Atlantic West Europe (45–34 BCE): From Caesar’s Aftermath to Augustan Stabilization

Between 45 and 34 BCE, Atlantic West Europe—including Aquitaine, the Atlantic coast, northern and central France, Alsace, and the Low Countries—underwent critical transformations, as the collapse of the Roman Republic transitioned into the early stability of Augustus’s Principate.

Political and Military Developments

Consolidation after Caesar’s Conquests

• Following Julius Caesar's assassination (44 BCE), uncertainty briefly gripped Roman Gaul. Local tribes in Aquitaine, the Loire Valley, and Belgica sought opportunities to reassert independence or renegotiate terms with Rome.

• Mark Antony's subordinate, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian swiftly reinforced Roman control in Gaul through diplomacy and military intimidation, stabilizing the region.

Regional Reorganizations under Octavian

• Octavian began administrative reorganizations, strengthening Roman rule by establishing coloniae (Roman settlements) and military veterans’ communities, particularly along strategic points such as Narbo (Narbonne) and Burdigala (Bordeaux).

• Local Celtic aristocrats were co-opted into Roman administration, solidifying loyalty among tribal elites.

Economic and Social Developments

Infrastructure and Urban Growth

• Roman infrastructure projects (roads, aqueducts, early towns) accelerated, enhancing economic integration. Aquitaine's developing wine industry increasingly fed markets in Italy and elsewhere in the Roman world.

• New trade networks emerged, bolstered by stable Roman authority, connecting Atlantic ports such as Bordeaux and Nantes to Mediterranean and northern European routes.

Cultural and Social Integration

• Local elites began to adopt Roman customs, including Latin language and urban lifestyles, leading to an early form of Gallo-Roman cultural identity.

• Roman colonization and settlement increased urbanization, as Roman veterans and merchants settled in strategic locations throughout the region.

Cultural and Religious Developments

Early Romanization and Religious Syncretism

• The Roman presence fostered religious syncretism, combining Celtic and Roman deities. Roman gods like Mercury and Mars became associated with local deities in places such as Lutetia (Paris) and Avaricum (Bourges).

• Druids maintained significant influence, but Roman political authorities viewed them as potential sources of unrest, marking the beginning of gradual suppression.

Key Figures and Events

• Octavian (future Augustus): Initiated policies that brought stability to the region after initial uncertainty following Caesar’s death.

• Marcus Agrippa: Conducted infrastructure improvements and pacification efforts, particularly around strategic Atlantic centers.

Long-Term Significance

By 34 BCE, Atlantic West Europe was firmly on the path toward full integration into the Roman Empire:

• Roman rule and administrative reforms created stability after initial turmoil.

• Roman cultural influence took root among local elites, paving the way for deeper Romanization.

• Economic developments, especially in Aquitaine and along the Atlantic coast, laid the groundwork for long-term prosperity under imperial rule.

This era thus marked the pivotal transition from Republican instability to the establishment of enduring Roman control and cultural integration in Atlantic West Europe.

Cassius and Brutus, having usurped control of most of the Eastern provinces, including Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Syria, combine their armies, cross the Hellespont, march through Thrace, and encamp near Philippi (near present Kavalla) in Macedonia.

The combined armies, with forces roughly equal those of their opponents, lie astride the Via Egnatia to the west of Philippi, their position being partly protected by a marsh.

Their intention is to starve out the enemy, but they are forced into an engagement.

Brutus is successful against Octavian's camp, but Cassius, defeated by Antony's successful attack on the camp, gives up all for lost and orders his freedman Pindarus to slay him.

He is mourned by Brutus as "the Last of the Romans" and buried at Thasos.

Brutus, against his better judgment, fights a second action about three weeks later, on October 23, in which he is routed; despairing of restoring the republican cause, he too commits suicide, leaving the triumvirate in control of the Roman Republic.

Plutarch reports that Antony covered Brutus' body with a purple garment as a sign of respect: they had been friends.

He remembered that Brutus had placed as a condition for his joining the plot to assassinate Caesar that the life of Antony should be spared.

Many other young Roman aristocrats lost their life in the battle or committed suicide after the defeat, including the son of great orator Hortensius, and Marcus Porcius Cato (II) (the son of Cato the younger), and Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus (the father of Livia, who became Octavian’s wife).

Porcia, Brutus’ wife, reportedly also killed herself by swallowing a red-hot coal when she received news of the defeat. (According to Plutarch [Brutus 53 para 2], there is some dispute as to whether this is the case: Plutarch states that there is a letter in existence that was allegedly written by Brutus mourning the manner of her death.)

Some of the nobles who are able to escape negotiate their surrender to Antony and enter his service (among them Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus and Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus).

Apparently, the nobles do not want to deal with the young and merciless Octavian. (Mark Antony will later use the examples of these battles as a means to belittle Octavian, as both battles had been decisively won with the use of Antony's forces.

In addition to claiming responsibility for both victories, Antony will also brand Octavian as a coward for handing over his direct military control to his boyhood friend, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, instead.)

