The History of Rome: Rise and Fall of the Empire. John Bagnell Bury
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indeed, assume the title of king, but he appointed a prefect, who was responsible to himself alone, and was in every sense a viceroy; and, as the lord of the country, he enacted that no Roman senator should visit it without his special permission. The first prefect of Egypt was C. Cornelius Gallus, with whose help Caesar had captured Alexandria. The inhabitants of Egypt were debarred from the prospect of becoming Roman citizens, and no local government was granted to the cities.
The treasures of Cleopatra enabled Caesar to discharge many pressing obligations. He was able to pay back the loans which he had incurred in the civil wars. He was able also to give large donatives to the soldiers and the populace of Rome. The abundance of money which the conquest of Egypt suddenly poured upon Western Europe helped in no small measure to establish a new period of prosperity. After many dreary years of domestic war and financial difficulties, men now saw a prospect of peace and plenty.
But, above all, the booty of Egypt enabled Caesar to satisfy the demands of 120,000 veterans. Immediately after Actium he had discharged all the soldiers who had served their time, but without giving them the rewards which they had been led to expect. These veterans belonged both to Caesar's own army and to that of Antonius which had capitulated. Seeing that they would be of little importance after the conclusion of the civil wars, they made a stand as soon as they reached Italy, and demanded that their claims should be instantly satisfied.
Agrippa, who had returned with the troops, and Maecenas, to whom Caesar had entrusted the administration of Italy, were unable to pacify the soldiers, and it was found necessary to send for Caesar himself, who was wintering in Samos. The voyage was dangerous at that season of the year, but Caesar, after experiencing two severe storms, in which some of his ships were lost, reached Brindisi safely. He succeeded in satisfying the veterans, some with grants of land, others with money; but his funds were quite insufficient to meet the claims of all, and he had to put off many with promises. He thus gained time until the immense Egyptian booty gave him means to fulfill his obligations.
The greater number of the veterans were of Italian origin, and wished to receive land in their native country. As most of the Italians had supported the cause of Caesar, it was impossible to do on a large scale what had been done ten years before, and eject proprietors to make room for the soldiers. But the veterans of Antonius, who had on that occasion been settled in the districts of Ravenna, Bononia, Capua, &c, and sympathized with his cause, were now forcibly turned out of the holdings which they had forcibly acquired. They were, however - unlike the original proprietors - compensated by assignments of land in the provinces, especially in the East, where the civil war had depopulated many districts. But the land thus made available was not nearly enough, and Caesar was obliged to purchase the rest. In B.C. 30 and B.C. 14, he spent no less than 600 million sesterces in buying Italian farms for his veterans. We find traces of these settlements in various parts of Italy, especially in the neighborhood of Ateste (Este). After the conquest of Egypt, the Antonian troops were transferred to the south of Gaul, and settled there in colonies possessingius Latinum, for example, in Nemausus (Nimes).
The wholesale discharge of veterans, as well as the losses sustained in the wars, rendered a reorganization of the legions necessary. The plan was adopted of uniting those legions which had been greatly reduced in number with others which had been similarly diminished, and thus forming new ‘double-legions’, as they were called by the distinguishing title of Gemina. Thus were formed the Thirteenth Gemina, the Fourteenth Gemina, &c.
The greater part of the year following the death of Cleopatra (Aug., B.C.. 30) was occupied by Caesar in ordering the affairs of the Asiatic provinces and dependent kingdoms. Herod of Judea was rewarded for his valuable services by an extension of his territory, and several changes were made in regard to the petty principalities of Asia Minor. There was probably some expectation at Rome that Caesar, in the flush of his success, would attempt to try conclusions with the Parthian Empire, and retrieve the defeat of Carrhae, before he returned to Italy. Virgil addresses him at this time in high-flown language, as if he were the arbiter of peace and war in Asia, as far as the Indies. But Caesar deferred the settlement of the Parthian question.
