Roman Empire Series (Part 2): The 1st Dictator & the 1st Emperor
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE, was a reform of the Roman calendar. In 8 BCE in honor of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Sextilis followed Quinctilis, which was renamed Julius (July) after Julius Caesar, and preceded September (from septem, "seven"), which was originally the seventh month. Augustus chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had 31 days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length.
Calendars aside… Let’s look at the lives & historical backgrounds of these 2 great ancient figures.
While modern historians typically regard Augustus as Rome’s first emperor, Suetonius begins with Julius Caesar. Caesar, as he saw, did not just provide a name for his successors, along with some key precedents. His abuse of power was an anticipation of problems to come. Caesar was a gifted general. A superb horseman, he was always on the move, bareheaded in sun and rain alike. He could cover vast distances at incredible speed. If it suited him, he would join battle immediately after a march, even in bad weather, and if any of his soldiers started fleeing, he would grab them by the throat and force them back into the fray.
He judged them purely by their fight record, not their social standing or morals. For all his toughness, though, he was vain. He kept his head carefully trimmed and shaved. Nothing in life distressed him more than his baldness. Of all the honors he received, the right to wear a laurel crown pleased him most, he took advantage of it on every occasion. Caesar had to be the best at everything fighting, writing, even making love. His entire life he was a boaster.
Caesar had been recently named “Dictator in perpetuity” of the Roman Republic. Ongoing tensions between Caesar and the Senate, amid fears that he also planned to claim the title of king, overthrow the Senate and rule as a tyrant, were the principal motives for his assassination.
According to Suetonius, Caesar's assassination ultimately occurred primarily due to concerns that he wished to crown himself the king of Rome. These concerns were exacerbated by the "three last straws" of 45 and 44 BCE. In just a few months, Caesar had disrespected the Senate, removed People's Tribunes, and toyed with monarchy.
A conspiracy to kill Caesar arose by 60 or more Roman senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Brutus Albinus & Gaius Trebonius.
As Caesar sat, the conspirators stood around him, pretending to pay their respects. Cimber Tillius, who had been assigned the lead role, drew closer to Caesar, as if to ask him something. When Caesar shook his head and signaled with a gesture that he would deal with the matter at another time, Cimber grabbed his toga at both shoulders, two Casca’s stabbed him from behind, a little below his throat. Caesar grabbed the arm of Casca, thrust his writing stylus through it, tried to jump up, but was then slowed down by another wound. When he realized that daggers were drawn and he was being attacked on all sides, he covered his head with his toga while also drawing its folds down to his ankles with his left hand. This way he would die more honorably, with the lower part of his body covered. Literally covering his "dignity".
The Death of Caesar (Gérôme) - Artist: Jean-Léon Gérôme (1867). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_-_The_Death_of_Caesar_-_Walters_37884.jpg#/media/File:Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_-_The_Death_of_Caesar_-_Walters_37884.jpg
A Shakespearean invention was Caesar's last words, "Et tu, Brute?," meaning "You too, Brutus?" in Latin. Suetonius recorded his final words as the Greek "Kai su, teknon?" or "You too, my child?" However, Plutarch says that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head to cover his head as he died.
The Aftermath of Caesar's Death:
The conspirators decided to attack the triumvirate's allies
in Asia. Cassius set upon and sacked Rhodes, while Brutus did the same to
Lycia. They regrouped the following year in Sardis, where their armies
proclaimed them imperator. They crossed the Hellespont, marched through Thrace,
and encamped near Philippi in Macedon. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian (later
known as Augustus) and Mark Antony soon arrived, and Cassius planned to starve
them out using their superior position in the country. However, they were
forced into a pair of battles by Antony, collectively known as the Battle of
Philippi. Brutus was successful against Octavian (Augustus) and took his camp.
Cassius, however, was defeated and overrun by Antony and, unaware of Brutus'
victory, ordered his freeman Pindarus to help him kill himself. Pindarus fled
afterwards and Cassius' head was found severed from his body. He was mourned by
Brutus as "the Last of the Romans" and buried in Thassos.
