KALMUN Historical Joint Crisis Cabinets: Final War of the Roman Republic

Transcription

1 KALMUN 2017 Historical Joint Crisis Cabinets: Final War of the Roman Republic

2 INTRODUCTION The War between Antony and Octavian is one of the most inscribed wars in Roman history, fought between Octavian and Mark Antony in an intense power struggle. The war is known to have brought an end to the Roman Republic with its corruption and incompetence while establishing the informal Roman Empire and the beginning of Pax Romana. It all begins with Julius Caesar s untimely assassination by a group of senators, which lead to a power vacuum forming. Mark Antony, Marcus Lepidus, and Octavian gladly took advantage of this, forming the Second Triumvirate. Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus were defeated and killed, while Marcus Lepidus was expelled, because not having much political power or military might compared to Octavian and Antony lead to his easy humiliation. This lead to Octavian and Antony becoming the most powerful men in the Roman Empire, if not the world. Since a long time, Rome saw peace, though unstable. The struggle between Octavian and Antony would only escalate before the years of the civil war. This was because of Antony s growing affection for Cleopatra and Octavian s growing desire for more power. The former s love affair would become a political scandal, especially when Rome

3 heard of the Donations of Alexandria by Antony. It was the perfect opportunity for Octavian to slander Antony s name, though noticeably none were convinced. That is, until Antony married Cleopatra before divorcing Octavia, coupled with his wish to establish a new senate in Alexandria. Octavian, in an attempt to prove his point that Antony is acting against Rome s interest, illegally seized Antony s will and presented it to the senate. The Senators responded in utter fury when they found that Antony wished to be buried with Cleopatra in Alexandria instead of Rome. This fury turned into action as Rome declared war on Cleopatra. Octavian was pleased: he knew Antony would throw his support to Egypt, leaving him effectively as the ruler of Rome. Antony, choosing his lover instead of Rome, threw his support to Egypt. The Senate obviously stripped Antony of all official power, naming him as a traitor. The civil war had begun. In the summer of 31-BC, Antony rushed to manoeuvre his army into Greece but Octavian caught up to him in short notice. While Antony s fleet was made up of large vessels but inexperienced crews and commanders, Octavian s fleet was composed of small vessels but experienced sailors back from the time of Julius Caesar, which meant Octavian had the superior fleet. Octavian and Agrippa disrupted Antony s supply line in preparation for an eventual confrontation between the two men. Octavian, not wishing to risk unnecessary losses wished to battle Antony at sea due to his advantage of experienced sailors. Both engaged in Fabian strategy (harassing the other side, causing attrition, disrupting supply and affecting morale),

4 settling for a battle of attrition. However, this worked only in Octavian s favour: Antony s troops began to desert and morale sank. Mark Antony s forces were devastated in the Battle of Actium by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Cleopatra retreated to open sea and Antony fled to Alexandria. The situation was grim for Cleopatra and Antony. Octavian arrived at Alexandria; the city was placed under siege and eventually folding to his forces. Antony, misinformed that his lover had died, committed suicide in accordance to Roman tradition. Cleopatra did not follow however, trying to open negotiations and eventually begging to Octavian to spare Caesarion (her son). Octavian refused these advances. Cleopatra committed suicide as well. The final war of the Republic was over. Octavian became Augustus and the Roman Republic transformed into the Roman Empire, with Augustus becoming its first Roman Emperor. This would be the start of a golden age of stability and Roman culture: Pax Romana, translated as Roman Peace. GENERAL OVERVIEW Caesar in Rome Caesar s political adventure in Rome starts with him winning an election to become a consul in 59 B.C.E. The senate, wishing to block him from any and all ways of gaining political power, assign Julius to positions which have no possibility for military glory. Julius, wishing to achieve glory, seeks allies against the conspirators within the senate. Julius founds the First Triumvirate in order to achieve this goal, aligning himself with the great General Pompey and Crassus who is, quite literally, the richest man in Rome. In addition to them, a Roman politician to further his goal in the senate. He finally seals the deal through marrying his only daughter, Julia, to General Pompey.

