Roman Civil Wars

Thucydides was perhaps the most influential historian in antiquity; his work
inspired countless subsequent authors. In the past decade, interest in the
connection between Julius Caesar’s commentaries and Thucydides’
Peloponnesian War has grown, and linguistic and other links between the
works have been noted. In this paper I will show, following Powell 2009,
connections between Caesar’s civil war commentaries and Thucydides’
analysis of stasis. Caesar redeploys the different characteristics of stasis and
then employs them to highlight the Pompeians as the true villains and
culprits of the civil war, using the work of the famed Greek historian as his
modello codice.

One of the great maxims of history is that it is written by the victors, and nowhere does this find greater support than in the later Roman Empire. Between 284 and 395 AD, no fewer than 37 men claimed imperial power, though today we recognize barely half of these men as 'legitimate' rulers and more than two thirds died at their subjects' hands. Once established in power, a new ruler needed to publicly legitimate himself and to discredit his predecessor: overt criticism of the new regime became high treason, with historians supressing their accounts for fear of reprisals and the very names of defeated emperors chiselled from public inscriptions and deleted from official records. In a period of such chaos, how can we ever hope to record in any fair or objective way the history of the Roman state?

Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire is the first history of civil war in the later Roman Empire to be written in English and aims to address this question by focusing on the various ways in which successive imperial dynasties attempted to legitimate themselves and to counter the threat of almost perpetual internal challenge to their rule. Panegyric in particular emerges as a crucial tool for understanding the rapidly changing political world of the third and fourth centuries, providing direct evidence of how, in the wake of civil wars, emperors attempted to publish their legitimacy and to delegitimize their enemies. The ceremony and oratory surrounding imperial courts too was of great significance: used aggressively to dramatize and constantly recall the events of recent civil wars, the narratives produced by the court in this context also went on to have enormous influence on the messages and narratives found within contemporary historical texts. In its exploration of the ways in which successive imperial courts sought to communicate with their subjects, this volume offers a thoroughly original reworking of late Roman domestic politics, and demonstrates not only how history could be erased, rewritten, and repurposed, but also how civil war, and indeed usurpation, became endemic to the later Empire.


CONTENTS:
Frontmatter
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Typographical Note
PART I
I: Usurpation, Legitimacy, and the Roman Empire
I.1: Why usurpation?: the problem of the imperial succession
I.2: 'This litany of manifest usurpers and rebellious generals': why had the imperial succession become so unstable by the third century?
I.3: 'The difference between a tyrant and a king is one of deeds, not of name': how was usurpation understood in the late Roman Empire?
I.4: 'Let these things go unspoken': usurpation and modern research
II: Usurpation, Legitimacy, and Panegyric
II.1: Known unknowns, and unknown unknowns: how to use panegyric as a source
II.2: 'In which I would tell many lies': who dictated the content of panegyric?
II.3: 'And would be viewed with favour by those who knew them to be such': panegyric, audience, and influence
II.4: Propaganda and power
PART II
III: A House Divided Against Itself
IV: 'At last Roman, at last restored to the true light of Empire': Dyarchy, Tetrarchy, and the Fall of the British Empire of Carausius
IV.1: Birthing the late Roman state: dyarchs, tetrarchs, and a new language of power
IV.2: Emperors and bandits: the British Empire under Carausius and Allectus
V: Tyranny and Betrayal: Constantine, Maximian, Maxentius, and Licinius
V.1: Constantine's usurpation: Constantine, Galerius, and Maximian
V.2: The tyrannus: Maxentius and the rewards of civil war
V.3: Notable by his absence: Licinius and the rise of the Constantinian dynasty
VI: Tyranny and Blood: Constantius, Constans, Magnentius, and Vetranio
VI.1: Smiling for the cameras: the sons of Constantine, 337-50
VI.2: The son of the father: Constantius the tyrant-slayer
VII: Usurper, Propaganda, History: The Emperor Julian
VII.1: The voice of a usurper: Julian's rise to power
VII.2: Bleaching the stains: Julian's sole rule
VIII: Panegyric and Apology: The Accession of Jovian and the Usurpation of Procopius
VIII.1: The need for victory: Jovian and the demands of imperial rhetoric
VIII.2: The enemy inside: Valentinian, Valens, and Procopius
VIII.3: 'He who sought rule for himself behind the cloak of a little boy': the usurpation of Valentinian II
IX: Dismembering the House of Valentinian: The Usurpation of Theodosius and the War with Magnus Maximus
IX.1: 'And nobly he made the vote his own': the usurpation of Theodosius
IX.2: Divided loyalties: the usurpation of Magnus Maximus
X: Crisis and Transformation: Imperial Power in the Fifth Century
XI: Conclusion: Those Made Tyrants by the Victory of Others
Appendix I: The Panegyrics
Appendix II: Quantifying Usurpation: Notes to Accompany Figure I.2
Endmatter
Bibliography
Index

