In the first issue, we told readers about the new difficulties that confronted Octavian, and the fun holiday of life that unexpectedly fell to Anthony.
While Mark was having a great time in Egypt with Cleopatra, the “son of Caesar” was solving the sudden problems with his brother. Lucius Anthony, having entered Rome and showered in the capital, retreated to the north, hoping to gain supporters there and oppose Octavian already as it should, but not with small forces, but did not have time.
A furious triumvir intercepted Lucius in the city of Perusia (now called Perugia) and besieged. Since the brother of the Egyptian hero-lover was much more likely to yell in the squares than to command the armies, the defense did not last long. Lucius, the wife of Anthony and other high-ranking rebels Octavian, reluctantly spared so as not to stir up the conflict even more, but in the city he recouped himself with might and main, executing almost all the nobles, giving Perusia to be plundered, and at the end he also burned it to the ground. Some sources, however, blame this for some city madman. Other eyewitnesses, who clearly did not like the “son of Caesar,” said that the fire was set up precisely on the orders of Triumvir, and at the same time he sacrificed 300 people to his named god-father.
It is not known exactly what happened with the arson, but the sacrifices were overkill - by that time they had been banned in Rome for several hundred years, and Octavian, who was distinguished by superstitiousness, but nevertheless contemplating in matters of domestic politics, would have gone to such a step.
The surviving relatives of Mark Anthony with his retinue, announcing the neighborhood with mournful screams, rushed south to meet their benefactor, to whom rumors of misunderstandings in Italy had reached the Egyptians. After setting aside Cleopatra and preparing for the (not very active, however) campaign to Parthia, Mark decided to arrive with the army at the scene to understand what was happening and why. Sextus Pompey decided to immediately hang out with him, all trying to get at least some explanation for his own inclusion in the list of enemies of the people.
The situation was heating up. The forces of Octavian approached the troops of Anthony, and the triumvirate almost went to dust, if not for the opinion of the legionnaires. As already mentioned, they didn’t really like all these messes - finally the command decided to pay off all debts with money and land, and then another civilian loomed on his nose. Two armies in chorus quoted the cat Leopold and offered to continue more interesting activities - to give out on the barrel more nishtyaks for valiant warriors, for example.
Somehow the triumphs agreed. Shook hands again, redistributed the province (Octavian - West, Anthony - East, Lepidus - Africa, so as not to ache) and confirmed the agreement, marrying Anthony to Octavia the Younger - Octavian's sister.
Megera Fulvia, who started all this catastrophe out of jealousy for Cleopatra, received a severe reprimand upon her husband's arrival for daring to distract him from important state affairs by some minor war, was saddened, ill, and died in time. But Sextus Pompey never received an answer to his lively quivering question, why he became embittered completely, quarreled with everyone and sailed back to Sicily to piracy and radically reduce the diets of the Romans, becoming the first item on the Octavian’s to-do list for the very near future.
Such Silicon separatism brought a lot of happiness to the triumvir, but all with a minus sign. Guy did not have his own sensible fleet, whole crowds of slaves fled to Pompey in search of a better life, and the Romans, finally angered by the redistribution of lands and tightly tightened belts, already began to throw stones at their high patrons, which was not only unpleasant from an aesthetic point of view, but also dangerous with the physical.
I had to go to negotiations, where, in addition to Octavian, Antony was also present, somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that for the sake of diplomacy he was torn from Cleopatra. The parties bargained for a long time and fiercely, but in the end they agreed on the following conditions: Pompey did not take the triumvirate (he is nevertheless from the word trio, not from the word quartet), but they left him the captured islands, and in addition they also gave Peloponnese, through for several years they make him consul, declare a full amnesty to everyone, and they also release fugitive slaves from his army, rewarding them like ordinary soldiers. In return, Pompey allows the Romans to get off the diet and ceases to create hell and horror at sea, instead pledging to protect food transports and in every way facilitate the supply of food to Rome.
At the feast, which was arranged over the conclusion of peace, one of Pompey’s close associates, Menodor, suggested the commander solve all problems in one fell swoop, stupidly killing Anthony and Octavian. The lord of the pirates refused.
Mark departed to his east, indulging in Egyptian passions (not in biblical meaning) and infringing on Parthia, which during his absence was completely overwhelmed. Octavian, and in his thoughts did not hold the fulfillment of the terms of the peace treaty, began the active construction of the fleet.
Pompey, not being a fool, having seen this, did not hurry to dismantle his ships, but he did not proceed with active actions either. In the meantime, incomprehensible scows began to ply around Italy, interfering with the streamlined process of feeding the Romans. Sextus claimed that these guys were completely not from his area, but simply some pirates, Octavian did not believe him a single gram.
Anthony found out that his local deputy was doing a great job with the questions of welfare of the Parthians, so he did not hurry to the front.
I hung out in Athens, Alexandria, traveled to neighboring neighboring eastern states, appointed the necessary rulers there, gave Cleopatra a bunch of state lands, and suddenly for himself received a text message from Octavian, which said:
- The triumvirate expires, it is time to extend.
- This requires Mark's personal presence, but he may not be in a hurry, here again a hitch with Pompey happened.
It really was formed at that time. Despite the freshly built fleet, Octavian was critically lacking in navigation and naval battles.But Sextus has been doing this for almost his entire conscious life. On the other hand, Pompey was not too decisive on land and absolutely naive in politics - that is, where Caesar’s son gobbled up more than one menu of a Korean restaurant.
Despite being savvy in treachery and diplomacy, Octavian lost the campaign ineptly. Either in a battle at sea it flakes, then the weather forecast doesn’t look and gets into a storm, or something else happens - Sextus could not be captured by military force. But Guy's more pumped-up skills worked - the very cute guy Menodor, who suggested cutting unnecessary triumvirs, crossed over to his failed victim, taking with him Corsica and Sardinia.
By the time Anthony arrived in Italy to see this Benny Hill marine show, it was already pretty fed up with all the participants. To speed up the finale, Octavian, after signing the memorandum on extending the triumvirate for the benefit of all, picked up 120 ships from Mark, promising to send in return 20 thousand soldiers - he’d come in handy in the war against terrible Parthians.
Anthony provided the fleet, but received ten times less than promised - the rest, they say, sometime later.
Having spat, Triumvir drove back to the east, having fun in various ways, and Octavian continued with even greater zeal the military campaign. Harpoons were urgently installed on the ships received, specially for this case invented by the naval adviser Guy Julius - a kind of cross between a ballista and a harpoon gun, created specifically to facilitate the boarding of enemy ships.
Marc Anthony was dancing in Alexandria, while his deputy was cleaning up the surrounding provinces from Parthian invaders, Octavian was fostering a fresh fleet to replace the sunken one, Sextus Pompey was preparing to defend himself against the next wave of attackers and thought bad about Menodor, Cleopatra was happy.
Read the rest of the story about Octavian coming to power:
- part 1 - triumvirate, 42-41 BC
- part 3 - the struggle for power and the elimination of rivals
- part 4 - the war of Anthony and Octavian
- part 5 - victory in the war with Mark Anthony, the suicide of Cleopatra
History Fun specifically for Italy for me.
