Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (71 page)

150
. Vell. Pat. 2.85.2, Dio 15.19.1.

151
. Dio 50.31.4.

152
. Orosius 6.19.x.

153
. Plut.,
Ant
. 65.4. Romans measured time as hours after sunrise. Sunrise in Athens on 2 September is 6.56am.

154
. Vell. Pat. 2.85.2.

155
. Plut.,
Ant
. 66.3; Florus 2.21.8: ‘
Prima dux fugae regina cum aurea puppe veloque purpureo in altum dedit
.’

156
. Dio 50.31.4.

157
. Dio 50. Plut.,
Ant
. 65.4.

158
. Plut.,
Ant
. 65.4.

159
. Dio 50.31.5.

160
. Dio 50.31.6. Carter (1970), p. 217–218 argues Antonius arrayed his fleet in two lines.

161
. Carter (1970), p. 218.

162
. Iapyx: Ver.,
Aen
. 8.710: ‘
fecerat ignipotens undis et Iapyge ferri
.’

163
. Orosius 6.19.10: ‘
ab hora quinta usque in horam septimam incerta uincendi spe grauissimae utrimque caedes actae
.’

164
. Plut.,
Ant
. 66.1–2: ‘
ἀρχομένου δὲ τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἐν χερσὶν εἶναι, ἐμβολαὶ μὲν οὐκ ἦσαν οὐδὲ ἀναρρήξεις νεῶν, τῶν μὲν Ἀντωνίου διὰ βάρος ῥύμην οὐκ ἐχουσῶν, ἣ μάλιστα ποιεῖ τὰς τῶν ἐμβόλων πληγὰς ἐνεργούς, τῶν δὲ Καίσαρος οὐ μόνον ἀντιπρῴρων συμφέρεσθαι πρὸς χαλκώματα στερεὰ καὶ τραχέα φυλασσομένων, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ κατὰ πλευρὰν ἐμβολὰς διδόναι θαρρουσῶν.ἀπεθραύοντο γὰρ τὰ ἔμβολα ῥᾳδίως ᾗ προσπέσοιε σκάφεσι τετραγώνων ξύλων μεγάλων σιδήρῳ συνηρμοσμένων πρὸς ἄλληλα δεδεμένοις. ἦν οὖν πεζομαχίᾳ προσφερὴς ὁ ἀγών: τὸ δὲ ἀληθέστερον εἰπεῖν, τειχομαχία. τρεῖς γὰρ ἅμα καὶ τέσσαρες περὶ μίαν τῶν Ἀντωνίου συνείχοντο, γέρροις καὶ δόρασι καὶ κοντοῖς χρωμένων καὶ πυροβόλοις: οἱ δὲ Ἀντωνίου καὶ καταπέλταις ἀπὸ ξυλίνων πυργων ἔβαλλον
.’

165
. Dio 50.32.1–8.

166
. Dio 50.32.7: ‘
ἐδύναντο, αἱ δὲ ἔπασχον. ἐπονοῦντο δὲ καὶ ἔκαμνον τοῖς μὲν οἵ τε κυβερνῆται καὶ οἱ ἐρέται μάλιστα, τοῖς δὲ οἱ ἐπιβάται: καὶ ἐῴκεσαν οἱ μὲν ἱππεῦσι τοτὲ μὲν ἐπελαύνουσι τοτὲ δὲ ἐξαναχωροῦσι διὰ τὸ τούς τε ἐπίπλους καὶ τὰς ἀνακρούσεις ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς εἶναι, οἱ δὲ ὁπλίταις τούς τε πλησιάζοντάς σφισι φυλασσομένοις καὶ κατέχειν αὐτοὺς
.’

167
. Plut.,
Ant
. 66.3.

168
. Carter (1970), p. 222–223, argues breaking a hole in Agrippa’s line was Antonius’ battle plan from the start.

169
. Dio 50.33.1–3; Plut.,
Ant
. 66.3–4. The sixty ships which escaped represented 35 per cent of his fleet – no mean achievement under the circumstances.

