explanation. In narrating the central epoch of the history of Rome I have been unable to escape from the influence of the h

nment: that was the question confronting the Romans themselves, and I have tried to answer it precisely in their fashion (ch

ighly controversial, the learned literature overwhelming in bulk. I have been driven to make a bold decision in the intere

but for his work on Republican family-history, this book could hardly have existed. In detail my principal debts are to the

be made of Tarn’s writings about Antonius and Cleopatra (from which I have learned so much, though compelled to dissent in o

sopographer. For the sake of clearness, conventional labels or titles have often been attached; and the relevant evidence is

o acknowledge the constant encouragement and the generous help that I have received from Mr. Last, the Camden Professor of A

e writings and discoveries of the last twelve years, much as I should have liked to insert various small yet significant det

calculation. It lasted for forty years. No astrologer or doctor could have foretold that the frail youth would outlive, by a

tury, his ally and contemporary, the robust Agrippa; no schemer could have counted in advance upon the deaths of his nephew

scriptions, and Augustus the Princeps, the beneficent magistrate, men have been at a loss to account for the transmutation,

strate, men have been at a loss to account for the transmutation, and have surrendered their reason to extravagant fancies.

ndous and not to be defined. Auctoritas is the word his enemies would have called it potentia. They were right. Yet the ‘Res

Triumviral, cannot be annulled. When the individuals and classes that have gained wealth, honours and power through revoluti

the War of Actium and the Principate of Augustus: the work appears to have ended when the Republic went down at Philippi. Th

and he jealously maintained his independence. To tell the truth would have been inexpedient; and adulation was repugnant to

t Pompeius, for all his power, had to come to terms. Nor could Caesar have ruled without it. Coerced by Pompeius and sharply

s. Of necessity the conception was narrow only the ruling order could have any history at all and only the ruling city: only

e identified, many of them obscure or casually known. 1 The remainder have left no record of activity or fame in a singularl

walls a faction among the nobiles had opened the gates. Cicero would have preserved both dignity and peace of mind had not

who was not able to maintain an army on his income. 2 Crassus should have known. The competition was fierce and incessant

ker. Had Atticus so chosen, wealth, repute and influence could easily have procured a seat in the Senate. 4 But Atticus did

est revolution or even reform, for these men could not be expected to have a personal interest in redistributing property or

plebs and by due subservience towards the financial interests, might have perpetuated in Rome and Italy its harsh and hopel

ius and Sulla. Brutal, corrupt and perfidious, Strabo was believed to have procured the assassination of a consul. 2 When he

3 Both actions and motive of Crassus in this period, as of Caesar, have commonly been misunderstood. PageBook=>030

was Princeps beyond dispute but not at Rome. By armed force he might have established sole rule, but by that alone and not

peius 44; Cato minor 30. Cf. Münzer, RA, 349 ff. 2 That it need not have been a serious matter is shown by Ad Att. 1, 13,

bribery the election of Bibulus, his daughter’s husband. 6 He should have made certain of both consuls. Caesar, returning

. Pompeius emerged with renewed strength from a crisis which he may have done much to provoke. 4 Had he dropped Caesar, he

h he may have done much to provoke. 4 Had he dropped Caesar, he might have been entrapped by the Optimates and circumvented

mates and circumvented by Crassus, their potential ally. Now he would have an army of his own in Spain to support his predom

blish a military autocracy. Their ambitions and their rivalries might have been tolerated in a small city-state or in a Rome

ither was strong enough to harm Pompeius; and Ap. Pulcher may already have been angling for an alliance. 1 The consuls achie

often conceit or stupidity and mistook craft for sagacity. They might have known better Cato’s stubborn refusal to agree to

eius listened and consented to an interview, their old amicitia might have been repaired. With the nominal primacy of Pompei

elf valued most it was his personal honour. His enemies appeared to have triumphed. They had driven a wedge between the tw

nd the feeling of guilt, added to inadequate preparation for war, may have impaired his decision. 3 Yet his plan was no mere

, 5; 8, 16, 1. 3 Pompeius’ illness in the summer of 50 B.C. may not have been wholly due to physical causes. 4 Cf. E. Me

esistance of the Pompeian cause in Africa and in Spain. ‘They would have it thus,’ said Caesar as he gazed upon the Roman

nation. 1 Had Pompeius conquered in battle, the Republic could hardly have survived. A few years, and Pompeius the Dictator

ld hardly have survived. A few years, and Pompeius the Dictator would have been assassinated in the Senate by honourable men

ten treatises about the Roman Commonwealth some years earlier, he may have expected to be consulted upon these weighty matte

s W. Warde Fowler points out, his Roman contemporaries do not seem to have taken much interest in the matter, Roman Ideas of

ders of the Caesarian party. It might appear that subsequent accounts have been guilty of attributing a part at least of the

tor’s powers were as considerable as those of a monarch. Caesar would have been the first to admit it: he needed neither the

t and an opportunist. In the short time at his disposal he can hardly have made plans for a long future or laid the foundati

a theory. Yet it is in no way evident that the nature of Brutus would have been very different had he never opened a book of

ons (SIG3 748, 36): Brutus, invoking the sanctity of contracts, might have urged that, after all, they had ‘hired the money’

r was his political conduct wholly to be predicted. Brutus might well have been a Caesarian neither he nor Caesar were prede

franchise. Caesar in truth was more conservative and Roman than many have fancied; and no Roman conceived of government sav

the wishes of his allies and emancipates himself from control, he may have to be dropped or suppressed. The reformer Ti. Gra

hilippus joined the Caesarian tribunes. 4 Old associations that might have appeared negligible or tenuous were faithfully re

ce were alleged against Sallustius: the enemies of Ap. Claudius could have incriminated the stern censor on that count. Fu

nius himself was sacrificed to the publicani. Pompeius could surely have saved him, had he cared. 2 But Gabinius had serve

ronage as well as for military experience. His numerous legates might have been the nucleus of a formidable faction. 3 Some

the duties which they owed to birth and station. The plebs would not have given preference and votes against Caesar for one

424. PageBook=>069 not in vain. In the time of Sulla the Fabii have declined so far that they cannot show a consul. A

rank in the political history of Rome, patrician houses which seem to have formed an alliance for power with the plebeians w

Fabius Maximus, who died in his consulate (45 B.C.). 2 Cicero would have preferred Nero (Ad Att. 6, 6, 1). On his service

il war. Caesar designated him for the consulate of 44: he cannot then have been only twenty-five, as stated by Appian, BC 2,

rvices of thugs and brigands in defence of his own dignitas, he would have requited them. ’2 No empty words this trait and p

tronianus (for the full name, ILS 8890) is said by Dio (45, 17, 1) to have belonged to a proscribed family. Yet he is surely

ore powerful attraction. In the last decade of the Republic there can have been few intrigues conducted and compacts arrange

ight be but Balbus, the friend of such eminent citizens, could surely have no enemies. 4 Balbus won. But for the failure of

political intrigues, the fate of Balbus and the role of Cicero would have been very different. Balbus ruled his native Ga

classes or high finance against Caesar. 1 The financier Atticus will have been able to forecast events with some accuracy a

. It is much to be regretted that his letters to apprehensive clients have not been preserved. Many of the bankers were alre

e found among the officers and friends of Pompeius; 3 and it will not have been forgotten that his father had secured Latin

a (Caesar, BC 1, 24, 4). 4 Suetonius, Divus Iulius 73. The poet may have owed something to the patronage of the Metelli. C

he dynasts of Gades, from Pompeius’ following to his own. He may also have inherited the Spanish connexion of his old associ

icat. τί γἀ⍴ αùτῷ µέλ∊ι’; 3 Dio 43, 47, 3. The total may not really have been quite so large. 4 Ib. 43, 49, 1. Caesar cl

