When I wrote about peeta in the previous film review, I mentioned a concept - the mask man, and said that if peeta was born in a high-class background or had the opportunity to be educated, he would probably grow into a character like Octavian. So today we're going to talk about my favorite character in the American drama Rome - Gaius Octavian.
Gaius Octavian Turinus, his father was the governor of Macedonia, and his mother was Caesar's niece. The father does not appear in the play, and the mother is portrayed as a slut who can make peace with anyone with power and interests. In "The Twelve Emperors of Rome", Octavian is depicted as extremely handsome, well-proportioned, and introverted, with almost nothing to be seen. mood. He loved reading since childhood, specializing in historiography and eloquence. Being of a noble birth, he has the opportunity to see all kinds of filth in the upper class, and his introverted personality is not easy to cause conflicts with others. He can observe quietly in the dark, and diligently think about laying the foundation for all the theoretical practices in the future. Perhaps because of his innate skeletons, he was adopted by Caesar as an adopted son. During the civil war between Caesar and Pompeii, he briefly served as the captain of the cavalry. He was later trained by Caesar and sent to the legion for training. It can be said that it was the education model of the aristocratic elites of that era. They read when they were young, and then they were sent to the military to gain qualifications. This is still such a tradition in the United States today (Trump, Biden's sons)
Octavian was training in the Legion after Caesar's assassination. After getting the news, I rushed to Rome immediately. The family worried that he would be implicated because of Caesar's adopted son status. At this time, Octavian's good thinking personality and the accumulation of historical observations helped him make an important judgment. Caesar's fall does not mean that the republican faction Victory, instead Rome will usher in a vacuum of power. (At this time, Octavian was only 18 years old.) Indeed, when the members of the Senate who had assassinated Caesar danced into the streets to shout that the tyrant was dead, the citizens of Rome closed their doors and windows, and the atmosphere of terror spread in Rome. After all, many civilians obtained citizenship and freedom under Caesar's decree, and the assassination of Caesar did not bring the cheers of the whole people as envisioned by the Republicans. In addition, Caesar's right-hand man Anthony successfully escaped in the assassination, and the forces of Caesar's remaining party did not collapse but were transferred to Anthony's hands. Antony sent messengers to negotiate with the Senate. If Caesar was declared a tyrant, then those Republican assassins who accepted Caesar's appointment as a member of parliament would also be illegal. Negotiations resulted in not declaring Caesar a tyrant, declaring Caesar's accidental death, and holding a state funeral for him. However, Anthony was obviously not good at it. On the day of Caesar's state funeral, Anthony took out the blood-soaked official robe that Caesar wore when he was assassinated, and used years of eloquence to expound the facts to the people hoarsely, successfully igniting the people's anger. In Antony's declaration, Caesar's successor was Octavian, and Caesar would give a quarter of his property to the poorest citizens of Rome, and give his own private park to Roman citizens for public use. When Octavian arrived in Rome, he had nothing but the title of Caesar's successor, after all Caesar's army and property were now owned by Antony. But Octavian took advantage of his Caesar successor to the extreme. He preached everywhere, promoted his status as Caesar's heir, declared himself Caesar's son, and took out his family's property, fulfilling Caesar's promise to donate a quarter of his property to the poor. This move won a lot of popular support, and part of Caesar's army also turned to support Octavian. At the same time, Octavian recruited veterans who had just retired with twice the salary, successfully instigated two corps of Antony, and released the news that Antony had seized Caesar's property, making Antony disgraced.
Under the circumstance that the situation was good, Octavian thought calmly. Although his power has been established from zero, he still has no position, no political capital, and recruiting private soldiers violated the laws of Rome (although in With the support of the peoples, the tribunal overruled Antony's sentence), and in order to obtain stable development, Octavian took his entourage to southern Italy. When he left Rome, Octavian sold all the family's assets and private houses, but he won more important support from the people and the army. Sure enough, in southern Italy, chaebols began to support him, and Octavian began to form a force to be reckoned with. . Ambitious people do not stick to their private property.
In order to gain political capital, Octavian, as a member of Caesar's remnant party, began to contact the republican faction. It can be seen that Octavian has no specific position, how to choose to benefit the current situation (here to focus on, all heroes are like this). Republicans take the lesser of two evils, think what an 18-year-old can do, support Octavian and control puppets, he'll help divide the Caesars (yes, that's you, Anthony), and get With the support of Caesar's veterans, Octavian was granted the status of a member of parliament. Octavian's political capital was now available, and it became reasonable to have an army and fame. Then he and the two republican commanders led the army to attack Antony. Antony was attacked by the enemy and had to retreat to the north of the Alps. Anthony's army was once demoralized and in danger of fleeing, but Anthony took the lead in eating wild fruits and drinking dirty water, which stabilized the morale of the army. At the same time, in this battle, the two commanders of the republican faction died in battle, which also gave Octavian the opportunity to control the army. Therefore, later generations doubt whether the death of the two commanders is as simple as the death in battle on the surface.
