(Redirected from Agrippa):''Agrippa redirects here. For other uses of the name, see
Agrippa (disambiguation).''
'Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa' (''
c.''
63 BC–
12 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law and minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar
Augustus. He was responsible for most of Octavian’s military triumphs, most notably winning the naval
Battle of Actium against the forces of
Mark Antony and
Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
Early life
Agrippa was born in 64–62 BC
[1] in an uncertain location.
[2] His father was
Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa. He had an elder brother whose name was also Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, and a sister named
Vipsania Polla. The family were sufficiently wealthy to hold
equestrian rank, but had not been prominent in Roman public life.
[3] However, Agrippa was about the same age as
Octavius (the future emperor Augustus), and the two were educated together and became close friends. Despite Agrippa's association with the family of
Julius Caesar, his elder brother chose another side in the
civil wars of the 40s BC, fighting under
Cato against Caesar
in Africa. When Cato's forces were defeated, Agrippa's brother was taken prisoner but freed after Octavius interceded on his behalf.
[4]
It is not known whether Agrippa fought against his brother in Africa, but he probably served in Caesar's campaign of 46–45 BC against
Gnaeus Pompeius, which culminated in the
Battle of Munda.
[5] At any rate, Caesar regarded him highly enough to send him with Octavius in 45 BC to study in
Apollonia with the
Macedonian legions, while Caesar consolidated his power in Rome.
[6] It was in the fourth month of their stay in Apollonia that the news of Julius Caesar's
assassination in March
44 BC reached them. Despite the advice of Agrippa and another friend,
Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, that he march on Rome with the troops from Macedonia, Octavius decided to sail to Italy with a small retinue. After his arrival, he learnt that Caesar had adopted him as his legal heir.
[7] (Octavius now took over Caesar's name, but is referred to by modern historians as "Octavian" during this period.)
Rise in power
After Octavian's return to Rome, he and his supporters realized they needed the support of legions. Agrippa helped Octavian to levy troops in
Campania.
[8] Once Octavian had his legions, he made a pact with
Mark Antony and
Lepidus, legally established in 43 BC as the
Second Triumvirate. Octavian and his consular colleague
Quintus Pedius arranged for Caesar's assassins to be prosecuted in their absence, and Agrippa was entrusted with the case against
Gaius Cassius Longinus.
[9] It may have been in the same year that Agrippa began his political career, holding the position of
Tribune of the Plebs, which granted him entry to the
Senate.
[10]
In 42 BC, Agrippa probably fought alongside Octavian and Antony in the
Battle of Philippi.
[11] After their return to Rome, he played a major role in Octavian's war against
Lucius Antonius and
Fulvia Antonia, respectively the brother and wife of Mark Antony, which began in
41 BC and ended in the capture of
Perusia in
40 BC. However, Salvidienus remained Octavian's main general at this time.
[12] After the Perusine war, Octavian departed for
Gaul, leaving Agrippa as
urban praetor in Rome with instructions to defend Italy against
Sextus Pompeius, an opponent of the Triumvirate who was now occupying
Sicily. In July 40, while Agrippa was occupied with the
Ludi Apollinares that were the praetor's responsibility, Sextus began a raid in southern Italy. Agrippa advanced on him, forcing him to withdraw.
[13] However, the Triumvirate proved unstable, and in August 40 Antony sided with Sextus in a joint invasion of Italy. Agrippa's success in retaking
Sipontum from Antony helped bring an end to the conflict.
[14] Agrippa was among the intermediaries through whom Antony and Octavian agreed once more upon peace. During the discussions Octavian learned that Salvidienus had offered to betray him to Antony, with the result that Salvidienus was executed or committed suicide. Agrippa was now Octavian's leading general.
[15]
In 39 or 38 BC, Octavian appointed Agrippa governor of
Transalpine Gaul, where in 38 he put down a rising of the
Aquitanians. He also fought the
Germanic tribes, becoming the first Roman general to cross the
Rhine after
Julius Caesar. He was summoned back to Rome by Octavian to assume the
consulship for
37 BC. He was well below the usual minimum age of 43, but Octavian had suffered a humiliating naval defeat against Sextus Pompey and needed his friend to oversee the preparations for further warfare. Agrippa refused the offer of a
triumph for his exploits in Gaul – on the grounds, says
Dio, that he thought it improper to celebrate during a time of trouble for Octavian.