The increasing evidence for common ground between Romans and “barbarians, in areas ranging from grave goods to religious affiliation to intermarriage, makes it necessary to take a new look at the “barbarian invasions” and the “fall” of the western Roman Empire. This paper therefore argues that barbarians were not hostile outsiders but rather an integral part of the Roman world. It creates a “unified theory,” more consistent with the evidence, for how and why the western empire ended. It suggests that “barbarian invasions” might better be understood as civil wars and infighting among generals in Roman service, and that a focus by Roman and barbarian elites on local interests led to the end of the western empire. If barbarian kings had not created independent enclaves, Roman warlords would have.

This article covers naval warfare on Adriatic Sea in the years 48–47 BC between followers of Caesar and Pompey the Great. It climaxed in the battle of Tauridis which took place during first months of 47 BC. Improvised fleet of Caesar followers under the command of Marcus Octavius defeated qualitatively better fleet of Pompey. Thanks to such a success battle of Illiria was over and firmly in Caesar’s hands.

During the First Roman Civil War of imperial period, the dynamic of violence is regularly expressed with two protagonists: The State, represented the emperor in power, it needs terror to restore the precedent status quo by removing all its rivals, and all those people represented in the social elite who decide plotting and threatening against the power, seeking to modify specifi c political actions by assassination, sending a message both subjects with fear. So, when institutions are in crisis, terror becomes the perfect modus operandi. With this study we propose a new perspective on one of the best known
historical facts of roman history, the possible existence of terrorism as a political weapon to understanding events which resulted in the victory of Vespasian.

Abstract: This book deals with the complex role of civil war’s internecine violence in the shaping of Roman Late Republican art and architecture. The aspects of violence and destruction are set against the activities of building, artistic creation and consumption, mainly sponsored by Roman and local elites all over central Italy in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Against the backdrop of both modern theories of crisis and Late Republican material culture – architecture, art, funerary practices, material evidence for production and consumption – in Italy and the wider Mediterranean (from Spain to Asia Minor), the book discusses the concept of ‘crisis’ in detail, stressing the active participation of human agents in shaping their own immediate future by drawing upon past experiences and generational knowledge.

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Beschreibung Für die späte Römische Republik ist die Zeit zwischen 133 und 27 v. Chr. vor allem durch schwere Krisen geprägt, die von den Gracchen bis zur Schlacht von Actium reichen und schließlich mit dem Prinzipat des Augustus enden. Es kommt zu regelrechten Gewalteruptionen im Inneren: Einzelne Heerführer wie Marius, Sulla oder Pompeius verschaffen sich so viel Macht, dass der innere Zusammenhalt der Republik zerbricht. Das Römische Reich versinkt im Bürgerkrieg. Doch zeitgleich ist trotz der inneren und äußeren Konflikte ein wachsender Wohlstand zu beobachten, der zu gesellschaftlichen Umwälzungsprozessen im öffentlichen wie privaten Bereich führt: zu sehen in der Architektur, in der Produktion und im Konsum. Anhand von Bauwerken und Bildern, aber auch Ritualen und Staatsakten untersucht das Buch diese spätrepublikanisch-römische Krisenzeit und bietet erstmals eine kulturgeschichtliche Gesamtinterpretation.

Esame della carriera, della famiglia e delle importanti relazioni di C. Valerius Triarius, un senatore della tarda età repubblicana originario di Fundi che, entrato in Senato durante la dittatura sillana, rimase fedele alla memoria di Silla combattendo dapprima in Sardegna contro il ribelle M. Emilio Lepido nel 77 a.C. e quindi militò agli ordini di L. Licinio Lucullo in Oriente dal 74/73 al 67 a.C.

