Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (3 page)

I have quoted extracts from several ancient authors’ works whose voices lend authenticity to the narrative. For the translations, I used: Appian of Alexandria’s
Ῥωμαϊκά
, translated by Horace White in
Appian’s Roman History
(London: MacMillan and Co., 1899); Augustus’
Res Gestae
, translated by Thomas Bushnell,
BSG, and reproduced with permission (1998); Julius Caesar’s
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
, translated by Edward Brooks in
The First Six Books of the Gallic War
(Chicago: The Cenn Publishing Company, 1896); Cornelius Nepos’
Vitae
, ‘Life of T. Pomponius Atticus’, in
Lives of Eminent Commanders
, translated by the Rev. John Selby Watson, MA (London: George Bell and Sons, 1886) pp. 305–450; Cassius Dio’s
Ῥωμαϊκὴ Iστορία
(
Romaiki Istoria
), translated by Herbert Balwin Foster in
Dio’s Roman History
, Volume 4 (New York: Pafraets Book Company, 1905), and E. Cary, based on the version by H.B. Foster, in
Dio’s Roman History
(London: William Heinemann, 1917); Cicero’s
Epistulae
, translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh in
The Letters of Cicero: The Whole Extant Correspondence in Chronological Order
(London: George Bell and Sons, 1905); Cicero’s
Oratio pro L. Murena
, translated by C.D. Yonge in
The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero
, Volume 2 (London: Bell, 1891); Cicero’s
Tusculanae Disputationes
, translated by C.D. Yonge in
Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations
(New York: Harper and Brothers, 1877); Frontinus’
de Aqueductu Urbis Romae
translated by Charles E. Bennett in the Loeb edition, 1925; Hippokates’
Περί Aγμών
(
Peri Agmon
), translated by Francis Adams in
The Genuine Works of Hippocrates
, Volume 2 (London: Sydenham Society, 1849); Horace’s
Carmina
, translated by John Conington in
The Odes and Carmen Saeculare of Horace Translated Into English Verse
(London: Bell and Daldy, Third Edition, 1865); Josephus’
Contra Apionem
, translated by William Whiston in
The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus
(New York: William Borradaile, 1824); Ovid’s
Fasti
and
Epistulae Ex Ponto
, translated by Henry T. Riley in
The Fasti, Tristia, Pontic Epistles, Ibis and Haleiuticon of Ovid
(London: Bell and Daldy, 1872); Nikolaus of Damaskos’
Bίος Καῖσαρος
(
Bios Kaisaros
by Clayton M. Hall in
Nicolaus of Damascus: Life of Augustus, Translated with a Commentary
(Johns Hopkins University, 1922); Pliny the Elder’s
Naturalis Historia
, translated by John Bostock and H.T. Riley in
The Natural History of Pliny
, Volume 3 (London: Henry Bohn, 1855), and Jonathan Couch, in The Wernerian Club’s
Pliny’s Natural History
(London: George Barclay, 1848); Pliny the Younger’s
Epistulae Selectae
, translated by John Delaware Lewis in
The Letters of the Younger Pliny
(London: Keegan Paul, 1890); Plutarch’s
Oὶ Bίοι Παράλληλοι
(
Oi Vioi Paralleloi
), translated by John Langhorne and William Langhorne in
Plutarch’s Lives
(London: William Tegg, 1868); Strabo’s
Γεωγραφικά
(
Geographika
), translated by Horace Leonard Jones in
The Geography of Strabo
(London: William Heinemann, 1930); Suetonius’
De Vitae Caesarum
, translated by Alexander Thomson in
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars
(London: George Bell and Sons, 1893); Tacitus’
Ab Excessu Divi Augusti
(
Annales
), translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Bodribb in
The Annals of Tacitus
(London: MacMillan and Co., 1906); Tacitus’
De Origine et Situ Germanorum
, translated by R.B. Townshend in
The Agricola and Germania of Tacitus
(London: Methuen and Co., 1894); and Velleius Paterculus’
Historiae Romanae
, translated by John Selby in
Sallust, Florus and Velleius Paterculus
(London: George Bell, 1889); and Zosimus
Istoria Nea
, translated anonymously in
New History
(London: Green and Chaplin, 1814).

