The Augustan Empire 43 BC

But there was no time to exploit the crisis in 37: Antony did not arrive back in the East until autumn. He spent the winter at Antioch, continuing his new administrative arrangements, and this time the reorganization was more extensive. In 39 he had already given hints of what was to come, when he had strengthened the kingdom of Pontus and begun to favour new men like Amyntas and Polemo. Now these policies were taken much further, and the East began to fall into a number of large client kingdoms, each ruled by an efficient and loyal prince. The newly enlarged kingdom of Pontus would more or less do, but the king would not; Darius was replaced by Polemo, who in his small dominion of 39 had evidently proved himself worthy of promotion.[66]Castor in Galatia was similarly replaced. (It is possible that Darius and Castor had both conveniently died; but the coincidence is suspicious, and it is more likely that both were deposed.) Castor's son Deiotarus

Philadelphia was allowed to inherit Paphlagonia,[67] but Galatia passed to Amyntas;[68] and the realm was greatly expanded, to include parts of Pamphylia and Polemo's former domain in Lycaonia.[69] The old boundaries of Cappadocia would serve adequately, but there had been dynastic unrest there for years. On Ariobarzanes' death in 42 the kingdom should have passed to his brother Ariarathes, a man of dubious loyalty to Rome; Antony preferred a certain Archelaus Sisines from Pontic Comana, and probably made his favour clear from the outset.[70]But in 42—41 it was not yet time to overthrow the legitimate heir in favour of an outsider. By 37—36 Antony's policy of favouring such men was more securely established, and Archelaus was duly confirmed as king.[71] Not that the great kings controlled everything: for instance, the priest-kings in southern Pontus, at Comana, Megalopolis and Zela, were retained and strengthened; several other minor princes were created, Cleon in Mysia, Adiatorix in Heraclea Pontica; in Upper Cilicia Tarcon- dimotus, a pirate in his youth, was encouraged in his small kingdom.[72]But it was Amyntas, Polemo and Archelaus who along with Herod would keep Asia Minor safe. It was a wise policy, and Antony chose his men well. The system, together with most of the individual kings, was to be continued by Octavian after Antony's fall: Archelaus, for instance, reigned for a full fifty years.[73]

Another monarch, too, had her realm increased. Cleopatra was given parts of coastal Phoenicia and Nabataean Arabia, and also the rich balsam woods around Jericho in Judaea.[74] Lysanias of Ituraea was executed, and she took over his kingdom along with some adjoining territory;[75] perhaps she had her dominion in Cilicia extended, and, now or earlier, she also became mistress of Crete and Cyrene.[76] Not all of this served Rome's interests - for instance, now or in 34 both Herod and Malchus of Arabia leased back from Cleopatra the land she now gained. The rent was vast, 200 talents apiece: Cleopatra rather than Rome was clearly the beneficiary of that arrangement. But the grants still fitted Antony's policy of strengthening loyal monarchs, and so far nothing suggests that Antony was favouring her unduly. Amyntas and Polemo did better out of this reorganization than she did, and indeed Antony now as later refused to give her parts of Judaea, Phoenicia, Syria and Arabia which she coveted.¹³⁶ But he seems to have advertised their union in other ways. She travelled to meet him in Syria in late 37; in 36 she bore him another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He also acknowledged paternity of the twins born in 40. This was not yet clearly a marriage - at least, not in Roman eyes, though Egyptians themselves may not have known quite what to make of it.¹³⁷ But it was still a scandal, and one which left Antony peculiarly vulnerable to Octavian's propaganda. The Parthian War afforded Antony the chance of a propaganda triumph, one which might impress Italian sentiment much more than Octavian's con­tinuation of the civil war with Sextus.¹³⁸ That was now compromised.