29.The first move in the city came from his father’s soldiers,[153] who resented Antonius’ contempt for them. At first they discussed their own forgetfulness of Caesar in allowing his son to be thus insulted, that son for whom they all ought to act as guardians if they were to take any account of what was just and righteous. Then gathering in a great company and reproaching themselves still more bitterly they set out for Antonius’ house (for he also was relying on them) and made some plain statements to him: that he ought to treat Octavian more fairly and keep in mind his father’s instructions; that it was their sacred duty not to overlook these, but to carry out even the details of his memoranda, not to mention supporting the man he had named as his son and successor; that they saw that to Antonius and Octavian a reconciliation would be most advantageous at the present time because of the multitude of foes pressing on from every side. After this speech Antonius in order not to seem to be opposing their endeavor, for he happened to be really in need of their services,[154] said that he approved of and desired that very course, if only Octavian would also act with moderation and render him the honor which was his due; that he was ready to have a conference with him in their presence and within their hearing. They were satisfied with this and agreed to conduct him into the Capitol and act as mediators in the reconciliation if he should so desire. He then assented and immediately went up into the temple of [Jupiter], and sent them after Octavian.
They were pleased and went to his house in a great body, so that he felt some anxiety when it was announced that there was a large crowd of soldiers outside and that some were in the house looking for him. In his agitation, he first went upstairs with his friends who happened to be present, and looking down, asked the men what they wanted and why they had come, and then he discovered that they were his own soldiers. They answered that they had come for his own good and that of his whole party, if he also was willing to forget what Antonius had done, for his actions had not been pleasing to them either; that he and Antonius ought to put aside all resentment and be reconciled simply and sincerely. Then one of them called out in a somewhat louder voice and bade him be of good cheer and be assured that he had inherited all their support, for they thought of his late father as of a god, and would do and suffer anything for his successors. Another one shouted out still more loudly and said that he would make away with Antonius with his own hands if he did not observe the provisions of Caesar’s will and keep faith with the senate. Octavian, encouraged at this, went downstairs to them, and embracing them showed much pleasure at their eager good will toward him. They seized him and led him in triumph through the forum to the Capitol, vieing with each other in their zeal, some because of their dislike of Antonius’ rule and others out of reverence for Caesar and his heir; others led on (and rightly enough) by the hope of obtaining great advantages at his hands, and still others who were eager for revenge on the assassins, believing that this would be accomplished most readily through the boy if they had the assistance of the consul also. In fact, all those who approached him advised him out of good will not to be contentious but to think of their own safety, and how he could gain more supporters, remembering how unexpected Caesar’s death had been. Octavian heard all this and saw that the people’s zeal for him was natural; he then entered the Capitol and saw there many more of his father’s soldiers, on whom Antonius was relying, but who were really far better disposed toward himself, if Antonius should try to injure him in any way. The majority of the throng withdrew and the two leaders with their friends were left to discuss the situation.[155]
30. When Octavian went home after his reconciliation with Antonius, the latter, left to himself, became provoked again at seeing the good will of all the soldiers inclining very much toward Octavian.[156] For they held that he was Caesar’s son and that he had been proclaimed his heir in his will, that he was called by the same name and that he exhibited excellent promise from the very energy of his nature, of which Caesar had taken cognizance in bringing about his adoption no less than of his degree of kinship, in the belief that he alone might be entrusted with preserving all of Caesar’s authority and the dignity of his house. When Antonius reflected on all this he changed his mind again, especially when he saw the Caesarian soldiers desert him right before his eyes and escort Octavian in a body from the temple. Some thought that he would not have refrained from apprehending Octavian, had he not been in fear of the soldiers, lest they should set on him and mete out punishment, easily diverting all his faction from him; for each of them had an army which was waiting to see how things would turn out. Reflecting on all this, he still delayed and hesitated, although he had changed his mind. Octavian, however, actually believing that the reconciliation between them was in good faith, went every day to Antonius’ house, as was quite proper, since Antonius was consul and an older man and a friend of his father’s; and he paid him every other respect according to his promise until Antonius did him a second wrong in the following manner: Having acquired the province of Gaul in exchange for Macedonia,[157] he transferred the troops which were in the latter place to Italy, and when they arrived he left Rome and went down as far as Brundisium to meet them.