Lucan’s Bellum Civile professes to sing of past internecine strife as the great unmaking of the Roman world (Luc. 1.1-7) while reminding its readers of Rome’s survival through frequent references to Lucan’s contemporary surroundings, and hints towards the demise of earlier literary traditions while revealing these traditions as the building blocks of its own narrative. As much as the Bellum Civile delights in exploring the death of the living, it also delights in exploring the life of the dead, reanimating the civil war of 49-45 BC – Lucan’s bellum victurum – to live again through its fiery verses. Nowhere is this interest more apparent than in the elaborate necromancy carried out by the Thessalian witch Erictho at the bequest of Sextus Pompey (Luc. 6.507-830), a scene which engages extensively – obsessively, even – with the works of Lucan’s predecessors and thus positions the Bellum Civile within the wider epic tradition.

This thesis examines the Bellum Civile’s necromancy – a triumph of this interest in life and death – as a major metapoetic episode, the overarching themes of which suggest that Lucan’s conception of his central civil war subject is far less pessimistic and more pragmatic than a surface reading of his epic might suggest. The first three chapters of this thesis focus upon three metapoetic tropes within the necromancy episode – i) the vates figure, ii) the body, and iii) ‘songs’ – and argue that Lucan’s negotiation of these tropes shows that his wider poetic programme is far more nuanced and constructive than previously assumed. The first chapter examines the Bellum Civile’s negotiation of the vates figure and identifies Erictho as a key internal figure aligned with Lucan’s own vatic self-identification through which Lucan reflects upon his position and powers as a poet. The second chapter looks at one area of Erictho’s necromantic activities – her use of bodily materials – and argues that the sophisticated and rational characteristics of her actions offer a foil through which to understand Lucan’s constructive acquisition and reuse of literary materials. The third chapter substantiates this reading with a close examination of the literary qualities of Erictho’s carmina, before turning to consider the often-overlooked corpse and its utterances and suggesting that Erictho’s powers of reanimation mirror Lucan’s own powers of poetic creation and control. The final chapter draws out the productive and progressive themes which characterise the Bellum Civile’s poetic programme as highlighted in the previous three chapters and proposes that Lucan presents a pragmatic picture of civil war not as the end of all things, but as a totalistic process of transformation which - for better or for worse - leaves behind a new Roman world in its wake.

This article depicts naval struggle during second war between Constantine and Licinius in 324 AD. During this conflict near Hellespont two battles were fought, in which fleet of Western Emperor defeated his adversary ships. While it allowed Constantine to capture Byzantion, and in result deliver final blow to the Licinius, it was also one of the last naval clashes in Antiquity.

The idea of the 'Sulla myth' traces its origins to a seminal article by Laffi entitled 'Il mito di Silla' published in 1967. The argument put forward by the Italian scholar in this study is that the characterisation of Sulla's personality and actions is uniformly negative in the ancient sources written after Caesar's civil war victory over Pompey. From this point, Greek and Roman historiography conveyed a highly unfavourable image of Sulla, defined by tyranny, cruelty, and the proscriptions. In Laffi's opinion, this negative view had not existed before Caesar's victory. Laffi's ideas were adopted and developed seventeen years later in an article on the origins of 'le mythe de Sylla' by the French scholar Hinard. According to this study, contemporaries had a nuanced memory of Sulla, and this prevented the emergence of a 'Sulla myth' during the Late Republic. Only in the following generation did Sulla turn into a negative exemplum of cruelty.

До середины I века до н. э. в латинском языке слова с корнем marg для обозначения края, предела, не зафиксировано [Thesaurus, 2012; Perseus, 2012]. Для наименования понятия «предел» использовалось слово ora [Зайцев, 1985, 36; Лукреций, 1936, 17; Цицерон, 1962; Oxford Latin Dictionary, 1968, 1079]. Ясной этимологии слова margo и корня marg в латинском языке нет [Тронский, 1960; Шантрен 1953; Эрну, 1950; Ernout, Meillet, 2001, 387; Facciolati et Forcellini, 1859-78, 54–55; Lewis and Short, 1879; Liddell and Scott, 1883, 291; Walde, 1938-1956, 39–40]. Внезапность появления в латинском языке слова margo указывает на его заимствование, что было обычным делом [Гурычева, 1959, 59; Шенгелия, 1962]. Слово margo быстро потеснило в живой народной речи латинское ora [Борухович, 1976, 184–186]. Первоначально оно появляется у авторов как низкоштильное [Дуров, 1991, 154–155], что, также как и его быстрое распространение среди народа [Витрувий, 1936; Овидий, 1982], говорит о заимствовании.
Летом 53 года до н. э. тысячи римских семей остались без кормильцев. Не менее 10 тысяч римских мужчин оказались в плену у парфян. Враг отправил их в Маргиану [Новокшонов, 2011]. Марг, Маргиана стала новым домом пленных на всю оставшуюся им жизнь [Новокшонов, 2011]. Десятки тысяч их родных в Италии одновременно узнали новое слово, обозначившее судьбу плененных отцов, братьев, сыновей, и обогатили латинский язык новым корнем: marg. Простые люди Италии плохо знали географию Средней и Центральной Азии и не могли представить себе Марг, Маргиану [Сергеенко, 1964, 79–92]. Для простых италиков имя далекой земли, имя места узилища родни, стало обозначать просто край света, предел земли, стало нарицательным, не требующим уточнения понятием. В русском языке подобную, но не настолько сильную нарицательность приобрели слова Камчатка и Караганда [Помяловский, 1965; Пантелеев, Белых, 1962].

