Treaty of Misenum

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The Treaty of Misenum was signed in the summer of 39 BC. Chr. In the late phase of the Roman civil wars closed and regulated for supremacy in the western Mediterranean and the end of proscriptions .

Map of the Roman Empire after the Treaty of Misenum
  • Octavian's sphere of influence
  • Antony's sphere of influence
  • Provinces of Lepidus
  • Sea realm of Sextus Pompey
  • Italy (Senate)
  • Kingdom of Egypt (Cleopatra)
  • Vassal states
  • Parthian Empire

    • prehistory

    Almost two years after the murder of Gaius Julius Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC. The three most important Caesarians, Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , based on a contractual agreement ( Second Triumvirate ), divided the Roman Empire into spheres of influence. After the defeat of the Caesar murderers in the Battle of Philippi (October / November 42 BC), the provinces were redistributed in such a way that Antonius got Gaul and in fact the whole of the east of the empire, while Octavian got Spain and Marcus Lepidus two provinces in North Africa . In Sicily, however , there was a fourth powerful man, Sextus Pompeius , the son of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus , the most important opponent of Caesar , who disrupted the plans of the triumvirs by giving refuge to those they proclaimed. With his fleet he particularly oppressed Octavian and neutral Italy, accessible to all triumvirs. For the time being, Octavian did not have the opportunity to dispute Pompey's sovereignty over the sea, especially since he made himself in the winter of 41/40 BC. Saw involved in the Peruvian War , in which he prevailed against Marcus Antonius' wife Fulvia and his brother Lucius Antonius .

    When Julia , the mother of Antonius, fled from Italy to Sextus Pompeius in Sicily during the Peruvian War , he received her kindly and gave her 40 BC. Great escort to her son in Athens to propose an agreement that should primarily be directed against Octavian, who had become too powerful. Octavian countered the danger of isolation by sending Mucia Tertia , the mother of Pompeius, to his place in Sicily and marrying Scribonia , whose niece was Pompey's wife. Ultimately, Antony and Octavian came to an agreement in the autumn of 40 BC. In the Treaty of Brundisium , in which Pompey was not taken into account. His maritime blockade, which was then tightened, interrupted Italy's grain supply, which led to a famine in Rome. Since the triumvirs also wanted to raise new taxes, dissatisfaction increased and unrest broke out. Octavian was finally forced to give in at the insistence of the urban Roman people. Even Antonius, who did not have such a strained relationship with Pompey as Octavian, advised an understanding.

    At the suggestion of Antony, Pompey sent his father-in-law Lucius Scribonius Libo , Octavian's brother-in-law, to Rome to come to an agreement on the beginning of negotiations. Perhaps Mucia also helped mediate. Soon there was a personal meeting of Antony, Octavian and Pompey in the early summer of 39 BC. Agreed near the Cape Misenum at Baiae .

    negotiations

    Coming from Aenaria (now Ischia ), Pompey sailed aboard a six-oar with numerous ships into the bay of Puteoli , demonstrating his sea power. The triumvirs, supported by strong troops, came to the meeting point by land. The atmosphere at the conference was marked by great mutual distrust. According to the war historian Appian , Pompey expected to become the third man of the triumvirate in place of Lepidus. Franz Miltner does not believe that the first negotiations failed because of the disappointment of this alleged hope of Pompey, but because of his demand to rehabilitate all his proscribed followers and slaves who ran away from him. After a while an agreement was reached, the details of which were sealed in the Treaty of Misenum .

