Players in the Roman Empire

Marcus Tullius Cicero went to great lengths to play Mark Antony against Octavian following the assassination of Caesar on the ides of March.  His elevation of Octavian over that of Mark Antony flowed in large from Cicero’s own distaste for Antony but also came from a desire for Cicero to remove one of, from his point of view, the largest political adversaries that stood in Cicero’s way from obtaining more power within the Republic.  Cicero’s basic plan stemmed from publically discredited and condemning Antony and supporting Octavian and the Hellenistic culture.  In this way, he would simultaneously discredit his enemy while appearing supportive of the heir to the assassinated Caesar.  Ironically, Cicero had already made it known that he was not upset with the assassination on the ides of March and only was unhappy because of murders not including Antony within their plot.  The public support that Cicero showed to Octavian played a large role in the general population giving support to the assassinated Julius Caesar’s heir apparent, which ultimately lead to his rise in power.

Gaius Octavius was not a direct descendent of Julius Caesar.  He was, in reality, the great nephew of the ruler, whose mother was the daughter of Caesar’s sister (Suetonius, 2007).  Before his death, Julius Caesar had named Gaius as his heir and adopted son, but following the assassination, there were many who challenged his claim and right to rule.  With the majority of Caesar’s forces behind him, Gaius was able to complete the civil wars that had been started by his great uncle.  He tracked down those from the assassination plot and defeated their legions in battle, and eventually took out all of those that would challenge his claim to rule through open force.  However, to rule the Roman world, one had to be able to not only have the military strength to defeat their enemies, but they also had to be able to have the general Roman public support and recognize the individual as the person that should be the ruler.  To achieve this, Octavius needed help from prominent Roman’s such as Cicero. 

Cicero was a noted and respected public figure within Roman society, and his public decrees of support for Octavius proved to be extremely effective and important.  All that Cicero had to do was wait for the right moment to strike a swift, terrible blow against his rival Antony and sway the opinion of the Senate against him and to favor Octavius.  It was already known that Antony was quite upset with Julius Caesar for naming Octavius as his heir in his will instead of Antony, who felt that he had faithfully served Caesar for many years (Scullard, pg. 132, 1959).  Cicero used this notion as a means of discrediting Antony and turning the general population against him.  While Antony was away from Rome dealing with Decimus Brutus, one of the chief conspirers of the assassination on the ides of March, Cicero was rallying the Senate to turn their backs upon Antony and to utilize Octavian as a means of triumphing over Antony, who would ultimately want to form another dictatorship in the same manner that Julius Caesar had done before.  Cicero gave a series of speeches known as the Philippics in order to discredit Antony and giver further support to Octavian. 

The Philippics were Cicero’s masterstroke at turning the Republic against Antony and giving the Senate’s support to Octavian.  Emerging as “the champion of the Republic,” Cicero was able to gradually shift the Senate’s opinion from favorable to dissatisfied with Antony (Scullard, pg. 133, 1959).  The principle outcries from these speeches also included the notion that Octavian be made a senator and that Brutus should have relief against the besiegement that Antony was laying upon him and his forces.  After much consideration, the Senate agreed with Cicero’s claims and Octavian lead his forces against Antony along with two consults: Hiritius and Pansa.  After two major battles were fought, Octavian emerged as the victor, however Hiritius and Pansa were both slain, which left Octavian as the lone commander of the consular armies.  

With the power of this might force behind him, there was no one left to deny Octavian’s claim to the successor of Caesar, and he marched on Rome to take what he saw was rightfully his.  With the 8 legions behind him, the Senate saw no way to deny Octavian’s claim to rule, and they surrendered power to him.  In 31 BC, Octavian became the master of the Roman world and the emperor.  His claim to power marked to beginning of the Roman Empire and the Pax Romana (Suetonius, 2007).  All of this could have turned out very differently, had Cicero decided to not give so much public support to Octavian, however.  If he had chose to pledge support to Antony or been more careful to play Octavian and Antony against each other, history may have been told much differently.  