After a complex political realignment, Octavian aka Caesar Augustus (Caesar's adoptive son), who made himself consul and, with his colleague, passed a law retroactively making Brutus and the other conspirators murderers. This led to a second civil war, in which Antony and Octavian fought the liberators led by Brutus and Cassius. The Caesarians decisively defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the two battles at Philippi in October 42BCE. After the defeat, Brutus committed suicide. Decimus Brutus crossed the Alps to join Plancus in the war against Antony; but when Plancus switched sides his position became untenable, and he was forced to flee. He attempted to reach Macedonia, where Marcus Junius Brutus and Cassius had stationed themselves, but was executed en route in mid-September by a Gallic chief loyal to Mark Antony. Gaius Trebonius left for the Roman province of Phrygia during 44 BCE. While there, he raised money and troops for Brutus and Cassius. He also helped Cassius on his way to Syria later in the year. Later, he attempted to fast-track Publius Cornelius Dolabella in his passage through Asia by providing whatever supplies he needed, as well as refusing to open cities for Dolabella. However, Dolabella took Smyrna in Asia Minor, where he captured Trebonius in the process. Dolabella put Trebonius on trial for treason before proceeding to torture him and then behead him.
Augustus is an icon, and well he should be. Few historical figures show better what it takes to win at everything. He ended a century of revolution, brought down the Roman Republic, and replaced it with the empire of which he was the first emperor. But Augustus is also a mystery. Fatherless at the age of four, he became one of Rome’s top political players by the age of nineteen. How did he do that—and so much more? How did he overcome an opposition led by the most glamorous team in history, Antony, and Cleopatra? How did a frail boy become a successful warlord, and how did he then turn into one of history’s most famous promoters of peace? How did he find the perfect number two: a partner to serve as his general and administrator without threatening the boss’s power? How did he manage one of the most productive but challenging marriages in history, to the brilliant, talented, and crafty Livia? How did he find a dynasty that lasted a century and an empire that lasted many centuries more? Toward the end of his long life, Augustus answered some of these questions. On bronze pillars before his mausoleum in Rome, he had a detailed inscription erected that included this statement: “When I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part, I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate.”
Gaius Octavius was of a prosperous family that had long been settled at Velitrae (Velletri), southeast of Rome. His father, who died in 59 BCE, had been the first of the family to become a Roman senator and was elected to the high annual office of the praetorship, which ranked second in the political hierarchy to the consulship. Gaius Octavius’s mother, Atia, was the daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar, and it was Caesar who launched the young Octavius in Roman public life. At age 12 he made his debut by delivering the funeral speech for his grandmother Julia. Three or four years later he received the coveted membership of the board of priests (pontifices). In 46 BCE he accompanied Caesar, now dictator, in his triumphal procession after his victory in Africa over his opponents in the Civil War; and in the following year, despite ill health, he joined the dictator in Spain. He was at Apollonia (now in Albania) completing his academic and military studies when, in 44 BCE, he learned that Julius Caesar had been murdered.
Rivalry with Mark Antony:
Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BCE, Octavian found consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in an uneasy truce with the dictator's assassins. They had been granted a general amnesty, yet Antony had succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome with an inflammatory eulogy at Caesar's funeral, mounting public opinion against the assassins. Mark Antony was amassing political support, but Octavian still had opportunity to rival him as the leading member of the faction supporting Caesar. Mark Antony had lost the support of many Romans and supporters of Caesar when he initially opposed the motion to elevate Caesar to divine status.
Octavian began to shift the balance of power with his increasingly powerful naval forces, commanded by his former schoolmate Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Octavian’s rivalry with Antony for rule of the Roman world became apparent as he slowly increased support for himself. To prove his military strength, Octavian fought three successive campaigns in Illyricum and Dalmatia (parts of modern Slovenia and Croatia) to protect the Northeastern approaches of Italy. Antony, who was married to Octavian’s sister, Octavia, had begun a romantic and political alliance with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. Antony divorced Octavia. Octavian subsequently declared war on Cleopatra. With Agrippa as admiral, Octavian’s forces decisively defeated Antony’s fleet at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.
Mark Antony & Cleopatra's end / Augustus's Rise to Power:
Antony and Cleopatra, who were both present at the battle, escaped to Alexandria. The next year Octavian defeated Antony again, in Egypt. This led to the deaths Antony and Cleopatra.
When Antony fears that Cleopatra has betrayed him to Caesar, she sends false word that she is dead, hoping to win over his affections once more. Antony is devastated by the news and resolves to die himself. He falls onto his sword and is mortally wounded. Before he died, another messenger arrived, saying Cleopatra still lived. Antony had himself carried to Cleopatra’s retreat, where he died after bidding her to make her peace with Octavian.When the triumphant Roman arrived, she attempted to seduce him, but he resisted her charms. Rather than fall under Octavian’s domination, Cleopatra died by suicide on August 12, 30 BCE possibly by means of an asp, a poisonous Egyptian serpent and symbol of divine royalty. Octavian then executed her son Caesarion, annexed Egypt into the Roman Empire, and used Cleopatra’s treasure to pay off his veterans. In 27 BCE, Octavian became Augustus, the first and arguably most successful of all Roman emperors.
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