Antium

“ He made the same magnificent entry into Antium, dear to him as the place of his birth, and into Alba, the city where the Temple of Jupiter Latiaris was venerated by the entire Latin race. But he reserved for Rome the fullest magnificence of a triumph heretofore undreamed of, and such as might well cause every true Roman to blush for shame. He degraded to his ignoble purpose the chariot in which Augustus had triumphed after the battle of Actium. His robe was of purple; over it flowed a chlamys gleaming with golden stars ”

“ To Atticus at Rome Formii, April 59 BC I tell you what it is: I feel myself a downright exile since arriving at Formiae. For at Antium there was never a day that I didn't know what was going on at Rome better than those who were there. For your letters used to show me not only what was doing at Rome, but the actual political situation also—and not only that, but also what was likely to happen. Now, unless I snatch a bit of news from some passing traveller, I can learn nothing at all. ”

“ Such is the city of Ostia, founded by Ancus Martius. Next in order comes Antium, which city is likewise destitute of any port; it is situated on rocks, and about 260 stadia distant from Ostia. At the present day it is devoted to the leisure and recreation of statesmen from their political duties, whenever they can find time, and is in consequence covered with sumptuous mansions suited to such rusticating. The inhabitants of Antium had formerly a marine, and even after they were under subjection to the Romans, took part with the Tyrrhenian pirates. Of this, first, Alexander sent to complain ”

“ In fact, Antium, in point of antiquity, takes precedence, probably, even of Rome.
The beauty and the salubrity of Antium made it a very attractive place of summer resort for the people of Rome; and in process of time, when the city attained to an advanced stage of opulence and luxury, the Roman noblemen built villas there, choosing situations, in some instances, upon the natural terraces [Pg 15] and esplanades of the promontory, which looked off over the sea, and in others cool and secluded retreats in the valleys, on the land. It was in one of these villas that Nero was born. ”

“ I can find nothing in the way of a building for you in the neighbourhood. In the town there is something of the sort, though it is doubtful whether it is for sale, and, in fact, close to my own house. Let me tell you that Antium is the Buthrotum of Rome, just what your Buthrotum is to Corcyra. Nothing can be quieter, cooler, or prettier—"be this mine own dear home." ”

“ Moreover, if the war of Coriolanus in the year 262, had been carried on in the manner in which it appears to have been from the narrative, the Romans would not have had to restore any thing to the Volscians; but after the great Volscian war, these possessed Antium. ”

“ Shortly before reaching Antium he met two riderless horses, one of which he at once recognized as that of his wounded comrade. There could no longer be a doubt; the fugitives were trusting to the sea. With renewed energy he struck spurs into his horse, and had soon got over the few hundred paces, that still lay between him and the harbor. ”

“ Owing to its strength, the capture of that city could only be effected by a considerable quantity of siege apparatus, artillery, and war machines. Camillus therefore left his colleague in command and went to Rome to urge upon the senate the necessity of destroying Antium. In the middle of his speech - I think it was the will of heaven that Antium should remain some time longer - envoys arrived from Nepete and Sutrium begging for help against the Etruscans and pointing out that the chance of rendering assistance would soon be lost. ”

“ They include that part of the chain which divides Dauphiny from Piedmont, and are crossed by the pass of the Mont Cenis.]
338 (return)
[ Antium, mentioned before, (AUG. c. lviii.) once a flourishing city of the Volscians, standing on the sea-coast, about thirty-eight miles from Rome, was a favourite resort of the emperors and persons of wealth. The Apollo Belvidere was found among the ruins of its temples and other edifices.] ”

“ On the other hand, ll. 50, 73, 80, all point to Antium. We hear in l. 50 that it was Aufidius's native town, which seems to have been Antium (I. vi. 59) ; in l. 73 that Coriolanus has come back to the place he started from, which was Antium; in l. 80 that peace had been made with honour to "the Antiates." ”

