Was Octavian’s lifelong companion. Accompanying Octa-vian in 45 b. c.e. to Apollonia, where Caesar’s nephew learned the ways of soldiering, Agrippa was present in 44
B. C.E. when the news of Julius Caesar’s assassination arrived. Octavian inherited Caesar’s wealth and much of his power, and Agrippa emerged as his representative in all matters. He was even instrumental in raising an army to ensure that Octavian would be part of the newly formed triumvirate, which emerged out of the political chaos after Caesar’s murder.
The wars, which were inevitable, allowed Agrippa’s multifaceted abilities to shine. He fought against Marc Antony’s brother, Lucius, in 40 b. c.e., and then helped eradicate the Republican forces at Perusia. Octavian then sent him to Gaul, where he was the only successful agent of the triumvirate. Agrippa defeated a revolt by the Aqui-tanii, created a Roman site at the Ubii (near Cologne) and made a punitive raid over the Rhine. In 37 b. c.e., he returned to Rome in triumph and was made a consul. At that point Agrippa gave up his general’s rank in the army and became an admiral. From 37 to 31 b. c.e., he was a tireless sailor, first creating a powerful fleet and then setting sail for war against the pirate, Sextus Pompey, the son of Pompey the Great. At Mylae and Naulochus, Sextus was defeated.
Octavian, meanwhile, was preparing for the final confrontation between his forces and those of Marc Antony They met at actium in 31 b. c.e., and Agrippa commanded the successful left wing in battle. That war ended the rivalries for the throne of Rome. Upon Octa-vian’s return and his assumption of the title of Augustus, Agrippa was instrumental in conducting the census (29-28 B. C.E.) and the reorganization of the Roman institutions so crucial to the subsequent imperial regimes.
After crushing rebellions in Gaul, Agrippa administered the East with the powers given to him by Augustus, which by 13 b. c.e. included those of censoria potestas (see censor). Agrippa’s Eastern tenure, however, prompted a feud with Claudius marcellus, Augustus’s nephew, who was being advanced as the emperor’s heir. A mission away from Rome to the Black Sea area, Jerusalem and Pan-nonia, eased the situation.
When Agrippa returned to Rome, he became involved in civic improvements. He built the Pantheon, constructed two aqueducts, built baths, and cleaned the Roman water supply system. He also supervised the building of roads in Lugdunum (Lyons), founded colonies at Berytus and Baalbek, and planned other towns.
Agrippa had three wives: the daughter of Pomponius Atticus, Caecilia; the beautiful and considerably wealthy Marcella, Augustus’s niece; and finally, in 21 b. c.e., Julia, Augustus’s daughter, who bore him three sons, Gaius, Lucius, and Agrippa, and a daughter, Agrippina.
Agrippa also wrote and drafted a modern map of the empire. He died in 12 b. c.e., still faithful to his friend Augustus, but having outlived his usefulness to the imperial family. He was long honored by the Roman military as the inventor of the harpax, the formidable weapon that Octavian used at the battle of Actium.
World History