Литература:
Ernout A., Meillet A. Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine. P. 2001.
Facciolati et Forcellini Lexicon totius Latinitatis, new edition by Fr. F. Corradini, Padua, 1859–78: A-Phoenix.
Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1879.
Greek-English Lexicon / Compiled by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott. N.Y., 1883.
Oxford Latin Dictionary. 1968.
Walde A. Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch. Neubearbeitet von J.B. Hofmann. Bd.Bd. 1–3. Heidelberg, 1938–1956.
Борухович В. Г. В мире античных свитков. Под ред. Э. Д. Фролова. Саратов, 1976.
Витрувий. Десять книг об архитектуре / Пер. Ф. А. Петровского. Т. 1. М., 1936.
Гурычева М. С. Народная латынь. М. 1959.
Дуров В. С. Юлий Цезарь: человек и писатель. Л., 1991.
Зайцев А. И. Культурный переворот в Древней Греции VIII-V вв. до н. э. Л., 1985.
Линдсей В. М. Краткая историческая грамматика латинского языка / Пер. Ф. А. Петровского. М., 1948.
Лукреций. О природе вещей / Пер. Ф. А. Петровского, вст. статья В. Ф. Асмуса. М.-Л., 1936.
Новокшонов Д. Е. Гораций о римских пленных (Carm. III, 5) // Классическая филология. Материалы секции XL Международной филологической конференции. 14–19 марта 2011 г. СПб. С. 8–14.
Новокшонов Д. Е. Римская эмиграция в Центральной Азии / Клио, журнал для ученых, №9 (60) 2011. С.32–35.
Овидий, Публий Назон. Скорбные элегии / Под. М. Л. Гаспаров, С. А. Ошеров. М., 1982.
Пантелеев Л., Белых Г. Республика ШКИД. М., 1962.
Помяловский Н. Г. Сочинения в 2 томах. М., 1965.
Сергеенко М. Е. Простые люди древней Италии. М.-Л., 1964.
Тронский И. М. Очерки из истории латинского языка. М.-Л., 1953.
Тронский И. М. Историческая грамматика латинского языка. М., 1960.
Цицерон. Речи в двух томах. Т. I (81–63 гг. до н.э.) / Перевод В. О. Горенштейна. М., 1962.
Шантрен П. Историческая морфология греческого языка / Пер. Я. М. Боровского. М., 1953.
Шенгелия И. Г. Народно-разговорная латынь. Тбилиси, 1962.
Эрну А. Историческая морфология латинского языка / Пер. под ред. И. М. Тронского. М., 1950.
Thesaurus linguae Latinae Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. url: http://www.thesaurus.badw-muenchen.de/index.htm
Perseus Digital Library Project. url: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper

This article examines the Bellum Civile's presentation and provocation of experiences that we might now consider to be uncanny. The first section offers an overview of the uncanny from psychoanalysis to literary and aesthetic criticism and outlines the framework through which I will approach the Bellum Civile's uncanny elements. The second section discusses how we may use this model of the uncanny to explore how Lucan represents his internal characters' incomprehension, conusion, and a lack of physical mastery when faced with the reality of civil war. The final section will consider how these uncanny experiences are projected beyond the page through the metonymic use of "nefas" (crime/horror), Lucan's overarching civil war signifier.

