OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMEN HOUSE, E C. 4 LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MILBOURNE CAPETOWN BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS HUMPHREY MILFORD PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY THE ROMAN REVOLUTION BY RONALD SYME FELLOW AND TUTOR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN ANCIENT HISTORY OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1939 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN PARENTIBVS OPTIMIS PATRIAEQVE PREFACE THE subject of thisj^ook is the transformation of state and society atRpme between 6Q.B.C. and A.D. 14. It is composed round "H central narrative that recorHsT theorise to power of Augustus and the establishment of his rule, embracing the years 44-23 B.C. (chapters vii-xxiii). The period witnessed a violent jrapf.ffrfnre nf-pmvfr and of property; ^n(j thd! Principate of Augustus should be regarded as the consolidation of the "revolutionary process. Emphasis is TaTd," howev<er7~not| upon the~pefsonality and act?of Augustus, but upon his adherents and partisans. The composition of the oligarchy of government therefore emerges as the dominant theme of political history, as the binding link between the Republic and the Empire : it is something real and tangible, whatever may be the name or theory of the constitution. To that end, the space (and significance) allotted to the biographies of Pompeius, Caesar and Augustus, to warfare, to provincial affairs and to constitutional history has been severely restricted, fogtead. the noble houses of Rorae,aiicl allies of the various political leaders enter into The method has to be selective: exhaustive detail cannotbe, provided about every family or individual. Even so, the subject almost baffles exposition. The reader who is repelled by a close concatenation of proper names must pass rapidly over certain sections, for example the two chapters (v and vi) that analyse the composition of the Caesarian party in the form of a long digression. No less than the subject, the tone and treatment calls for explanation. In narrating the central epoch of the history of Rome I have been unable to escape from the influence of the historians SdlustTPollio and Tacitus,' all of tKenT Republican in sentimentT Hence *T deliberately critical attitude towards Augustus. If Caesar and Antonius by contrast are treated rather leniently, the reason may be discovered in the character and opinions of the historian Pollio a Republican, but a partisan of Caesar and of Antonius. This also explains what is said about Cicero and about Livy. Yet, in the end, the Princi\ pate has to be accepted, for the Principate, while abolishing political freedom, averts civil war and preserves the non-' viii PREFACE political classes. Liberty or, staHf* g^vfTTUTT"* ' that was the question confronting the Romans themselves, and I have tried to answer it precisely in their fashion (chapter xxxiii, Pax et Princeps). The design has imposed a pessimistic and truculent tone, to the almost complete exclusion of the gentler emotions and the domestic virtues. Au*>a/us andTv^ are the presiding divinities. The style is likewise direct and even abrupt, avoiding meta- phors and abstractions. It is surely time for some reaction from the ' traditional' and conventional vieviTT^tEe' pjEnocT Much fhat'teS'TecentlyTeen written about Augustus is simply pane- gyric, whether ingenuous or edifying. Yet it is not necessary to praise political success or to idealize the men who win wealth and honours through civil war. The fristory of this agg fa highly r-ftn*TQYersial T the learned literature overwhelming in bulk. I have been driven to make a bold decision in the interests of brevity and clearness to quote as much as possible of the ancient evidence, to refer but seldom to m63ern authorities, and to state controversial opinions quite nakedly, without hedging and without tHe support of elaborate argumentation. Further, the bibliography at the end is not intended as a guide to the whole subject: it merely contains, put together for convenience, the books and papers mentioned in the footnotes. It will at once be evident how much the conception of the nature of Roman politics here expounded owes to the supreme example and guidance of Mvinzgr: but for his work on Repub- lican family-history, this book could hardly have existed. In detail my principal debts are to the numerous prosopographical studies of Miinzer, Groag and Stein. Especial mention must also be made of Tarn's writings about Antonius and Cleopatra (from which I have learned so much, though compelled to dissent in one matter of cardinal importance) and of Anton von Premerstein's posthumous book Vom Werden und Wesen des Prinzipats. My opinions about the oath of allegiance of 32 B.C. and about the position of the Princeps as a party-leader naturally owe much, but do not derive entirely, from this illuminating work in an earlier form and draft they were the substance of lectures delivered in the summer of 1937. The index is mainly prosopographical in character, and it covers the footnotes as well as the text. If used in conjunction with the list of consuls and the seven genealogical tables it will PREFACE ix sometimes reveal facts or connexions not explicitly mentioned in the text. In some way or other most of the consuls and governors of military provinces gain admittance to the narrative. The immense number of characters mentioned in a brief and compressed fashion has been the cause of peculiar difficulties. Many of them are bare names, void of personal detail; their importance has been deduced from family, nomenclature, or rank ; and most of them will be unfamiliar to any but a hardened prosopographer. For the sake of clearness, conventional labels