Methods by which Octavian rose to power 44-30

C. Brown

Octavian began his long climb to power in 44BC after the assassination of his great Uncle and leader of Rome, Julius Caesar. Upon his return to Italy from Apolonia in Greece he immediately began building a power base using many differing methods. Since Octavian was the heir of Julius Caesar he inherited all of his slaves and clients and even his army. However the most important thing he inherited was the name Caesar which allowed him to use the huge public support that had existed for Julius Caesar. With the help of Cicero he became very powerful in Rome and became involved in a power struggle with Mark Antony. By employing various different methods throughout this struggle he eventually emerged victories as the most powerful man in the Roman Empire. In 44BC Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius who felt that he was a threat to the Republic. In his will he adopted his great nephew, Gaius Octavian as his son and heir. Octavian was in Greece preparing preparing for a military campaign against Parthia as the time but as soon as he received news of Caesars death returned to Italy immediately. As well as this he accepted the adoption and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. This was the first step and possibly the most important, out shadowing all the other methods he employed in the years to come. This meant that people viewed him as not the son of Octavius but the son of Caesar, as the Appian says Immediately a great mass of people flocked to him from all quarters, as he was Caesars son. Without this Octavian may well have been a political nobody and never achieved power. As well as inheriting the name Caesar, Octavian also gained the slave as well as the loyalty of all the clients and freedmen that once belonged to Julius Caesar. This meant that before he had even landed in Italy Octavian had a huge number of supporters. Even more importantly he appealed to the veterans of the late Caesars army who had been strongly loyal to him, this loyalty transferred to his adopted son, Octavian. While this was a strong factor in the loyalty of the army and people he also carried out Caesars will which had promised 300 sesterces to every Roman citizen, he did this with his own money and gained even more popularity. The soldiers were also bribed with money; each was paid at the amount Legionaries normally earned. Along with these groups of people there were a handful of very important individuals that played vital roles in the various methods he used to gain power. One such individual was the great orator Cicero, who was among the first that supported Octavian. In the early years of his rise to power Cicero was probably the most important supporter for Octavian. He was instrumental in Octavian gaining power, his series of speeches known as the Philippics that he delivered in 43BC persuaded the Senate that Antony was aiming to become what Julius Caesar had been, a dictator. As well as

this he convinced them of the need to allow Octavian Imperium, the right to have an army, in order to assist the current Consuls Hirtius and Pansa in the battle against Antony. This meant that the army he had raised previously became legal; this gave him even more power. Ciceros Philippics also gave Octavian the base he needed for one of his most important methods of gaining power, support in the senate. As well as getting Imperium he was made a senator which opened the door for him to get personally involved in the politics of Rome. He was even given Consular precedence in debate, something that even though it was not asked for helped his cause greatly. After the battle of Mutina Octavian was forced to use more direct methods to gain more power, the Senate had rejected his demand for a consulship saying he was too young. With no political alternative Octavian brought his armies together and marched on Rome, soon after he was elected by the people of Rome as a consul and he withdrew the threat of his armies. With this consulship he could begin his rise to power in earnest; his first move was to revoke the amnesty that had been granted to Caesars murderers. This allowed him to avenge Caesars death which would gain him more popularity among the people. In order to defeat Cassius and Brutus he needed more allies, he turned to his former enemy Antony and along with Lepidus formed the second triumvirate in November of 43BC. The triumvirs had almost unlimited power and it was a huge step on Octavians climb to power. One of the first things he did, along with Antony was begin the proscriptions which resulted in many senators being put to death, this allowed him to remove many of the dangerous Republican supporters that were still in the senate at the times. This made his rise to power even smoother. In order to retain Antony as an ally however he had to sacrifice a tool of gaining power that had been so invaluable early on, the orator Cicero. He was added to the proscriptions at the behest of Antony and was executed soon after. Despite this lose it strengthened Octavians current method of gaining power which was maintaining strong ties with Antony. Around the same time Julius Caesar was declared a god which meant that Octavian could call himself the son of a god, divi filius. This gave him more popularity and power among the people. Octavian now felt strong enough to go to the East with Antony and finally destroy Brutus and Cassius. With the help of Antony this was achieved at the Battle of Philippi. As a result of this Antony was given the important task of defeating the Parthians in the Far East while Octavian was given administrative tasks in Italy. While this may not seem to be a method of gaining power in actual fact it was an important step in his rise to power. Antony was the chief obstacle blocking Octavian from total power at this time and with him in the east he had no say in the senate back in Rome

which Octavian had ready access to. An example of this lack of contact was the ease with which Octavian effectively stole Antonys territory in Gaul after crushing the rebellion of Antonys brother and wife at the battle of Perusia. Far off in the east Antony could do nothing. Antony returned to Italy after hearing this news and it came close to civil war between him and Octavian, they eventually signed the Treaty of Brundisium in 40 BC. This was fitting with the method of legally obtaining power that Octavian had pursued; it legally gave him the land that he had taken from Antony effectively resulting in him controlling the entire west. A few years later after he had triumphed in the war with Sextus Pompeius he employed another method of gaining support and power, propaganda. Octavian claims that it was a battle against pirates and slaves, I freed the sea from pirates he says in the Res Gestae. This was to discredit and discourage Republican supporters. Soon after this there was brief attempt at rebellion by Lepidus which was crushed before it even began, after this Octavian claimed that the civil wars were at an end. This was further propaganda as Antony was yet to be dealt with and still had control of the East. This method of propaganda only became more important as time went on. By claiming that Egypt was the threat and not Antony he was able to maintain the facade that civil wars had been ended. He gradually ruined the image of Antony in Rome, painting him as besotted with Cleopatra and the slave to her will. This reached a peak when he managed to obtain Antonys will (or more likely a forged one), this said that Antony planned to make Alexandria the capital of the Roman Empire and that he wished to be buried with Cleopatra, an Egyptian! He used this as an excuse to extend his power to new heights and Octavian had all of Italy swear an oath of allegiance to him. In the year 31 BC he went to war with Egypt though his real enemy was Antony. At the Battle of Actium he triumphed and soon after Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves. Octavian now alone held near absolute power in the Roman Empire. His rise to power was complete; it had taken 13 years to achieve and many different methods. From gaining the loyalty of the population and armies to controlling the senate with great speakers like Cicero. As well as allying himself wisely at the perfect moments to ensure that he would gain further power such as with Antony. Throughout this whole time he carried out masterful use of propaganda such as the ever vital name. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.