, Hist, 1,55, 22 M): A primipilaris (Orosius 5, 21, 3). But there may have been others. On the class from which Sulla’s new

8), 13. PageBook=>079 Some of Caesar’s equestrian officers may have been ex-centurions. Of the senators stated once t

officers may have been ex-centurions. Of the senators stated once to have served in the ranks as centurions only one is suf

he contemptuous appellation of ‘Gaul’. Catullus’ family would perhaps have been eligible for senatorial rank, if not Virgil’

icipal magistrate at Acerrae (CIL X, 3758). L. Decidius Saxa may also have been an ex-centurion, below, p. 80, n. 1; also th

d talented individuals from the towns of Spain and southern Gaul will have been more acceptable to the Roman aristocracy tha

clature. Provincials, freedmen or centurions, their proportion must have been tiny in an assembly that now numbered about

more than two hundred unknown to history, the Senate after Sulla must have contained in high proportion the sons of Roman kn

ation had been established. Cicero shuddered to think that he would have to sit in the Senate in the sight and presence of

ple who had been condemned on a charge of corruption. 3 Cicero should have sought consolation: he could now see beside him a

that they had always been there. The Caecinae of Etruscan Volaterrae have their name perpetuated in a modern river of the v

ns had risen to drive them out. 8 The attempt was as vain as it would have been to expel the Aleuadae from Thessalian Larisa

astic house of Capua c. 217 B.C., Livy 23, 2, 1 ff. The Fabii seem to have acquired great influence in Etruria, cf. Münzer,

lli is not known. Caeculus, the god who founded Praeneste, is said to have been their ancestor (Festus, p. 38 L). 4 The co

2 The unification of Italy is often dated much too early. That it can have been neither rapid nor easy is demonstrated by th

the citizenship to any who laid down their arms within sixty days may have weakened the insurgents by encouraging desertion,

dius Silo, cf. Plutarch, Cato minor 2. 3 A large part of Italy must have been outside the control of the Roman government

he nobiles to secure the consulate. In their political careers he may have encouraged or defended certain of his personal fr

elp. 5 Plancius, from Cicero’s own Volscian country, required and may have NotesPage=>088 1 Velleius 2, 16, 2. 2 Ap

and knights. 5 The episode also revealed what everybody knew and few have recorded bitter discontent all over Italy, broken

. Schulze, ib.). 6 C. Sallustius Crispus’ town of origin is said to have been Amiternum (Jerome, Chron., p. 151 H). A cert

Bellum Italicum now taste revenge and requital at last. The Paeligni have to wait a generation yet, it is true, before they

gain from Caesar the dignity they deserved but otherwise might never have attained. Herius Asinius, the first man among the

ntidius as a muleteer. 3 His career was laborious, but his origin may have been reputable. History has record of a family of

arp lesson. Nor would a seat in the lower ranks of the Senate at Rome have been an extreme honour and unmixed blessing to th

ius T. Didius (98), C. Coelius Caldus (94), and M. Herennius (93) may have been helped by him. 3 L. Licinius Murena (cos.

ir admitted talents, it is by no means likely that the Dictator would have given the consulate to Ventidius or to Balbus he

his connexions, above, p. 64, n. 2 PageBook=>096 caution would have repelled the advances of the Liberators. The Dict

e insignia of a consul; for Caesar had intended that Dolabella should have the vacant place when he resigned and departed to

ere oratory of Brutus. How different, how fiery a speech would Cicero have composed; 2 but Cicero was not present. The Liber

f the Dictator and even his last projects, as yet unpublished were to have the force of law. The need of this was patent and

esign. The funeral oration delivered by Antonius (March 20th) may not have been intended as a political manifesto of the Cae

as a political manifesto of the Caesarian party; and the results may have outstripped his designs. In form, the speech was

k of counsel. ’2 Brutus and Cassius, since they were praetors, should have usurped authority and summoned the Senate to meet

tol, it was afterwards urged. 3 But that was treason. They should not have left the consul Antonius alive. But there was n

Cassius forsworn its principles and appealed to arms, their end would have been rapid and violent. The moderates, the party

he veterans in Italy, and the Caesarian armies in the provinces would have been too strong. The Liberators had not planned

er the funeral of Caesar and the ensuing disorders, Brutus appears to have persisted in irrational fancies about that Roman

her favourite. More truly representative of the Roman People should have been the soldiers of the legions and the inhabita

that certain arrangements were still pending the Dictator appears to have designated or even allotted provinces to three of

r provinces. 1 What happened is obscure the provinces in question may have been allotted on March 18th. Early in April Decim

lution instead of the mere removal of an autocrat, they would clearly have failed. Yet even now, despite the deplorable fact

orse, for more than a year. The task was delicate, and Caesar may not have been altogether satisfied with his deputy. Yet th

nal liberty, accorded a wide indulgence. The failings of Antonius may have told against him but in Rome and in Italy rather

desired them to be away from Rome: a temporary absence at least might have been admitted by the friends of Brutus, to salvag

n Antonius. It had been feared that the assassination of Caesar would have wide and ruinous repercussions outside Rome, prov

ry far from abounding in ready cash. Most of the debatable money must have been expended in the purchase of lands for the ve

earned to expect of the politician in power. His year of office would have to go far in violence and corruption to equal the

though the fate of Caesar were not a warning. Moreover, Antonius may have lacked the taste, and perhaps the faculty, for lo

ression are terms of partisan interpretation. Though Antonius may not have desired to set himself in’ Caesar’s place, he is

To what end? Primacy in the Caesarian party was now his: but he might have to fight to retain it. More than that, Antonius

year, with A. Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa as consuls, Antonius would have his province of Macedonia. But the proconsul was

consulate. For the sake of peace, the predominance of Antonius might have to be admitted by neutrals even by Republicans.

. But Dolabella, an unscrupulous and ambitious young man, would still have to be watched. To Lepidus Antonius secured the of

h the principes a source of intrigue and feuds. Pompeius they might have tolerated for a time, or even Caesar, but not Ant

too was dead. Averse from compromise and firm on principle, he would have been a nuisance to any government: not less so, b

stripped of its legions. As for the East, Trebonius and Cimber might have Asia and Bithynia: the only armies east of Macedo

ved his fall. On no rational forecast of events would his adopted son have succeeded in playing off the Republican cause aga

onius about the disposal of the Dictator’s property, however, he must have rejoiced in secret. 5 Then Octavianus called on C

, in the meantime, acquired a mastery of the demagogic arts that must have reinforced his native distrust and Roman scorn fo

ned next is obscure. The enemies of Antonius, taking new courage, may have gone too far. It was known before the event that

ul at the meeting of the Senate announced for August 1st; it may also have been known who was to take the lead, namely the r

e balance in politics seemed to be turning against Antonius: he would have to make a choice. Sanguine informants from Rome r

he same phantom bore heavily on Antonius and stayed the hand he would have raised against Caesar’s heir. The word of the vet

at least on the surface, which is all that we know. Yet Antonius may have spoken as he did in order to force his enemies to

ender his command, hardly even a part of it, the Cisalpina, which may have been Piso’s proposal (cf. Appian, BC 3, 30, 115).

s of a senior statesman, all that was too long and too slow. He would have to wait until middle age: his laurels would repos

perilous path that Octavianus intended to tread, such resources would have to be doubled and redoubled. Octavianus was res

eals never a trace of theoretical preoccupations: if it did, it would have been very different and very short. Lessons mig

ter that, Republican allies and constitutional backing. He would then have to postpone the avenging of Caesar until he was s

openly to advocate sedition, violence and civil war, Octavianus would have to take the lead and act. 1 NotesPage=>122

o Rome. He summoned the Senate to meet on November 24th, intending to have Octavianus denounced as a public enemy. The rash

ve Octavianus denounced as a public enemy. The rash youth appeared to have played into his hands. Of the legal point, no que