“ There was a man of Antium, called Tullus Aufidius, who, for his wealth and bravery and the splendor of his family, had the respect and privilege of a king among the Volscians, but whom Marcius knew to have a particular hostility to himself, above all other Romans. Frequent menaces and challenges had passed in battle between them, and those exchanges of defiance to which their hot and eager emulation is apt to prompt young soldiers had added private animosity to their national feelings of opposition. ”

“ With these motives, if these indeed were his motives, there was doubtless mingled a feeling of malicious gratification at any thing that would terrify and torment the miserable subjects of his power. When he came to Rome from Antium at the time that the conflagration was at its height, he found the whole city a scene of indescribable terror and distress. Thousands of the people had been burned to death or crushed beneath the ruins of the fallen houses. ”

“ This inference is suggested by what Livy says (ix. 20) as to the reorganization of the colony of Antium twenty years after it was founded; and it is self-evident that, while the Romans might very well impose on the inhabitant of Ostia the duty of settling all his lawsuits in Rome, the same course could not be followed with townships like Antium and Sena.
14. II. I. Restrictions on the Delegation of Powers
15. People are in the habit of praising the Romans as a nation specially privileged in respect to jurisprudence, and of gazing with wonder on their admirable law as a mystical gift of heaven ”

“ Though why do I think of five years? Things seem to me to be drawing to a crisis: but absit omen.
XII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Antium, June 9 or 10, B.C. 44 That's jolly good news about Buthrotum. But I had sent Tiro to Dolabella with a letter as you bade me. What harm is there in it? About our friends at Antium, I think I wrote plainly enough for you not to doubt that they are going to take things quietly and accept Antonius' insulting favour. Cassius rejects the corn-supply job, and Servilia says she will cut it out of the senatorial decree. ”

“ To avert these alarming omens, public intercessions were ordered for three days, during which all the temples were filled with crowds of men and women imploring the protection of the gods. After this the Latin and Hernican cohorts received the thanks of the senate for their services and were dismissed to their homes. The thousand soldiers from Antium who had come after the battle, too late to help, were sent back almost with ignominy. ”

“ The execution of the Agrarian law was constantly evaded. But on the conquest of Antium from the Volscians, in the year B.C. 468, a colony was sent thither, and this was one of the first examples of a distribution of public land to poorer citizens; which answered two purposes—the improvement of their condition, and the defence of the place against the enemy.
Nor did the tribunes, now made altogether independent of the patricians, fail to assert their power. One of the first persons who felt the force of their arm was the second Appius Claudius. ”

“ The people, they presumed, would become tractable, and their indignation lessen and languish by degrees in so long a space, if occupation and war did not wholly put it out of their mind. But when, contrary to expectation, they made a speedy agreement with the people of Antium, and the army came back to Rome, the patricians were again in great perplexity, and had frequent meetings to consider how things might be arranged, without either abandoning Marcius, or yet giving occasion to the popular orators to create new disorders. ”

“ Fragments of Roman buildings abound both on the shore and in the water. The cliffs are much broken, and being fringed with shrubs, have a very picturesque appearance. The great mass of antiquities is beyond the present village of Porto d’ Anzo. Here we trace the piers of the ancient harbour of Antium, and the quantity of substructions is immense: all is imperial, and full of reticulated work. The more ancient city was perhaps on the hill behind, which seems to be artificially separated from the rest of the range. ”

“ The Antiates indeed continued to prosecute their commerce with armed vessels and thus, as occasion offered, to practise the trade of piracy also, and the "Tyrrhene corsair" Postumius, whom Timoleon captured about 415, may certainly have been an Antiate; but the Antiates were scarcely to be reckoned among the naval powers of that period, and, had they been so, the fact must from the attitude of Antium towards Rome have been anything but an advantage to the latter. ”

“ It [Antium] was reckoned 260 stadia, or about 32 miles, from Ostia." Sir W. Gell, Topography of Rome, volume 1. ANTIUM, Naval Battle of (1378) . See VENICE: A. D. 1378-1379. ANTIVESTÆUM. See BRITAIN, TRIBES OF CELTIC. ANTOINE DE BOURBON, King of Navarre, A. D. 1555-1557. ANTONINES, The. See ROME: A. D. 138-180. ANTONINUS, Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, A. D. 161-180. ANTONINUS PIUS, Roman Emperor, A. D. 138-161. ANTONY, Mark, and the Second Triumvirate. See ROME: B. C. 44 to 31. ANTRUSTIONES. In the Salic law, of the Franks, there is no trace of any recognized order of nobility. ”

