Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (8 page)

From Egypt Caesar went to Asia Minor, where he defeated Pharnakes (Pharnaces), the son of Mithradates VI of Pontus, at the Battle of Zela (modern Zile in northern Turkey); afterwards he wrote a letter to Amanitius in Rome in which he used the famous phrase
veni, vidi, vici
– ‘came, saw, won’.
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Meanwhile the remnants of the Pompeian opposition had assembled in Africa, among whom was Agrippa’s own brother Lucius.
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Taking six legions with him, Caesar engaged the diehards, led by Cato and Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, but the struggle was tougher than he had anticipated because they had augmented their numbers with the forces of King Iuba II of Numidia.
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Only after he had called upon his veterans – seasoned men who were recalled after leaving the service – did he have the numbers he needed to finally engage his opponents at Thapsus. On 6 April 46 BCE, his enemies were crushed with casualties reported – probably with great exaggeration – as high as 50,000 to less than fifty on his own side.
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Returning from Africa to Rome, in September 46 BCE he celebrated an unprecedented quadruple triumph during which Kleopatra put in a guest appearance – Octavius was permitted to follow behind him.
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It was an unforgettable four-day event Agrippa may himself have witnessed as an 18-year-old.

While the Roman world turned upside down, young Marcus was still at school mastering the art of public speaking. His friendship with Octavius emboldened him to ask a favour of his friend’s great uncle:

Whether Iulius Caesar had met Agrippa at this point is unknown, but by Nikolaos of Damaskos’ account he was clearly aware of his great nephew’s friend. In the meantime, Caesar had placed Octavius in charge of productions at two theatres in Rome, in which Agrippa may have assisted.
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The Roman commander now turned his attention to the Iberian Peninsula where Cnaeus and Sextus Pompeius, the sons of Pompeius Magnus, aided by
Caesar’s own former deputy T. Labienus who had played a prominent role in the Gallic War, were leading a revolt.
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Caesar instructed his 17-year-old great nephew to join him.
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Gaining first-hand military experience was a pre-requisite for a successful political career. Just seventeen years earlier, Cicero had said:

For a regular soldier (
miles gregarius
), training to turn a citizen into a war fighter (
bellator
) and instilling the warrior ethic in him was organized and intense (
plate 8
). For an officer it was very different. Remarkably, despite the great value placed on war fighting, there was no formal officer training in the Roman world. Experience had to be gained the hard way through active service. Personal prestige was earned by proving one’s courage (
virtus
) through acting boldly and showing no weakness in the heat of battle, especially at the risk of losing one’s own life. Perhaps Iulius Caesar saw the campaign in Hispania Ulterior as a low risk theatre of operations in which Octavius could become an officer and learn how to command soldiers under his aegis. Octavius agreed to join his great uncle, but Nikolaos records that he was taken ill from overexerting himself on the theatre productions and was deemed not fit enough to accompany him on the outbound journey in November 46.
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It is possible, however, that Agrippa, now old enough to enrol in the army, did set off to join Caesar on his campaign. The poet M. Manlius makes a cryptic comment to the effect that Agrippa had begun military service at a young age, though at what level of command he does not say.
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It was certainly an unmissable career opportunity. As a plebeian he would likely have started service as a one of the regular legionaries, 6,000 at full strength, organized into centuries of eighty men under the command of a
centurio
(plate 6). Six centuries formed a cohort – the basic tactical unit – and ten
cohortes
formed a legion. However, as a member of the equestrian class he would have been eligible to join as a junior officer, likely as one of the five junior military tribunes (
tribuni angusticlavi
) in a legion.
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Caesar had taken a group of young aristocrats and equestrians with him on his Gallic campaign, hoping they would be eager to prove themselves on the battlefield, but they were political appointments and he was disappointed by the lack of initiative or courage many displayed. For a man at the beginning of his career it was a spectacular way to learn military science directly from one of its legendary master practitioners. Such a position could give the young man direct access to the legate of the legion (usually a senator) – perhaps to proconsul Caesar himself – and a place at his
concilium
(the handpicked advisory war council) where he would see at first hand the general deliberate over his strategy and tactics with his deputies. Agrippa might have been granted a special dispensation as a friend of Caesar’s great nephew and served as an officer – if not a tribune then possibly as one of the
immunes
or
principales
(plate 7) who had special duties, but it is entirely speculative.