Sextus Pompeius in 44 following the assassination of Caesar had come to terms with Mark Antony and been given a naval command, but in August 43 he had been outlawed.

Despite the fact the Sextus is controlling Sicily and Domitius Ahenobarbus still commands the republican fleet, the republican resistance had been definitely crushed at Philippi.

The remains of the Liberators’ army are rounded up and roughly fourteen thousand men are enrolled into the triumvirs’ army.

Old veterans are discharged back to Italy, but some of the veterans remain in the town of Philippi, which becomes a Roman colony (this will later be reinforced by Augustus).

After the battle, a new arrangement is made between the members of the Second Triumvirate, who agree to divide the empire.

Antony proceeds to take up the administration of the eastern provinces.

Sextus had soon became a serious force in the civil war following Caesar's death.

He has amassed a formidable army and a large fleet of warships.

Many slaves and friends of his father have joined his cause, hoping to preserve the Roman Republic, which is quickly turning into an empire.

The multitudes of slaves joining Sextus often come from the villas of patricians, and this desertion hurts the Romans so much that the Vestal Virgins pray for it to stop.

Meanwhile, many of the promises made by Octavian and Antony to Sextus have gone unfulfilled, and Octavian’s forces regain control of Sardinia in 38, rekindling the war between the two.

Once the blockade had ended (after a short and rocky peace), the Triumvirate, especially Octavian and his right-hand man Marcus Agrippa, are able to turn their energies to Sextus, and begin an aggressive offensive.

Octavian tries to invade Sicily in 38 BCE, but Sextus’s pirate navy thwarts Octavian’s attempt and a storm destroys his fleet.

Agrippa is summoned back to Rome by Octavian to assume the consulship for 37 BCE.

He is well below the usual minimum age of 43, but Octavian has suffered a humiliating naval defeat against Sextus Pompey and needs his friend to oversee the preparations for further warfare.

Agrippa refuses the offer of a triumph for his exploits in Gaul – on the grounds, says Dio, that he thought it improper to celebrate during a time of trouble for Octavian.

Since Sextus has command of the sea on the coasts of Italy, Agrippa's first care is to provide a safe harbor for his ships.

He accomplishes this by cutting through the strips of land which separate the Lacus Lucrinus from the sea, thus forming an outer harbor, while joining the lake Avernu—a crater lake about eight miles (thirteen kilometers) west of Naples and about two miles (more than three kilometers) in circumference and one hundred and eighteen feet (thirty-six meters) deep—to the Lucrinus to serve as an inner harbor.

The new harbor-complex, named Portus Julius in Octavian's honor, is used to train the ships for naval battles.

A new fleet is built, with twenty thousand oarsmen gathered by freeing slaves.

The new ships are built much larger in order to carry many more naval infantry units, which are being trained at the same time.

Furthermore, Antony exchanges twenty thousand infantry for his Parthian campaign with one hundred and twenty ships, under the command of Titus Statilius Taurus.

A tunnel, the Grotta della Sibill, connects the new harbor to …

…Cumae.

Agrippa is also responsible for technological improvements, including larger ships and an improved form of grappling hook.

About this time, he marries Caecilia Pomponia Attica, daughter of Cicero's friend Titus Pomponius Atticus.

The Roman Pausilippo Tunnel, cut through volcanic rock in 36 to connect Pozzuoli with …

…Naples, is four thousand nine hundred and twenty feet (fifteen hundred meters) long, twenty-five feet (seven-and-a-half meters) wide, and thirty feet (nine meters) high.

Octavian and Agrippa set sail against Sextus in 36 BCE.

The fleet is badly damaged by storms and has to withdraw; Agrippa is left in charge of the second attempt.

Thanks to superior technology and training, Agrippa and his men win decisive victories at Mylae in Sicily and Naulochus in Greece, destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender.

Sextus, who flees to Asia Minor; he will be captured and executed at Miletus by the Roman general Marcus Titius the following year.

Lepidus had managed, for a while, to distance himself from the frequent quarrels between his colleagues Antony and Octavian; however, in 36 BCE, an ill-judged political move gives Octavian the excuse he needed: seeking to contest Octavian's supremacy in the west by force, Lepidus attempts to raise Sicily in revolt against Octavian, but his soldiers desert his cause.

Accused of usurping power in Sicily and of attempted rebellion, Lepidus is disarmed by Octavian, forced to retire from public life, and stripped of all his offices except that of Pontifex Maximus, a title he will retain until his death in 13/12 BCE.

Cleopatra meets Antony with money and supplies on his return to Syria.

Octavian, exploiting the occasion and the contrast of Antony's failure with the decisive victory he himself—or rather his admiral Agrippa—has won against Sextus Pompeius, sends Octavia to Antony along with troops and provisions.

However, the soldiers fall far short of the numbers Antony expects (and are owed by his fellow-triumvir), and he now makes a future breach between the two leaders almost inevitable by ordering Octavia to return to Rome.