In the summer of 29 B.C. he returned to Italy, where he was greeted by the senate and the people with an enthusiasm which was certainly not feigned. There was a general feeling of relief at the end of the civil wars, and men heartily welcomed Caesar as a deliverer and restorer of peace. The only note of opposition had come from a son of M. Emilius Lepidus, the triumvir. The father lived in peaceful retirement at Circeii, but the son was rash and ambitious, and formed the plan of murdering Caesar on his return. He did not take his father into the secret, but his mother Junia, a sister of Brutus, was privy to it. Maecenas discovered the conspiracy in good time, and promptly arrested Junia and her son. Young Lepidus was immediately despatched to Caesar in the East, and was there executed. But this incident was of little consequence; Caesar's position was perfectly safe. The honors which were paid to him would have been accorded with an equal show of enthusiasm to Antonius, if fortune had declared herself for him; but there is little doubt that Caesar was more acceptable. The senate decreed that his birthday should be included among the public holidays, and it was afterwards regularly celebrated by races. His name was mentioned along with the gods in the Carmen Saliare, and it is probable that, if he had really wished it, divine honors would have been decreed to him in Rome, such as were paid to him in Egypt, where he stepped into the place of the Ptolemies, and in Asia Minor, where he assumed the privileges of the Attalids. But though he had become a god in the East, Caesar wished to remain a man in Rome. He already possessed the tribunician power for life; but it was now granted again in an extended form. (The tribunician potestas was hallowed by religious sanctity‘sacro-sancta’; the tribune's person was Inviolable. As there was no means of opposing it except by the intercession of another tribune, or by an appeal(provocatio) to the comitia centuriata or tributa, it became the strongest kind of power in the constitution, and was adopted by the Caesars, both dictator and triumvir, as a support of their position). It was also decreed that every fourth anniversary of his victory should be commemorated by games; and that the rostra and trophies of the captured ships should adorn the temple of the divine Julius. Triumphal arches were to be erected in the Roman Forum and at Brindisi, to celebrate the victor's return to Italy; and a sacrifice of thanksgiving was offered to the gods by the senate and people, and by every private person.
The triumph of Caesar lasted three days (Aug. 13, 14, 15). The soldiers who had been disbanded returned to their standards in order to take part in it, and all the troops which had shared in his victories were concentrated close to Rome. Each soldier received 1000 sesterces as a triumphal gift; and the Roman populace also received 400 sesterces a head. The triumph represented victories over the three known continents. The first days were devoted to the celebration of conquests in Europe; the subjugation of Pannonia and Dalmatia, and some successes won in Gaul over rebellious tribes by G. Carrinas during Caesar’s absence in the East. The triumph for Actium, which took place on the second day, represented a victory over the forces of Asia. The trophies were far more splendid than those won from the poor prince of Illyricum. The poet Propertius describes how he saw “the necks of kings bound with golden chains, and the fleet of Actium sailing up the Via Sacra”. Among the kings were Alexander of Emesa, whom Caesar had deposed after the battle, and Adiatorix, a Galatian prince, who before the battle had massacred all the Romans he could lay hands on. Both these captives were executed after the triumph. But the third day, which saw the triumph over Africa, was much the most brilliant. Cleopatra had, by destroying herself, avoided the shame of adorning her conqueror's triumphal car, but a statue of her was carried in her stead, and her two young children, Alexander and Cleopatra, represented the fallen house of Egyptian royalty. Images of the Nile and Egypt were also carried in the triumphal procession, and the richest spoils, with quantities of gold and silver coins, were exhibited to the gaze of the people. The result of the great influx of money into Italy was that the rate of interest fell from 12 to 4 per cent. In one respect the order of Caesar's triumph departed from the traditional custom. His fellow-consul M. Valerius Messalla Potitus, and the other senators who took part in the triumph, instead of heading the procession and guiding the triumphator into the city, according to usage, were placed last of all. This innovation was significant of the coming monarchy.
On this occasion the buildings, which Julius Caesar had designed and begun, and which had been completed since his death, were dedicated, and