“ With great difficulty the tribunes were induced to allow the war to take precedence of their Law. Then their respective spheres of operation were allotted to the consuls: Fabius was commissioned to take the legions to Antium; Cornelius was to protect Rome and prevent detachments of the enemy from coming on marauding expeditions, as was the custom with the Aequi. The Hernici and Latins were ordered to furnish troops, in accordance with the treaty; two-thirds of the army consisted of allies, the rest of Roman citizens. ”

“ Andronicus, M. P. a scholar, 515. Antony, Mark, at Caesar’s funeral, 53; triumvir with Octavius and Lepidus, 75; opposes Octavius, 76; defeated by him, 77; their new alliance, ib.; dissolved, 80; defeat at Actium, 81; flies to Cleopatra, ib.; kills himself, ib. Anticyra, island of, 272 and note. Antium, the Apollo Belvidere found there, 217 note; preferred by Caligula, 256; colony settled at, 343 and note. Antonius, Lucius, brother of Mark, war with, 76; forced to surrender, 78. ———, Musa, Augustus’s physician, 116. Antonia, grandmother of Caligula, 267, 272. Apollonius of Rhodes, 4. ”

“ That Antonine was wanted and wildly popular there can be no doubt, both from the statements of Lampridius and those of Eutropius, which record the spontaneity with which both Senate and people condemned the usurping house, and rejoiced at the restoration, as also from the record of the warmth with which Antonine was welcomed on his arrival. In fact, all men seem to have been pleased; the army with their Antonine; the Senate with their Aurelius; the people with their Augustus, or their Nero, as the case might be. Save for her strength, Rome had nothing of her own. ”

“ For the thirst of the sovereign there were aqueducts, and for its hunger Africa, Egypt, Sicily contributed grain. Syria unveiled her altars, Persia the mystery and magnificence of her gods.
Such was Rome. Augustus was less noteworthy; so unnecessary even that every student must regret Actium, Antony's defeat, the passing of Caesar's dream. For Antony was made for conquests; it was he who, fortune favoring, might have given the world to Rome. A splendid, an impudent bandit, first and foremost a soldier, calling himself a descendant of Hercules whom he resembled ”

“ XXVIII Antony was so captivated by her, that, while Fulvia his wife maintained his quarrels in Rome against Caesar by actual force of arms, and the Parthian troops, commanded by Labienus (the king's generals having made him commander-in-chief) , were assembled in Mesopotamia, and ready to enter Syria, he could yet suffer himself to be carried away by her to Alexandria, there to keep holiday, like a boy, in play and diversion, squandering and fooling away in enjoyments that most costly, as Antiphon says, of all valuables, time. ”

“ Antony was by nature a genial, open-hearted Roman, a good soldier, quick, resolute, and vigorous, but reckless and self-indulgent, devoid alike of prudence and of principle. The corruptions of the age, the seductions of power, and the evil influence of Cleopatra paralyzed a nature capable of better things. We know him chiefly through the exaggerated assaults of Cicero in his Philippic, and the narratives of writers devoted to Octavian. But after all deductions for partial representation, enough remains to show that Antony had all the faults of Cæsar, with little of his redeeming greatness. ”

“ A squadron awaited them at the mouth of the Orontes and they set sail for Alexandria.
It was beyond belief that a Roman general should fail to bring the spoils of war to Rome. It was for Rome alone that he had fought and conquered. To Rome only belonged the privilege of conferring the triumph. But Antony had a reckless disregard for all these traditions. He was drunk with the homage of the Orient; her prostrate kings, her incense, the statues that she had erected in his honour. He felt a veritable giant and he meant to show his pride of achievement by an act of outrageous audacity. ”