5 After all this, he is awarded with the governorship of Gaul, a Roman province occupied by several tribes. Caesar takes advantage of the constant power changing within Gaul to extend the realm of Roman control. Caesar eventually decides to undertake an expedition against Britain, whose tribes have close contact with Gaul. Gaul however rises in widespread rebellion against Caesar, threatening his power base. Meanwhile the political situation in Rome was equally chaotic. The Roman official Clodius had been murdered which is followed by great disorder in Rome. When Caesar returned to Rome the Senate awarded him for his victories in Gaul but on the other hand his noticeable absence in Rome had increased his political power of course, so he dedicated his all life to politics. After 2 years of doing absolute nothing, Caesar gets restive and decides to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Rome and changes Rome from the outside: invade the Roman Republic itself. Political Reforms After securing his authority in Rome and stabilizing his power he started his many reforms. During his leadership he firstly changed the Roman calendar to Egyptian calendar which is regulated by the sun. Afterwards his history of political appointments are uncertain and complex. He kept also the tribune and his dictatorship. Tribune; Tribune is the title of the selected officials in Rome. In 48 BC he was given durable tribunician powers, which allows him to veto the Senate. In 46 BC he gave himself the title of the Prefect of the Morals which gave him the power of controlling the censorship then he was given the right of talking first at the senate. In 44 BC one month before the assassination of Caesar he was designated dictator of life. Caesar's Death Assassination of julius caesar was the result of many smear campaigns by Roman senators; led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius, Marcus Junius Brutus. Caesar was the dictator at that time in Rome, who recently declared the dictator perpetuo by the senate. The declaration caused some senators to be frightened since Caesar could overthrow the senate. Dictator perpetuo; was the office held by Julius Caesar, it elevated Caesar's dictatorship into the monarchical sphere.

6 Senate; Senate was a political legislative body in Rome. The member of the Senate was elected by Consuls and later by the censors. Consul; A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired) Censor; The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances. The origin of the word Censorship comes from Censor. After Caesar's Death A short while after the assassination Antony summoned the senate and somehow managed to arrange the freedom of the assassins, but Caesar's appointments and treaties remain valid. The Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate is the name that historians have given to the official political alliance including the people Gaius Octavius, Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, formed on 27 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which is viewed as marking the end of the Roman Republic. The Triumvirate existed for two five-year terms, covering the period 43 BC to 33 BC. Unlike the earlier First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was an official, legally established institution, whose overwhelming power in the Roman Republic was given full legal sanction and whose imperium maius outranked that of all other magistrates, including the consuls. Fall of the Second Triumvirate & Lepidus Though Octavian nominally oversaw the campaign against Sextus, the campaign was actually commanded by Octavian's lieutenant,marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, which culminated in victory in 36 BC. Agrippa had been consul in 37 BC and had secured the Triumvirate's renewal for a second five-year term. Like the First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was ultimately unstable and could not resist internal jealousies and ambitions. Antony detested Octavian and spent most of his time in the East, while Lepidus favoured Antony but felt himself obscured by both his colleagues, despite having succeeded Caesar as Pontifex Maximus in 43 BC. During the

7 campaign against Sextus Pompey, Lepidus had raised a large army of 14 legions and a considerable navy. Lepidus had been the first to land troops in Sicily and had captured several of the main towns. However, he felt that Octavian was treating him as a subordinate rather than an equal. This led to an ill-judged political move that gave Octavian the excuse he needed to remove Lepidus from power. After the defeat of Sextus Pompey, Lepidus stationed his legions in Sicily and argued that it should be absorbed into his territories. Alternatively, he should be restored to his former provinces, which had been legally guaranteed by the Lex Titia. Octavian accused Lepidus of attempting to usurp power and fomenting rebellion. Humiliatingly, Lepidus' legions in Sicily defected to Octavian and Lepidus himself was forced to submit to him. Lepidus was stripped of all his offices except that of Pontifex Maximus. Octavian sent him into exile in Circeii. War between Octavian and Antony In order to provide treasures and rewards for his troops and cement his reputation as a military commander, Octavian pursued a war in Illyricum to bring it under Roman control. Meanwhile, Antony was preparing his war against Parthia, taking advantage of divisions caused by the new king Phraates IV.However Antony over-extended himself and was forced to retreat with considerable loss of troops. Despite having married Octavia, Octavian's sister, in 40 BC (Octavian had married Antony's stepdaughter Clodia Pulchra three years earlier), Antony openly lived in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII of Egypt, even siring children with her. When the Triumvirate's second term expired in 33 BC, Antony continued to use the title Triumvir; Octavian, opting to distance himself from Antony, refrained from using it. After Antony's defeat in Parthia, Cleopatra had come to his aid with supplies; Antony then turned his attention to Armenia, seizing its king Artavasdes and occupying the country. He minted coins to commemorate the victory, created a mimic of a Roman triumph, and read out a declaration, known as the Donations of Alexandria in which he granted territories to Cleopatra's children. Octavian illegally obtained Antony's will in July 32 BC and exposed it to the Roman public: it promised substantial legacies to Antony's children by Cleopatra, and left instructions for shipping his body to Alexandria for burial. Octavian's forces decisively defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in Greece in September 31 BC, chasing them to Egypt in 30 BC; both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide in Alexandria, and Octavian personally took control of Egypt and Alexandria (Egyptian chronologies treat Octavian as Cleopatra's successor as Pharaoh). Octavian's ally Gaius Maecenas forestalled a conspiracy allegedly organised by Lepidus's son (31 BC). With the complete defeat of Antony and the marginalisation of