Had the consul attempted to outlaw Octavianus, a tribune would surely have vetoed the measure: he could not afford a fresh c

, surviving a cause for which better men had died, will none the less have striven through intrigue to maintain the newly re

ere both desperately anxious not to be openly compromised. They would have to go quietly for the present but their chance mi

eived a share of his fortune through the will, which they are said to have resigned to Octavianus. 4 Nothing else is known o

thal, Wiener Studien xxxv (1913), 125. Philippus, however, appears to have helped his step-son to pay the legacies (Appian,

portent. 2 Of the origin and family of M. Agrippa, friends or enemies have nothing to say: even when it became safe to inqui

to defend his interests against Roman tribunes. The family appears to have sided with Marius in the civil wars, suffering in

utum 1, 17, 4). No mention of either by Cicero their mere names would have been a damaging revelation. Salvidienus may well

ere names would have been a damaging revelation. Salvidienus may well have been an equestrian officer in Caesar’s army. On t

rippa was the same age to within a year as Octavianus, and is said to have been his schoolfellow (Nicolaus, Vita Caesaris 7,

us, who refused to finance the war-chest of the Liberators, would not have looked at this venture. No matter: Caesar’s heir

last name, If Nicolaus is correct and correctly transmitted we might have here not Maecenas but his father (so Münzer, P-W

xiv, 206). About the last three names few attempts at identification have been made, none satisfactory. Λ∈ύκιος might be Ba

e absence of Salvidienus. PageBook=>132 Octavianus may already have numbered among his supporters certain obscure and

ses before any number of senators emerge on his side. When four years have elapsed and Octavianus through all hazards, throu

mely L. Piso, P. Servilius and Cicero, and therefore might be said to have encouraged the designs of Octavianus. That was al

of living to his family tradition and to his fortune, which would not have supported ostentatious display and senseless luxu

s youth come forward to arraign by prosecution a proconsul alleged to have been corrupt, incompetent and calamitous. Piso, h

to the censorship in 50 B.C., an honour to which many consulars must have aspired as due recognition of public service and

h a bribe to his ambition, the consulate of 48 B.C. Servilius may not have been a man of action yet he governed the province

ger from the earliest years of Cicero’s political career he seemed to have dominated the stage and directed the action. Twic

endered to the obsession. Otherwise there were many things that might have brought Cicero and Caesar together a common taste

heatre of his old triumphs. With the passing of time, he might indeed have silenced his conscience and acquiesced in a large

ompose NotesPage=>138 1 Ad Att. 7, 15, 2. 2 He may, however, have been influenced by circumstantial rumours. It was

to save it, what better champion than a patriot who boasted never to have been a party politician? As Antonius had once sai

n August 7th of news and rumours from Rome. The situation appeared to have changed. Antonius gave signs of a readiness to co

between Antonius and Octavianus. Yet of these events he will perhaps have had cognizance at Leucopetra. Only a domestic qua

o word of the young Caesar: yet the existence of Antonius’ rival must have been reckoned as a political factor by Cicero and

icio optatius, nihil vera gloria dulcius. ’ PageBook=>144 must have congratulated himself on his refusal to be lured

private initiative for the salvation of the State, they clamoured to have their position legalized. The offensive was there

post after March 17th when concord and ordered government might still have been achieved. Now, at last, a chance had come

nt, but simply the ancestral constitution of Rome as it was or should have been a century earlier, namely a stable and balan

onstancy, of Roman virtus and aristocratic magnitudo animi that would have justified the exorbitant claims of his personal a

d fashionable youth. The speeches in defence of Vatinius and Gabinius have not been preserved. One learns, however, that the

e was a partisan of Antonius. Had he been on the right side, he would have been praised no less than that man from Gades, th

t. 1 The politician Vatinius could give as good as he got he seems to have borne Cicero no malice for the speech In Vatinium

e they stood. 2 The conversion of a military leader might sometimes have to be enforced, or at least accelerated, by the a

a, namely the plebiscite of June 1st. Explicitly or not, that law may have permitted him to take over the province before th

y revealed a marked deficiency in vigour, decision and authority. ‘We have been let down by the principes’; such was the con

tonius, his ally in the days following the Ides of March; and he will have reflected that next to Antonius he was the most h

nd despised for lack of the splendour, courage and ability that would have excused his ambitions. 1 The Aemilian name, his f

tical negotiations where the diplomacy of a Cicero or a Plancus would have excited rational distrust among friends as well a

ars before the legal age. Octavianus was now nineteen: he would still have thirteen years to wait. After this, the vote of a

as legal until the legislation of Antonius (and of his agents) should have been declared null and void. That was not done un

fixed two years as the tenure of a consular province: but that might have been contested, for Antonius’ command was not a n

uction, cf. S. Weinstock, JRS XXVII (1937), 221. Cicero’s proposal to have the proconsul outlawed can hardly be described as

I (1898), 195. PageBook=>169 Caesarians and neutrals alike may have expected the swift fall of Mutina. Against that f

ontumacious proconsul and plunged the world into war. The lesson must have provided arguments against the adoption of irrevo

ld hold for the five years following, until Brutus and Cassius should have become consuls and have vacated their consular pr

rs following, until Brutus and Cassius should have become consuls and have vacated their consular provinces, that is, until

d upon a private adventurer. As for Brutus and Cassius, he appears to have recognized their right to the consulate of 41 B.C

he activities of this influential and wealthy country gentleman could have been described in very different terms. 2 Ad fa

th each other and presumably with Antonius. Lepidus at least seems to have made no secret of his agreement with Antonius: An

the West, the combined armies of the Republic in northern Italy would have an easy task. So it might seem. Antonius broke aw

person of Octavianus. Hirtius and Pansa, at the head of armies, might have been able to arrest hostilities after the defeat

aesar’s assassin: nor, if he had, is it certain that the troops would have obeyed. 1 And so Ventidius slipped through. Bef

e Liberators might even combine against their common enemy civil wars have witnessed stranger vicissitudes of alliance. 3 Ye

Italy with their host of seventeen legions, his ‘father’ Cicero would have no compunction about declaring the young man a pu

vice which the Caesarian consul Pansa on his death-bed may or may not have given to Caesar’s heir. 4 And now on others bes

loyal dispatches which Lepidus continued to send to the Senate should have deceived nobody. The two armies lay against eac

had been the generals of Pompeius. He did not wish to be nor could he have subjugated the strong Caesarian sympathies of off

had complained that the Senate sent him no instructions; nor could he have marched to Italy against the will of the ambiguou

Book=>168 honoured, lifted up and lifted off. 1 Cicero may never have said it. That did not matter. The happy invention

ambition of Octavianus. 4 Who was the destined colleague? It may well have been the ambiguous P. Servilius, for to this summ

Brutus had not broken off all relations with M. Antonius he may still have hoped for an accommodation:7 the brother of the C

ews of armies raised in Italy and Caesar’s heir marching on Rome will have convinced him at last that there was no room left

To cross to Italy without Cassius and the resources of the East would have been a fatal step. The Caesarian generals would h

f the East would have been a fatal step. The Caesarian generals would have united at once to destroy him Octavianus in his t

o stand for the consulate in absence8 a move of conciliation that may have been NotesPage=>171 1 Ad M. Brutum 1, 16,

upon the lesser enemies along with the greater. Rome could already have a foretaste of legal murder. One of the praetors,

nion of Antonius and Lepidus cleared the situation; messages may then have passed. A clear indication was soon given. As Oct

ain, with a brave front. In force of arms, Lepidus and Antonius could have overwhelmed the young consul. His name and fortun

ry of the Bellum Italicum and the party of Marius. Lepidus appears to have NotesPage=>188 1 Appian, BC 3, 80, 329 (a

2 The others were of no importance. Lepidus himself, however, was to have a second consulate in the next year, with Plancus

