Famous People of Ancient Rome
CAESAR (see’-zer)
Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) was the greatest man of ancient Rome. Though he was descended from an old aristocratic family, he was a member of the popular party from his earliest youth.
Marius, the leader of this party, had married Caesar’s aunt; and he took a great interest in the promising youth.
When he was eighteen, Caesar faced mortal danger. Marius was now dead; Sulla, who had been his bitterest enemy, was in power. He demanded that Caesar should divorce his wife Cornelia, the daughter of one of Marius’ friends. Caesar refused; and he escaped the wrath of Sulla only because the Vestal Virgins (see page 3226) pleaded for the lad. “That boy,” grumbled Sulla, as he granted Caesar’s pardon, “will some day be the ruin of the aristocracy, for there is in him many a Marius.”
In 76 B.C. Caesar sailed for the island of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean Sea, in order to study oratory—the art of making speeches. He was captured by pirates off Miletus, in Asia Minor, and kept a prisoner upon the island of Pharmacusa till he was ransomed by his friends. While in captivity Caesar laughingly told the pirates that some day he would have them all crucified. His captors thought it a great joke. But, sure enough, after he was released, young Caesar came back with a powerful expedition, captured many of the pirates and succeeded in carrying out his threat.
When he returned to Rome, he did all in his power to win the favor of the people by means of gifts and entertainments of all kinds. After he had used up his own fortune in this way, he borrowed large sums from the moneylenders of Rome. His efforts bore fruit. He became a great favorite with the people, who elected him to public office again and again.
Caesar had won success as a public leader, but his debts threatened to overwhelm him. So he got the help of his friend Crassus, the wealthiest man of Rome, in arranging for payments to the anxious moneylenders. Caesar was now put in charge of a military campaign in Spain, and for the first time he showed his military genius.
In 6o B.C. Caesar formed a political partnership with Crassus and Pompey, who at that time was considered the foremost Roman citizen. These three men were now all-powerful in Rome; and Caesar had no difficulty in winning election as consul. After serving a year as consul, he was made governor of several provinces, including Gaul (the land we know as France).
In the course of the next ten years he conducted a series of magnificent campaigns in Gaul; he subdued the barbarians who had defied Rome in many parts of that region. While governor of Gaul, Caesar crossed the Rhine River twice and carried the war to the German tribes that dwelt on the other side of that river. He also made two expeditions to England, where no Roman had ever landed before. Caesar has told us the story of his campaigns in his Commentaries of the Gallic Wars, a work familiar to all young people who study Latin.
Caesar’s victories caused Pompey to turn against him, and by 49 B.C. open fighting broke out between the two men. Caesar defeated his rival in the battle of Pharsalia in 48 B.C. and pursued him to Egypt, where Pompey met his death. Caesar remained in Egypt for a time, for he had fallen victim to the charms of Cleopatra, a beautiful Egyptian princess. He even fought a war so that Cleopatra might rule over Egypt together with her young brother.
He then departed for Asia Minor, where King Pharnaces of Pontus was threatening the Asiatic possessions of Rome. Caesar routed the army of Pharnaces in the battle of Zela (47 B.C.). Then he sent the senate a message that consisted of just three words:
Veni, vidi, vici.—”I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Cesar turned his attention next to the remaining supporters of Pompey. The victories of Thapsus (46), in Africa, and Munda (45), in Spain, made him the master of the Roman world. Many people at Rome were now filled with fear and trembling, for hitherto the victors in civil warfare at Rome had generally brought about a reign of terror. But on his return to Rome, Csar pardoned those who had fought against him. Now he ruled alone. His word was law.
We tell you about the achievements of Csar as dictator in our article on the Roman Republic. There is no doubt that he did much for the Roman state. There also seems to be little doubt that he wanted to become king. He had his friend, Mark Antony, offer him a golden diadem, or crown, and he only refused because the people greeted the offer with howls of disapproval. At any rate, Csar determined to keep the supreme power in his own family; he named his grandnephew and adopted son, Octavius, as his successor.
