[Revised 10/16/2014]
The
Second Triumvirate
Introduction
Welcome,
once again, drama fans, to another exciting
episode in the ongoing saga of the decline of the Roman Republic. If you thought the material in the last
episode was the stuff of which great plays are made, you’ll be even
more
intrigued by today’s adventure. The
story of the 2nd Triumvirate has it all: suspense,
adventure,
action, romance—even the hint of a game show. The big question today:
who will
wind the grand prize, control of the largest empire the world had ever
seen?
Contestants
and rules of the game
First,
let’s meet our contestants. Time to
welcome, first of all, from Rome
Italy….
1. Mark
Antony. Antony is a 38-year-old Roman
consul, the only consul after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar. A remarkably handsome and athletic young
man—what
one would expect, perhaps, of a man from a family who claimed decent
from
Hercules. And, like the legendary
Hercules, he tended to live a life of debauchery and extravagance—at
one time
going into debt to the tune of 100 talents (maybe $500,000,000 by
today’s
standards!). Like many Roman men of his
class and type, he joined the army, a place where, if one played one’s
cards right,
an officer might make a substantial sum of money. Antony
didn’t clean up his moral life, but he
had found his career. He became Caesar’s
assistant in Gaul, and continued in that position during the Civil War
between
Caesar and Pompey. Caesar made him
“magister
equituum,” master of the horse, a kind of assistant dictator. But his continual debauchery got him into
trouble, and Caesar had temporarily demoted him. Antony
was a drinker and a womanizer—but generous
and popular with the soldiers and with the Roman people in general.
And
then there’s our next contestant…
2. Cleopatra. Cleopatra
is a 28-year-old housewife and
mother. Well, no. The
mother part, yes: she’s the mother of
Caesarion, her son by Gaius Julius Caesar—and, I suppose, Caesar might
have
thought of her as something of a prize.
Here’s Plutarch’s description:
For
her actual beauty
was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her,
or that
no one could see her without being struck by it, but the contact of her
presence, if you lived with her, was irresistible; the attraction of
her
person, joining with the charm of her conversation, and the character
that
attended all that she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of
her voice, with which, like so many strings, she could pass from one
language
to another; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she
answered
by an interpreter; to most of them she spke herself, as to the
Aethiopians,
Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Medes, and Parthians, and many
others,
whose language she had learned.
There,
by the way, is a beauty secret your women’s
magazines may have missed. Learn a
foreign language!
As
desirable as the companionship of Cleopatra might
be, she’s no mere pawn in this contest, but a worthy and capable
successor of
the Ptolemies who had preceded her. The
Ptolemies were descended from one of Alexander the Great’s generals,
and, for
years, members of the family had aspired to become as great as
Alexander
himself.
Cleopatra
could (and did) play ruthlessly. She had
one of her sister’s killed and, just
in case she had to take the easy way out of difficulties, she did
experiments
with poisons, having different slaves take different poisons to
discover which
led to the most painless death. It’s no
wonder the Roman people feared Cleopatra more than any foreigner since
Hannibal.
Our
next contestants (as usual) play as a team and
agree to split any winnings equitably among themselves.
3. The Roman
Senate. Much of the senate is pretty indifferent to this game, but
there are
still some fired up senators led by team captains Caius Cassius, and D.
Junius
Brutus. They’d like to see true
republican government restored to Rome—and (who knows?) there might
have been
some chance: the senatorial class were your original come-back kids.
And
speaking of come-backs possibilities, there are
the remnants of that great team fashioned by Pompey the Great, now
being led by
our next competitor…
4. Sextus
Pompey. Sextus Pompey has the loyalty of
the soldiers that had served with his father plus great support from
provincials
in Spain, Sicily, and Africa. He had
considerable military ability, and a trace of that old Roman virtus. He’s somewhat of a sentimental favorite—and a
possible contender for the grand prize, along with another rather
successful
military figure…
5. Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus. Lepidus had become
magister
equituum, Caesar’s assistant dictator when Antony had to be dismissed
from the
position. At the time of Caesar’s
assassination, he was putting together troops to take up positions in
Spain and
Southern France. With his troops still
in Italy and ready to go, he’ll certainly have a major say in what
comes next.