, dominant from geographical position and armed strength: he seems to have left his partisan Pollio as proconsul of the Cisa

cal civil war for several years. 5 As for the islands, it may already have been feared, and it was soon to be known, that so

as returning and died upon the spot, of his own will. 2 The scene may have been impressive, but the prophecy was superfluous

s that they invoked indulgence and made allowances. Regrets there may have been to see a fine soldier and a Roman noble like

category, that of knights. In all, nearly 100 names of the proscribed have been recorded (Drumann-Groebe, Gesch. Roms I2, 47

in Italy when they settled accounts with the Liberators. Cicero could have escaped through indecision he lingered until too

sight and good investments preserved Atticus: his wealth alone should have procured his doom. The Caesarian party was fighti

lso on the lists. 5 Pollio’s rivals among the Marrucini will likewise have been found there:6 his own father-in-law was also

d unscrupulous in their secret deeds. The town of Larinum will surely have lived up to its reputation. 8 Elsewhere the defea

the company of Plancus. 6 Urbinius Panapio (Val. Max. 6, 8, 6) may have been a Marrucine: an Urbinia certainly married th

A large number of local aristocrats supported Caesar; 4 and some will have remained loyal to the Caesarian party. Certain we

lii Lamiae from Formiae or the Vinicii of Cales, who are not known to have been proscribed, either enjoyed protection alread

consolidate the existing order. Nor would Antonius and his associates have behaved as they did, could security and power be

ignominy of the new senators of the Triumviral period they could not have competed. Not only aliens or men of low origin an

us Gallus, T. Peducaeus, M. Herennius the Picene and L. Vinicius, who have left no record of service to the rulers of Rome b

a (cos. suff. 36) and L. Cocceius Nerva (never consul): the new Fasti have shown which Cocceius was consul in 39. See also b

rol rested with Antonius, for one of his partisans, Calenus, seems to have commanded two legions established in Italy,3 whil

or war. Even when Antonius joined Lepidus and Plancus, Brutus may not have abandoned all hope of an accommodation with East

ruggle was a potent argument for concord. Brutus and Antonius might have understood each other and compromised for peace a

gazed in sorrow upon the Roman dead, the tragedy of his own life may have risen to his thoughts. Brutus had divined it An

sen to his thoughts. Brutus had divined it Antonius, he said, might have been numbered with Cato, with Brutus and with Cas

s of Pompeius. As for Africa, should Lepidus make complaint, he might have that for his share. These engagements were duly r

arduous, unpopular and all but fatal to himself. No calculation could have predicted that he would emerge in strength and tr

by the populace and by the Senate with a sincere fervour such as can have attended none of his more recent predecessors whe

bus in the Adriatic, Murcus now with Sex. Pompeius. Pompeius seems to have let slip his opportunity not the only time. A con

ntonian and Republican forces in Italy and on the seas adjacent would have destroyed Octavianus. But there was neither unity

uise after the event; and Antonius, if adequately informed, may still have preferred to wait upon events. 5 At last he moved

his Caesarian rival. For war, his prospects were better than he could have hoped; and he at once demonstrated his old genera

as in negotiation and ready to desert. If anybody, Salvidienus should have known how the odds lay. Once again, however, the

ore as its title the consulate of Pollio and Calvinus. 4 It might not have happened: the armed confrontation of the angry dy

parentis iam legere et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus. 2 It may have been rehandled and made more allegorical in form.

JRS xxii (1932), 135 ff. The widely prevalent belief that Virgil must have been writing about a child of Octavianus derives

PageBook=>220 leadership of the Caesarian party, should in truth have ruled over a world that had been pacified by the

nt his best general Ventidius to disperse the Parthians. 4 Pollio may have departed to Macedonia about the same time if he c

he admiral’s ship, moored by the land. A rope cut, and Pompeius would have the masters of the world in his power a topic fer

ng Caesar, strong in the support of the plebs and the veterans, would have to be NotesPage=>221 1 Nicolaus, Vita Caes

ace with Pompeius brought him further allies. 1 The aristocrats would have disdained to associate with the young adventurer

le dwelling in the hinterland of Dyrrhachium. 1 The Dardani will also have felt the force of the Roman arms Antonius kept a

ius, sending Maecenas on a mission to Greece. Antonius, who wished to have his hands free of western entanglements and neede

s until the end of 33 B.C.3 By then, it was presumed, the State would have been set in order and the organs of government re

nviction grew upon him that he had been thwarted and deceived. He may have hoped that his military genius as well as his shi

ook=>226 be enlisted to deal with Pompeius. But Octavianus would have none of that. Further, from duty to his ally and

late summer of the year he sent Octavia back to Italy. He may already have tired of Octavia. Anything that reminded him of h

have tired of Octavia. Anything that reminded him of her brother must have been highly distasteful. His future and his fate

ext year as his reward, did not choose to hold the triumph that would have thrown the disasters of Octavianus into high and

grippa and the diplomacy of Maecenas. Lacking either of them he might have been lost. Antonius was induced to come to Tarent

cuse for delay to restore constitutional government. Few senators can have believed in the sincerity of such professions. Th

n Syria, revealed only by inscriptions (Syria xv (1934), 33 ff.), may have been sent by Antonius to help his ally and may ha

34), 33 ff.), may have been sent by Antonius to help his ally and may have passed before long into the service of Octavianus

non-Latin stock. 3 The name of Statilius recalled, and his family may have continued, an ancient line of the aristocracy of

to Taurus comes from Volceii in Lucania (ILS 893 a). 5 Messalla may have come with ships from Antonius as did Bibulus and

erwards, either the nobiles or the novi homines. 2 Octavianus may now have honoured men of discreet repute among the Roman a

or Calpurnius. Those families were not extinct, but many years would have to pass before the Fasti of the consuls and the f

n by a man called Vipsanius, or the elephant of Cornificius. It would have been vain to point in extenuation to their valour

variations of argument and ample development of theme would scarcely have retained their hold upon a generation that had lo

f rhythm to the extremity of abruptness and so archaic that one would have fancied him born a century earlier. 4 Pollio and

quitates rerum humanarum et divinarum, in forty-one books, appears to have been composed in the years 55–47 B.C. It was dedi

e sombre, intense and passionate chapters of Thucydides. He could not have chosen better, if choice there was, for he, too,

ism, found it bad from the roots. History, to be real and true, would have to concern itself with something more than the pu

tter to Cicero mentions ‘my friend, Cornelius Gallus’. 3 The poet may have served as an equestrian officer on the staff of P

owner of property from the town of Mantua. Pollio’s good offices may have preserved or restored the poet’s estate so long a

employed in historical reconstruction. 6 His Lycoris is alleged to have been Volumnia (the freedwoman of P. Volumnius Eut

theris, formerly the mistress of Antonius. Her subsequent attachments have not been recorded. PageBook=>253 abandoned

anticipating his return and triumph, in a tone and manner that would have been fitting if the whole collection were being d

quam poeta melior. ’ PageBook=>254 Italy on imported corn, may have reinforced the argument for self-sufficiency, and

comparison; 1 Italy had barely been touched by the wars; and it would have been an anachronism to revert from vine and olive

already at work. But the acts of the young dynast even now can hardly have foretold the power and splendour of the future mo

feared the imminent clash and some favoured Caesar’s heir, none could have foreseen by what arts a national champion was to

ter part of two years not Ventidius but the victor of Philippi should have driven the Parthians out of Asia. When at last hi

Antonius refused to give her any more. These grants do not seem to have excited alarm or criticism at Rome: only later di

m Titius, Ahenobarbus and others. 1 Plancus, the uncle of Titius, may have seen service in this war on the staff of Antonius

old on Armenia by planting garrisons over the land perhaps he did not have enough legions. Thus Artavasdes, given impunity,

us Capito). 2 Plancus’ second imperatorial salutation (ILS 886) may have been won earlier, in 40-39 B.C. PageBook=>26

evil and often exaggerated reputation yet Galatia or Macedonia could have competed with Italy in valour and even in discipl

lic life, perhaps Censorinus had as well. Other partisans may already have been verging towards Caesar’s heir or neutrality

