Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (13 page)

The two triumvirs offered a great sacrifice for their victory and quickly manoeuvred to marginalize their absent third partner.
²²¹
Lepidus, suspected of having surreptitious links with Sex. Pompeius, was stripped of his army and provinces – he would only regain them if the accusations were proved to be false. Antonius and Caesar renegotiated the split of territories. Antonius acquired all the Gallic provinces, while Caesar assumed responsibility for the Hispanic provinces, Numidia, Sardinia and Sicily.
²²²
Gallia Cisalpina joined Italy as a neutral or ‘common’ territory under the nominal control of Caesar. Antonius headed for Asia, while Caesar returned to the homeland, accompanied by Agrippa.
²²³

With the civil war over, the military overhead had become a heavy financial and managerial burden. The triumvirs agreed to reduce the forty-three legions to thirty-two: seventeen were assigned to Antonius and fifteen to Caesar.
²²⁴
The demobbed troops, however, who had loyally served the Caesarians expected to receive their rewards for services rendered. It fell to Caesar’s to resettle the men of the eleven legions plus the qualifying veterans of the remaining units. Fully recovered from the setback at Scylae, Salvidienus was dispatched with six legions to the Iberian Peninsula to retake the Hispanic provinces from Sex. Pompeius.
²²⁵
Before he left the region, Caesar established a new city for retired veterans of the legions and men of his Praetorian Cohorts close to the battle site and named it
Colonia Iulia Victrix Philippi
.
²²⁶

Riding at the head of three legions, Caesar returned to Rome (
adventus
)in January 41 BCE.
²²⁷
The crossing from Greece had left him debilitated, causing many to think he was dying.
²²⁸
The Senate decreed that celebrations of thanksgiving should be held to mark the return of civil peace, and Caesar was asked to lead them.
²²⁹
He erected statues at the Temple of Concord and led the state in sacrifices and prayers. The thorny issue of finding land on which to resettle the thousands of retiring legionaries still remained to be solved. It would be a reckoning for those who had supported the wrong side. The towns in Italy known for their hostility to the triumvirs were now called to account for their choice and all their territories, slaves and farm equipment were confiscated.
²³⁰
The displaced landowners, now a new class of poor, had little choice but to turn to friends and family for help, or to migrate to Rome hoping to be accepted on the list for
the free distribution of grain.
²³¹
Caesar was not unsympathetic to their plight, but having no money to purchase the land, and faced with angry troops – who even challenged him on a visit to the theatre where he barely managed to escape with his life – his options were limited.
²³²

In Antonius’ absence from Rome, his interests were being represented by his brother Lucius (who had been elected consul for that year) and his wife Fulvia.
²³³
Married to Antonius in 47 or 46, they had two sons together, M. Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius, and were a formidable political force. They schemed to remove Caesar from the scene in the hope of seeing their blood relative rule Rome uncontested.
²³⁴
Accusing Fulvia of meddling in politics and seeking power for herself, Caesar divorced Clodia, telling her mother – who he could not abide for her bad temper – that he returned her a virgin.
²³⁵
Fulvia meanwhile toured Italy to stir up trouble for Caesar by reminding the veterans of the role her brother Marcus had played in securing their futures, pointedly reminding them that Caesar had been ill most of the time, and tried to have the land allocations delayed until he returned from the East to ensure his men received what was due them, whereafter both men should share the credit.
²³⁶
Fulvia’s patience exhausted, she publicly stated her allegiance to her brother and effectively stood in opposition to Caesar.
²³⁷
She was intent on war and, with remarkable alacrity, Fulvia raised new legions in Italy and for a while some even occupied Rome itself. L. Antonius rallied his troops at Praeneste (Palestrina), which he made his base of operations.
²³⁸
Lucius requested reinforcements from the legions loyal to his brother in Gaul under the command of Q. Fufius Calenus, P. Ventidius Bassus and C. Assinius Pollio. Still in the East, M. Antonius was entirely unaware of the brewing conflict.

