Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- Timeline
- 1 Introduction, approaches, review of sources and secondary literature
- 2 Illyricum in Roman foreign affairs: historical outline, theoretical approaches and geography
- 3 Roman trans-Adriatic engagement (229–168 BC)
- 4 Rome across the Adriatic in the late Republic (167–59 BC)
- 5 The construction of Illyricum: Caesar in Illyricum and the Civil Wars (59–44 BC)
- 6 Octavian in Illyricum
- 7 From senatorial to imperial Illyricum: Bellum Pannonicum
- 8 The failure of Greater Illyricum: the Bellum Batonianum
- 9 Iulio-Claudians in Illyricum: the tale of two provinces
- Conclusion: the construction of Illyricum in Roman political discourse
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Octavian in Illyricum
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- Timeline
- 1 Introduction, approaches, review of sources and secondary literature
- 2 Illyricum in Roman foreign affairs: historical outline, theoretical approaches and geography
- 3 Roman trans-Adriatic engagement (229–168 BC)
- 4 Rome across the Adriatic in the late Republic (167–59 BC)
- 5 The construction of Illyricum: Caesar in Illyricum and the Civil Wars (59–44 BC)
- 6 Octavian in Illyricum
- 7 From senatorial to imperial Illyricum: Bellum Pannonicum
- 8 The failure of Greater Illyricum: the Bellum Batonianum
- 9 Iulio-Claudians in Illyricum: the tale of two provinces
- Conclusion: the construction of Illyricum in Roman political discourse
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
For Octavian's campaigns of 35–33 BC there are no surviving contemporary sources. Appian's Illyrike and Cassius Dio are the only reliable sources we have today. Appian drew his information directly from Augustus' memoirs, and Dio's account is generally in agreement with Appian; in some places he obviously used other, still unidentifiable, primary sources, probably Asinius Pollio or Cremutius Cordus. Marcus Agrippa, Augustus' general and collaborator, also wrote memoirs and he certainly discussed some of these campaigns, but it is difficult to believe that his account differed much from that of Augustus. For that reason it seems reasonable to rely on these sources for the reconstruction of the events, as it is unlikely that Appian and Dio taken together omit any really significant event from this campaign. Appian should certainly be treated with caution as he draws on the autobiographical work of a man who fully understood the importance and benefits of multi-media propaganda in politics, and who was a naturally gifted self-propagandist. With the help of additional sources like Florus, Strabo and Velleius Paterculus, Octavian's campaigns can be reconstructed in reasonable detail.
POLLIO AND THE DELMATAE
Roman relationships with Illyricum between 44 and 35 BC remain obscure. Publius Servilius Isauricus was possibly pro-consul in Illyricum after 41 BC, but nothing is known about his mandate, except the damaged inscription from Narona.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Illyricum in Roman Politics, 229 BC–AD 68 , pp. 99 - 116Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010