CHAPTER XXXVII.
FROM THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI TO THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. B.C. 41-30.
The battle of Philippi scaled the fate of the Republic. Antony remained in the East to collect money for the soldiers. Octavian, who was in ill health, returned to Italy to give the veterans the lands which had been promised them. Antony traversed Asia Minor, plundering the unfortunate inhabitants, who had already suffered so severely from the exactions of Brutus and Cassias. In the voluptuous cities of Asia he surrendered himself to every kind of sensual enjoyment. He entered Ephesus in the character of Bacchus, accompanied by a wild procession of women dressed like Bacchantes, and men and youths disguised as Satyrs and Pans. At Tarsus, in Cilicia, whither he had gone to prepare for the war against the Parthians, he was visited by Cleopatra. He had summoned her to his presence to answer for her conduct in supplying Cassius with money and provisions. She was now in her 28th year, and in the full maturity of her charms. In her 15th year her beauty had made an impression on the heart of Antony, when he was at Alexandria with Gabinius, and she now trusted to make him her willing slave. She sailed up the Cydnus to Tarsus in a magnificent vessel with purple sails, propelled by silver oars to the sound of luxurious music. She herself reclined under an awning spangled with gold, attired as Venus and fanned by Cupids. The most beautiful of her female slaves held the rudder and the ropes. The perfumes burnt upon the vessel filled the banks of the river with their fragrance. The inhabitants cried that Venus had come to revel with Bacchus. Antony accepted her invitation to sup on board her galley, and was completely subjugated. Her wit and vivacity surpassed even her beauty. He followed her to Alexandria, where he forgot every thing in luxurious dalliance and the charms of her society.
Meantime important events had been taking place in Italy. Octavian found immense difficulties in satisfying the demands of the veterans. All Italy was thrown into confusion. Though he expelled thousands from their homes in Cisalpine Gaul, in order to give their farms to his soldiers, they still clamored for more. Those who had obtained assignments of land seized upon the property of their neighbors, and those who had not were ready to rise in mutiny. The country people, who had been obliged to yield their property to the rude soldiery, filled Italy with their complaints, and flocked to Rome to implore in vain the protection of Octavian. Even if he had the wish, he had not the power to control his soldiers. Fulvia, the wife of Antony, who had remained behind in Italy, resolved to avail herself of those elements of confusion, and crush Octavian. She was a bold and ambitious woman; she saw that, sooner or later, the struggle must come between her husband and Octavian; and, by precipitating the war, she hoped to bring her husband to Italy, and thus withdraw him from the influence of Cleopatra. L. Antonius, the brother of the Triumvir, who was Consul this year (B.C. 41), entered into her views. They proclaimed themselves the patrons of the unfortunate Italians, and also promised to the discontented soldiery that the Triumvir would recompense them with the spoils of Asia. By these means they soon saw themselves at the head of a considerable force. They even obtained possession of Rome. But Agrippa, the ablest general of Octavian, forced them to quit the city, and pressed them so hard that they were obliged to take refuge in Perusia (Perugia), one of the most powerful cities of Etruria. Here they were besieged during the winter, and suffered so dreadfully from famine that they found themselves compelled to capitulate in the following spring. The lives of L. Antonius and Fulvia were spared, but the chief citizens of Perusia itself were put to death, and the town burnt to the ground.
While Antony's friends were thus unfortunate in Italy, his own forces experienced a still greater disaster in the East. Q. Labienus, the son of Cæsar's old lieutenant in Gaul, had been sent by Brutus and Cassius to seek aid from Orodes, the king of Parthia. He was in that country when the news arrived of the battle of Philippi, and had remained there up to the present time. The war in Italy, and Antony's indolence at Alexandria, held out a favorable opportunity for the invasion of the Roman provinces. Orodes placed a large army under the command of Labienus and his own son Pacorus. They crossed the Euphrates in B.C. 40, and carried every thing before them. Antony's troops were defeated; the two powerful cities of Antioch and Apamea were taken, and the whole of Syria overrun by the Parthians. Pacorus penetrated as far south as Palestine, and Labienus invaded Cilicia. Such alarming news, both from Italy and the East, at length aroused Antony from his voluptuous dreams. Leaving his lieutenant Ventidius in Syria to conduct the war against the Parthians, Antony sailed to Athens, where he met his brother and wife. He now formed an alliance with Sextus Pompey, sailed to Italy, and laid siege to Brundusium. Another civil war seemed inevitable; but the soldiers on both sides were eager for peace, and mutual friends persuaded the chiefs to be reconciled, which was the more easily effected in consequence of the death of Fulvia at Sicyon. A new division of the Roman world was now made. Antony was to have all the eastern provinces and Octavian the western, the town of Scodra, in Illyricum, forming the boundary between them. Italy was to belong to them in common. Lepidus was allowed to retain possession of Africa, which he had received after the battle of Philippi, but he had ceased to be of any political importance. It was agreed that Antony should carry on the war against the Parthians, and that Octavian should subdue Pompey, whom Antony readily sacrificed. The Consuls were to be selected alternately from the friends of each. To cement the alliance, Antony was to marry Octavia, the sister of Octavian and widow of C. Marcellus, one of the noblest women of her age. The two Triumvirs then repaired to Rome to celebrate the marriage. These events took place toward the end of B.C. 40.
Discontent, however, prevailed at Rome. Sextus Pompey, who had been excluded from the peace, still continued master of the sea, and intercepted the ships which supplied the city with corn. The people were in want of bread, and became so exasperated that Octavian and Antony found it necessary to enter into negotiations with Pompey. An interview took place between the chiefs at Cape Misenum. It was agreed that Pompey should receive Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Achaia, and that he should send to Rome an immediate supply of corn. The chiefs then feasted one another, and Pompey entertained Octavian and Antony on board his own galley. When the banquet was at its height, a Greek named Menas, or Menodorus, one of Pompey's captains, whispered to him, "Shall I cut off the anchors of the ship, and make you master of the Roman world?" To which Pompey made the well-known reply, "You ought to have done it without asking me." The two Triumvirs, on their return to Rome, were received with shouts of applause. The civil wars seemed to have come to an end (B.C. 39).