Caesar had four legions in Italy, but he urgently recalled Salvidienus and the six legions he had with him in the Hispanic Provinces and, obeying orders, crossed the Alps unhindered.
²³⁹
Meanwhile, food supplies in the capital were dwindling owing to Sex. Pompeius’ successful blockade of Sicily, and what grain there was was being consumed by the soldiery.
²⁴⁰
Caesar struck back and despatched cavalry to Bruttium where Sextus was known to be raiding.
²⁴¹
Lucius accused Caesar of provoking a war between Antonius and his children, and Caesar retorted back that it was Lucius who was intent on war and on breaking up the triumvirate, not he. Finally the troops who had served under Iulius Caesar and Antonius sent representatives to intercede and broker a settlement between the parties, but negotiations broke down because they distrusted each other.
²⁴²
War was now inevitable. Caesar had his four legions at Capua supplemented with six brought by Salvidienus, plus several Praetorian Cohorts; Lucius had the six accorded him as consul.
²⁴³
The soil of Italy would soon be turned red with the blood of her own sons. Meanwhile the coasts were already under attack. Ahenobarbus was patrolling the Adriatic with seventy ships, two legions, units of archers and slingers, light-armed troops and gladiators, and using them to devastate the regions subject to the triumvirs. He attacked Brundisium, blockaded the
inhabitants behind their walls, ravaged the surrounding territory, captured some of Caesar’s triremes and burned others.
²⁴⁴
Caesar deployed one of Salvidienus’ legions to relieve Brundisium.
²⁴⁵
Both sides ran recruitment drives throughout Italy. The communities under threat from colonization saw Lucius as a champion of their cause and rallied to him, the settled veterans turned to Caesar.

Leaving Lepidus in Rome with two legions, Caesar departed to lead his campaign in person, likely with Agrippa at his side.
²⁴⁶
The war began when a mutiny broke out among two of Lucius’ legions at Alba Longa. Caesar arrived at the city and laid siege to it.
²⁴⁷
Learning that C. Furnius was bringing reinforcements for Lucius’ army, Caesar attacked his rear. Furnius retreated to Sentinum (a place near modern Sassoferrato in Umbria) on the
Via Flaminia
.
²⁴⁸
It turned out to be a futile exercise. News arrived of a setback in Rome. Three cohorts had since taken the city under cover of darkness.
²⁴⁹
Lepidus had proved unable to mount any form of resistance and had fled to Caesar.
²⁵⁰
From his base at Praeneste, L. Antonius had entered with his main army, cavalry and gladiators. Lucius had even been welcomed by the inhabitants. He spoke to the citizens dressed in his military regalia and proclaimed Caesar and Lepidus were enemies. He proclaimed his brother Marcus would voluntarily resign, end the triumvirate and restore the old
Res Publica
. Believing Rome to be on his side Lucius sped north to join Ventidius and Pollio; he had moved on Salvidienus who had taken up the siege at Sentium in Caesar’s absence.
²⁵¹
He breached the gates, plundered the city and torched it. Neighbouring Nurcia surrendered without a fight.
²⁵²

Perhaps recognizing his own increasingly evident failings as a military man, Caesar now turned to his friend Agrippa, whose role is better documented from this point on. He gave Agrippa charge of his legions and tasked him with taking Sutrium (Sutri).
²⁵³
Likely promoted to the position of
legatus
, Agrippa marched the 66km (41 miles) northwards from Rome to the town in Etruria (
map 2
). Its location on the
Via Cassia
was strategically important to Lucius as it was one of two main roads on the western side of Italy by which he could reach Pollio and Ventidius in Gallia Narbonensis.
²⁵⁴
Agrippa believed that once Sentium had fallen Lucius would turn his attention to Sutrium.
²⁵⁵
He entered and quickly secured the city, whose ancient stone walls clung to a narrow hill of volcanic tufa, and were surrounded by ravines. A slender neck on the western side alone connected it with the surrounding country. The plan was a simple one: Agrippa would draw Lucius’ forces to him while Salvidienus would arrive by way of the
Via Flaminia
to entrap him. ‘It all turned out as Agrippa had anticipated,’ writes Appian.
²⁵⁶
When Lucius received information that Agrippa was at Sutrium he took the bait, turned around and headed back with celerity to the hilltop town. However, he found his way north was blocked by the arrival of Salvidienus’ troops. Appian says that Salvidienus was himself being trailed by Pollio and Ventidius and Lucius was trying to move north to join up with them.
²⁵⁷
He could not go forward and Agrippa’s men could strike at his rear. It was clear Lucius could not get through and he needed a way out. ‘Salvidienus and Agrippa harassed him on both sides,’ writes Appian, ‘watching especially for an opportunity to catch him in the defiles’.
²⁵⁸
However, the same ravines around the town
provided him with an escape route and, once free of Sutrium, he headed with his army to Perusia (Perugia) some 150km (93 miles) to the north.
²⁵⁹
Agrippa must have been bitterly disappointed to have failed to capture or kill Lucius on his first major command; but he would soon have a second chance.