His enemy, Gaius Cassius, formed a conspiracy against him and won the help of Marcus Brutus. Brutus had fought at Pharsalia against Csar, who had pardoned him and showered favors upon him. Brutus joined the conspiraCy against the man who had befriended him because he thought that he would thus help to bring back the good old days of the Roman Republic.
Caesar was attacked by the conspirators in the senate house on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 B.C. He tried to defend himself at first. But when he saw Brutus among those who sought to slay him, he said sadly:
Et tu, Brute? - ”Thou, too, Brutus?”- covered his face with his robe and accepted his fate. He died, pierced by more than twenty wounds, at the foot of Pompey’s statue.
This astonishing man excelled in many ways. He was one of the world’s greatest soldiers, worthy to be compared with Alexander the Great, Hannibal and Napoleon. He was a statesman and lawgiver of the first order. He was greatly esteemed for his eloquence by the Romans. Unfortunately only his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars have come down to us, but he wrote many other works, of which ancient authors speak highly.
ANTONY (an’-toh-nee)
Mark Antony (83?-3o B.C.), whose name in Latin was Marcus Antonius, was an ambitious man, who for a time was master of half the Roman world. He neglected his studies as a youth and wasted his time with gay companions. No one thought that he would ever amount to much.
But when he entered the armies of Rome, he found his real calling. He fought in Syria, Palestine and Egypt and won the reputation of being a brave and energetic officer. He then served under Julius Caesar in Gaul and became his right-hand man. In 50 B.C. Antony went to Rome to serve Caesar’s interests. He was elected as tribune of the people, an important office that carried with it the right of veto over the acts of the senate. As was expected, Antony used his powers to help Caesar’s cause and aroused the anger of the aristocratic party at Rome. He had to flee for his life and took refuge with Caesar in Gaul. He was with that general when he invaded Italy and drove Pompey and his supporters into exile in 49 B.C.
While Caesar was dictator of Rome, he honored Mark Antony greatly. In the year 44 B.C. the dictator was assassinated by a band of conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus. Antony thought it wise to adopt a cautious policy. He soon came to terms with the senate, which backed the conspirators. But when he delivered a funeral oration over Caesar’s body, his eloquence so inflamed the excitable people of Rome that Cassius and Brutus and the rest did not dare remain in the city.
For a time Antony was the most influential man in Rome. But he soon found a rival in Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son and heir, and presently the two men were engaged in open warfare. Then they joined forces. Together with Marcus Lepidus, they formed a triumvirate, or government by three men, in 43. In the following year Antony and Octavian routed the armies of Brutus and Cassius in the battle of Philippi. It was Antony who won the day by his generalship.
Not long afterward Antony became the ruler of all the provinces east of the Adriatic Sea, while Octavian and Lepidus took over the rest of the Roman world. Antony now met the woman who was to become his evil genius. This was the beautiful Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, who in years gone by had won the heart of Caesar. Antony fell madly in love with Cleopatra. He had married Octavia, the sister of Octavian; he now sent her back to Italy while he remained in Egypt in the company of Cleopatra.
From now on he was Cleopatra’s slave. From time to time he would bestir himself and would become again for a while the great general that he used to be. Most of his time, however, was spent in the luxurious court of Cleopatra in Alexandria. Antony forgot that he was a Roman; he assumed the airs and the ceremonies of an Eastern despot. This conduct disgusted some of his Roman friends. They left him to enter the service of Octavian, who now ruled alone over western Rome.
By 32 B.C. Octavian and Antony had broken off relations and they began to prepare for a fight to the finish. At last, one day in September, 31 B.C., the fleet of Octavian faced the combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra off Actium, in Greece. In the mighty sea battle that followed, Antony and Cleopatra were routed and they had to flee to Alexandria.
In the following year Octavian appeared off Alexandria with a powerful fleet and army. Antony’s fleet and his cavalry went over to Octavian; his infantry was cut to pieces in battle. He now heard a rumor, which later proved to be false, that Cleopatra had taken her own life. In despair Antony slew himself by falling on his sword. He was spared at least the suffering of learning that Cleopatra had tried to betray him and to make peace with Octavian.