Also
determined to have as say (and, this time, I
mean “say” literally)…..
6. Marcus
Tullius Cicero. Cicero looked back to
his old days as consul nearly twenty years before as a far preferable
era, “What
a happy date for the Roman state was the year of my consulate.” Wasn’t it nice in those good old days where
we all got along?
And
then there is our final contestant…
7.
Gaius Octavius.
Octavius in an undistinguished, sickly 18-year-old kid whose
only claim
to fame is that Caesar, in his will, had named Octavius his heir and
adopted
son. That meant a name change: he’s now
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, a name we generally shorten to
Octavian. Well,
what’s a name? We’ll eventually find
out!
There
are our contestants. Here’s how the game
is played:
You
follow the rules set forth in the constitution
of the Roman Republic. If you don’t like
those rules, though, you can follow instead the rules laid down by that
great
master of statecraft Gaius Julius Caesar.
And, if you don’t like those rules either, you remember the
secret that
keeps men of class far apart from the fools: you make up the rules as
you go.
In
other words, there are no rules, and, in the
absence of fixed rules, the winning players are those who come up with
the best
combination of force, guile, determination, and good old-fashioned luck.
Potential
Sources of Force
Force
can come from several different places.
1. There’s
the Roman mob which, as Clodius had shown, could be quite useful in
securing
legislation that works to one’s advantage.
And while rules are broken right and left during this game, it’s
still
pretty useful to be able to at least claim that your actions are
authorized by
the rules.
2. Another
source of force: the armies stationed in the various provinces of the
Roman Empire.
3. A third source of
force: armies in Italy,
either Lepidus’ army or (possibly) a reformation of Caesar’s army.
4. Finally,
there are the armies of allied states, e.g., Cleopatra’s army in Egypt
or
Hyrcanus’ army in Palestine.
So—the
stage is set.
Now on to one of the most complicated and fascinating episodes
in all
Roman history.
Round
One--Everyone's a Winner!
It’s
the Ides of March, 44 BC. Caesar lies dead
at the foot of Pompey’s
statue. The conspirators run to the marketplace shouting out, “Tyranny
is dead!” But they didn’t get the
enthusiastic welcome
they expected. People were worried—and
rightly. Lepidus can easily direct his
army into Rome:
potential bad news.
But
no-one really wants a return to civil war just
yet, and the various contestants reach a compromise, a compromise
mediated by
that great statesman, Cicero. Cicero
makes sure that everyone comes out a winner.
1. The Roman
people and (especially) the soldiers get the ratification of Caesar’s
laws and
fairly substantial monetary gifts—the equivalent of 2 ½ month’s
income if I
calculate correctly.
2. The
conspirators get amnesty, and some rather nice additional prizes. Brutus and Cassius get control of Crete and
Cyrene—soldiers at their disposal and some nice money-making
opportunities.
3. Lepidus
gets a nicer prize, continued authorization to command his troops in
France and
Spain.
4. Antony
gets the great prize. As consul, he’s in
control of Rome itself, and he’s promised a 5-year command in Gaul and
Macedon:
lots of troops, and lots of money-making opportunities.
So
will he keep his prize, or try for more? Well,
you don’t have to guess.
Antony
plays for a bigger prize
As
part of Cicero’s arrangement, Caesar gets a great
public funeral, and Antony gets to give the eulogy.
But he uses the eulogy to arouse popular
sentiment against the conspirators. Here’s
Shakespeare’s version of the speech—quite true to the spirit of the
account
Plutarch gives us:
Friends,
Romans,
countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest--
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men--
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
Antony
goes on until the riled up crowd is seized
with a thirst for revenge. Poor Cinna
the Poet is killed though he had played no part in the conspiracy—it
had been a
different Cinna. Here’s the scene in
Shakespeare’s version:
Tear
him to pieces; he's a conspirator.
