Did Mark Antony Contemplate an Alliance with His Political Enemies in July 44 B. C. E.?
T HIS PAPER SEEKS TO DISPEL the prevailing view that Mark Antony signaled a willingness to draw closer to his political enemies in the Senate in late July 44 B.C.E. Cicero informs us that rumors of a possible reconciliation between Antony and the "Liberators" Brutus and Cassius were brought to him on 7 August when he was waiting not far from Rhegium (on the "toe" of Italy) to continue his voyage to Greece (Att. 16.7.1; Phil. 1.7-8). The story has also made its way into Plutarch (Cic. 43.4). Scholars lay particular stress on Cicero's remark that he first began to think of returning to Rome after he read a transcript of a speech (contio) by Antony that was brought to him by some townsmen of Rhegium. Unfortunately Cicero tells us nothing specific about the contents of that speech, but modern accounts characterize it as having an "unexpectedly moderate tone,'" one that was "friendly and favourable to the Liberators."2 This interpretation rests on the assumption that in his speech Antony extended an olive branch to Brutus and Cassius. According to the standard reconstruction of events in late July, Antony was forced to adopt a radical shift in policy in the direction of drawing closer to the Senate. He did so, it is argued, out of a need to form a new political alliance as a counterweight to the threat posed by the surging popularity of Julius Caesar's chief heir Octavian, the future emperor Augustus. The precipitating factor that supposedly influenced Antony to change political course is said to be the success of Octavian's games in honor of Caesar and Venus Genetrix (20-c. 28 July),3 during which the appearance of a daylight comet (the sidus Iulium) was interpreted as a sign of Caesar's apotheosis.4
Women and politics in ancient Rome
Preface I Introduction II Women in the Conflict of the Orders III Women in the second punic war IV The Politics of Protest V Women in Gracchan Politics VI The Political Strategists of the Late Republic VII The Triumviral Period: Diplomacy, Oratory and Leadership VIII The Foothills of the Principate IX Women in the Augustan Principate X Tiberius, Livia and Agrippina XI Caligula's Sisters XII Messalina, Agrippina and Claudius XIII Agrippina, Nero and the Domus XIV In Retrospect
American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People
This is a story of rumour, charity, vengeance, and restraint. "American Insurgents, American Patriots" reminds us that revolutions are violent events. They provoke passion and rage, a willingness to use violence to achieve political ends, a deep sense of betrayal, and a strong religious conviction that God expects an oppressed people to defend their rights. The American Revolution was no exception. A few celebrated figures in the Continental Congress do not make for a revolution. It requires tens of thousands of ordinary men and women willing to sacrifice, kill, and be killed. Breen not only tells the history of these ordinary Americans but, drawing upon a wealth of rarely seen documents, restores their primacy to America's road to independence. Mobilizing two years before the Declaration of Independence, American insurgents in all thirteen colonies concluded that resistance to British oppression required organized violence against the state. They channeled popular rage through elected committees of safety and observation, which before 1776 were the heart of American resistance. "American Insurgents, American Patriots" is the stunning account of their insurgency, without which there would have been no independent republic as we know it.