Lastly, my thanks go to Bob Durrett, an enthusiastic and engaging teacher of Latin, who kindly provided the evocative translation of Seneca the Elder’s
Controversiae
.

1. Obverse and reverse of a
denarius
, Syd. 1301, of the Ides of March. (Courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group)

2. Architectural view of the ‘Mouth of the Cloaca Maxima on the Tiber’ drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in
Antichità Romane de’ tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi imperatori
(Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors), Vol. 1, 1756

3. The Battle of Actium re-imagined in John Clark Ridpath’s
Encyclopaedia of Universal History
, Hunt and Eaton, New York, 1890, p. 257

4. Ground plan of the Pantheon by Rodolfo Lanciani from
The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome
, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, New York, 1897, p. 474

5. ‘Internal View of the
Pronaos
of the Pantheon’ drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in
Antichità Romane de’ tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi imperatori
(Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors), Vol. 1, 1756

6. Agrippa’s
Orbis Terrarum
reconstructed as Commentaries

7. Pont du Gard aqueduct in Charles-Louis Clérisseau’s
Antiquités de la France
, 1804

8. Inscription of M. Vipsanius Narcissus,
rogator ab scaena, CIL
VI.10094. (Drawn by the author)

9. Bust of Agrippa in A. Baumeister’s
Denkmäler des klassischen Altertums
, Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, Munich, 1885, Vol. I, p. 27

10. Ground plan of the Odeion of Agrippa, first phase (late first century BCE) in the Agora, Athens. (By permission of Agora Excavations, American School of Classical Studies, Athens)

11. Cross section of the Odeion of Agrippa, first phase (late 1st century BCE), looking east in the Agora, Athens drawn by John Travlos. (By permission of Agora Excavations, American School of Classical Studies, Athens)

12. Remains of ‘ancient buildings including the sepulchral urn of evvia porphory of M. Agrippa’ drawn by Giovani Battista Piranesi in
Antichità Romane de’ tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi imperatori
(Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors), Vol. 1, 1756

13. Augustus’ Mausoleum, Rome. (Reconstruction by the author after G. Gatti and H. von Hesburg)

14. ‘View of the Pantheon of Agrippa’ drawn by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in
Antichità Romane de’ tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi imperatori
(Roman Antiquities of the Time of the First Republic and the First Emperors), Vol. 1, 1756

1. Marble bust of Agrippa in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, inv. 1858. (Gunnar Bach Pedersen/Wikimedia Commons)

2. Marble bust of Agrippa from Gabii in the Louvre, Inv. Ma1208. (Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikmedia Commons)

3. Marble bust of Agrippa in the Louvre, Inv. Ma3554. (Marie-Lan Nguyen/ Wikmedia Commons)

4. Marble bust of Agrippa in the NyCarlsberg Glyptotek, Inv. 609. (Cnyborg/ Wikimedia Commons)

5. Marble bust of Augustus

6. Centurion equipped as in the late first century BCE. (By permission The Ermine Street Guard)

7.
Signifer, imagnifer, cornicen
and
vexilifer
equipped as in the late first century BCE. (By permission The Ermine Street Guard)

8. Legionary equipped as in the late first century BCE. (By permission The Ermine Street Guard)

9. Close-up of legionary equipped as in the late first century BCE. (By permission The Ermine Street Guard)

10. View of the Gulf of Pozzuoli from Punta Epitaffio across to the location of
Portus Iulius
(Denghiu /Wikimedia Commons)

11. Bireme warship on the relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste (Palestrina). (# Karwansaray B.V.)

12.
Dupondius
of Caesar with ships prow and tower from
Colonia Viennensis, RPC
517 (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

13.
Denarius
of Sex. Pompeius showing a galley, Crawford 483/2, Sydenham 1350. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

14.
Denarius
of Caesar, Agrippa Consul designate,
RSC
545. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

15. Section of the
Aqua Marcia
at Romavecchia, Rome. (Chris 73/Wikimedia Commons)

16. Remains of the Baths of Agrippa in the Via Arco Ciambella, Rome. (MM/Wikimedia Commons)

17. Pantheon with the Agrippa inscription in bronze letters,
CIL
VI.896. (Martin Olsson/Wikimedia Commons)

18.
Denarius
of Antonius and Caesar, Crawford 517/2,
RSC
8a. (Courtesy of Harlan J. Berk)

19.
As
of Kleopatra VII of Egypt, Svornos 1871. (Courtesy of Harlan J. Berk)

20.
Denarius
of M. Antonius with bireme and insignia of
Legio
II, minted at Patrae,
RSC
27. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