[16] Since Sextus Pompeius had command of the sea on the coasts of Italy, Agrippa's first care was to provide a safe harbor for his ships. He accomplished this by cutting through the strips of land which separated the
Lacus Lucrinus from the sea, thus forming an outer harbor, while joining the lake
Avernus to the Lucrinus to serve as an inner harbor.
[17] The new harbor-complex was named
Portus Julius in Octavian's honour.
[18] Agrippa was also responsible for technological improvements, including larger ships and an improved form of
grappling hook.
[19] About this time, he married
Caecilia Attica, daughter of
Cicero's friend
Titus Pomponius Atticus.
[20]
In 36 BC Octavian and Agrippa set sail against Sextus. The fleet was badly damaged by storms and had to withdraw; Agrippa was left in charge of the second attempt. Thanks to superior technology and training, Agrippa and his men won decisive victories at
Mylae and
Naulochus, destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender. Octavian, with his power increased, forced the triumvir Lepidus into retirement and entered Rome in triumph.
[21] Agrippa received the unprecedented honor of a
naval crown decorated with the beaks of ships; as Dio remarks, this was "a decoration given to nobody before or since".
[22]
Life in public service
Hadrian's
Pantheon was built to Agrippa's design. It bears the legend
M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT, which means ''Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, built during his third consulate''
Agrippa participated in smaller military campaigns in 35 and 34 BC, but by the autumn of 34 he had returned to Rome.
[23] He rapidly set out on a campaign of public repairs and improvements, including renovation of the
aqueduct known as the
Aqua Marcia and an extension of its pipes to cover more of the city. Through his actions after being elected in 33 BC as one of the
aediles (officials responsible for Rome's buildings and festivals), the streets were repaired and the sewers were cleaned out, while lavish public spectacles were put on.
[24] Agrippa signalized his tenure of office by effecting great improvements in the city of Rome, restoring and building
aqueducts, enlarging and cleansing the
Cloaca Maxima, constructing baths and porticos, and laying out gardens. He also gave a stimulus to the public exhibition of works of art. It was unusual for an ex-consul to hold the lower-ranking position of aedile,
[25] but Agrippa's success bore out this break with tradition. As emperor, Augustus would later boast that "he had found the city of brick but left it of marble", thanks in part to the great services provided by Agrippa under his reign.
Agrippa's father-in-law Atticus, suffering from a serious illness, committed suicide in 32 BC. According to Atticus' friend and biographer
Cornelius Nepos, this decision was a cause of serious grief to Agrippa.
[26]
Agrippa was again called away to take command of the fleet when the war with Antony and Cleopatra broke out. He captured the strategically important city of
Methone at the southwest of the
Peloponnese, then sailed north, raiding the Greek coast and capturing Corcyra (modern
Corfu). Octavian then brought his forces to Corcyra, occupying it as a naval base.
[27] Antony drew up his ships and troops at
Actium, where Octavian moved to meet him. Agrippa meanwhile defeated Antony's supporter
Quintus Nasidius in a naval battle at
Patrae.
[28] Dio relates that as Agrippa moved to join Octavian near Actium, he encountered
Gaius Sosius, one of Antony's lieutenants, who was making a surprise attack on the squadron of
Lucius Tarius, a supporter of Octavian. Agrippa's unexpected arrival turned the battle around.
[29]
As the decisive battle approached, according to Dio, Octavian received intelligence that Antony and Cleopatra planned to break past his naval blockade and escape. At first he wished to allow the flagships past, arguing that he could overtake them with his lighter vessels and that the other opposing ships would surrender when they saw their leaders' cowardice. Agrippa objected that Antony's ships, although larger, could outrun Octavian's if they hoisted sails, and that Octavian ought to fight now because Antony's fleet had just been struck by storms. Octavian followed his friend's advice.
[30]
On
September 2 31 BC, the
Battle of Actium was fought. Octavian's victory, which gave him the mastery of Rome and the empire of the world, was mainly due to Agrippa.
[31] As a token of signal regard, Octavian bestowed upon him the hand of his niece
Claudia Marcella Major in
28 BC. He also served a second consulship with Octavian the same year. In
27 BC, Agrippa held a third consulship with Octavian, and in that year, the senate also bestowed upon Octavian the imperial title of
Augustus.
In commemoration of the Battle of Actium, Agrippa built and dedicated the building that served as the Roman
Pantheon before its destruction in
80. Emperor
Hadrian used Agrippa's design to build his own Pantheon, which survives in Rome. The inscription of the later building, which was built around
125, preserves the text of the inscription from Agrippa's building during his third consulship. The years following his third consulship, Agrippa spent in Gaul, reforming the provincial administration and taxation system, along with building an effective road system and aqueducts.