170
. Dio 50.33.3; Plut., 66.5; Vell. Pat. 2.85.3; Florus 2.21.9.

171
. Plut.,
Ant
. 67.1.

172
. Plut.,
Ant
. 67.2: ‘
ἐν τούτῳ δὲ λιβυρνίδες ὤφθησαν διώκουσαι παρὰ Καίσαρος: ὁ δὲ ἀντίπρῳρον ἐπιστρέφειν τὴν ναῦν κελεύσας τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἀνέστειλεν
.’

173
. Plut.,
Ant
. 67.2–3: ‘
Εὐρυκλῆς δ᾽ ὁ Λάκων ἐνέκειτο σοβαρῶς, λόγχην τινὰ κραδαίνων ἀπὸ τοῦ καταστρώματος ὡς ἀφήσων ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν. ἐπιστάντος δὲ τῇ πρῴρᾳ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου καί ‘τίς οὗτος,’ εἰπόντος, ‘ὁ διώκων Ἀντώνιον;’ ‘ἐγώ,’ εἶπεν, ‘Εὐρυκλῆς ὁ Λαχάρους, τῇ Καίσαρος τύχῃ τὸν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκδικῶν θάνατον.’ ὁ δὲ Λαχάρης ὑπ᾽ Ἀντωνίου λῃστείας αἰτίᾳ περιπεσὼν ἐπελεκίσθη. πλὴν οὐκ ἐνέβαλεν ὁ Εὐρυκλῆς εἰς τὴν Ἀντωνίου ναῦν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑτέραν τῶν ναυαρχίδων ῾δύο γὰρ ἦσαν᾽ τῷ χαλκώματι πατάξας περιερρόμβησε, καὶ ταύτην τε πλαγίαν περιπεσοῦσαν εἷλε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μίαν, ἐν ᾗ πολυτελεῖς σκευαὶ τῶν περὶ δίαιταν ἦσαν
.’

174
. Dio 50.33.4.

175
. Dio 50.33.6–8: ‘
οἱ μὲν γὰρ τά τε κάτω τῶν νεῶν πάντα πέριξ ἐκακούργουν καὶ τὰς κώπας συνέθραυον τά τε πηδάλια ἀπήραττον, καὶ ἐπαναβαίνοντες ἐπὶ τὰ καταστρώματα τοὺς μὲν κατέσπων
ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι τοὺς δὲ ἐώθουν, τοῖς δὲ ἐμάχοντο ἅτε καὶ ἰσοπληθεῖς αὐτοῖς ἤδη ὄντες: οἱ δὲ τοῖς τε κοντοῖς σφᾶς διεωθοῦντο καὶ ταῖς ἀξίναις ἔκοπτον, πέτρους τε καὶ ἄλλους τινὰς ὄγκους ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο παρεσκευασμένους ἐπικατέβαλλον, καὶ τούς τε ἀναβαίνοντας ἀπεκρούοντο καὶ τοῖς ἐς χεῖρας ἰοῦσι συνεφέροντο. εἴκασεν ἄν τις ἰδὼν τὰ γιγνόμενα, ὡς μικρὰ μεγάλοις ὁμοιῶσαι, τείχεσί τισιν ἢ καὶ νήσοις πολλαῖς καὶ πυκναῖς ἐκ θαλάσσης πολιορκουμέναις. οὕτως οἱ μὲν ἐπιβῆναί τε τῶν σκαφῶν ὥσπερ ἠπείρου καὶ ἐρύματός τινος ἐπειρῶντο, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐς τοῦτο φέροντα σπουδῇ προσῆγον: οἱ δὲ ἀπεωθοῦντο αὐτούς, ὅ τι ποτὲ ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ φιλεῖ δρᾶσθαι μηχανώμενοι
.’

176
. Florus, 21.6: ‘
itaque habites in omnia quae usus posceret, ad impetus et recursus flexusque capiendos, illas gravis et ad omnia praepeditas singulas plures adortae missilibus, simul rostris, ad hoc ignibus iactis ad arbitrium dissipavere
.’

