Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/444

Rh 420 AUGUSTUS. giura ; but an attempt to cross over to Sicily was thwarted by a naval victory which Ponipeius gain- ed over Q. Salvidienus Rufus in the very sight of Augustus. Soon after this, Augustus and Antony sailed across the Ionian sea to Greece, as Brutus and Cassius were leaving Asia for the west. Augustus was obliged to remain at Dyrrhachium on account of illness, but as soon as he had recov- ered a little, he hastened to Philippi in the autumn of B. c. 42, The battle of Philippi was gained by the two triumvirs : Brutus and Cassius in despair put an end to their lives, and their followers surrendered to the conquerors, with the exception of those who placed their hopes in Sext, Pompeius. After this successful war, in which the victory was mainly owing to Antony, though subsequently Augustus claimed all the merit for himself, the triumvirs made a new division of the provinces. Lepidus obtained Africa, and Augustus returned to Italy to reward his veterans with the lands he had promised them. All Italy was in fear and trembling, as every one anticipated the repetition of the horrors of a proscription. His enemies, especially Fulvia, the wife of Antony, and some other of the friends of the latter, increased these apprehensions by false reports in order to excite the people against him ; for Augustus was detained for some time at Brundusiura by a fresh attack of illness. But he pacified the minds of the people by a letter which he wrote to the senate. These circumstances not only prevented for the present his undertaking anything fresh against Sext Pompeius, but occasioned a new and unex- pected war. On his arrival at Rome, Augustus found that Fulvia had been spreading these rumours with the View of drawing away her hus- band from the arms of Cleopatra, and that L. Antonius, the brother of the triumvir, was used by her as an instrument to gain her objects. Au- gustus did all he could to avoid a rupture, but in Tain. L. Antonius assembled an anny at Prae- neste, with which he threw himself into the fortified town of Perusia, where he was blockaded by Augustus with three armies, so that a fearful famine arose in the place. This happened towards the end of B. c. 41. After several attempts to break through the blockading armies, L. Antonius was obliged to surrender. The citizens of Perusia obtained pardon from Augustus, but the senators were put to death, and from three to four hundred noble Perusines were butchered on the 15th of March, b. c. 40, at the altar of Caesar. Fulvia fled to Greece, and Tiberius Nero, with his wife Livia, to Pompeius in Sicily and thence to Antonj', who blamed the authors of the war, probably for no other reason but because it had been unsuccess- ful. Antony, however, sailed with his fleet to Brundusiura, and preparations for war were made on both sides, but the news of the death of Fulvia in Greece accelerated a peace, which was concluded at Brundusium, between the two triumvirs. A new division of the provinces was again made : Augustus obtained all the parts of the empire west of the town of Scodra in Illyricum, and Antony the eastern provinces, while Italy was to belong to them in common. Antony also formed an engage- ment with the noble-minded Octavia, the sister of Augustus and widow of C. Marcellus, in order to confirm the new friendship. 'The marriage was celebrated at Rome. Sext. Pompeius, who had had no share in these transactions, continued to AUGUSTUS. cut oiF the provisions of Rome, which was suffering greatly from scarcity : scenes of violence and out- rage at Rome shewed the exasperation of the peo- ple. Augustus could not hope to satisfy the Romans unless their most urgent wants were satisfied by sufficient supplies of food, and this could not be effected in any other way but by a reconciliation with Pompeius. Augustus had an interview with him on the coast of Misenum, in B. c. 39, at which Pompeius received the procon- sulship and the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, together with the province of Achaia. In return for these concessions he was to provide Italy with corn. In order to convince the Romans of the sincerity of his intentions, Augustus be- trothed M. Marcellus, the son of Octavia and step- son of Antony, who was present on this occasion, to a daughter of Pompeius. Peace seemed now to be restored everywhere. Antony returned to the East, where bis generals had been successful, and Augustus too received favourable news from his lieutenants in Spain and Gaul. Augustus, however, was anxious for an op- portunity of a war, by which he might deprive Sext. Pompeius of the provinces which had been ceded to him at Misenum. A pretext was soon found in the fact, that Pompeius allowed piracy to go on in the Mediterranean. Augustus solicited the aid of the two other triumvirs, but they did not support him ; and Antony was in reality glad to see Augustus engaged in a struggle in which he was sure to suffer. The fleet of Augustus suffered greatly from storms and the activity of Deraochares, the admiral of Pompeius; but the latter did not follow up the advanUiges he had gained, and Au- gustus thus obtained time to repair his ships, and send Maecenas to Antony to invite him again to take part in the war. Antony hereupon sailed to Tarentum, in the beginiiing of the year 37, with 300 ships : but, on his arrival there, Augustus had changed his mind, and declined the assistance. This conduct exasperated Antony ; but his wife, Octavia, acted as mediator ; the two triumvirs met between Tarentum and Metapontura, and the ur- gent necessity of the times compelled them to lay aside their mutual mistrust. Augustus promised an army to Antony for his Parthian war, while Antony sent 1"20 ships to increase the fleet of Au- gustus, and both agreed to prolong their office of triumvirs for five years longer. While Antony hastened to Syria, Octavia remained with her bro- ther. Soon after this, M. Vipsanius Agrippa re- ceived the command of the fleet of Augustus, and in July of the year 36, Sicily was attacked on all sides ; but storms compelled the fleet of Augustus to return, and Lepidus alone succeeded in landing at Lilybaeum. Pompeius remained in his usual inactivity ; in a sea-fight oft' Mylae he lost thirty ships, and Augustus landed at Tauromeniuni. Agrippa at last, in a decisive naval battle, put an end to the contest, and Pompeius fled to Asia. Lepidus, who had on all occasions been treated with neglect, now wanted to take Sicily for him- self ; but Augustus easily gained over his troops, and Lepidus himself submitted. He was sent to Rome by Augustus, and resided there for the re- mainder of his life as pontifex maximus. -The forces which Augustus had under his command now amounted, according to Appian, to forty-five legions, independent of the light-armed troops and the cavalry, and to GOO ships. Augustus rewarded