21. View over the Gulf of Ambracia. (Mediocrity/Wikimedia Commons)

22.
Denarius
of Caesar with naval trophy,
RIC
265a,
RSC
119. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

23.
Denarius
of Caesar with Victory and Neptune,
RIC
I 256,
BMC
I 615. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

24. Colossal statue of Agrippa in the Museo archeologico di Venezia, Venice. (Arnaud Fafournoux/Wikimedia Commons)

25. Panoramic view of Mytilene, Lesbos. (Koutrolm/Wikimedia Commons)

26.
Fasti Consulares
showing Agrippa’s consulships,
CIL
VI.10286, in the Museo Epigrafico, Rome. (Kruosio/Wikimedia Commons)

27. Marble bust of M. Claudius Marcellus in the Louvre, Ma3547. (Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikmedia Commons)

28.
Denarius
of Caesar, Agrippa and Caesar on bench,
BMCRE
I 115,
RIC
I 407 (R2). (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

29. Arcade of the
Aqua Virgo
at the Via del Nazzareno, Rome. (Lalupa/ Wikimedia Commons)

30. The Maison Carreìe, Nîmes. (Danichou/Wikimedia Commons)

31.
Dupondius
from
Colonia Nemausus
,
RPC
525,
RIC
I 159. (Courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

32.
Denarius
of Augustus, Agrippa wearing the
corona rostrata
,
BMCRE
I 121. (Courtesy of Harlan J. Berk)

33.
As
of Agrippa, Agrippa Caesaraugusta,
RPC
I 381 (Wikimedia Commons)

34. Agrippa on an inscription at the theatre in Mérida,
AE
1911. (Caligatus/ Wikimedia Commons)

35. Odeion of Agrippa, Agora, Athens. (Giovanni Dall’Orto/Wikimedia Commons)

36. Agrippa and Iulia on an inscription in the
Forum
at Ephesus,
ILS
8897 (Ingsoc/Wikimedia Commons)

37. Agrippa on the
Ara Pacis Augustae
, Rome. (Photo # Jos Lamboo)

38.
Denarius
of Caesar with Agrippa and star,
BMCRE
I 124. (Courtesy of ROMA Numismatics)

39.
As
of Augustus (or Tiberius or Caligula) with Agrippa and Neptunus,
BMCRE
I 122,
RIC
I 817. (Photo ROMA Numismatics. Author’s collection)

40. Marble bust of C. Caesar in the British Museum, Inv. GR1870.07-05. (Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikmedia Commons)

41. Marble bust of Agrippa Postumus in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. (Folegandros/Wikimedia Commons)

42. Marble bust of Agrippina the Elder found in the forum of Ziane, Tunisia, Inv. Babelon 45. (Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikmedia Commons)

43. Bas relief of Agrippa at the Trevi Fountain (1732). (Marie-Lan Nguyen/ Wikmedia Commons)

44. Bas relief of Agrippa at the Trevi Fountain (1732). (Marie-Lan Nguyen/ Wikmedia Commons)

45. Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s
An Audience at Agrippa’s
(1876). Oil on canvas at the Dick Institute, Kilmarnock. (Wikimedia Commons)

1. Agrippa’s Travels 45 BCE

2. Agrippa’s Travels 44–40 BCE

3. Agrippa’s Travels 39–35 BCE

4.
Portus Iulius

5. The War Against Sex. Pompeius, 36 BCE

6. The Illyrian War, 35–34 BCE

7. The Actian War, 31 BCE

8. The Battle of Actium, 2 September 31 BCE

9. Agrippa’s Travels, 32–31 BCE

10. Agrippa’s Travels, 30–24 BCE

11. The Buildings of Agrippa in the
Campus Martius

12. Agrippa’s Travels, 23–19 BCE

13. Tres Galliae and Germania Magna, 19 BCE

14. Plan of
Colonia Copia Felix Munatia Lugdunum

15. The Asturian/Cantabrian War Zone