I
am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet.
Tear
him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses.
I
am not Cinna the conspirator.
It
is no matter, his name's Cinna; pluck but his
name out of his heart, and turn him going.
Meanwhile,
the leaders of the conspiracy make
themselves scarce, Brutus and Cassius heading out to their assigned
provinces—but
hungry for more. They soon take off for
more promising territory, Brutus taking over in Greece and Crassus in
Asia. From there, they can gather both
the military strength and the money needed to take on Antony.
Antony,
needing troops of his own, crosses into
France where his former soldiers are numerous and more eager to serve
with him
than under Lepidus. Lepidus agrees to a
join command with Antony, so, at least for a time, the two will work
together.
Meanwhile,
in Rome itself, Cicero is trying to stop
an Antony take-over. He gives a series
of speeches against Antony, speeches we call “Philippics.”
This is a bit confusing. What does
Philip have to do with this? Well, the
great Athenian orator Demosthenes
300 years before had warned Athenians of the dangers to their liberty
from
Philip of Macedon. Those speeches had
become famous as “Philippics,” and so now Cicero’s very similar
speeches
against Antony end up with the same name.
Nice and confusing—not what we really need in the middle of
what’s a
very confusing time anyway!
Meanwhile,
now 19-year-old Octavian thinks it’s time
he had a say in the game. He wants the
money promised him in Caesar’s will—money he hadn’t gotten because
Antony had
spent it. He wants revenge on the
conspirators. Further, he’d like to be consul.
Well, dream on, young man…
But
wait.
What’s in a name? Plenty, if that
name is Gaius Julius Caesar. No matter
what the Shakespeare lines say, the name of Caesar does stir a spirit
if you conjure
with better than a name like Brutus.
Using the magic of Caesar’s name, Octavian gather an army of his
own,
Caesar’s veterans flocking to the support of Caesar’s adopted son and
heir.
But
how does Octavian use these troops? Cicero
wants Octavian to come to the support
of the senate and fight against Antony.
In a 5th Philippic (43 BC) Cicero pleads with the
senators to
support Octavian against Antony.
Well,
Octavian marches on Rome, takes over, and has
to decide how to play the game. Side
with Brutus and Cassius? Possible, but
he hates these men. Side with Cicero and
the Senate? Better. But
Lepidus and Antony had been Caesar
allies. Why not work with them?
The
Formation of the 2nd Triumvirate
In
the end, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus form the 2nd
Triumvirate—this time, taking “Triumvir” as an official title with
officially
designated privileges and responsibilities.
But securing their position is not easy.
Yes, they have troops at their disposal, but armies are
fickle—and they
have to be paid.
Well,
let’s have a bake sale, then. Or, since we
really need a lot of money, how about taking a page out of Sulla’s book
and
renewing the proscriptions?
The
triumvirs are ruthless as they sit down to talk
over who they are going to target. The
ultimately proscribe 300 senators and 2000 equestrians!
Antony gives up an uncle. Lepidus
give up a brother. And will Octavian
protect Cicero? Not a chance.
Cicero’s out of the game. Not
without a consolation prize, though. His
tongue and hands are cut off and
displayed in the forum: one more chance for this great orator words and
gestures to have an impact on the Roman people….
Having
consolidated control of Rome and the west, Octavian
and Antony head east to deal with Brutus and Cassius.
In 42 BC, the opposing forces meet at the
battle of Philippi, one of the greatest battles ever fought. There are
more
than 35 legions involved, 200 thousand or more combatants I would guess. But, I have to cut to the chase and simply
say that the Triumvirs win. Brutus and
Cassius are dead, and, with them, any hope of senatorial control of
Roman
affairs.
Antony
emerges the big winner: Octavian had played
an undistinguished part in the victory and Philippi.