177
. Dio 50.34.1; Vell. Pat. 2.85.4.

178
. Dio 50.34.2–7: ‘
κἀνταῦθα ἄλλο αὖ εἶδος μάχης συνηνέχθη. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πολλαχῇ ἅμα προσπλέοντές τισι βέλη τε πυρφόρα ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἐξετόξευον καὶ λαμπάδας ἐκ χειρὸς ἐπηκόντιζον καί τινας καὶ χυτρίδας ἀνθράκων καὶ πίττης πλήρεις πόρρωθεν μηχαναῖς ἐπερρίπτουν: οἱ δὲ ταῦτά τε ὡς ἕκαστα διεκρούοντο, καὶ ἐπειδή τινα αὐτῶν διεκπίπτοντα τῶν τε ξύλων ἥπτετο καὶ φλόγα αὐτίκα πολλήν, ἅτε ἐν νηί, ἤγειρε, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τῷ ποτίμῳ ὕδατι ᾧ ἐπεφέροντο ἐχρῶντο, καί τινα κατέσβεσαν, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐκεῖνο καταναλώθη, ἤντλουν τὸ θαλάττιον. καὶ εἰ μὲν πολλῷ τε καὶ ἀθρόῳ αὐτῷ ἐχρῶντο, ἐπεῖχόν πως τῇ βίᾳ τὸ πῦρ: ἀδύνατοι δὲ δὴ πανταχῇ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὄντες ῾οὔτε γὰρ πολλὰ ἢ καὶ μεγάλα τὰ ἀντλητήρια εἶχον, καὶ ἡμιδεᾶ αὐτὰ ἅτε ταραττόμενοι ἀνέφερον᾽ οὐχ ὅσον οὐκ ὠφελοῦντό τι, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσπαρώξυνον αὐτό: ἡ γὰρ ἅλμη ἡ θαλαττία ἂν κατ᾽ ὀλίγον ἐπιχέηται φλογί, ἰσχυρῶς αὐτὴν ἐκκαίει. ὡς οὖν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἥττους ἐγίγνοντο, τά τε ἱμάτια αὑτῶν τὰ παχέα καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς ἐπέβαλλον: καὶ χρόνον μέν τινα ἐκολούσθη τε ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τὸ πῦρ καὶ ἔδοξέ πῃ λωφᾶν, ἔπειτα δὲ ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῦ ἀνέμου σφοδρῶς ἐπισπέρξαντος ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐξέλαμψεν, ἅτε καὶ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων αὐξανόμενον. καὶ μέχρι μὲν μέρος τι νεὼς ἐκαίετο, προσίσταντό τέ τινες αὐτῷ καὶ ἐς αὐτὸ ἐσεπήδων, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀπέκοπτον τὰ
δὲ διεφόρουν: καὶ αὐτὰ οἱ μὲν ἐς τὴν θάλασσαν οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους ἐρρίπτουν, εἴ πως καὶ ἐκείνους τι λυμήναιντο. καὶ ἕτεροι πρὸς τὸ ἀεὶ ὑγιὲς αὐτῆς μεθιστάμενοι ταῖς τε χερσὶ ταῖς σιδηραῖς καὶ τοῖς δόρασι τοῖς μακροῖς τότε δὴ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἐχρῶντο, ὅπως τινὰ ἀντίπαλον ναῦν προσαρτήσαντές σφισι μάλιστα μὲν μετεκβῶσιν ἐς αὐτήν, εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ ἐκείνην συγκαταφλέξωσιν
.’ During explorations of the sea floor off the coast of Preveza in 1993 and 1994, divers of The University of South Florida and The Greek Ministry of Culture found what are believed to be stone balls (12cm, 4.7 ins., in maximum diameter) fired by ballistas or catapults:
http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~murray/actium/brochure.html
).

179
. Dio 50.35.1–4.

180
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.1.

181
. Orosius 6.19.10: ‘
inlucescente iam die victoriam Caesar consummavit
.’