After Octavian obtained complete command of the army, like his adoptive father Caesar, he led his troops across the Rubicon and entered the city of Rome. With the blessing of the army, Octavian broke into the Senate and declared himself the new consul. At this time, Octavian was only 19 years old. The elders of the Senate looked at Octavian, and never imagined that the self-righteous puppet would use them to gain power and power, and that a group of old foxes in politics would actually play a "child". Octavian then declared that the assassination of Caesar was treason, and convicted the Republican members of the Senate. Some members of the Republican Party fled to the wealthy East, where they prepared to make a comeback.
Soon, the republicans who escaped recruited experienced veterans in Turkey, and the influence of the ancient family also made them quickly get the support of local tyrants, so they quickly reorganized 10 veteran legions, a mighty army. Kill to Rome.
At this time, Octavian's five corps were defending Antony in the north, and there was simply no strength to deal with such a powerful enemy. Although his adoptive father, Caesar, once created the miracle of winning more with less, it was all recruits who faced a lack of training. And this time, the republican faction brought over veterans from the frontier who had pioneered and expanded the territory for the empire. Octavian thought for a moment, then turned to look for an alliance with the downcast Antony forces in the northern Alps. The decadent idea of the Republicans (to destroy the remnants of Caesar, including Antony) also contributed to this alliance.
At this time, the two armies merged, and the strength far exceeded the republican faction. In order to completely destroy the republican army, Octavian sent a secret force to sneak into the city of Rome and killed all the republican members and the wealthy who might have leaked the news. The wealth of the tycoon was also annexed by Octavian Antony to support the spending of the huge army. Although this method is cruel, it ensures the confidentiality of information and solves the military expenditure. In this regard, it is similar to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who brutally exploited businessmen in order to combat the Huns. The Republicans did not see the comparison of the strengths of the two sides until the two armies fought. In the end, the Republicans were defeated, and all the generals of the Republicans were executed, and the last hope of the Republicans perished.
The fall of the Republicans meant the creation of the Triumvirate, and the huge Roman Empire was divided into: the capital Rome and Exi to Octavian, the rich East including Egypt and Greece to Antony, and North Africa to Lepida. Although there are many conflicts between the three heads, they will unite for common interests and enemies (Pompeii, pirates). After clearing the enemy, Anthony left the huge task of arranging troops and prisoners to Octavian. At the age of 53, he went to the East to enjoy the rest of his life (the average life expectancy of ordinary people was 29 years, and the nobles were about 65 years old). The huge army resettlement required land requisition. Octavian did not hesitate to stand on the side of the soldiers and brutally suppressed the resistance of the poor. Even at the cost of a military conflict with the tribune. He understands that there are undercurrents hidden under the short-lived peace. After the common enemy is over, the new enemies will be the other two giants. After all, the world is full of interests, and there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests.
Lepidus surrendered to Octavian, and Octavian was left with his last enemy, Antony.
According to historical records, Anthony was a very emotional person. He often took the lead on the battlefield. He had extraordinary charisma and a keen sense of fighter planes. At the same time, he could share weal and woe with the soldiers. However, Anthony in peacetime often did not pay attention to his own reputation building. During his time in Egypt, he fell in love with Cleopatra by mistake, printed Cleopatra's head on the newly issued coin, and stated that she was the king of the gods, seriously challenging the authority of the bishop of Rome. At the same time, the autonomy of many regions (including Greece) was decentralized. Although later analysis was to reduce governance costs and ease ethnic conflicts, the wealth of the Italians was originally established by plundering the wealthy East. Anthony's series of practices aroused dissatisfaction among the Romans, and the chaebols in the East gradually defected to Octavian.
So under the processing of propaganda, Antony was declared treason, and as soon as the casus belli was established, Octavian led the Roman legions and new warships he prepared to attack Antony. Octavian's army was small but high morale, while Antony's army was large but low morale. The two sides met in the strait. The new Roman warship hooked the Egyptian warship, and the infantry used the springboard to board the Egyptian warship to take advantage of the sword and shield to kill the enemy navy. Seeing this, Anthony's reserve team took the lead in demoralizing and fled, and the rest of the troops scattered. Octavian and his army surrounded Alexandria. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.
After clearing all the enemies, Octavian disbanded the army and expressed his desire to change the government to the people, but established a more elite praetorian guard and a standing army. The blood-washed Senate awarded him the title of Augustus, the so-called First Citizen. At the same time, Octavian actively shaped his image as "the savior of the people", which was sublimated in Octavian's defeat of the pirate fleet of Pompeii's remaining party to block the Roman trade road. From then on Rome entered the age of empires.
To understand Western politics, it is necessary to understand Roman history. Recall these for myself who will be engaged in law enforcement in July, make plans early, think rationally, and not be afraid of struggle, whether from the inside or the outside.
I hope Octavian's story inspires you.
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