Through Cicero, Octavian gained the majority of his public support from the Senate.  Following the rise of Julius Caesar, the Senate was wary to grant anyone with a great deal of power or prestige, as the last man who had received such gifts had marched upon Rome and declared himself the emperor.  Cicero used this fear to turn the Senate against Antony, as he would say that his ultimate goal was to establish another dictatorship in the lights of the one that Caesar had established before his assassination.  If, however, the Senate were to give this ‘boy’ their support, they could utilize him as a means of removing the enemies of the Republic from power and then return to the democracy that had ruled since the formation of Roman society.  The Philippics raised Octavian above Antony and helped to secure Cicero’s place as the savior of the Republic.  The Senate felt, as Cicero had told them, that Octavian was young and easily could be disregarded once his purpose had been served, and by using him, the Senate would be able to root out enemies of the state such as Antony and defeat them in order to save the Republic.  Obviously, by listening to Cicero, the Senate made a grave miscalculation about the resolve of Octavian, which ultimately lead to him seizing power and becoming the very thing that the Senate was most afraid of from the start: another dictatorship lead by an emperor.  

With Cicero’s declaration of public support that raised Octavian above Antony, one can clearly see that events were set into motion that would have dramatic consequences for the Roman Empire.  Originally, Cicero’s motives appeared to be a means of discrediting and removing one of his enemies and rivals in Antony by pledging support to Octavian.  He, most likely, did not realize that Octavian was the real threat to the Republic and would utilize the public support that he gained as a foundation for his eventual takeover.  Regardless of whether Cicero knew that raising Octavian above Antony would have such dramatic results or not, his choices ultimately lead to the formation of the Roman Empire headed by Octavian.  The support of the ‘boy’ over Antony did accomplish Cicero’s motive of removing Antony from power, however it also paved the way for a new emperor to claim his title and form a new dictatorship that would last for a great deal longer than the rule of Julius Caesar.  

It is easy to look at the entirety of Gaius Octavian, better known as Augustus’s, life as the rise of a man who always intended to rule as a dictator, meaning that he always had plans on becoming Augustus, the ruler of the Roman Empire.  However, if one examines the events that occurred within this man’s life, it is not out of the question to push for the claim that he was simply doing what he had to do in order to survive.  The actions that he carried out ultimately lead him to becoming the dictator that he is remembered as: Augustus, but he most likely did not set out to become this.  Much of what happened within his life seems to have been determined by the actions of others before he was even a major player in the public realm.  He was named as an heir to a man who would declare himself emperor and be assassinated for his actions.  He was used as a puppet by the Senate in order to root out and destroy the enemies of the Republic.  He was constantly played off as a young man who could be easily cast aside when his purpose had been served.  When looking at the events that occurred within Octavian’s life, it becomes more and more clear that he was doing what he had to do in order to survive, and when he saw the opportunity to become Augustus, he took it as it was a means of providing himself with the best means of survival and safety, not to mention power.

Augustus started his life known as Gaius Octavian and his only claim to any power was that his great uncle, through marriage, was a man of great renown and power within the Roman Republic.  His great uncle, Julius Caesar was a noted general who would go on to become much, much more.  He would famously march upon Rome with his legions and ‘be granted’ the power to rule the entire Republic as the emperor from the Senate (Suetonius, 2007).  After taking power from the Senate and acting as the emperor, Caesar gained many enemies within the Senate, which ultimately lead to his assassination.  However, before he was murdered, he named Gaius Octavius as his heir and adopted son.  Octavius did not know he would be named Caesar’s heir and gain three-quarters of his estate when he originally made his move from Apollonia in Illyricum to Italy to avenge his great uncle’s murder, but in doing so, he was able to gain a great deal of support upon his landing in Brundisium (Scullard, pg. 132, 1959).  His motives were only to avenge his murdered family member, not to gain power or dominance of the Roman Empire.  

As was the public’s knowledge, there were many that doubted that this young man should be entitled to receive so much of Caesar’s power and estate, so many challenged Octavian’s right to gain what was left to him.  Noted figures such as Mark Antony were highly discouraged at the fact that Caesar had left this relatively unknown ‘boy’ as the heir to his empire when Antony had been a faithful and powerful servant to Caesar for many years (Scullard, pg. 132, 1959).  The two would have a rough relationship initially as Octavian would not receive much of Caesar’s holdings from Antony, and their relationship would eventually degrade to the point that they fought openly (Scullard, 1959).  