8 Lepidus, Octavian, having been restyled "Augustus" in 27 BC, remained as the sole master of the Roman world, and proceeded to establish the Principate as the first Roman "emperor". Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was the significate encounter of the Final War of the Roman Republic, a naval battle between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the promontory of Actium, in the Roman province of Epirus Vetus in Greece. Octavian's fleet was led by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the power of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt. Antony planned attacking Italy towards the end of 32 BC, and went as far as Corcyra, currently an island in Greece. But finding the sea guarded by a cavalry of Octavian's ships, he retired to winter at Patrae while his fleet for the most part lay in the Ambracian Gulf, and

9 his land forces stayed near the promontory of Actium, while the opposite side of the narrow strait into the Ambracian Gulf was protected by a tower and troops. The two fleets met outside the Gulf of Actium, on the morning of 2 September 31 BC. Antony's fleet numbered 500, of which 230 were large war galleys with towers full of armed men. Marcus Lurius the right. He led these through the straits towards the open sea. Octavian had about 250 warships. Octavian's fleet was waiting beyond the straits, led by the experienced admiral Agrippa, commanding from the left wing of the fleet, Lucius Arruntius the centre and Titus Statilius Taurus commanded Octavian's armies, who observed the battle from shore to the north of the straits. Antony and Gellius Publicola commanded the right wing of the Antonian fleet, while Marcus Octavius and Marcus Intelius commanded the center, with Cleopatra's squadron positioned behind them. Gaius Sosius launched the initial attack from the left wing of the fleet, while Antony's chief lieutenant Publius Canidius Crassus was in command of the Triumvirate's land forces. The political outcome were far-reaching. Under cover of darkness some 19 legions and 12,000 cavalry fled before Antony was able to engage Octavian in a land battle. After Antony lost his fleet, his army, which had been equal to that of Octavian, deserted. Antony was most definitely a rebel without that shadow of a legal position which the presence of the consuls and senators had given him in the previous year. Octavian received a message from Cleopatra with the present of a gold crown and throne, offering to abdicate in favor of her sons while he was in Samos. Antony, who had found himself generally left isolated, after

10 abortively attempting to protect the army encamped near Paraetonium under Pinarius and sending his eldest son Antyllus with money to Octavian and an offer to live at Athens as a private citizen. C. Cornelius Gallus was advancing from Paraetonium; and Octavian landed at Pelusium, with the indulgence it was believed of Cleopatra. Antony was defeated by Gallus, and returning to Egypt, advanced on Pelusium. Cleopatra committed suicide, on 12 August 30 BC. Octavian had Caesarion killed later that month, finally guaranteeing his legacy as Caesar's only son. Octavian's victory at the Battle of Actium gave him full control of "Mare Nostrum" and he became Augustus Caesar and the "first citizen" of Rome. This victory, assembling his power over every Roman institution, marked the transition of Rome from Republic to Empire. Battle of Philippi The Battle of Philippi was the last battle of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Octavian and Antony and the forces of Brutus and Gaius Longinus taking place in Macedonia. The Second Triumvirate declared this civil war in order to take revenge of Julius Caesar s assassination in 44 BC, but the real reason behind the war is believed to be the class conflict between Senate and the rising class, Populares. The battle was made up of two encounters in the west of the ancient city of Philippi. The first occurred in the first week of October; Brutus confronted Octavian, while Antony's forces fought those of Cassius. At first, Brutus pushed back Octavian and entered his legions' camp. But to the south, Cassius was defeated by Antony, and committed suicide after hearing a false report that Brutus had also failed. Brutus rallied Cassius' remaining troops and both sides ordered their army to retreat to their camps with their spoils, and the battle was essentially a draw, but for Cassius' suicide. A second encounter, on 23 October, finished off Brutus's forces, and he committed suicide in turn, leaving the triumvirate in control of the Roman Republic. Many other young Roman aristocrats lost their lives in the battle or committed suicide after the defeat, including the son of great orator Hortensius, and Marcus Porcius Cato (the son of Cato the Younger), and Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus (the father of Livia, who became Octavian s wife).

