Tales of ancient Rome

by Ben Soton

Agrippa by Robert Harris, Cornerstone / Hutchinson Heinemann, London 2026, 384 pp, rrp Hbk £22.00, pbk £9.99

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa is one of history’s lesser-known figures.  He appears William Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra was well as in Robert Graves’ I Claudius.  He was the grandfather of Caligula, played by John Hurt, in the television adaptation of I Claudius.  Agrippa played a pivotal role in the last years of the Roman Republic and its transition to Empire.  The right-hand man of Octavian, who later renamed himself Augustus (meaning majestic or venerable) who is regarded as the first Roman Emperor.  He is now the subject of Robert Harris’ latest novel.  And it takes the form of the memoirs of an older Agrippa looking back on his life.  
Harris has written extensively on this period; most notably the Cicero Trilogy – Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator.  Agrippa starts at the end of this period with the assassination of Julius Caesar.  It covers the power struggle between Augustus and Mark Anthony to become Caesar’s successor; as well as covering the early years of Augustus’ rule.
For centuries Rome had been ruled by the nobility, the patrician class, who dominated around the Senate. The Senate disliked the idea of a king, having removed their last one, Tarquinius Superbus in 509 BC.  The republic that followed was noted for its conflict between the Patricians and the Plebians, a class of freeman who owned little property.  As Rome expanded from a city state into an empire controlling large parts of the Mediterranean, the plebians, the backbone of the Roman army, demanded a greater share of its wealth and land.  As a means of circumventing class struggle the Roman general, Julius Caesar, took up the plebian’ demand for greater land ownership and attempted to establish himself as dictator.  Caesar’s role was to balance class interests rather than overthrow the Senate; in effect saving the patricians from themselves.  After Caesar was murdered by the Senate in 55 BC, the question was who would take his place.  His adopted son Augustus or his close friend and military ally Mark Anthony.   
With Mark Anthony and his consort, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, defeated at the battle of Actium Augustus was the undisputed victor.  In 27 BC the Roman Senate awarded him a number of tiles including Princeps, meaning First Citizen, and Imperator, giving him control of the Roman Army.  Strictly speaking the title Emperor is just a generic term for the holder of these posts; with all of Augustus’ successors ruling on behalf of the Senate.  They used initials SPQR, meaning The Senate and the People of Rome.       
According to Harris, Augustus’ success is almost entirely down the military and practical skills of Agrippa.  The author paints Augustus, who had little miliary experience as venal, thin-skinned and often in poor health.  For instance Augustus’ victory over Mark Anthony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium was entirely down to Agrippa.  Meanwhile in the years after his triumph Augustus is continually calling Agrippa to run the empire.  In later years Augustus’ wife Livia becomes increasingly important; she I determined to see her son Tiberius, by a previous marriage succeed Augustus.    
The novel includes detailed accounts of battles and feats of engineering that Agrippa was responsible for.  As well as defeating Mark Anthony and other rivals Agrippa is also known for the construction of the temple of the Pantheon and improvements to Rome’s water supply.   The author states that administrators and engineers were often over-looked in Roman history.  This fits in with Harris’ technocratic, Blairite view of the world; he fails to point out that the most overlooked people in history are the slaves, workers and artisans whose labour built the city that was the hub of an empire that spanned three continents as well as all the Wonders of the Ancient World!