Late life
The theatre at
Merida, Spain; it was promoted by Agrippa, built between 16 and 15 BC.
His friendship with Augustus seems to have been clouded by the jealousy of his brother-in-law Marcellus, which was probably fomented by the intrigues of
Livia, the third wife of Augustus, who feared his influence over her husband. Traditionally it is said the result of such jealousy was that Agrippa left Rome, ostensibly to take over the governorship of
Syria - a sort of honorable exile, but, he only sent his
legate to Syria, while he himself remained at
Lesbos and governed by proxy. On the death of Marcellus, which took place within a year of his exile, he was recalled to Rome by Augustus, who found he could not dispense with his services. However, if one places the events in the context of the crisis in
23 BC it seems unlikely that, when facing significant opposition and about to make a major political climb down, the emperor Augustus would place a man in exile in charge of the largest body of Roman troops. What is far more likely is that Agrippa's 'exile' was actually the careful political positioning of a loyal lieutenant in command of a significant army as a back up plan in case the settlement plans of 23 BC failed and Augustus needed military support.
It is said that Maecenas advised Augustus to attach Agrippa still more closely to him by making him his son-in-law. He accordingly induced him to divorce Marcella and marry his daughter
Julia the Elder by
21 BC, the widow of the late Marcellus, equally celebrated for her beauty, abilities, and her shameless profligacy. In
19 BC, Agrippa was employed in putting down a rising of the
Cantabrians in
Hispania (
Cantabrian Wars). He was appointed governor of Syria a second time in
17 BC, where his just and prudent administration won him the respect and good-will of the provincials, especially from the
Jewish population. Agrippa also restored effective Roman control over the Cimmerian Chersonnese (modern-day
Crimea) during his governorship.
Agrippa’s last public service was his beginning of the conquest of the upper
Danube River region, which would become the Roman province of
Pannonia in
13 BC. He died at
Campania in March of
12 BC at the age of 51. His posthumous son,
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus, was named in his honor. Augustus honored his memory by a magnificent funeral and spent over a month in mourning. Augustus personally oversaw all of Agrippa's children’s educations and even adopted
Gaius Caesar and
Lucius Caesar. It is believed that he did not initially adopt his youngest son, Agrippa Postumus, so that his old friend would have a son to carry on the family name; after Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar had died, Augustus adopted Agrippa Postumus as well.
Legacy
Agrippa was also known as a writer, especially on the subject of
geography. Under his supervision, Julius Caesar's dream of having a complete
survey of the empire made was carried out. He constructed a circular chart, which was later engraved on marble by Augustus, and afterwards placed in the colonnade built by his sister Polla. Amongst his writings, an autobiography, now lost, is referred to.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, along with
Gaius Maecenas and Octavian, was a central person in the establishing of the
Principate system of emperors, which would govern the
Roman Empire up until the
Crisis of the Third Century and the birth of
Dominate system. His grandson Gaius is known to history as the Emperor
Caligula, and his great-grandson Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus would rule as the Emperor
Nero.
Marriages and issue
Agrippa left several children;
★ By his first wife,
Caecilia Attica
★
★
Vipsania Agrippina (first wife of Emperor
Tiberius).
★ By his second wife,
Claudia Marcella Major
★
★
Vipsania Marcella (first great niece of
Augustus)
★ By his third wife,
Julia the Elder (Daughter of
Augustus)
★
★
Gaius Caesar
★
★ Vipsania Julia or
Julia the Younger
★
★
Lucius Caesar
★
★
Agrippina the elder (wife of
Germanicus)
★
★
Agrippa Postumus (a posthumous son)
Agrippa in popular culture
Drama
★
Marcus Agrippa, a highly fictionalised character based on Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa's early life is part of the BBC-HBO-RAI television series ''
Rome''. He is played by
Allen Leech. The series creates a romantic relationship between Agrippa and Octavian's sister
Octavia Minor, for which there is no historical evidence.
★ A fictionalised version of Agrippa in his later life played a prominent role in the celebrated 1976
BBC Television series ''
I, Claudius''. Agrippa was portrayed as a much older man, though he would have only been 39 years old at the time of the first episode (24/23 BC). He was played by
John Paul.
