Caligula's grandfather, Nero's great-grandfather, Augustus' best friend and loyal deputy, Mark Vipsanius Agrippa is a man whose closeness and relationship with some of the most famous names in ancient history is adjacent to the fact that his name is little known to the public. Many have heard about the madness of Caligula or Nero, about the "greatness" of Augustus, but the name of Agrippa is often overlooked.
This is even more surprising when you consider the fact that the rebirth of the Roman Republic into an empire under Augustus might not have happened if Agrippa had not been with Augustus. And if it did, then, of course, it would not have reached such a scale.
Agrippa was a warrior, general, and best friend of Augustus. But, most importantly, on the bloodthirsty political scene of Rome, exacerbated after the Civil War during the time of Julius Caesar, Agrippa was betrayed to the limit: never striving for fame, power or wealth for himself.
Youth
Our story begins in the Ides of March 45 BC.
Julius Caesar lies dead, stabbed to death by the senators, at the feet of a statue of Pompey the Great. His heir, then known as Octavian, but from that moment referred to simply as Augustus, was in Apollonia (Macedonia), acting as a kind of local governor, as well as helping the Roman armies prepare for the upcoming invasion of Parthia.
Augustus received the news of the death of Julius Caesar in a letter from his mother Atia, she told him to return to Italy and warned of new acts of violence. After consulting with Agrippa and some other people, Augustus left Greece and landed in Brundisium, where he received two more letters: one from his mother, and the other from his stepfather Philip. Both informed him that he was heir to his great-uncle's immense fortune, and both advised him to be careful.
It's worth going back a little at this stage.
It is not known exactly when and where Agrippa was born. But that was between 64 and 62 BC. BC, which makes him roughly the same age as Augustus. The two are believed to have known each other from a young age, although Agrippa came from a family of horsemen, while Augustus was from a senatorial family.
It is believed that during the war of Julius Caesar against Cato in Africa, Agrippa's older brother, who fought on the side of Cato, was captured by the troops of Julius Caesar. The story goes that Augustus asked his great-uncle to release Agrippa's brother, known for his mercy. Julius Caesar agreed and Agrippa's brother was released. This is often seen as a turning point in the relationship between Augustus and Agrippa.
After Augustus secured his fortune and stabilized power in Rome, it was time for him to go on the warpath and crush the conspirators who killed Caesar.
Battles
In the struggle of Augustus with the so-called "republicans", Agrippa did not particularly stand out either as a military leader or as a soldier. However, after the end of this struggle and the division of the Roman Republic, his peculiar path to glory began.
After suppressing some of the Galician tribes and crossing the Rhine for a brief skirmish with some German rebels, Agrippa was called back to Italy to help Augustus. At this moment, Augustus and Antony were in a difficult alliance: Augustus commanded Rome and the eastern half of the empire, and Antony - the west. The conspirators who killed Julius Caesar were dead, but Augustus had another "splinter" - the son of Pompey.
After the death of his father, Sextus Pompey fled to Iberia, where he used money and family ties to create a personal fleet. A pirate king who called himself the son of Neptune, Sextus raided shipments of grain destined for Rome and any ships he could find. He controlled Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia.
After a brief truce between Sextus and Augustus in 39-38 BC. NS. Sextus again began to raid merchant and other Roman ships, in connection with which the stocks of grain in Rome quickly dwindled, which increased the rebellious mood of the townspeople.
I had to do something.
However, there was a problem: Sextus had been raiding for years, his fleet was huge and, more importantly, experienced. Augustus borrowed several ships from Antony and used his considerable wealth to build several dozen additional ships, but he was unable to bridge the experience gap. In fact, the only capable general and admiral that Augustus had was Agrippa.
The western part of Italy was not the best place to train a fleet - there were no natural ports there. However, in the Gulf of Naples, Agrippa ordered the digging of a canal that would open the way to Lake Avern, which would allow the crews of the ships to learn, and the fleet itself remained hidden. Also, the slaves were offered freedom in exchange for service, training on mock ships, where they could practice rowing under the command of Agrippa while warships were being built.
This proves that Agrippa was not only incredibly resourceful, but also adept at managing, coordinating, and waging war. Instead of just building and teaching somewhere else, he simply ordered an entire canal to be built.
And this strategy really worked. The entire naval campaign against Sextus ended with the Battle of Navloch in 36 BC. Augustus watched from the shores of Sicily as Agrippa and Sextus fought, each with about 300 ships. With ships of better quality, Agrippa defeated most of Sextus's fleet, allowing him to invade Sicily.
Sextus was captured in 35 BC. NS. and executed without trial, possibly by order of Antony.
Later, Agrippa also led Augustus' fleet at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. e., and also, most likely, led the ground forces of Augustus during the campaign against Antony and Cleopatra.
The Battle of Actium is often considered simultaneously one of the most important battles in history and one of the most anti-climatic. It was a real massacre, partly because of the terrible tactical decisions of Antony and Cleopatra, but also partly because of Agrippa's ability to take advantage of their mistakes.
Power
Agrippa fought in many other battles of Augustai, including the Battle of Alexandria in 30 BC. e., in which Antony was killed. Many of Augustus' military victories can be attributed solely to the genius of Agrippa.
This is not to humiliate Augustus - this man was a genius in his own right, but he was a genius of propaganda, administration and behind-the-scenes deals, not war.
Augustus' propaganda talents are actually one of the reasons so few people know about Agrippa. August simply attributed all his victories to himself. This is also one of the reasons Agrippa was so valuable - he didn't seem to mind it.
Agrippa was inundated with money, which he used to build a significant number of public structures, including aqueducts, sewers, baths, and the Pantheon itself. He was loved by the Roman people, but never used it to try to elevate his name or gain additional credentials.
It is believed that he went into a kind of self-imposed exile due to the machinations of Livia, Augustus' wife, who was worried about Agrippa's influence on her husband.
In 18 BC, Agrippa's power was almost equal to that of Augustus, making him the undisputed second most powerful person in the empire. He could veto any decision taken by the Senate, even without holding the post of consul.
When he died in 13 BC. BC, Augustus declared a month of mourning and ordered the body of Agrippa to be placed in the mausoleum of the emperor himself. Augustus then prepared Agrippa's children for a life of power and wealth, and is believed to have even considered his sons, Lucius and Gaius, as potential heirs. Unfortunately, both died before the emperor himself.