On 17 March 45 BCE, Iulius Caesar engaged the rebels with the help of the same legions who had brought him victory in Gallia Comata.
¹⁵⁷
Agrippa
may
have been there (
map 1
). At Munda, on a plain between the two camps of the opposing forces, were arrayed the Pompeian battle lines consisting of 13 legions, screened on the flanks by cavalry as well as 6,000 lightly-armed troops plus nearly as many again of auxiliary troops; and Caesar’s much smaller force, composed of only 8 legions and 8,000 cavalry.
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Caesar placed
Legio
X – his strongest – on the right wing and
Legiones
III and V with the auxiliary
cohors equitata
on the right. On the given order, the brass horns sounded, the men bellowed out a terrible war cry and Caesar’s soldiers rushed towards Pompeius’ dense line, swords drawn and shields held close. In his own account of the battle Iulius Caesar writes,

The opposing troops then retreated behind the walls of the nearby town of Munda, which Caesar’s men then blockaded under the command of Q. Fabius Maximus.
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To strike fear into the men trapped inside they resorted to a form of psychological warfare:

The siege was conducted both by day and by night. The Pompeians finally capitulated and 14,000 men were taken captive.
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Meantime, rumours reached Sex. Pompeius in Corduba (modern Cordoba) that the battle was lost. He departed leaving word that he was going to parley with Caesar. Meanwhile an attempt by his brother to escape via the naval base at Calpia (Carteia), 170 miles away from Corduba, was foiled and when Caesar’s men intercepted the fugitive they decapitated him.
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In the confusion, Sextus managed to get away.
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The campaign would have been a brutal introduction to war fighting for a young novice soldier more used to the life in the big city.

However, there is a possible alternative version of Agrippa’s first military engagement. When he had fully recovered, Octavius himself departed with a retinue of slaves, landing at Tarraco (Taragona) in Hispania Citerior.
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Once there, he was dismayed to discover that Caesar had already long since left and Octavius had to follow after him as best he could, putting himself at risk from attacks by brigands as well as his uncle’s fleeing enemies as he headed deeper inland.
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When he finally did track down his great uncle to Calpia, Octavius was warmly greeted and treated to the comforts of his own tent and transportation.
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Expecting to be told the details of his mission, he learned, however, that Caesar had already won the war, completing the mission in just seven months!
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Curiously, even though he was last to depart, it seems Octavius ‘was the first of those who had set out from Rome to arrive’.
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If Agrippa was one of those who had departed the city first, taking Nikolaos’ remark at face value, he also missed the fight – and with it the chance for glory.
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Perhaps for actually carrying out his orders and following him to Spain, Octavius was appointed by Caesar to join the pontificate, an order of priests, and granted the post of Master of Horse (
magister equitum
), an honorary postion he awarded at his own discretion for one year.
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Agrippa received no equivalent honours at this time.

Map 1. Agrippa’s Travels 45 BCE.

It was the last war Iulius Caesar would fight.
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With the revolt quelled, there was no reason for his party to remain any longer than necessary in the Iberian Peninsula. Not one for dithering, Iulius Caesar knew he needed to be back in Rome to assert his control as soon as possible.
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He planned his departure from Carthago Nova (Cartagena) from where the transports would hug the shoreline bound for Tarraco and thence to Massilia, bound for Ostia, the port of Rome. As related by Nikolaos of Damaskos,

One of these companions was Q. Salvidienus Rufus, a new man of obscure origin, about whom it was said that while he was tending his flocks as a youth a flame had shot up from his head, and who was perhaps serving as an equestrian officer in the army of Iulius Caesar.
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The other was Agrippa (the third is unknown).

The young travellers reached Rome safely and rested there over the summer.
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On the few occasions Octavius – unusually for a teenager known for his abstinence, moderation and sobriety – hosted dinners, Agrippa (
plate 1
) was certainly among the friends invited. It was while he was in the city at this time that Octavius’ status was elevated to that of patrician; but he did not turn his back on his friends. Three months later they were on the road again.
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Their next destination was Apollonia in Illyricum, the coastal province of the western Balkans.
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With the Civil War over, Iulius Caesar turned his attention next to an expedition against the Getae and Parthians, and planned on taking Octavius with him; but while the preparations were being made, he insisted that his great nephew should continue to study the arts of war.
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Though winter was fast approaching, Apollonia was a fine place for a group of smart young men to be based. Located right on the coast at the mouth of the Aous River (modern-day Vjosë), the city
had a harbour, large enough to hold a hundred ships at a time. Founded by Greek immigrants in 588 BCE, it had been taken by the Romans in 229. In his
Geography
, Strabo describes the city as exceedingly well-governed.
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Under Roman control, the city flourished on the profits of the slave trade and the produce of local agriculture. Its settlers, who had come from Italy as traders and farmers, were friendly towards its important visitors, though the same could not be said of the indigenous people.
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