    Content of the contract

    In this five-year agreement, Pompey obtained far-reaching concessions. He was confirmed in rule over the islands of Sicily , Sardinia and Corsica . He was also allowed to keep all other islands that he already owned. Furthermore, according to Appian, he was to receive the Peloponnese from Antonius , which the ancient historian Jochen Bleicken considers more likely than the assertion of Cassius Dio that Antonius had undertaken to cede the province of Achaia , which included all of Greece. For the future, Pompey was promised the consulate together with Octavian. In addition, he received the dignity of augur as well as the right to reimbursement of the confiscated paternal inheritance and rewards of his veterans who were to be released from military service, provided they were not slaves, in the same amount as those of the triumvirs. All slaves who fled to him should be free in the future. Of utmost importance, however, was the line under the open wound of the proscriptions , which Pompey wrested from the triumvirs: with the exception of the Caesar murderers, all refugees were allowed to return to Italy without hindrance and compensation was promised. All those who had fled due to their proscription should get a quarter of their previous property, and those who fled only out of general fear should get back all their belongings (except household items). The solution to this difficult question also proved to be an important basis for the orderly transition to the Principate after the Battle of Actium (31 BC) , because it avoided the legal uncertainty that had dominated the political climate of the republic for decades after Sulla's proscriptions had poisoned. In return for the great concession of the triumvirs, Pompey conceded to evacuate all areas of the Italian mainland that he had conquered, to allow unhindered trade connections by sea to Italy, to deliver the previously usual quantities of grain to Rome and not to grant any further runaway slaves shelter.

    consequences

    The deed of the Treaty of Misenum was deposited with the Vestals . The people longing for peace fiercely cheered the reconciliation. As usual, the allies reaffirmed their pact by initiating family ties: Octavian engaged his three-year-old nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus to Pompeia , who was also a three-year-old daughter of Pompey. Of course there was no marriage between the newly engaged couple.

    During the mutual invitations to dinner parties that followed the conclusion of the contract, the climate of mutual distrust was so great that bodyguards stood nearby and the participants at the banquet carried hidden daggers with them. The first banquet took place on the flagship of Pompey. Admiral Menodorus suggested to his superior, Pompey, that he should take possession of the two triumvirs by cutting the ropes and thus decide the question of power in a coup. Pompey, however, refused such a breach of loyalty on the grounds of his honor.

    Most of the refugees returned to Rome after the reconciliation celebrations. Most of the other provisions positive for Pompey never came into force. If it had been realized he would have become, if not a member of the triumvirate, in fact a fourth ruler who is independent and recognized by it. However, disputes arose again soon after the contract was signed, as Antonius refused to surrender Achaia. The following year the conflict with Octavian flared up again, who meanwhile had his own fleet at his disposal. But only in the summer of 36 BC In BC, Pompey's fleet was destroyed by Octavian's ships under the leadership of his admiral Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in a great sea ​​battle near Naulochos on the north coast of Sicily. Pompey fled to the east, where he was executed the following year on the orders of Antony.

    Main sources

    literature

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Appian , Civil Wars 5, 52, 217f .; Cassius Dio 48, 15, 2.
    2. ↑ Franz Miltner (Pompeius 33, in: RE XXI, 2, col. 2225) assumes that Octavian Mucia was not until a later point in time, at the beginning of 39 BC. BC, to Sextus Pompey to initiate negotiations to organize the meeting at Cape Misenum.
    3. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 69; Cassius Dio 48, 36, 1.
    4. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 71; Cassius Dio 48, 36, 1f .; Plutarch , Antonius 32; Velleius Paterculus 2, 77, 1; among others
    5. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 71, 299.
    6. ↑ Franz Miltner: Pompeius 33). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XXI, 2, Stuttgart 1952, Col. 2225 f.
    7. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 77, 326.
    8. ↑ Jochen Bleicken, Augustus , 1998, p. 713.
    9. ↑ Cassius Dio 48, 36, 5.
    10. ↑ Cassius Dio 48, 36, 3-6; Appian, Civil Wars 5, 72; Plutarch, Antonius 32; Velleius 2, 77, 2f .; among others
    11. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 73, 308, Cassius Dio 48, 37, 1.
    12. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 73, 312; Cassius Dio 48, 38, 3.
    13. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 73; Plutarch, Antonius 32; Cassius Dio 48, 38, 1ff.