Autumn was turning to winter, says Appian, when L. Antonius was forced to hunker down in Perusia.
²⁶⁰
This city was to give its name to the entire war –
Bellum Perusinum
, the Perusine War.
²⁶²
Agrippa and Salvidienus followed him there and they were soon joined by Caesar.
²⁶¹
Like Sutrium, Perusia was a hilltop town with formidable stone walls of massive travertine blocks erected between the sixth and third centuries BCE by Rome’s old enemies, the Etruscans.
²⁶³
Its single arched gateways and thick wooden doors were locked firmly shut to keep out the invaders. The only way to take the place was to lay siege to it and starve the occupants into submission. All they needed was time, but Caesar and his generals were impatient for a resolution. Rather than watching their troops stand around in the cold and damp they ordered them to take out their entrenching tools and saws and set to work. A circumvallation of circuit wall with parapet and ditch measuring 56
stades
(10,080m or 33,600ft) in circumference was constructed with extensions reaching into the Tiber River to prevent the defenders from escaping, and relief troops and supplies from getting in.
²⁶⁴
With time on his side, Caesar would wait for Lucius, now trapped inside, to surrender. When not digging, sawing or hammering, the troops on both sides melted lead into sling shot (
glandes
). Crudely made ‘bullets’ have been discovered around Perugia bearing the names of Caesar and Salvidienus.
²⁶⁵
The absence of bullets with Agrippa’s name implies he was the junior partner to Salvidienus. However, the Perusine War would provide an opportunity for Agrippa to show his mettle. Word was received that Pollio and Ventidius planned, or were already on their way, to relieve Lucius. Leaving Salvidienus in charge of the siege, Caesar and Agrippa roused their men and sped off across the Apennines to intercept Lucius’ allies before they could reach Perusia. It is in the Perusine War that Agrippa emerges for the first time as a competent commander of forces on land.

Plancus discovered and routed one of Caesar’s legions as it was marching to Rome. Pollio and Ventidius had mobilized their armies in late 41 BCE at the insistence of Fulvia, and were to be joined by Plancus.
²⁶⁶
Caesar’s scouts spotted them as they approached. Perusia and he and Agrippa moved to block their progress. The appearance of Caesar’s deputies surprised the commanders from Gaul who avoided a head-on clash by veering off to neighbouring cities – Plancus to Spoletium (Spoleto), Pollio to Ravenna, Ventidius to Ariminium. Caesar placed detachments in front of each city to prevent them escaping and returned to Perusia. Once there, he ordered the ditch deepened and widened to 30ft in either dimension, raised the height of the parapet and erected 1,500 watchtowers along it, spaced 60ft apart. Tactically sited redoubts and emplacements provided protection for his men from which to launch attacks with artillery.
²⁶⁷
As they expanded the fortifications many died in fierce hand-to-hand fighting with Lucius’ gladiators who made sorties from the besieged city. When completed Caesar could wait and let the gnawing feeling of hunger take effect.
²⁶⁸

On 31 January Lucius tried to break out of the city with a unit of troops. Caesar was waiting for him. His soldiers, who included men of the Praetorian Cohorts, forcibly drove Lucius back.
²⁶⁹
His allies now decided to assemble at Perusia to overwhelm Caesar’s siege. His deputies learned of their approach and stationed greater numbers of troops on the road to keep the enemy away.
²⁷⁰
They successfully diverted them to Fulginiae or Fulginium (Foligno), a town 37km (22 miles) down the
Via Flaminia
and northwest of Perusia.