CICERO (siss’-e-roh)
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.c.) was the foremost orator of ancient Rome. In his youth he studied the law, literature and philosophy with equal zeal. He also tried his hand at soldiering, but he did not distinguish himself. So he gave up all hope of a military career and determined to win fame as a lawyer. He soon became one of the most successful lawyers of Rome. So renowned was his eloquence that the courts were always crowded when it became known that Cicero was going to speak.
The Romans, who always greatly esteemed orators, elected Cicero to a number of public offices, including the highest office of all, the consulship. While he was consul, in 63 B.C., Rome was threatened by a great conspiracy, led by Catiline, a worthless member of the aristocracy. The conspiracy was revealed to Cicero, who denounced Catiline in the senate house in one of the most famous orations of all time.
Catiline managed to make his way out of the city, but some of the conspirators were caught. Cicero had been given great power in order to crush the conspiracy, and he now had five of the conspirators put to death without a trial. Catiline was later defeated in battle and slain.
Cicero was hailed as the Father of his Country by the grateful people of Rome. But after he had become a private citizen again, the fickle Romans forgot the great services that he had rendered to the state. He was accused by his enemies of having had Roman citizens put to death without a trial and he was forced into exile. For several years he remained in exile in Greece. When he returned to Rome, he bowed to the might of the three men who ruled Rome at that time— Caesar, Pompey and Crassus.
In 51 B.C. he had to leave Rome, much against his will, to become governor of the province of Cilicia, in Asia Minor. Unlike most Roman governors of foreign provinces, Cicero proved to be both honest and humane and he won the gratitude of the Cilicians. He was impatient to return to Rome, and as soon as his year of office was over, he left for the scene of his former triumphs.
Soon after Cicero’s return to Rome, civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey ( B.c.). Cicero did not know which side to support at first. At last he decided tofollow Pompey into exile in Greece. After Pompey’s defeat in the battle of Pharsalia, Cicero went back to Italy and threw himself on the mercy of Caesar, who generously pardoned him. Cicero now retired from public life for a while. He remained in his villa at Tusculum and spent his time writing works on philosophy.
After the assassination of Caesar, Cicero attached himself to Octavian, Caesar’s heir, who had made an alliance with the Roman senate. Octavian was soon openly at war with Mark Antony, who had been Caesar’s friend and supporter. Cicero thought it was perfectly safe for him to turn the full force of his eloquence against Antony, and he attacked him in twelve bitter philippics. (A philippic is an oration full of personal attacks; the name comes from the orations against King Philip of Macedonia by Demosthenes, a famous Athenian orator).
When Octavian joined hands with Antony in 43 B.C., Cicero was doomed; for Octavian consented to Antony’s demand that the great orator should be put to death. Warned of his danger, Cicero was in despair. He fled from Italy in a boat and then returned to his Tusculan villa because the winds were unfavorable. Then he was persuaded to flee again, but this time he was caught by the soldiers sent in pursuit of him, Cicero’s devoted slaves prepared to defend their master to the death, but he forbade them to do so. Wearily he told his pursuers to strike. He was cut down in the sixty-third year of his life.
Cicero was one of the greatest figures in Roman literature. His orations, most of which have come down to us, are the finest example of Roman eloquence. He wrote many works on philosophy, discussing the great problems of life and death in wonderful prose. His letters gave a remarkable picture of one of the most interesting periods in the history of mankind.
AUGUSTUS (aw-gus’-tus)
Augustus (63 B.C.-14 An.), the founder and first ruler of the Roman Empire,was called Gaius Octavius as a boy. He was the grandnephew and the particular favorite of Julius Csar. Since Csar had no sons of his own, he made up his mind that some day his grandnephew would succeed him as ruler of Rome.
Young Octavius went to Spain in 45 B.C. in order to join Csar, who was campaigning against certain followers of his rival, Pornpey. It was at this time that Octavius was formally adopted by Csar. The lad took the name of his granduncle with the added name of Octavianus. So he was now Gaius Julius Csar Octavianus, or Octavian, as he is generally called by historians who write in English.