Antonius; 2 the amiable and diplomatic L. Cocceius, however, may not have left Italy after the Pact of Brundisium. Plancu

-law L. Scribonius Libo at once became consul (34 B.C.), but seems to have lapsed from politics. The young nobiles M. Aemili

. If the Roman oligarchy was to survive as a governing class it would have to abate its ambitions and narrow the area of its

e weak, its monarchs impotent or ridiculous. Pompeius or Caesar might have annexed: they wisely preferred to preserve the ri

? Again the argument is from intentions intentions which can hardly have been as apparent to Antonius’ Republican follower

he western fallen by partition to Octavianus, his policy would hardly have differed from that of Antonius. The first man in

as the consort of Isis. But in this matter exaggeration and credulity have run riot. When Antonius met Cleopatra at Tarsus,

cal consequences. By 33 B.C., however, the ambition of Antonius might have moved farther in this direction. He had not been

osition was awkward if he did not placate the Queen of Egypt he would have to depose her. Yet he was quite able to repel her

here are more insistent and more dangerous forms of domination he may have succumbed to the power of her imagination and her

esarian leaders. Failing Cleopatra and her children, Octavianus would have been reduced to inferior expedients, mere detesta

5 he was soon to be requited with the consulate which Antonius should have held. Republican freedom of speech now revelled i

new consuls last portended a change in politics a whole age seemed to have elapsed, and most of the principal actors were de

e had come to an end, legally at least. PageBook=>278 steps to have his position legalized. He respected the constitu

h they had received late in the preceding autumn. They may previously have made a compromise with Octavianus:1 it is more li

kely that they were afraid to divulge its contents. Antonius asked to have his acta confirmed. Among them was the conquest o

an desperate loyalty or invincible stupidity. Octavianus professed to have resigned the office of Triumvir, but retained the

rius, L. Cornelius and Cn. Pompeius on the Fasti. These consuls might have been designated for office at an earlier date. L.

r. Octavianus had to wait and hope for the best. His enemy would soon have to make a ruinous decision. Antonius was at Eph

Octavianus, was the equivalent of a declaration of war; and war would have ensued, Cleopatra or no Cleopatra. But the Queen

wrong in his estimate of a delicate political crisis. The effect must have been tremendous, alike in Rome and in the camp of

al judgement was sharper than their sense of personal obligation, may have departed in the company, or after the example, of

iver my edicts upon the Capitol’. 5 No Roman however degenerate could have descended to such treason in his right mind. It w

hat was a reality. More recently, Perusia. For any contest it would have been difficult enough to enlist Italian sentiment

character. But not all at once. A conscious and united Italy cannot have arisen, total and immediate, from the plebiscite

as imposed. In the military colonies and they were numerous there can have been little difficulty. Though many of the vetera

these transactions and it can be well understood. His comments would have been frank and bitter. Octavianus, supported by

came Cornelius Gallus and the ancestors of Cn. Julius Agricola, will have displayed no hesitation. The native population re

eca, later to be known as a historian and authority on rhetoric, must have been a man of some substance if he could secure s

utronius on August 16th, probably of the same year: Autronius may not have been the immediate successor of L. Cornificius in

ff.; W. W. Tarn, CAH X, 100. 2 The casualties in Media and Armenia have often been over-estimated. PageBook=>295 a

ial but not unparalleled. 1 The ex-Republican M. Licinius Crassus may have made his peace with Octavianus about the same tim

battle itself is all a mystery—and a topic of controversy. There may have been little fighting and comparatively few casual

L. Arruntius, an ex-Pompeian. 3 Sosius’ peril and Sosius’ rescue may have been artfully staged. Neither of the rivals in

ble measure the convenience of a Roman politician. The adversary must have been redoubtable indeed! It was not the glorious

spirited father disdained to beg for mercy :8 his mother Fulvia would have approved. There were other victims. As for the An

he heritage of the Ptolemies. He claimed, using official language, to have added the land to the Empire of the Roman People

6th, 28 B.C. (CIL I 2, p. 77): none the less his command in Spain may have preceded that of Taurus. He is not mentioned at A

July, 27 B.C. When a party has triumphed in civil war, it claims to have asserted the ideals of liberty and concord. Peace

was costly to maintain and a menace to internal peace. He appears to have decided upon a permanent establishment of about t

all of them surely: the scope and force of this act of indemnity will have depended upon the will and convenience of the gov

s leader to rule? He had resigned the title of Triumvir, but it might have been contended that he continued unobtrusively to

and the confidence of any who deal in that commodity. No ruler could have faith in men like Plancus and Titius. Ahenobarbus

e compromise with Senate and People, certain eminent personages might have brought secret and urgent pressure to bear upon h

to bear upon him. Some informal exchange of opinion there may well have been. No record would be likely to survive, when

tribunicia potestas for life in 30 B.C. (Dio 51, 19, 6), he seems to have made little use of it before 23. See further belo

See further below, p. 336. 2 According to Dio (51, 24, 4) he would have been entitled to the spolia opima, єἴπєρ αὐτʋκράτ

Had he firm allies or kinsmen among them, the course of events might have been different. 1 There is a mysterious calamity

etas of the Senate and deplored the death of a friend. 2 Gallus may have been recalled from Egypt in 28 B.C. With the proc

e rest, proconsuls might govern, in appearance unhindered. Some would have military provinces in their charge, about which d

cribes the offence as ‘temerati crimen amici’. Gallus may, after all, have been simply sacrificed to conciliate the feelings

mained, though the appellation gradually faded from use. Yet he might have kept it, whatever the form of the constitution an

founded—or was soon to found—the Roman State anew. He might therefore have been called Romulus, for the omen of twelve vultu

lation of powers a close parallel from the recent past might properly have been invoked: it is pretty clear that it was not.

age=>315 1 Cicero, Phil, 11, 17, cf. 28. 2 Augustus claimed to have exercised no more potestas than any of his collea

he records of the past with so anxious an eye for legal precedents as have the lawyers and historians of more recent times.

y different was Augustus, a ‘salubris princeps’, for as such he would have himself known. 5 Not only that. The whole caree

he ‘optimus status civitatis’. The character and purpose of this work have been variously, sometimes extravagantly, estimate

d, in no way peculiar to Cicero: the speeches of his peers and rivals have all perished. That being so, the resurgence of ph

ions goes on to speak of a ‘novus status’. 3 The Princeps would never have denied it. Only ghosts and words were called up

stubborn class-conscious Republicanism of Cato or of Brutus would not have found a secure haven. The uncontrolled libertas o

ht to the end against any power that set itself above the laws, would have known the true name and essence of the auctoritas

utamur domino, sed ut nullo. ` PageBook=>321 But Cicero might have changed, pliable to a changed order. So Brutus th

left—they had all joined the national government. Cicero would easily have proved to himself and to others that the new orde

m was indispensable. What fairer blend of libertas and imperium could have been discovered? A champion of the ‘higher legali

egislation of 28 B.C.— he speaks of ‘pax et princeps’; 3 others would have said ‘pax et dominus’. NotesPage=>323 1 Ta

reared among the hard and palpable realities of Roman politics, could have been deceived. The Princeps speaks of a restorati

nce—‘prisca illa et antiqua rei publicae forma revocata. ’2 The words have a venerable and antiquarian ring. That is all; an

1 ILS 893. 2 Dio 51, 23, 1. 3 Above, pp. 189 and 268. His son may have been married to a granddaughter of Cn. Domitius C

The Triumvirate had replenished the ranks of the consulars—there must have been now about forty men of this rank—and after t