11 Some of the nobles who were able to escape prefered to surrender to Antony and work under his service to deal with the merciless Octavian. Old veterans were returned to Italy, but some of the veterans stayed in the town of Philippi, which later on became a Roman Colony. Antony remained in the East, while Octavian returned to Italy, with the difficult task of finding sufficient land on which to settle a large number of veterans. Despite the fact that Sextus Pompey was controlling Sicily and Domitius Ahenobarbus still commanded the republican fleet, the republican resistance had been definitively crushed at Philippi. THE ROMAN MILITARY - AN OVERVIEW: As the delegates are surely aware, the famous Roman army is what allowed Rome to be such an expansive and stable force for such a long period of time. With an emphasis on innovation that allowed for logistical flexibility, the Roman army is nonetheless famous for its strenuous discipline and unmatched adherence to tactics. The aim of this study guide is then to familiarize delegates with the overall military structure, strategies and the navy of Rome. However, it is highly suggested that the delegate reads up on the ample resources on the topic, as in this particular Joint Crisis Committee, the usage of proper military tactics will be paramount. The army of the Roman Republic at the time is usually referred to as the Manipular army, with the term stemming from units called maniples (Lit. the hand, handful), a heavy infantry unit of 120 men. The naming is important as it is used to contrast the Legionary army (which was built upon a system of larger cohorts of units) of the Roman Empire. The most recognizable unit of the Roman army, a legion, is composed of roughly 5000 men. While the structure of the army is, as previously said, based on the titular heavy infantry (maniples), it is important to note that a legion in the manipular army does not consist only of heavy infantry. Instead, they also contain light infantry and some cavalry. These maniples are then classified into three variants:

12 The hastati: Carrying a large shield, throwing spears (plia) and a sword (gladiolus), they usually formed the first rank in battle formations and often initiated combat with charges. They consisted of young and inexperienced soldiers. The principes: Possessing the same equipment as the hastati, they formed the second rank and followed up on the enemies disoriented by the hastati s charge. The principes usually consisted of the best soldiers available to the army, both experienced and in top form. The triarii: Formed up by the oldest and most experienced soldiers in the army, the triarii had the same equipment as the previous groups expect for a long spear (pike) instead of two throwing spears If the principes failed to break the enemy, the triarii would then attack to force the enemy into a retreat. Alongside the heavy infantry, the basic units of the light infantry were called velites. They were unarmored skirmishing troops that used bucklers and words and were fortified with irregular soldiers with no set role -the rorarii. Supporting the infantry were around 300 cavalry units per maniple, the equites. The members of the equite were mostly the richest members of Roman society, as their horses as well as their equipment were expensive and needed much maintenance. Leadership structure of the Roman Army: Officials that could command either a legion or a field army (which usually consisted of at least two legions and allies) were consuls -elected leaders with that had both military and civic responsibilities- and -sometimes in the Republican era- dictators. Praetors could lead a single legion and its auxiliaries. The oft-mentioned principal unit of the Roman army, the legion, bears within it the following: 4,800 soldiers, 60 centurions, 300 artillerymen, and 100 engineers and artificers, and around 1,600 non-combatants. Each legion was supported by a unit of 300 equites, and the soldiers were split into 10 cohorts of 480 infantry units each. Cohorts were led by centurions and it is worth noting that the first cohort had double the manpower compared to the rest and, analogous to the first legion, usually had the best soldiers available to the force. Miscellaneous units: Aquilifer - standard bearer of each legion - a position of much prestige Signifer handled logistics and decorations for the legion Optio - equivalent to a sergeant, second in command for the centurion Cornicen - horn blower or signaler

13 Imaginifer - carried standard bearing the emperor's image Decanus - equivalent to a corporal, commanded 8-man tent party Munifex - basic legionary - the lowest of the trained rank and file Tirones - new recruit to the legions, a novice THE THREE STRATEGIES: GRAND, OPERATIONAL AND TACTICS When considering the political and military identity of the Roman Republic, one must keep in consideration the three levels of strategy employed by states: the grand strategy, operational strategy and the tactics employed in a given encounter. The Grand Strategy: This refers to the distribution of any and all means available to the state towards its overarching goal. For the Roman Republic in particular, this translates to measured displays of military might that upheld its diplomatic efforts as well as its efforts to strong-arm other nations to cooperate with it. However, it must also be taken into consideration that Rome raised its troops annually instead of maintaining a standing army. While this reactive strategy allowed Rome to better address conditions each year, having no stable military forces indicates that the military strategy of Rome and the grand strategy are not entirely in sync. The Operational Strategy: This strategy refers to the measures taken to reach one of any items come together to form the grand strategy. An operational strategy can for example involve the decision on whether to engage the enemy with the naval forces or the infantry. It should be noted that in the Republican Era, Roman forces rather clearly preferred direct confrontations. They displayed a propensity towards engaging the enemy in open ground, and did not even shy away from sieges as they were very capable at military engineering. On the other hand, this proficiency in military engineering also allowed them to build large, sturdy camps in anticipation of enemy forces, even though they still preferred pre-emptive attacks and did not want to wait for the enemy to strike. Tactical Deployment: The tactics followed in each military engagement. Examples to this would be the different formations adopted by the infantry according to various circumstances: The First Formation when the general believes to have the superior wing

14 forces compared to the enemy, the Fourth Formation to attack both wings of the enemy at once, or the Sixth Formation when in desperation, and etc.