182
. Florus 2.21.7: ‘
Quippe inmensae classis naufragium bello factum toto mari ferebatur, Arabumque et Sabaeorum et mille aliarum Asiae gentium spolia purpura auroque inlita adsidue mote ventis maria revomebant
.’

183
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.1 states 300 ships were captured of the total 700 Antonius brought to Actium (n. 141 above), but this seems an exaggerated base number compared to the other ancient historians and 35 per cent had escaped (see
n. 169
above) with the queen.

184
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.1; Orosius 6.19.12.

185
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.3.

186
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.3; Vell. Pat. 2.85.5–6.

187
. Dio 51.1.4.

188
. Vell. Pat. 2.84.2; Dio 50.13.5.

189
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.4; Dio 51.4.1.

190
. Plut.,
Ant
. 68.4–5.

191
. Strab., 7.7.6.

192
. Dio 51.3.1.

193
. Dio 51.3.1, 51.3.4.

194
. Dio 51.3.5.

195
. Vell. Pat. 2.88.2: ‘
C. Maecenas … non minus Agrippa Caesari carus, sed minus honoratus (quippe vixit angusti clavi plene contentus), nec minora consequi potuit, sed non tam concupivit
.’

196
. Dio 51.3.5–6: ‘
Μαικήνου … καταφρονήσωσιν ὅτι ἱππεὺς ἦν, τὸν Ἀγρίππαν ὡς καὶ κατ᾽ ἄλλο τι ἐς τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἔπεμψε. καὶ τοσαύτην γ᾽ ἐπὶ πάντα καὶ ἐκείνῳ καὶ τῷ Μαικήνᾳ ἐξουσίαν ἔδωκεν ὥστε σφᾶς καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολάς, ἃς τῇ τε βουλῇ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔγραφε, προαναγιγνώσκειν, κἀκ τούτου καὶ μεταγράφειν ὅσα ἐβούλοντο. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ δακτύλιον ἔλαβον παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἵν᾽ ἐπισφραγίζεσθαι αὐτὰς ἔχωσι. διπλῆν γὰρ δὴ σφραγῖδα, ᾗ μάλιστα τότε ἐχρῆτο, ἐπεποίητο, σφίγγα ἐν ἑκατέρᾳ ὁμοίαν ἐκτυπώσας. ὕστερον γὰρ τὴν εἰκόνα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐγγλύψας ἐκείνῃ τὰ πάντα ἐσημαίνετο
.’

197
. Dio 50.3.7.

198
. Plut.,
Ant
. 73.3.

199
. Vell. Pat. 2.88.3; App.,
Bell. Civ
. 4.50; Dio 54.15.4; Livy,
Per
. 133; Suet.,
Div. Aug
. 19.1.

200
. Dio 51.5.3.

201
. Plut.,
Ant
. 67.4.

202
. Dio 51.5.6.

203
. Plut.,
Ant
. 69.2: the two friends were the Greek rhetorician Aristocrates and the Roman, Lucilius.

204
. Dio 51.5.6.

205
. Plut.,
Ant
. 71.1.

Chapter 5: Architect of the New Rome

1
. Dio 51.4.3.

2
. Dio 51.4.4–5.

3
. Dio 51.4.2–8; Orosius 6.19.14; Suet.,
Div. Aug
. 17.3.

4
. Dio 51.4.6.

5
. Dio 51.4.7–8: it was an ironic reversal of the proscriptions.

6
. Dio 51.5.1.

7
. Caesar’s route was via the Diolkos, Dio 51.5.2: The Diolkos was an ancient trackway or proto-railway used to drag ships overland across the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Corinth. Just 6.4km (4 miles) long, the Diolkos connected the Corinthian Gulf to the Saronic Gulf, representing a considerable saving over the 400km (250 miles) long journey around the Peloponnese. It also reduced the risk of encountering a dangerous weather event, which could be 25–35 per cent in summer and up to 40 per cent in winter. It was built from immense blocks of stone, forming a continuous roadway 3.5–5m (10–16.5ft) wide, with two parallel tracks engraved in it, spaced 1.5m apart for trolley wheels. The gradient is just 0.023 per cent, or 70m (230ft) in 3km (1.9 miles). The Diolkos was in operation in the first century BCE and was last recorded in use in 883 CE. See Engels (1990), pp. 58–9; Pettegrew (2011); Werner (1997).