[158] Then, thinking that he had a suitable opportunity for what he had in mind, he spread a report that he was being plotted against, and seizing some soldiers, he threw them into chains, on the pretext that they had been sent for this very purpose of killing him. He hinted at Octavian but did not definitely name him. The report quickly ran through the city that the consul had been plotted against, but had seized the men who had come to attack him. Then his friends gathered at his house, and soldiers under arms were summoned. In the late afternoon the report reached Octavian also that Antonius had been in danger of being assassinated, and that he was sending for troops to guard him that night. Immediately Octavian sent word to him that he was ready to stand beside his bed with his own retinue to keep him safe, for he thought that the plot had been laid by some of the party of Brutus and Cassius. He was thus in readiness to do an act of kindness entirely unsuspicious of the rumor Antonius had started or of the plot. Antonius, however, did not even permit the messenger to be received indoors, but dismissed him discourteously. The messenger returned after hearing fuller reports and announced to Octavian that his name was being mentioned among the men about Antonius’ door as being himself the man who had despatched the assassins against Antonius, who now were in prison. Octavian when he heard this at first did not believe it because of its improbable sound, but soon he [perceived] that the whole plan had been directed against himself, so he considered with his friends as to what he should do. Philippus and Atia[159] his mother came also, at loss over the strange turn of affairs, and desiring to know what the report meant and what were Antonius’ intentions. They advised Octavian to withdraw from the city at once for a few days until the matter could be investigated and cleared up. He, unconscious of any guilt, thought that it would be a serious matter for him to conceal himself and in a way incriminate himself, for he would gain nothing toward his safety by withdrawing, while he might the more easily be destroyed in secret if he were away from home. Such was the discussion in which he was then engaged.
On the following morning he sat as usual with his friends and gave orders that the doors be opened to those of his townsmen, guests, and soldiers who were accustomed to visit him and greet him, and he conversed with them all in his usual way, in no wise changing his daily routine. But Antonius called an assembly of his friends and said in their presence that he was aware that Octavian had even earlier been plotting against him, and that when he was to leave the city to go to the army that had come for him, he had provided Octavian with this opportunity against him. That one of the men sent to accomplish the crime had, by means of substantial bribes, turned informer in the matter; and hence he had seized the others; and he had now called his friends together to hear their opinions as to what should be done in the light of the recent events. When Antonius had spoken the members of his council asked to be shown where the men were who had been seized, so that they might find out something from them. Then Antonius pretended that this had nothing to do with the present business, since, forsooth, it had already been confessed to; and he turned the discourse into other channels, watching eagerly for someone to propose that they ought to take vengeance on Octavian and not quietly submit. However, they all sat in silent thought, since no apparent proof lay before them, until someone said that Antonius would do well to dismiss the assembly, saying that he ought to act moderately and not stir up any disturbance, for he was consul. After this discussion, Antonius dismissed the assembly. Two or three days afterward, he set out for Brundisium to take over the army which had now arrived there. There was no further discussion about the plot, and when he left, his friends who remained behind dismissed the whole matter, and no one ever saw any of the conspirators who were alleged to have been taken.[160]
31.Octavian, although now exonerated from the charge, was none the less chagrined at the talk about him, interpreting it as evidence of a great conspiracy against him. He thought that if Antonius had happened to get the army on his side by means of bribes he would not have delayed in attacking him, not because he had been wronged in any respect, but simply led on to that course as an outcome of his former hopes. It was manifest that a man who had concocted this charge would go further to others and that he would have been eager to do this from the first if he had not had to fear the army. Accordingly Octavian was filled with righteous indignation against Antonius and with some concern for his own person, now that the other’s intention had become plain. Reviewing all contingencies, he saw that he must not remain quiet, for this was not safe, but that he must seek out some aid wherewith to oppose the other’s power and strategems. So then, reflecting upon this question, he decided that he had better take refuge in his father’s colonies, where his father had granted allotments and founded cities, to remind the people of Caesar’s beneficence and to bewail his fate and his own sufferings, and thus to secure their support, attracting them also by gifts of money. He thought that this would be his only safe course, that it would redound greatly to his fame, and that it would also redeem the prestige of his family. It was a far better and juster course than to be pushed aside out of his inherited honor by men who had no claim to it, and finally to be foully and nefariously slain just as his father had been. After consulting over this with his friends and after sacrificing, with good fortune, to the gods, that they might be his assistants in his just and glorious endeavor, he set out, taking with him a considerable sum of money, first of all into Campania where were the Seventh and Eighth Legions (for that is what the Romans call their regiments). He thought that he ought first to sound the feelings of the Seventh, for its fame was greater, and with this colony aligned in his favor, and many others with it ...[161] and in this plan and in the events that followed, he had the approval of his friends. These were: Marcus Agrippa, Lucius Maecenas, Quintus Juventius, Marcus Modialius, and Lucius.[162] Other officers, centurions, and soldiers followed, as well as a multitude of slaves and a pack train carrying the pay-money and the supplies. As for his mother,[163] he decided not to acquaint her with his plan, lest, out of affection and weakness, like a woman and a mother, she might be a hindrance to his great purpose. He gave out openly that he was going to Campania to sell some of his father’s property there, to take the money and put it to the uses that his father had enjoined. But even so, he went off entirely without her consent.