Tarius Rufus (cos. suff. 16) and M. Vinicius (cos. suff. 19) may well have held more than one praetorian command in the prov

had celebrated Spanish triumphs in Rome. Some of these campaigns may have prepared the way for Augustus: if so, scant ackno

the attempt to reconstruct the true history of a year that might well have been the last, and was certainly the most critica

phus, BJ 1, 398; AJ 15, 345. PageBook=>335 The Republic had to have consuls. To take the place of Murena in the supre

Agrippa his signet-ring. 2 Under their direction the government could have continued for a time. Augustus recovered. He wa

’ Horace, Odes 1, 2, is quite relevant here, though the poem may well have been composed as early as 29 or 28 B.C. 2 Dio 5

s received imperium mains is explicitly stated by Dio, ought never to have been doubted and is confirmed, if that were neede

t suitably be reckoned from this year. The legal and formal changes have been summarily described, the arguments indicated

es have been summarily described, the arguments indicated which might have been invoked for their public and plausible justi

elusive, despite the authentic details of his sayings and habits that have been preserved, despite the inferences plausibly

o be derived from the social and moral programme which he was held to have inspired. He was no puppet: but the deeds for whi

or the leadership of his party Agrippa and other party-magnates would have their word to say about that. Two different conce

The way of his life, like the fantastical conceits of his verse, must have been highly distasteful to Augustus as to Agrippa

tined for exhibition to a docile public. Dispassionate scrutiny might have detected certain cracks and stains on this August

attending the funeral games of Agrippa, dead earlier than they could have hoped. 4 Of Agrippa, scant honour in his lifeti

er great-grandson called ‘the Roman Ulysses’. 1 For her son she might have selected an heiress from the most eminent familie

le power, to become all that Augustus had been. The nobiles would not have stood it. Agrippa is rather to be regarded as the

led in the names of the foundation-members; and subsequent accessions have been indicated from time to time. It grew steadil

clemency and magnanimity, some of the minor partisans of Antonius may have been allowed to retain senatorial rank, in name a

ived from good fortune or a better calculation in treason, they would have held pride of place among the grand old men of th

hasing the lands of the proscribed. Their number and their gains must have been very great: during Octavianus’ preparations

had many enemies. L. Annaeus Seneca, a wealthy man from Corduba, may have held a post of this kind before he devoted himsel

aces of a ‘municipalis adulter’. 2 Seianus’ father, Seius Strabo, may have been no more than a knight in standing, a citizen

esar and of the Triumvirs: ‘occultior, non melior’, his enemies would have said. Under the new regulations, access to the Se

said. Under the new regulations, access to the Senate might appear to have been made more difficult, being restricted to tho

lius and Q. Fabricius, suffect consuls in 5, 4 and 2 B.C. Caelius may have come from Tusculum, CIL XIV, 2622 f. 6 C. Poppa

sar’s Senate. Quite early in the Principate five or six men appear to have begun their senatorial career, coming from the to

. Ovidius Naso was not disposed to serve the Roman People. He might have become a lawyer, a Roman senator, a provincial go

nd a dynasty of Spanish and Narbonensian rulers. Augustus will hardly have desired or sought to stem their steady advance.

they may be Corduba, Lugdunum, or even Pisidian Antioch. 6 It cannot have been Augustus’ aim to depreciate or retard the pr

ce. 1 For the rest, the practice of the revolutionary period seems to have crystallized into the law of the constitution. Su

or a number of years. Which was fitting. Knights themselves would not have complained. NotesPage=>369 1 Cf. C. Cichor

Senate had been purged once. That was not enough for Augustus. He may have hoped to renew the work in 22 B.C.: he delayed un

. He professed half that size to be ideal and desirable. 1 That would have been harsh and narrow; even with a Senate of six

pprobation of the Princeps. He did not nominate candidates that would have been invidious and superfluous. His will prevaile

l of elections from accident or from design. Augustus’ intentions may have been laudable and sincere more likely that the Pr

ere form, but it could not be abolished by a statesman who claimed to have restored the Free State. That was left to Augustu

3, 66; 6, 29). PageBook=>375 Under the new order Cicero would have won the consulate without competition, held it wi

a politician more than as a lawyer. 5 Nor will the orator Q. Haterius have shown any alarming independence. 6 Certain of the

M. Vinicius and P. Silius. 2 Without his favour, no novus homo could have reached the consulate. Of the nobiles, many of th

cause by various ties. Some, such as Paullus Fabius Maximus, may even have enjoyed his confidence. 3 They were not all trust

ancestors, genuine or supposed. 2 Clients or distant collaterals may have usurped rank and forged pedigrees. Over some nobl

is Vipsania, who fell to Gallus, Pollio’s ambitious son. What would have happened if Augustus like that great politician,

he Ptolemies, the nobility could not compete. Even if lucky enough to have retained their ancestral estates, they were now d

Silius and M. Vinicius in Illyricum and M. Lollius in Macedonia, must have been drawn from a small and select list indeed. T

turn, open or secret. Tiberius, being the head of the Claudii, would have had a dynastic and personal following whatever th

an uncle of consular rank. 7 The patronage which he could exert would have been formidable enough, even if he had not been P

and at this price a well ordered state such as Sulla and Caesar might have desired but could never have created. The power o

red state such as Sulla and Caesar might have desired but could never have created. The power of the People was broken. No p

ed in a measure that none of the agents of the drama of 23 B.C. could have foreseen. Before the year was out, Marcellus, the

ed; 1 and on this occasion the proconsul of Macedonia, whoever he may have been, was surely not inactive. Conquest had to co

litary men who served the dynasty and the State, Augustus and history have paid scant requital; the record of their achievem

istorians favourable to Tiberius the exploits of his peers and rivals have been passed over so as to create the impression t

er of praetorian and consular provinces. Yet rigidity of system would have been foreign both to the Roman spirit and to the

tance from its constant and arduous wars: the garrison may not always have been as small as the single legion that remained

, and kept it. 4 NotesPage=>394 1 The legion XII Fulminata may have been in Africa c. A.D. 3 (ILS 8966). 2 Dio (54,

well as rewarded experience. The young consul of thirty-three did not have to wait too long for a province Africa or Asia mi

eius got for Caesar the Gallic command he gave him Labienus, who must have had previous experience. 2 Another Pompeian from

obscure Petreius was also in high repute as a military man. 4 He may have served in Spain before Varro certainly had, and V

ortant military operations are barely known, other campaigns no doubt have lapsed into oblivion. No complete record exists

xt attested legate, governing the province in absentia; and there may have been no separate legate for Syria during the peri

a long experience of the East from his Antonian days, appears then to have been appointed legate in Syria:1 his successor wa

ead and Tiberius in exile. Whatever had happened at Rome, there would have been a lull in operations after the conquest of I

icum and the invasions of Germany. Other generals in their turn would have commanded in the north. Moreover a large number

ans in these years is doubly obscure. The army of Macedonia may still have been retained by the proconsul or may already hav

acedonia may still have been retained by the proconsul or may already have been transferred to the legate of Moesia. 5 Howev

Cornelius Lentulus, usually assigned to Illyricum, could quite well have been a legate of Moesia in the period 9 B.C.–A.D.

ere were no more triumphs of senators; and in any case Augustus would have wished, even if he had not been forced, to substi

nt with each other and perhaps recalcitrant to the Princeps. They may have suspected, and with reason, that he intended to d

ections and free debate in the Senate, it is evident that there would have to be expert preparation and firm control behind

man whether he acted as parent, magistrate or general. Augustus could have invoked tradition and propriety, had he needed or

nators chosen by lot, was to change every six months. 1 It appears to have persisted throughout his reign, being especially

s was not a permanent change; and the committee seems subsequently to have lapsed. 3 The Senate no less than the assembly

and from their effects as revealed in the course of events: it would have to be postulated, were it not flagrant and eviden

three new posts in the city of Rome; and knights as well as senators have their place in the different councils of state. R

his friends. 3 Yet Vedius Pollio had once been useful he appears to have been active in the province of Asia shortly after

ed out public works. For the management of the various funds he would have resort to the tried skill of slaves and freedmen.