After his victory in the civil war, and with the application of considerable violence and coercion, Lucius Cornelius Sulla built a new Republican system. It is well-known, however, that he then promptly retired from government, and died shortly thereafter. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus attempted to make use of these exceptional circumstances in an effort to remove the new regime, but his figure and actions are generally held in undeservedly low esteem by the majority of our sources. Indeed, this historical context is explained on the basis of a period of protracted stasis, taking place at a critical moment of the Sullan regime. This paper seeks to analyze the views held by our ancient sources concerning the figure and actions of Lepidus, with a particular focus on recurring elements in their accounts concerning concord, and its relation to transgressions and instability observed in the system of that time.

For a full copy on JSTOR: www.jstor.org/stable/45019206
ABSTRACT: This essay uses numismatic, epigraphic, and topographic evidence to reconstruct the cursus honorum of L. Scribonius Libo, an important but enigmatic adherent of Pompeius Magnus and advisor to Sextus Pompeius. It aims to contextualize and elucidate aspects of his early career in the historical milieu of the 60s – 50s B.C.E., including his moneyership and the ideology of his coins as they relate to the financial crisis of 63-62; the year(s) and location of his quaestorship; a possible tribunate and  aedileship; and the year and provincia of his praetorship.

This article elaborates on one of the episodes of Constantine the Great’s italian campaign in year 312 – battle of Augusta Taurinorum. In this clash of arms legions of the augustus of the West defeated part of forces of usurper Maxentius – those responsible for defence of western Italy. Although Constantine’s army destroyed only part of Maxentius army,after the battle of Augusta Taurinorum, augustus of the West enjoyed constant military success which found its finale at Battle of Milvian Bridge. In this battle Maxentius died on the battlefield and Constatine reached full authority over western part of Roman Empire.

The aggressiveness of Roman soldiers and the frequent exposure of their bodies in battle are often accounted for by the ancient ideal of uirtus. Ancient texts however present a more balanced image of the consequences of such behaviors. The relationship between fighting glory and wounds is complex and the wounded soldier was more often suspected of wrongdoing than praised for his bravery. This article aims at revealing that military and political priorities are underestimated in the elaboration of bodily norms. The need for self-protection is an obsession which is considered as particularly Roman. The preservation of a symbolic “citizen’s body” even appears in political language. A reappraisal of the Roman outlook on the soldier’s body shows that only specific kinds of soldiers were allowed to take risks and that common soldiers were simply ordered to hold their positions.

http://annalesdejanua.edel.univ-poitiers.fr/index.php?id=1838

L’idéal de la uirtus est souvent convoqué afin de souligner l’agressivité des soldats romains et l’exposition fréquente de leurs corps au cœur de la violence de guerre. Toutefois, les récits antiques livrent une image plus nuancée des conséquences de tels comportements. Les rapports entre gloire combattante et blessures sont complexes et le soldat estropié porte fréquemment en sa chair le soupçon de la faute, plus que de la bravoure. Cette analyse entend donc montrer que les impératifs militaires et politiques ne doivent pas être sous-estimés dans l’élaboration des normes corporelles. Ainsi, la nécessité de se protéger est une obsession présentée comme proprement romaine. La préservation d’un « corps du citoyen » plus symbolique pénètre la phraséologie politique. Réévaluer le regard romain sur le corps du soldat permet de mettre en exergue des divergences entre les prescriptions faites aux meneurs d’hommes et à la troupe.

http://annalesdejanua.edel.univ-poitiers.fr/index.php?id=1838

A short 500 word entry on the Second Triumvirate.  I later delivered a [paper with an updated explanation on Lepidus's value to the alliance:  at first he happened to have an army but he also had religious power of value to the allies that made him very useful beyond modern recognition for about two years.  Then after he had performed his services, his stock began to slip.

At first glance, Lucan’s Bellum Civile – a Latin epic poem on the civil war of 49-45 BC, composed under the emperor Nero – appears to present a damningly nihilistic picture of civil war as the annihilation of the Roman Republic and the dawn of an age of tyranny which forbids individual freedom. It is easy to be swept up and carried along by Lucan’s furor-ious rhetoric of violence and revel in the visceral horror in which the epic delights. However, to do so is to overlook Lucan’s engagement with nuanced elements of the Roman civil war tradition which recognise internecine strife as a recurring feature in Rome’s history and consider how to respond to the aftermath of such conflicts.
In this paper, I offer a radical reassessment of Lucan’s epic and propose that the Bellum Civile perceives and rationalises civil war as a period which transforms the Roman world (for better or worse). By comparing Lucan’s use of the state body motif and imagery of pervasive cosmic dissolution to illustrate the effects of civil war on his narrative universe with his Stoically- tinged accounts of metamorphosis in the natural world, I demonstrate that Lucan frames civil war as a temporary event which is fundamentally transformational rather than entirely destructive. I then suggest how this pragmatic view of Lucanian civil war offers a new ‘way in’ to read Lucan’s infamous invocation to Nero (Luc. 1.33-66), a passage which appears to confront readers with lavish praise and scathing mockery of the emperor in the same breath. I propose that, by acknowledging Lucan’s wider pragmatism, we may understand the invocation not as a declaration of optimism or pessimism regarding Nero’s rule, but rather as a shrewd commentary on the fleeting nature of catastrophe and the changes it may bring.