8
. Dio 51.9.1, 51.16.3; Livy,
Per
. 133.2.

9
. Dio 51.14.1–6. For an assessment of whether Kleopatra’s death was suicide or murder, see Goldsworthy (2010), p. 384.

10
. Plut.,
Ant
. 86.4.

11
. Caesarion: Dio 51.15.5; Plut.,
Ant
. 81.2. Antyllus: Plut.,
Ant
. 81.1 and 87.1

12
. Dio 51.7.1–3.

13
. Carsten Hjort Lange,
Res Publica Constituta: Actium, Apollo and the Accomplishment of the Triumviral Assignment
, Brill: Leiden (2009), p. 93, convincingly shows that Augustus was acknowledged to have won both a civil war – the Actian War –
as well as
an external war –
viz
. the Alexandrian War.

14
. Dio 51.19.1, 51.19.5.

15
. Dio 51.19.2. On the use of Iulius Caesar during Augustus’ principate see Robert A. Gurval, ‘Caesar’s Comet: The Politics and Poetics of an Augustan Myth’, in
Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome
, Vol. 42 (1997), pp. 39–71.

16
. Dio 51.19.3, 51.19.5.

17
. Dio 51.19.7.

18
. Dio 51.19.3; Plut.,
Ant
. 86.5.

19
. See Flower (2006), pp. 116–121.

20
. Dio 51.19.4.

21
. Dio 51.19.6.

22
. Dio 53.17.9–10; Livy 3.20.7.

23
. Dio 51.19.7.

24
. Dio 51.20.1–4.

25
. Dio 51.1.4.

26
. Dio 51.1.5.

27
. Dio 51.1.5, 24.37.1–2.

28
. E.g. RIC
²
263, 264, 265. Gurval (1998), pp. 47–50; cf. Zanker (1990), pp. 53–57.

29
. Dio 51.21.3: ‘
καὶ ἐτίμησεν ὥσπερ εἴθιστο, καὶ τόν τε Ἀγρίππαν ἄλλοις τέ τισι καὶ σημείῳ κυανοειδεῖ ναυκρατητικῷ προσεπεσέμνυνε
’.

30
. Livy,
Per
. 129.4: ‘
M. Agrippa nauali corona a Caesare donatus est, qui honos nulli ante eum habitus erat
.’ Reinhard (1933), p. 60, notes that the award was unique in recorded history of antiquity.

31
. Dio 51.21.3.

32
. Servius,
Commentary on the Georgics
3.29: ‘
ac navali surgentes aere columnas columnas dicit, quae in honore Augusti et Agrippae rostratae constitutae sunt. Augustus victor totius Aegypti, quam Caesar pro parte superaverat, multa de navali certamine sustulit rostra, quibus conflatis quattuor effecit columnas, quae postea a Domitiano in Capitolio sunt locatae, quas hodieque conspicimus: unde ait ‘navali surgentes aere columnas’. nam rostratas Duilius posuit, victis Poenis navali certamine, e quibus unam in rostris, alteram ante circum videmus a parte ianuarum
.’ They appear to have been of a similar design to columns erected to mark Caesar’s victory of the Sicilian War in 36 BCE over Sex. Pompeius recorded by App.,
Bell. Civ
. 5.130.

33
. Aegyptische Urkunden aus den Koeniglichen Museen zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden, 4.1047, II, 13–14 (Berlin 1912). Maecenas also had an estate in Egypt.

34
. Dio 53.27.5.
TDAR
p. 114, notes the house was probably considered old fashioned, and Antonius prefered use the house at Carinae. It burned down in 25 BCE while still in joint possession.