s, C. Julius Aquila and M. Magius Maximus. These persons, it is true, have no known history among the equestrian councillors

such as had a reputation for independence. The eloquent Messalla may have played his part along with the diplomatic Plancus

uthorities and agents in this department of public service appears to have been Cn. Domitius Calvinus, the oldest surviving

consulate, M. Valerius Messalla Rufus, who wrote on augury, may still have been alive. Messalla was augur for fifty-five yea

merely languished from the loss of its shining glories it appears to have broken away from the control of the government. A

irectly, and all provinces indirectly. The statute of 23 B.C. may not have given the Princeps the power of making war and pe

ent on provincial commands, men like Lollius, Quirinius and Piso will have had something to say. NotesPage=>412 1 Tac

ors, Agrippa and Maecenas: had they lived, certain things would never have happened. 2 In the elaborate fiction of Cassius

a solemn political show. The taciturn and business-like Agrippa would have been of little use. Nor would Taurus, the other s

would Taurus, the other soldier and administrator. Even lawyers could have been dispensed with, for the formulation was of t

. 4). PageBook=>414 The historian might with no less propriety have turned his talents to the elucidation of the ‘con

despot. Modesty or ignorance deterred him from the attempt. It would have required imagination that he did not possess and

ion seems excessive. In a Republic like that of Pompeius, Livia would have been a political force, comparable to her kinswom

ng of this ‘conspiracy’. The fact that Cinna was consul in A.D. 5 may have had something to do with the origin of the story,

sign beneficial to the Roman People? Of that, a patriotic Roman might have his doubts. The New State was fast turning into t

the princes. But that was all in the situation already. Nobody could have been deceived. In 6 B.C. there was an agitation t

with secret exultation. 3 In the next year it came out. Gaius was to have the consulate after an interval of five years (th

rinceps, her son under the revived aristocracy of the New State would have reached the consulate in his thirty- third year,

ate generals and sagacious counsellors, the most prominent among whom have already been indicated. The Princeps now had to l

their own number. Augustus knew it. The ambition of the nobiles might have appeared the most serious menace to his rule. On

perhaps, to hope for the power themselves but their descendants might have a chance or a portion. The Princeps might die. Ye

rtain eminent personages in the governing oligarchy whose claims must have been the subject of public rumour and private int

ely related to the reigning family; and only two of them are known to have commanded armies in the period of Tiberius’ seclu

trigues or conspiracies. The tumultuous history of the Ahenobarbi may have inculcated a rational distaste for politics and a

ugustus, genealogical claims may be tenuous or dubious. These Plautii have their mausoleum near Tibur (ILS 921, &c). P

d seed of remembered rancour and postponed revenge. Yet Tiberius must have had a following among the nobiles. Of the dynas

us had few kinsmen. Yet the excellent L. Volusius Saturninus will not have forgotten altogether that his father had married

supersession of Sentius in Syria by Varus in 6 B.C. may, or may not, have had political causes. No doubt, however, about th

LS 976, cf. PIR2, A 1147). But L. Arruntius himself (cos. A.D. 6) may have Pompeian blood or connexions through the Cornelii

eloquent Ti. Sem-pronius Gracchus,4 an Ap. Claudius Pulcher, who may have been the son or grandson of the consul of 38 B.C.

38 B.C., and a Cornelius Scipio were all relegated. 5 The offence may have been transgression against the Leges Juliae: the

ing, but it is not necessary, to rehabilitate her entirely. Julia may have been immodest, but she was hardly a monster. Gran

gislation had been baffled and mocked in his own family. Yet he could have dealt with the matter there. His programme was un

the disgrace on his daughter? The influence and hand of Livia might have been suspected, bearing heavily on the Julii who

mpair the succession of Gaius and Lucius, her sons. The motive must have been political, the charges of vice a convenient

was ruthless and consequent. To achieve his ambition he would coolly have sacrificed his nearest and dearest; and his ambit

s. To this end their mother served merely as an instrument. There may have been a conspiracy. Whether wanton or merely tradu

t the ‘flagitia’ but the tornen’ that doomed him. Iullus Antonius may have aspired to the place of Tiberius as stepfather of

he place of Tiberius as stepfather of the princes; and Julia may well have found the accomplished Antonius more amiable than

rite Drusus on the other flank of the convergent advance, Lollius may have laboured for another to reap. Lollius was supplan

ugh his political prospects grew no brighter. His spirit appears to have been broken. He had already begged to be allowed

see her new master for many years. The adoption of Tiberius should have brought stability to the régime by discouraging t

ainst that risk the Princeps and the chief men of the government must have made careful provision. The way was still rough a

d to a barren island. 2 Her paramour was D. Junius Silanus3 there may have been others, for the charge of immorality was a c

ry with Julia, for she was his wife. Connivance in her misconduct may have been invoked to palliate his execution for conspi

y and intractable temper which he had inherited from his father might have been schooled in the discipline of the camp or th

altered to ‘M’. Lepidum’, which most editors, scholars and historians have followed, supposing M’ Aemilius Lepidus, cos. A.D

mpeian antecedents. Like the departure, the return of Tiberius will have changed the army commands. Most of the generals

ain noble houses which, for all their social eminence, do not seem to have been implicated in the matrimonial arrangements o

rerum nec tempora pono: imperium sine fine dedi. 1 The Greeks might have their Alexander it was glorious, but it was not E

whether Alexander himself, at the height and peak of his power, could have prevailed over the youthful vigour of the martial

’; Sulla Felix was much more a traditional Roman aristocrat than many have believed; and Sulla sought to establish an ordere

mbition and ‘impia arma’. Augustus, like the historian Tacitus, would have none of them; and so they receive no praise from

se or their saving qualities. Soon after Actium Augustus appears to have made a beginning. It was abortive: if promulgated

ed to heaven. Though bitterly reviled in his lifetime, Augustus would have his reward: si quaeret Tater Urbiunm’ subscribi

est or the whim of either party. Few indeed of the great ladies would have been able or eager to claim, like Cornelia, the e

r and proscriptions had bought land. Though a number of these men may have practised commerce and might be called town-dwell

a Picene. That was no palliation. These men before all others should have provided the ‘Itala virtus’ that was held to be l

generation that comes from wealth and empire. The Italian peasant may have been valorous and frugal: he was also narrow and

the State. Agrícola was the civil servant of whom Augustus might well have dreamed. PageNotes. 455 1 Suetonius, Divus Au

ecruit often defies but cannot always evade detection: it will seldom have been high. Indeed, natives from the recently conq

thought of making an end of his life. But for that disaster he could have borne the loss of Varus’ three legions with more

re, under the watchword of duty and morality, Lucretius might perhaps have satisfied the fervour of a religious nature by co

ndeed, stood for order and for monarchy. Catullus, however, could not have been domesticated, tamely to chant the regenerati

rugal virtues of upstarts enriched by the Civil Wars. His books would have been burned in the Forum, with the greatest conco

ne Teucri proderet, ac totum sub leges mitteret orbem. 2 None would have believed it, but Rome’s salvation issued from a G

private and material reasons for gratitude to Augustus, that fact may have reinforced, but it did not pervert, the sentiment

nited Italy and all the realities of reconciliation, there must still have been Romans who were a little shocked at hearing

nsular standing. 7 Like his kinsman, C. Propertius Postumus, he might have aspired to senatorial rank. PageNotes. 466 1

ew and honoured the majesty of death and the dead. Propertius might have been a highly remunerative investment for Maecena