The author examines the circumstances of the early youth of Octavian and Agrippa and the beginning of their friendship. Agrippa’s family was probably wealthy but its origin was quite humble, and Octavian’s lineage was not much higher; his ancestors, except his grandmother Julia, belonged to Italian municipal families. It appears that Agrippa met Octavian in the house of the latter’s stepfather Philippus, and in the same house Agrippa’s brother made acquaintance with Cato, the son-in-law of Phillipus. Agrippa was educated together with Octavian and by 46 B.C. became his best friend. Probably they were going to participate together in Spanish war under Caesar but Agrippa had to go to Spain alone due to the illness of Octavian (and this might be his first military service) and his friend joined him later. Also Caesar planned to take both youths with him to his Parthian campain. So by 44 B.C. Octavian and Agrippa were united by close friendship, common experience and common plans for the future.

Resum Aquest article intenta justificar i argumentar l'atribució d'una emissió monetària àuria, de les Guerres Civils, a Hispània, durant el principat de Galba. Fins ara, l'adscripció era pràcticament aleatòria per manca d'exemplars a estudiar i comparar. Al final de l'article, exposem una petita bibliografia de consulta i un catàleg que mostra els exemplars trobats fins ara.

The subject of this chapter is the conflict between Constantine II and Constans in the spring of 340. It critically re-appraises the period immediately after the death of Constantine I in May 337 and looks afresh at the evidence for the formation of the imperial college of Constantine’s sons. The chapter re-evaluates a number of imperial constitutions from the early period of the sons’ reigns and argues that Constantine II, the eldest of the three brothers, sought to promote a governmental hierarchy in which he served as the senior, peripatetic figure of authority in a manner not dissimilar to Diocletian’s role in the Tetrarchy. The chapter also critically assesses the varied and problematic sources of evidence for the conflict of 340 and argues for an alternative interpretation whereby Constans rather than Constantine II becomes the principal aggressor.

"Aeneas" discovers in the central character of Vergil’s "Aeneid" an Aeneas for an age of liquid modernity, a hero who vanishes into the multiple roles that he fails, in the end, to negotiate. His choices, silences, tears, and anger reveal a complex figure whose struggles to preserve his Trojan pietas leave him victor, vanquished, and victim in the civil wars of his own soul.

Forthcoming from University of Michigan Press July 2021.

In his famous description of the republican political system, Polybius argues that Roman consuls could not obtain supplies, pay, and clothing for their armies without the approval of the senate. There is disagreement among scholars as to what extent Roman generals in the middle and late republic were really dependent on the senate for supplies and pay. Some are defending the view that the Romans quickly implemented provincial taxation to fund armies operating far from Rome, notably in Spain. On the other hand, others believe the Romans rather made ad hoc requisitions of money, food, and auxiliaries from populations located near war zones, something that has been labeled a ‘war economy’. Regardless of the side one chooses to defend in this debate, it seems clear that Roman generals were not entirely dependent on the aerarium for the maintenance of their armies. For example, in the early years of the Second Punic War, the Roman commanders operating in Spain wrote to the senate that they were in need of quite many things for the army but that they would obtain these in situ if no funds were available in Rome. The supplies ended up being provided by three companies of private entrepreneurs and the soldiers’ pay was supplied by local resources. This paper argues that the civil war of 44-42 exemplifies to the extreme the main features of Roman war financing in the republic: improvisation, ad hoc requisitions, and the use of fiscal regimes already in place.

The author argues that the political consequences of Octavian's marriage to Livia were only negative for him. Having divorced Scribonia he displayed his hostile disposition to Sextus Pompey too early and did not have enough time to prepare himself to the new war which led to his defeat in 38 BC. The scandal about Octavian's marriage to Livia must have alienated the conservative aristocracy rather than attract it; the episode gave a lot of material for the hostile propaganda.