At that time Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius were at Dicaearchia,[164] and when they learned of the throng that was accompanying Octavian from Rome (the messengers having exaggerated the report, as usually happens) they were struck with much fear and consternation, thinking that the expedition was directed against themselves. They took to flight across the Adriatic. Brutus went to [Achaea], Cassius to Syria. When Octavian arrived in Calatia in Campania, [165] the inhabitants received him as the son of their benefactor and treated him with the highest honor. On the following day he disclosed the whole situation to them and he appealed to the soldiers, telling them how unjustly his father had been killed and how he was himself being plotted against. As he spoke, some of the decurions did not wish to listen at all, but the people did so eagerly and with [good will], and they sympathized with him, frequently bidding him to be of good cheer, for they would not neglect him but would assist him in every way until he should be established in his inherited rights. Then he invited them to his house and gave each of them five hundred drachmae; and the next day he called together the members of the curia and appealed to them not to be outdone in good will by the people, but to remember Caesar who had given them the colony and their position of honor. He promised that they would experience no less benefits at his own hands. He showed that it was more fitting for him to enjoy their aid and to make use of their influence and arms than for Antonius to do so. They were aroused to a greater zeal to help him and to undertake trouble and danger with him if need be. Octavian commended their zeal and asked them to accompany him as far as the neighboring colonies, and furnish him safe-conduct. The people were pleased at this and gladly complied, [escorting] him under arms to the next colony.[166] And gathering these also into an assembly, he addressed them. He succeeded in persuading both legions to escort him to Rome through the other colonies to Rome and strenuously to repel any act of violence on the part of Antonius. He attracted other soldiers also with high pay, and on the march he trained and instructed the new recruits, sometimes individually and sometimes in squads, telling them that they were going against Antonius. He sent some of his followers who were preeminent for intelligence and daring to Brundisium,[167] to see if they could also win the forces just arrived from Macedonia over to his side, bidding them remember his father Caesar and not to betray his son. He instructed his propagandists that if they could not achieve their purpose in the open, they were to write this out and scatter it all about so that the men could pick up the notices and read them;[168] and in order that they might join his party he made promises that filled the rest with hope of what they would receive from him when he came into his power. So they departed.
(End of the life of Augustus and of the narrative of Nicolaus of Damascus.)
COMMENTARY
1.[1] Σεβαστός, Augustus, must be understood. The word was doubtless given in the context immediately preceding the present opening sentence. The title was proposed by Plancus and was ratified by the senate on January 16, 27 B.C. (CIL 12 p. 307, Suet., Aug. 7, 2; Dio 53, 16, 6-8; 20, 1; Liv., Epit. 134; Vell. 2, 91, 1; Flor. 2, 34; Mon. Anc. 6, 16). Nicolaus attaches no significance of divinity to the title, though Suetonius and Dio do so. Verg., Ec. 1, 6; G. 1, 24-39, speaks of Octavian as divine, but no attribute of divinity is mentioned in the Aeneid with reference to Augustus.
[2] Nicolaus does not necessarily infer that an imperial cult existed at this period in Italy, and hence is not at variance with Suet., Aug. 52; Dio 51, 20, where it is stated that Augustus did not permit an imperial cult in Italy, although he allowed temples to be erected to ‘Rome and Augustus’ in the provinces. See also H. Heinen, Klio 11, pp. 139 ff.; W. S. Ferguson, Am. Hist. Rev., 18, pp. 243 ff. J. Asbach, Rh. Mus., 37, p. 297, is mistaken in reasoning that Augustus must have died before any worship could have taken place. L. R. Taylor, Trans. Am. Philol. Ass., 51, p. 124 suggests that whatever savored of an imperial cult in Italy from 30 B.C. on, was in fact simply a cult of the genius of the emperor (Dio 51, 19, 7; Ov., Fast. 2, 637; Hor., Od. 4, 5, 31-35).