eful. Ovid accepted that principle and turned it inside out. He might have instructed the youth of Rome to honour the past,

the State. Sulmo and the Paelignians, a virile and hardy race, should have made a better contribution to the New Italy and a

to Tomi, a Greek city on the coast of the Black Sea. He could hardly have been sent farther. Poetry and history were desi

ducts which his son-in-law had constructed for the people. 1 He could have added that there were now public baths as well. B

of politics was not more frequently drawn upon. Tota Italia would not have been out of place. The Princeps’ own form and f

eserted the consul Antonius, ‘heavenly legions’. But the orator would have been shocked had he known that the testimony of h

ional gods of Rome. Nor was Divus Julius enough. His son could hardly have prevented, even had it been expedient, the gratit

es and kings. The sum of power and prestige was tremendous. Who could have entured to compete or oppose? PageNotes. 475

ius Eurycles, the lord of Sparta and greatest man in all Greece, must have proved very unsatisfactory, for he was deposed by

injustice. The vices and cruelties of the legate Carisius are said to have caused a rising in Spain. 2 He was dealing with A

ans and Pannonians, incompletely conquered twenty years before, would have risen again at the earliest opportunity when Roma

rage to assail openly the leading men in the State; and Augustus will have preferred to condone the vices or the rapacity of

oman People. 1 Hence the veterans and the local dynasts would sharply have dealt with social discontent or the propagation o

s was threatened by continual conspiracies though these plots may not have been either as frequent or as dangerous as the go

nal virtues of the Princeps, so studiously celebrated in public, must have been privately canvassed and derided as offensive

ove reproach. With all allowance made for hostile propaganda, it will have to be conceded, at the very least, that his nativ

ho, praising the ‘lenitas ducis’ after Actium, exclaims that he would have behaved precisely so in earlier wars, had it been

ey dealt with the period of which he had personal experience, he must have found much to criticize. Certain politicians had

us in which he had participated; 2 the disasters of Antonius will not have been underestimated. Even Agrippa took up the pen

to be regretted that Pollio’s comments upon this interesting document have not been preserved. Of the style at least he will

sting document have not been preserved. Of the style at least he will have approved, if it recalled the unpretentious simpli

derstood the point of the attack: the most various of interpretations have been advanced. Tatavinitas’ has been held to be a

PageBook=>486 A critic armed with the acerbity of Pollio must have delivered a more crushing verdict upon a historia

at his speech showed traces of his native dialect. Pollio himself may have had a local accent. Nor was the judgement merely

litical literature provided the cause and the fuel. Thus did Augustus have his revenge, imitating the Greek Timagenes, who,

It was impossible to tell the truth about the living, but hate might have its revenge upon the dead. Hence the contrasted b

change and careerists make mistakes. Seianus fell. The historian may have been involved in his ruin. With the accession of

cy and reveals the causes and tragedy of their decadence. The nobiles have not spoken themselves. They have left no personal

gedy of their decadence. The nobiles have not spoken themselves. They have left no personal and authentic record to show wha

A.D. 1. 4 M. Aemilius Lepidus, the husband of Drusilla, alleged to have conspired with Lentulus Gaetulicus against Caligu

fairly recent nobility, would yet, to the contemporaries of Pompeius, have seemed destined to achieve power in the end. Inhe

revailed at Philippi or Antonius at Actium, the ultimate result might have been much the same for the Domitii: prominent amo

B.C.), nor another Marcius, namely Censorinus (cos. 8 B.C.), seems to have left male issue. The last consular Marcellus was

lish the families which their resplendent fortune could so handsomely have endowed. The Caesarian partisans Vatinius, Trebon

able of the Triumviral or Augustan novi homines, however, appeared to have established their families securely enough. But g

an dynasty, the Augustan as well as the Republican nobility seemed to have run its course. Yet the succeeding period did n

omitian and under Hadrian. 9 For prudence and for success, it might have seemed that all would be outdone by the Cocceii,

, no doubt, for the choice. There were others: at this time there can have been in existence few direct descendants even of

f Tiberius. The tie with the Julio-Claudians is surely too tenuous to have mattered much. PageBook=>501 Even Nerva se

is unswerving loyalty ’pietatis immobilis erga principem’. 2 It might have been set up under any reign. Such men deserved to

enemies. It is in every way fitting that Spain and Narbonensis should have supplied the first provincial emperors, of stock

Nemausus. Even had Antoninus Pius not become emperor, he would still have been one of the wealthiest citizens in all the wo

a Roman knight. 2 But for this defect of birth, Verginius Rufus might have become emperor. 3 Nero and his advisers had made

a loyal servant of the government, Ser. Sulpicius Galba: they should have been right, for Galba was only the façade of a ma

dignitas or magnitudo animi was a dangerous anachronism. Murena would have escaped his doom had he been content with ‘aurea

a lower and commercial order of society, the Roman knights. He might have to sink further yet, to make his peace, through s

Cassius, who had fought against Caesar’s heir at Philippi, could not have been invoked to support his Principate without sc

ily be inferred Cato, always an advocate of ordered government, would have been an enthusiastic supporter of the New State;

acitus abandoned the Empire and the provinces and turned to what some have regarded as a narrow and outworn theme. In styl

self and his allies, Agrippa, Maecenas and Livia, history and scandal have preserved a sufficient testimony to unmask the re

t the expense of their betters. The game of traducing the upstart may have originated with the aristocracy: it was cheerfull

her classes in society. It is precisely the sons of Roman knights who have handed down the most typical and most malicious p

ly immune. But for that, the aristocratic partisans of Augustus would have illumined history with a constellation of charact

rted every side at the right moment. It is curious that Horace should have felt impelled to remind him of the need to preser

ssalla Volesus). 4 ILS 212 11, 1. 24 f. Commentators on this speech have failed to notice that Persicus was not only notor

r the son of a nobleman, almost the last of the Marcelli. 6 He should have had nothing to complain of under the new dispensa

riora mirari, praesentia sequi’. 2 Even among the nobiles there can have been few genuine Republicans in the time of Augus

rely of the inevitability but also of the benefits of the system must have become more widely diffused in the Senate. Yet wh

he Empire. The senator Helvidius Priscus, the son of a centurion, may have been sincere in his principles:3 but the Roman kn

Such was the conventional and vulgar opinion:3 Tacitus himself would have thought it impossible after a civil war. Like t

it. ’ PageBook=>516 The admirer of ancient eloquence could not have the advantage both ways, enjoying both Republican

n theory, and so became vulnerable to propaganda. Augustus claimed to have restored Libertas and the Republic, a necessary a

been selfish dynasts, but he was ‘salubris princeps’. He might easily have adopted the title of ‘Optimus princeps’: that was

s stood like a soldier, ‘in statione’ for the metaphor, though it may have parallels in the language of the Stoics, is Roman

n could feel it in his blood and in his traditions. Again Ennius must have seemed prophetic: O Romule, Romule die, qualem

he Commonwealth. The new member reinvigorated the whole and could not have been severed without damage. 8 NotesPage=>52

ll. Had he died in the early years of the Principate, his party would have survived, led by Agrippa, or by a group of the ma

m among the principes, by general consent capable of Empire. It might have been better for Tiberius and for Rome if Augustus

uring the Spanish wars, when stricken by an illness that might easily have been the end of a frail life, Augustus composed h

ted their life, deeds and destiny for glory or for politics: none can have fabricated history with such calm audacity. Other

n Mausoleum. He may already, in the ambition to perpetuate his glory, have composed the first draft of the inscription that

efined as legal and magisterial; and he excels any colleague he might have , not in potestas, but only in auctoritas. 3 Which

Texte 41–3, 1909). Since then various supplements and improvements have accrued. For the period here concerned the most i

f the tables of Münzer (P-W III, 1229 f.; RA, 304). Certain additions have been made, such as the family of Ap. Claudius Pul