Octavian had much fighting to do in the early portion of his life when he was attempting to take what Caesar had left to him.  He had to fight in several civil wars that his great uncle had started, and emerged from each as a victor.  He also gained a great deal of public support from the senator Cicero, who would deliver multiple speeches to take away from the public’s support of Antony, one of both his and Octavian’s largest rivals at the time (Scullard, 1959).  The support that Octavian gained from Cicero did not come free, however.  Cicero was playing the two, Octavian and Antony, against each other in order to remove what he saw as the largest threat to the Republic’s continued survival.  Cicero noted to the Senate that Antony only wanted to continue the dictatorship that Caesar had established and that placing their support in Octavian would be the best means for getting the enemies of Rome defeated in open combat.  After Octavian had served his purpose, the Senate would cast him aside and retake the power that they had before Caesar had declared himself the emperor.  What the Senate had not realized was the resilience of Octavian.

As with many of the events of his life, Octavian took the notion of the Senate using him as a puppet against their enemies as a means to continue to survive and advance his own position. He had learned from his predecessor, Caesar, that to openly oppose the Senate without the proper strength and support would result in his own demise, so he sat and wait for the right moment to make his move.  He was able to be the individual that, “tracked down the murders over every land and sea until not one of them was left, (Plutarch, pg. 321, 2006).  In doing this, he appeared to be the faithful servant of the Senate in carrying out their agenda, while at the same time, gaining the support of the public against those who murdered the beloved Caesar.  Octavian showed that in his efforts to do what he had to do to survive, he could also advance his own position.  

After gaining the great deal of military power and prestige by defeating all of his enemies, Octavian was ready to make his power move.  He marched upon Rome with his 8 legions, and seized the power that was left to him by Julius Caesar.  He declared himself the emperor in 31 BC, and began the Roman Empire and the period that is known as the Pax Romana (Suetonius, 2007).  It was at this point that Octavian took the name Augustus, as it was appointed to him by the Senate and means “the venerable.”  Following his claim of the power, Augustus would push further the expansions of the Empire with his as the leading, central figure head who was both loved and respected by the people of Rome.  

For the greater portion of his life after his bloody rise to power, Augustus lived as a peaceful ruler.  He realized right away that his position as the ruler of the Empire had to be held in order to protect the expansions and lands that were part of Rome, but he also must let the Senate operate in such as way as to save both their dignity and prestige (Tacitus, DATE).  In order to appear as not a ruler of extreme luxuries and being out of touch with the common people, Augustus lived a modest life for the most part.  He was noted as having a relatively small home, eating modest amounts of food in terms of quantity and quality, and, apparently, slept within “an ordinary Roman bed,” (Suetonius, 2007).  For these reasons, Augustus was able to rule until his death of old age at 75 years old, right before he turned 76.  Despite the bloody rise to power, Augustus was able to rule peacefully and successfully for the greater part of his life.

Upon the full examination of the life of Augustus, one can see plainly that he was not a tyrant that was attempting to gain power and secure it for the greater portion of his life.  He was simply a man that was thrust into extraordinary circumstances and responded in such a way as to effectively deal with them.  He learned from the past mistakes of Julius Caesar and did not openly oppose the Senate’s will, except for when he seized power.  But, even in doing this, Augustus only took the power so as to ensure his own survival.  If he had carried on in the manner that the Senate had originally planned, he would have most likely been killed after his purpose had been served in order to prevent him from seizing control.  Once in power, he co-existed with the Senate in order to keep them appeased and ensure his own safety.  As an elder statesman, Augustus ruled peacefully and successfully in every aspect and was able to expand the Empire with only one real military defeat.  Through his actions, it could be said that Augustus was always planning on becoming the emperor of Rome, but it is worth the examination of the notion that he was simply doing what he had to in order to survive and that becoming the emperor was the best means for him to survive.                       

References

Plutarch. (2006). Fall of the roman republic. New York, NY: Penguin Classics.

Scullard, H. H. (1959). From the Gracchi to Nero: A history of Rome 133 BC to AD 68. New York, NY: Methuen & Co.

Suetonius. (2007). The twelve Caesars. The Penguin Group.

Tacitus. (2010). The histories. New York, NY: Penguin Classics.