"The rise of Octavian owed more to luck, and the mistakes of his enemies, rather than his own political abilities. Discuss."

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Kirsty Singleton                Augustus

“The rise of Octavian owed more to luck, and the mistakes of his enemies, rather than his own political abilities.  Discuss.”

Octavian’s famous claim that he ‘found Rome a brick and left it as marble’ is by no means unfounded.  It is true that under his reign, Rome grew steadily towards peace and prosperity unlike ever before.  But was his eventual ascension to leadership brought about by his own political abilities, or was it more to do with the mistakes of his enemies?

  Octavian has always maintained the mantle of being ‘delicate in health’ to some affect and in his youth he was said to have ‘scarcely recovered from a dangerous sickness’, and it has been rightfully said that he was not known for ‘grand feats of arms,’ but it seems very hard to deny that he was, in his own right, a masterful statesman.  Of course, when he inherited three-quarters his great uncle’s estate, as well as his name, it is easy to forget that Octavian was not yet even 20 years of age.  The explanation for this is because before Octavian reached that age, in very little time he seemed to achieve more than any other man did so in the Roman era.  But to what can this be attributed to?  It is true that Marc Antony certainly seemed to expect that Julius would nominate him as heir to his name and estate, for he was even spending Caesar’s fortune before the will had been published.  Antony himself was already a popular and proven soldier by this time – ‘his reputation…was the greatest in the army’, and he was favoured by Caesar, so it may have seemed strange to some, certainly at the time, that Caesar should nominate his relatively unknown great nephew.  Perhaps it was Antony’s penchant for gambling, or maybe Caesar thought Antony was too similar to himself, but whatever the reason, Caesar must have spotted something in his young great nephew that prompted him to make him his son and heir upon death. So was Antony’s reputation as a gambler his first mistake?  For if that put Caesar off in some way, then it only left an opening for Octavian to claim his place as a Caesar.  Alternatively, on the few occasions that Caesar and Octavian met, Octavian had obviously won the favour of his uncle, whom had him ‘honoured with several military awards...in his African triumph, although he [Octavian] took no part. ’ Of course, an easier explanation may have been the Roman’s obsession with family, and Caesar chose the boy over Antony because he simply wanted to keep most of the inheritance in the family.  

  Despite Octavian’s well-documented shortcomings as a soldier, his boldness upon hearing of his great uncle’s death cannot be denied.  He crossed Italy, determined to bring justice to those who had assassinated his relative, and all this before he even knew of his inheritance.  Despite his intentions however, ‘his honour and interest were concerned in revenging the murder of his uncle, ’ upon arrival Cassius and Brutus had wisely left Italy, but Antony was still in Rome, displaying his uncanny knack for offending the senate to such an extent that Cicero was said to have commented ‘at times one could wish Caesar back, ’ such was his disfavour with Antony.  Antony only worsened his situation by refusing to grant Octavian what was rightfully his, so disgruntled at Caesar’s snub of himself.  ‘Antony…treated him injuriously both in word and deed. ’  This proved to be Antony’s second mistake, as it forced ‘the young Caesar into applying himself to Cicero.’  Antony left Rome for Cisalpine Gaul, intending to claim it from Brutus, but the senate instructed Brutus to hold out against Antony, but time was running short, as Antony had a substantial army behind him.  It was at this point Octavian was given consulship, along with 2 others, and instructed to dispose of Antony by Cicero.  It was done in due course, and Antony fled after two battles, but in a strange twist of luck for Octavian, both of the consuls he had been joined with died from resultant battle wounds, effectively handing him the entire consular armies.  Of course, Seutonius is quick to mention that shortly afterwards, ‘a report was circulated that they (Hirtius and Pansa) both were killed through his means [Octavian’s] ’  Although it was only a rumour it is interesting in that it could be another example of Octavian’s cold hearted ruthlessness.

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  So Octavian returned victorious, not only with two of Antony’s legions but with the entire consular armies.  Yet the senate decided that if Antony had been rid of so easily, they no longer required Octavian’s services.  They offered him post of praetor, but Octavian would not accept it.  To take such a step down at this stage with little argument from Octavian was unlikely to happen.  To greaten the insult, Brutus was handed a triumph and the consular armies, something Octavian was highly agitated about, considering Brutus was one of those responsible for Caesar’s assassination.  He marched on ...

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