or titles have often been attached; and the relevant evidence is sometimes repeated, in preference to an elaborate system of cross-references. For assistance in the reading of proofs and for improvements of expression and substance I am deeply under obligation to the following friends, Mr. E. B. Birley, Professor A. Degrassi, Mr. M. Grant, Mr. C. G. Hardie, Mr. A. H. M. Jones, Mr. R. Meiggs, Professor F. Miinzer, Mr. A. D. Peck and Miss M. V. Taylor to say nothing of the alacrity and the patience of the readers of the Clarendon Press. Furthermore, I gladly take this opportunity to acknowledge the constant encouragement and the generous help that I have received from Mr. Last, the Camden Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford the more so, precisely, because there is so much in the present volume that will make him raise his eyebrows. Its imperfections are patent and flagrant. It has not been composed in tranquillity; and it ought to be held back for several years and rewritten. But the theme, I firmly believe, is of some importance. If the book provokes salutary criticism, so much the better. R. S. OXFORD i June 1939 CONTENTS L INTRODUCTION: AUGUSTUS AND HISTORY . i II. THE ROMAN OLIGARCHY . . . .10 III. THE DOMINATION OF POMPEIUS . . .28 IV. CAESAR THE DICTATOR . . . .47 V. THE CAESARIAN PARTY . . . .59 VI. CAESAR'S NEW SENATORS . . . .78 VII. THE CONSUL ANTONIUS . . . .97 VIII. CAESAR'S HEIR . . . . . .112 IX. THE FIRST MARCH ON ROME . . .123 X. THE SENIOR STATESMAN . . . .135 XL POLITICAL CATCHWORDS . . . .149 XII. THE SENATE AGAINST ANTONIUS . . .162 XIII. THE SECOND MARCH ON ROME . . .176 XIV. THE PROSCRIPTIONS 187 XV. PHILIPPI AND PERUSIA . . . .202 XVL THE PREDOMINANCE OF ANTONIUS . .214 XVII. THE RISE OF OCTAVIANUS . . . .227 XVIII. ROME UNDER THE TRIUMVIRS . . .243 XIX. ANTONIUS IN THE EAST . . . .259 XX. TOTA ITALIA . . . . . .276 XXI. DUX . . . . . . .294 XXII. PRINCEPS . . . . . . .313 XXIII. CRISIS IN PARTY AND STATE . . .331 XXIV. THE PARTY OF AUGUSTUS . . . .349 XXV. THE WORKING OF PATRONAGE . . .369 CONTENTS xi XXVI. THE GOVERNMENT 389 XXVII. THE CABINET 406 XXVIII. THE SUCCESSION 419 XXIX. THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME . . .440 XXX. THE ORGANIZATION OF OPINION . . .459 XXXI. THE OPPOSITION 476 XXXII. THE DOOM OF THE NOBILES. . . .490 XXXIII. PAX ET PRINCEPS 509 APPENDIX: THE CONSULS 525 LIST OF WORKS REFERRED TO . . . .530 INDEX 535 GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . . At end ABBREVIATIONS AJP = American Journal of Philology. BCH = Bulletin de correspondance hellenique. BMC = British Museum Catalogue. BSR = British School at Rome. CAH Cambridge Ancient History. CIL = Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. CP = Classical Philology. CQ = Classical Quarterly. CR = Classical Review. GGN Gottingische gelehrte Nachrichten. IG Inscriptions Graecae. IGRR = Inscriptions Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes. ILS = Inscriptions Latinae Selectae. IOSPE = Inscriptions Orae Septentrionalis Pontis Euxini. JRS = Journal of Roman Studies. LE = W. Schulze, Zur Geschichte lateinischer Eigennamen. OGIS = Orientis Graeci Inscriptions Selectae. PIR Prosopographia Imperil Romani. P-W = Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissen- schaft. RA = F. Munzer, Romische Adelsparteien und Adelsfamilien. Rh. M. = Rheinisches Museum fur Philologte. RM = Mitteilungen des deutschen archdologischen Instituts, romische Abteilung. SEG = Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum. SIG = Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum. L INTRODUCTION: AUGUSTUS AND HISTORY THE greatest of the Roman historians began his Annals with the accession to the Principate of Tiberius, stepson and son by adoption of Augustus, consort in his powers. Not until that day was the funeral of the Free State consummated in solemn and legal ceremony. The corpse had long been dead. In common usage the reign of Augustus is regarded as the foundation of the Roman Empire. The era may be variously computed, from the winning of sole power by the last of the dynasts through the War of Actium, from the ostensible restoration of the Republic in 27 B.C., or from the new act of settlement four years later, which was final and permanent. Outlasting the friends, the enemies and even the memory of his earlier days, Augustus the Princeps, who was born in the year of Cicero's consulate, lived to seejthe grandson of his granddaughter and to utter a prophecy of empire concerning Galba, to whom the power passed when the dynasty of the Julii and Claudii had ruled for a century. 1 Thejiscension of Caesar's heir had been a series of hazards and miracles: Tiis constitutional reign as acknowledged head of the Roman State was to baffle by its" length and solidity all human arid~raGonal calculation. It lasted for forty years. No astrologer or doctor could have foretold that the frail youth would outlive, by a quarter of a century, his ally and contemporary, the robust Agrippa; no schemer could have counted in advance upon the deaths of his nephew Marcellus, of Drusus his beloved stepson, of the young princes Gams and Lucius, grandsons of Augustus and heirs designate to the imperial succession. Such accidents of duration and fortune the future held. None the less, the main elements in the party of Augustus and in the political system of the Principate had already taken shape, firm and manifest, as early as the year 23 B.C., so that a continuous narrative may run down to that date, thence to diverge into a description of the character and working of government^ ~~ 1 M. Junius Silanus, grandson of the younger Julia, was born in A.D. 14 (Pliny, NH 7, 58) ; on Augustus' remarks about Galba, cf. Suetonius, Galba 4, i ; Dio 64, i, i ; Tacitus, Ann. 6, 20. 4482