After Csar’s assassination in March, 44, Octavian came to Rome. In spite of his youth he soon became one of the most powerful men of the Roman state. In our two articles on the Story of Ancient Rome we have told you about Octavian’s career as a Roman leader—how he strove with Cassius and Brutus and, later, with Mark Antony, for the mastery of Rome; how he set up an empire which was to endure for centuries; what he accomplished as the emperor Augustus. (This name, meaning highly honored, was bestowed upon him by the Roman senate).
It has been said that the life of the first Roman emperor was really the life of two men - Octavian and Augustus. In the years when, as Octavian, he was fighting for the rule of the Roman world, he did many mean and treacherous things to bring about his ends. He thought nothing of sacrificing his friends in order to win over powerful enemies. We have told you, in our life of Cicero, how he gave up that famous orator to the vengeance of Mark Antony. In this period of his life he also won a reputation for great cruelty.
But after Octavian became the emperor Augustus, a ruler with no serious rivals, there was a great change for the better. In general he showed a kindness and a generosity that had been almost entirely lacking in former years.
He was sometimes merciful even to those who, like the conspirator Cornelius Cinna, had sought his death.
Though Augustus was the supreme ruler of the Roman state, he was too prudent to take the title of king - a title hated by the Romans. Nor did he assume the outer appearance of a king. He never wore a crown, nor did he ever have a king1y court. To the end of his life he lived like an ordinary Roman citizen. His friends never considered him as a master, but as an equal.
Augustus was not a good general, but he had the happy gift of choosing his officers well. In some of the battles in which he took part it was only the skill of others that won the day after his own bungling had almost lost it. After he became emperor, he left the fighting almost entirely to his generals, who were worthy of his trust.
There was only one serious defeat in his reign—the battle of the Teutoburger Forest, in which three Roman legions, led by Varus, were cut to pieces by the Germans. Augustus could not be consoled when he heard of this disaster. He let his hair and beard grow and often cried out in his grief: “Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!”
It is true that by setting up a government in which one man was all-powerful, Augustus paved the way for such wicked emperors as Caligula, Nero and Domitian. But his own reign was a prosperous and happy one, and he was proud of his achievements as emperor. On his deathbed, he turned to those who were standing about him and said: “If I have acted well my part in life’s drama, greet my departure with your applause!”
MAECENAS (meh-see’-nas)
When we speak of a patron of art—a man who helps artists and men of letters and musicians—we often say: “He is a Maecenas.” This Maecenas was a real person, who flourished at Rome in the last days of the Republic and the early days of the Empire.
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (7o?-8 B.C.) was a member of a respectable old Roman family, which claimed descent from the old kings of Etruria, in central Italy. He was a wealthy man and a cultured one, with a deep knowledge of Latin and Greek literature. While still a young man he became an intimate friend of Octavian, the grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Cesar. After the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. Octavian became one of the most important men of Rome. Maecenas was his most trusted adviser.
It is said that Maecenas had a good deal to do with the establishment of the Roman Empire. After Octavian had crushed Mark Antony and had become the sole ruler over Rome, he did not know whether or not to restore the republican form of government. He summoned two of his oldest friends, Maecenas and Agrippa, and asked them what they advised.
Agrippa was all in favor of the republic. But Maecenas reminded Octavian of the evils that the republican form of government had brought to Rome. He claimed that Octavian could bring about peace by setting up a monarchy—a permanent form of government that would not be changed at the whim of the fickle Roman public. Octavian took the advice of Maecenas. He became the first emperor of Rome under the name of Augustus.
For a few years Maecenas continued to enjoy the favor of the Emperor, but then, for some unknown reason, the relations between the two men cooled. After 21 B.C. Maecenas took no further part in public life. He spent most of his time in his magnificent villa on the Esquiline Hill, in the city of Rome. This villa was a favorite meeting-place for all sorts of people—statesmen, men of letters, artists, musicians, actors and clowns.
Some of these guests were vulgar people, whose only merit was that they made their host laugh. But Maecenas did not permit them to become intimate with him. He reserved his friendship for men of talent. His particular favorites were Virgil and Horace, the greatest poets of that day.
Maecenas used his influence to help Virgil recover his farm, which had been taken from him by the government.
