus or Octavian, but this is just a convention: the man himself of course used the magical name of the great general. The legionaries who had fought in Gaul and the civil war, immediately started to offer their services to Octavian.

In April 44, Octavian arrived in Rome and demanded his share of the inheritance - but the money was no longer there. The young Caesar immediately asked support from conservative senators, who believed that they could use the inexperienced adolescent to remove Marc Antony and gain more powers for the Senate. At the same time, Octavian demanded that the assassins of Caesar would be punished. The young man's popularity forced Marc Antony to remove one of the assassins, Decimus Junius Brutus, from his governorship in Gallia Cisalpina.

When Decimus Brutus wanted to thank Octavian, he received as reply that he had wanted to defeat Antony, not help the murderers of Caesar. Now, Decimus understood that he had to flee as well, and Octavian marched on Rome with the legions he rightfully commanded, demanding the consulship for the year that had just started, 43. The Senate, which had once believed it could use the man, had no means to prevent this coup d'état. In the same year, Agrippa started a less spectacular political career: he obtained the tribuneship.
 

From Philippi to Actium

It is only now that Agrippa's career really started. With Octavian, he returned to Italy, leaving Marc Antony to reorganize the east. Octavian, who commanded loyal legions, more or less ordered Lepidus to go to Africa, which was in fact the end of the latter's career. It became clear that the next round of civil wars was to be fought between Antony and Octavian. In 41, Marc Antony's brother Lucius seized the initiative, and a small war broke out in Italy when Octavian asked for reinforcements from Gaul and Lucius Antonius tried to block them. Agrippa -probably acting as legatus, deputy, of Octavian- reopened the way to Gaul by seizing Sutrium. After this, Antonius withdrew to Perugia, where Octavian started to besiege him.

From the spring of 39 to the autumn of 38, Agrippa was governor of Gaul, where he laid the foundations of Roman rule north of the Alps. Until then, the province had been left to its own: it had been conquered by Julius Caesar, but the civil wars had prevented decent administration. This was now to change. First, Agrippa crossed the river Rhine and fought on behalf of the Ubians a war against the Suebians, a Germanic tribe that was notoriously aggressive. After the campaign, Agrippa resettled the Ubians on the west bank of the Rhine, and founded Ara Ubiorum, a city that was to become better known as Cologne. At the same time, a part of the tribe of the Chatti migrated to the Lower Rhine and Waal, where it mixed with the natives and accepted their name: Batavians, "people of the fertile wetlands". Their capital was Batavodurum, modern Nijmegen.

Agrippa also built several roads: one from the Gallic capital Lugdunum (Lyon) to Aquitania in the west (where a rebellion was suppressed in 38), one to the Upper Rhine in the northeast, and one to Langres (the capital of the Lingones) in the north, where it divided into two branches: to the northwest, to Reims and the Channel, and to the north, to Trier and Cologne. The presence of Italian wine amphora in towns along the new roads proves that merchants followed in the footsteps of the soldiers.

In 37, Agrippa was consul - a sign of the times. He was not from a senatorial family, had never been quaestor, had never been a real praetor, and was about twenty-six years old, whereas a consul officially had to be at least forty-three. But Agrippa was a military man and a close friend of Octavian, and that explained everything. (Agrippa's colleague was Lucius Caninius Gallus.)

Agrippa was now asked for help. With Gaius Maecenas he concluded a treaty with Marc Antony, who would offer a fleet and would in return receive an army for a campaign against the Parthians. Agrippa also built a new port near Puteoli (west of Naples), and used the Avernian Lake behind this town to train marines. In this same year, Agrippa married to Caecilia Attica (a daughter of the Atticus to whom Cicero addressed many letters). Attica was to be mother of Agrippina, who later married to the future emperor Tiberius.

From now on, only Marc Antony -who experienced military problems in the east- and Octavian remained as rulers in the Mediterranean. It was obvious that they would one day go to war. In 35-34, Octavian crossed the Adriatic to pacify Illyricum, an operation that ensured that the Illyrians would not support Marc Antony. Other motives was that troops could be trained, that an overland route to Epirus, Macedonia, and Greece would be created, and that Octavian could gain some military prestige. Although this Dalmatian War was not without danger, and Agrippa had to rescue Octavian on one occasion (more...), in the end, the operation was successful.

The spoils of the Dalmatian war, the return of normalcy on the seas surrounding Sicily, and the restored food supply of Rome were celebrated in 33, when Octavian was consul for the second time and Agrippa was aedile. In this capacity, Agrippa expelled all astrologers from Rome and was responsible for a large project of urban renewal. Three new aqueducts were built (the Aqua Julia, Aqua Marcia, and Aqua Virgo), sewers were restored, a Bathhouse constructed, streets paved, and festivities celebrated. He also founded a corps of 250 slaves who were to maintain the sewers and aqueducts.

Agrippa's project was clearly important to Octavian, because it was actually a strange request he had made to Agrippa. He was a former consul, and in a normal career (cursus honorum), former consuls never became aediles. It shows that Octavian simply wanted to have things done, needed a capable man -an interim manager, we would say- and was not willing to have things done as they traditionally ought to be done.

Cleopatra and Antony decided to strike first and occupied Greece. From here they wanted to cross to Italy, but their advance was halted when the fleet of Octavian sailed to the east and landed in pacified Illyricum. He continued his march to the south and established a bridgehead in southern Epirus. At the same time, Agrippa sailed to southern Greece and cut off Antony's lines of communciation. Having done this, he sailed to the north, established other important bases (a/o at Patras) and in the end, all Antony's troops were isolated at Actium, where hunger started to wear out his men. This forced him to fight and break through to blockade.