Will Antony now just try to keep his very
powerful position, or will he try for even more? Well,
you can certainly guess.
Breakdown
and renewal
Antony
now heads off for the east, determined to win
even more military glory and rich prizes for himself, his soldiers, and
Rome. His allies at home (Antony’s wife
Fulvia and Antony’s brother) end up making war on Octavian, and, with
Lepidus
temporarily squeezed out of his leading role, the triumvirate appeared
to be
coming apart.
[Fulvia probably deserves more time than I give her in class. She
is an extraordinarily formidable player in this game, the most poweful
person in Rome itslef for a time. It's well worth reading the Wikipedia ariticle on Fulvia--lot
of material there that would add to a good essay on the 2nd
Triumvirate.]
Fulvia’s
war against Octavian isn’t successful, and
she flees Italy—dying in exile. Meanwhile, Antony heads back to Italy
to try to
patch up the Triumvirate (40 BC).
We’ve
got another one of those “everyone’s a winner”
situations. Lepidus is brought back in
the arrangement. Sextus Pompey gets cut in on the deal as well, getting
a nice
proconsulship in Sicily. To make sure
Antony and Octavian get along better, we’ve got a new marriage. With Fulvia dead, Antony is free to marry
Octavian’s sister Octavia. Here’s the
Wikipedia description of Octavia:
One of the most
prominent women in
Roman history, Octavia was respected and admired by contemporaries for
her loyalty,
nobility and humanity, and for maintaining traditional Roman feminine
virtues.
Anyway,
Octavia seemed likely to play the same kind
of mediator role Julia had played in the first triumvirate.
The
new deal was celebrated on board one of Sextus
Pompey’s ships, and Plutarch tells us that, had Sextus been as ruthless
as his
opponents, he could have secured control for himself by simply having
his men
cut the tethers keeping the ship in place and holding Lepidus, Antony,
and
Octavian hostage. Didn’t do it,
though. Probably content with a
situation where everybody seemed to be a winner.
Breakdown
and breakdown
But
the new arrangement just doesn’t last. Octavian
attacks Sextus Pompey who defends Sicily successfully for quite some
time. But when Lepidus raises a huge
number of
additional troops to aid Octavian, Sextus ends up defeated and having
to
abandon Sicily. He is eventually tracked
down and executed without a trial. He
deserved better.
And
then Lepidus, for no reason that I can quite
figure out, decides that it’s his turn to make a move.
He wants to annex Sicily for himself, runs
into a conflict with Octavian, gets beaten, and has to step out of the
game for
good. But at least he gets a nice
consolation prize: he’s Pontifex Maximus for the rest of his life.
With
the defeat of Lepidus, Octavian is now in a
position to challenge Antony for top dog—and Antony isn’t playing the
game
well.
In
36 AD, Antony had launched an attack on
Parthia. He succeeded militarily, but
lost 22,000 men on the return home.
Having escaped the Parthians, he now falls into the clutches of
Cleopatra.
Antony
and Cleopatra had had an affair before (41
BC)—much to the displeasure of Fulvia.
But from 40-36 BC, Antony stayed away from Cleopatra—quite
rightly,
since his marriage to Octavia was critical.
But
now Antony falls completely under the spell of
the Egyptian queen. He makes the
“Alexandrian
Donations” promising that Cleopatra and her children will get control
of what
should have been Roman territory in the east.
He then divorce Octavia to marry Cleopatra. These two moves give
Octavian all the excuse he needs to justify raising a massive force to
fight
against Antony and Cleopatra. The two
sides meet at the Battle of Actium (31 BC).
Antony loses his navy, and his army, thinking that he had
deserted them
to follow Cleopatra, essentially deserts him: not a man they are
willing to
fight for anymore.
Cleopatra
and Antony end up fleeing to Egypt, and
there is more skirmishing there, but Actium had really turned the
tables
decisively. Antony, his hope dashed and thinking Cleopatra already
captured or
dead, committed suicide. Cleopatra is
likewise a suicide.