He showered even greater favors upon Horace. He got a pardon for him for having fought against Octavian at Philippi in 42 B.C. Later Maecenas gave Horace a farm in the Sabine district near Rome - a farm that was made immortal in Horace’s odes. Nor did Maecenas ever make any demands on the poet. The relationship between them was always that of two intimate friends of equal rank, though Mcenas was a man of distinguished family and Horace was the son of a freedman - a man who had once been a slave.
Maecenas wrote a good deal himself - both prose and poetry - but very little of what he wrote has come down to us. This is no great loss, to judge by the fragments which still exist. Like many other people, Mcenas was an excellent critic of other men’s writings, but could not write well himself.
MARCUS AURELIUS (oh-ree’-li-us)
The great Greek thinker Plato once wrote that men would enjoy a perfect form of government only when a philosopher became a king or when a king became a philosopher. For a philosopher is a man who is interested in the eternal problems of life and death; such a man would not care for personal glory and gain, but would seek only the happiness of his subjects. In the year 161 A.D. what Plato longed for actually came to pass; for a philosopher became the emperor of Rome. He was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (12 i-8o), or Marcus Aurelius, as he is generally known.
His name as a boy was Marcus Annus Verus. From his early childhood he studied the works of Latin and Greek literature and philosophy with great enthusiasm. He was particularly inspired by the writings of the Greek Stoic (stoh’-ik) philosophers. The Stoic sect had been founded by the Greek Zeno in the third century B.C. The name Stoic came from a famous stoa, or porch, where the Stoics of Athens used to teach. A hundred years before Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, the wise old philosopher and writer who was tutor to Nero, was a famous Roman Stoic.
The Stoics held that a wise man should not allow himself to be influenced by either joy or grief; he should willingly accept all that was in store for him.
Furthermore, he should lead a frugal life, shunning all luxury in food and clothing. The Stoics had a very stern idea of duty, too. They thought that a man should do his assigned task without any thought of reward either in this world or in the world to come.
The Stoics, as you see, had a rather forbidding faith, which certainly would not attract most children. Yet as a mere boy of twelve Marcus became a Stoic and from that time he faithfully obeyed all the Stoic teachings. He continued his study of philosophy and attracted much attention at Rome as a lad of great promise.
The emperor Antoninus Pius adopted Marcus as his son, and he became known thereafter as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He was the Emperor’s trusted companion and adviser; and when Antoninus died, in 161, Marcus Aurelius followed him upon the throne.
In our article on the Roman Empire we tell you about his achievements as a ruler. He continued to be a Stoic to the end of his days. Even when he was the master of a great part of the civilized world, with all the
luxuries of the Orient his for the asking, he lived simply and dressed in plain garments. And he gave himself up with all his heart and soul to what he realized was his duty— watching over the interests of his millions of subjects.
In his spare time the Emperor wrote down in a diary the serious thoughts that came to him concerning the meaning of life and the way it should be lived. He so loved the Greek philosophers who had converted him to the Stoic belief that he wrote this diary in the Greek language. After a while it came to contain a fairly complete summing up of the Emperor’s Stoic faith.
The Emperor gave the name “To Himself” to this diary of his. There is no reason to believe that he ever meant it to be read by anybody but himself. But, under the name Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, it became one of the most widely read works of Greek literature, second only to the New Testament in popularity. It is perhaps the noblest monument of pagan thought.
It is sad to record that this great man was an enemy of the Christians. Some people think that he was influenced by the Stoic philosophers who were his constant companions and who were jealous of a faith that was robbing them of many followers. However that may be, Marcus Aurelius believed, as did many people in his day, that the Christians were secretly planning to overthrow the Empire. He thought, therefore, that his duty as emperor made it necessary for him to treat them with great severity.
The Romans mourned deeply at the death of Marcus Aurelius. Yet they could not think of him as a mortal man who had passed away. They thought rather that he had been sent down from heaven for a time in order to bless mankind and that he had now returned to Heaven. He was worshiped as a god after his death. For many years to come the image of the Emperor was to be found among the household gods of almost every Roman family that still remained faithful to the ancient pagan beliefs
