Augustus

When Octavia reached Athens, she received a curt message from her husband, instructing her to send on the legionaries and supplies and then return to Rome. Her brother advised her to move out of Antony’s palatial residence and set up her own independent household. Octavia obeyed her husband’s order but declined her brother’s advice: she came back to the capital, but refused to move house.

Plutarch presents the rejection from a romantic perspective, giving a highly colored account of Cleopatra staging a nervous breakdown to persuade Antony to send Octavia away. No such explanation is necessary; the decision was political and intended as a firm response to Octavian’s hostile, or at least unfriendly, actions.

The literary sources regard Octavia as a saintly figure, characterized by a “truly noble devotion and generosity of spirit.” One may detect here the hand of her brother’s propagandists. However, factual claims about matters familiar to contemporaries—and so not worth lying about—suggest that she did everything she could to save her marriage. She went on looking after the large brood of Antonian children, entertaining Antony’s friends in Rome on business, and doing everything she could to obtain what those friends wanted from Octavian.

It was beginning to be clear to all but the most determined optimists that the triumvirs were approaching a parting of the ways. Their personalities had always been diametrically opposed. Octavian suffered from frequent bouts of ill health; Antony was strong and gloriously fit. Octavian was dutiful and self-disciplined; Antony was prone to binge drinking and worked hard only when he had to. Octavian planned and schemed; Antony reacted more spontaneously to events. Octavian was fiercely loyal to those who put their confidence in him; Antony easily betrayed them. Octavian often broke his agreements; Antony fulfilled his promises.

At issue was not only a dysfunctional personal relationship but also opposing political philosophies, or at least casts of mind. Antony was an old-fashioned kind of politician, who was happy with things as they were provided that he could maintain a leading role in public life. Octavian was a revolutionary, who meant to transform the Roman world.

For the time being, though, the triumvirs silently agreed to forget about each other and concentrate on their own projects. There was room enough in the empire not to trip over each other.

XII

EAST IS EAST AND WEST IS WEST

35–34 B.C.

Everywhere the land was covered by thick and tangled forests and there were few tilled fields. Occasional small clearings could be found where spelt and millet, the staple grains of the population, were grown. Here and there hills were crowned with fortress towns, to which people could retreat in time of war. The inhabitants were poor, but, according to Dio, were “considered to be the bravest of all men about whom we have knowledge.”

Roman legions marched into Illyricum for the first time in 229 B.C. Rome declared the region a province but never completely bent the untamed tribes to its will. In 35 B.C., despite Antony’s successes against the Parthini, Octavian in his new role as bringer of peace decided that the time had come to restore order. Italy would thank him for yet another contribution to its security.

His motives, however, were not straightforward. He needed a war for his own purposes. First, he wanted an excuse to retain most of his legions, in case he might require them in some future confrontation with Antony. The army in the east had to be matched by one in the west if the two triumvirs were to be seen as equal in authority.

More important, though, Octavian knew that he had a difficulty with his public image. While winning great respect for bravery during the Sicilian war, everyone knew that the man behind the victory was Agrippa. Public opinion had not quite forgotten Octavian’s invisibility at Philippi. To match Antony, who was bruised by his failure in Parthia but still preeminent, he had to score an undoubted military success, for which he was seen to be wholly responsible.

Octavian had a liking for complicated offensives, using armies and fleets to attain simultaneous but different objectives. The plan in the final campaign against Sextus Pompeius had involved three fleets and two armies; for Illyricum, he again decided on a three-pronged approach. We say “Octavian,” for the impression was studiously given that he was personally in charge and made all the key decisions. However, it is known that Agrippa was present during the Illyricum campaign and, just as he played a key role in Sicily, we can perhaps detect his guiding hand.