Marcus Agrippa: Right-hand Man of Caesar Augustus (29 page)

35. The remains of the Odeion of Agrippa in Athens hint at the opulence of the building in its heyday. Sea tritons were part of the maritime themed decorations of the public entrance.

36. Iulia the Elder accompanied Agrippa on his tour of the eastern provinces. Ephesus recorded their visit on an inscription in the city’s forum.

37. Agrippa died before the
Ara Pacis Augustae
was inaugurated. He is included in the procession of guests at the event but is the only one shown with his
toga
covering his head.

38. After Agrippa’s death there were reports that a comet had been seen in the sky. This
denarius
shows Augustus holding a star with the right hand above the semi-naked figure of Agrippa who holds a small Winged Victory in the palm of his right hand and a mace in his left.

39. Debate continues about whether Augustus or Tiberius or Caligula first minted this
as
showing a high relief portrait of Agrippa and semi-naked Neptunus holding a trident and dolphin.

40. Augustus adopted Agrippa’s son Caius hoping to raise him as his heir. Despite many advantages he proved a disappointment.

41. Adopted by Augustus at the same time as Tiberius, Postumus Agrippa even failed to live up to the low expectations of him.

42. Agrippa’s daughter Agrippina the Elder married Germanicus Caesar. They created a dynasty which included the emperors Caligula and Nero.

43. In a tribute to the builder of the
Aqua Virgo
, which still supplies water to the Trevi Fountain, Rome, the eighteenth-century architect designed two panels commemorating Agrippa.

44. The second of the Trevi panels commemorates the moment the young girl located the source of the
Aqua Virgo
for Agrippa.

45. Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s
An Audience at Agrippa’s
(1876) is one of the few paintings to depict the life of M. Agrippa.

Imperator Caesar finally heeded Agrippa’s pleas for his return.
¹
He had been elected as consul for the year 30 BCE and, before leaving Greece, he delegated to others the important mission of finding Antonius who was still at large. Meanwhile Agrippa and Maecenas prepared for their friend’s imminent arrival (
adventus
) and set off to Brundisium (
map 10
). Caesar was met at the port city by a large delegation comprising members of the Senate, the
equites
and other people of importance in a public display of unequivocal support for the victor of the Actian War.
²
This time he brought money with which he settled the debt of the disaffected veterans, and to those who had served with him in his campaigns he also granted allotments of land.
³
The land he found for them in Italy came from confiscations of property held by friends and allies of Antonius, but he was careful to compensate those negatively impacted with land offshore in Dyrrhacium, Philippi and elsewhere, with promises of payment to those unsuccessful in getting alternative accommodations.
⁴
His policy came with consequences, however. He was now spending more cash than he had and, as a sign of his good faith, he had to put up his own property as well as that of his friends – no doubt Agrippa’s included – for auction to raise additional monies; although no property or money actually changed hands, nevertheless, Caesar succeeded in buying himself time.
⁵
He issued to those who had received amnesty the right to live in Italy and, to the people of Rome who had not come out to greet him in Brundisium despite having sworn an oath of loyalty, he issued a general pardon.
⁶
Now, more urgently than ever, he needed to find the treasure smuggled away by Kleopatra. Thirty days after having landed in the heel of Italy, he boarded his ship and sailed for Greece.
⁷
Agrippa must have sighed with relief for the swift, complete and peaceful way Caesar had found solutions to the matters which had vexed him so deeply.

By the time Caesar returned again to Italy in August of 29 BCE, the Roman world was slowly discovering that the war was over. His army had since defeated Antonius’ and Alexandria had been taken on 1 August 30 BCE, and an additional nineteen legions now swore allegiance to him.
⁸
Antonius had committed suicide. Queen Kleopatra too was dead – by suicide was the official version though it may have been a professional assassination.
⁹
Nevertheless, Caesar saw to it that she had a burial fit for a queen.
¹⁰
Caesar spared the children of both Fulvia and Kleopatra, all except Caesarion who was captured while trying to flee to India via Ethiopia and was executed, and Antyllus, who, betrayed by his tutor, was beheaded.
¹¹
The kingdom of Egypt was annexed as a territory of Rome to be administered by a
praefectus
of his own choosing.
¹²