★ Agrippa is one of the principal characters in the British/Italian joint project '' featuring
flashbacks between Augustus and Julia about Agrippa, which shows him in his youth on serving in Caesar's army up until his victory at Actium and the defeat of Cleopatra. He is portrayed by
Ken Duken.
★ Agrippa appears in several of the ''
Cleopatra'' films. He is normally portrayed as an old man rather than a young one. Among the people to portray him are
Philip Locke,
Alan Rowe and
Andrew Keir.
★ A comical version of Agrippa appears in ''
Carry On Cleo''.
★ In Season 3 of Babylon 5 the EAS Omega Class Destroyer leading an assault on B5 is named Agrippa.
Literature
★ Agrippa is a character in
William Shakespeare's play ''
Antony and Cleopatra''.
★ Agrippa is a main character in the early part of
Robert Graves novel ''
I, Claudius''.
Video Games
★ Agrippa is the co-protagonist of the PlayStation 2 game
Shadow of Rome.
See also
★
Julio-Claudian family tree
Notes
1. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#28.3 54.28.3 places Agrippa's death in late March of 12 BC, while Pliny the Elder ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#46 7.46 states that he died "in his fifty-first year". Depending on whether Pliny meant that Agrippa was aged 50 or 51 at his death, this gives a date of birth between March 64 and March 62. A calendar from Cyprus or Syria includes a month named after Agrippa beginning on November 1, which may reflect the month of his birth. See Reinhold, pp. 2–4; Roddaz, pp. 23–26.
2. Reinhold, p. 9; Roddaz, p. 23.
3. Velleius Paterculus ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#96 2.96, ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#127 127.
4. Nicolaus of Damascus, ''Life of Augustus'' 7.
5. Reinhold, pp. 13–14.
6. Suetonius, ''Life of Augustus'' ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#94.12 94.12.
7. Nicolaus of Damascus, ''Life of Augustus'' 16–17; Velleius Paterculus ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#59.5 2.59.5.
8. Nicolaus of Damascus, ''Life of Augustus'' 31. It has been speculated that Agrippa was among the negotiators who won over Antony's Macedonian legions to Octavian, but there is no direct evidence for this; see Reinhold, p. 16.
9. Velleius Paterculus ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#69.5 2.69.5; Plutarch, ''Life of Brutus'' ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#27.4 27.4.
10. Mentioned only by Servius ''auctus'' on Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 8.682, but a necessary preliminary to his position as urban praetor in 40 BC. Roddaz (p. 41) favours the 43 BC date.
11. Pliny the Elder ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#148 7.148 cites him as an authority for Octavian's illness on the occasion.
12. Reinhold, pp. 17–20.
13. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#20 48.20; Reinhold, p. 22.
14. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#28 48.28; Reinhold, p. 23.
15. Reinhold, pp. 23–24.
16. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#49 48.49; Reinhold, pp. 25–29. Agrippa's youth is noted by Lendering, "From Philippi to Actium".
17. Reinhold, pp. 29–32.
18. Suetonius, ''Life of Augustus'' ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#16 16.1.
19. Appian, ''Civil Wars'' ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#106 2.106, ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#118 118–119; Reinhold, pp. 33–35.
20. Reinhold, pp. 35–37.
21. Reinhold, pp. 37–42.
22. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#14.3 49.14.3.
23. Reinhold, pp. 45–47.
24. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#42 49.42–43.
25. Lendering, "From Philippi to Actium".
26. Cornelius Nepos, ''Life of Atticus'' 21–22.
27. Orosius, ''History Against the Pagans'' 6.19.6–7; Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#11 50.11.1–12.3; Reinhold, pp. 53–54.
28. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#13.5 50.13.5.
29. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#14 50.14.1–2; cf. Velleius Paterculus ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#84.2 2.84.2 ("Agrippa ... before the final conflict had twice defeated the fleet of the enemy"). Dio is wrong to say that Sosius was killed, since he in fact fought at and survived the Battle of Actium (Reinhold, p. 54 n. 14; Roddaz, p. 163 n. 140).
30. Dio ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html#31 50.31.1–3.
31. Reinhold, pp. 57–58; Roddaz, pp. 178–181.
References
★
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
★
Marcus Agrippa: A Biography, , Meyer, Reinhold, W. F. Humphrey Press, 1933,
★
Marcus Agrippa, , Jean-Michel, Roddaz, École Française de Rome, 1984,
External links
★
Geoffrey Mottershead, 'The Constructions of Marcus Agrippa in the West', University of Merlbourne, 2005
★
Marcus Agrippa, article in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
