Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ANTONIUS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 151 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

ANTONIUS , the name of a large number of prominent citizens of See also:

ancient See also:Rome, of the gens Antonia. Antonius the triumvir claimed that his See also:family was descended from Anton, son of Heracles. Of the Antonii the following are important. I. See also:MARCUS ANTONIUS (143—87 B.c.), one of the most distinguished See also:Roman orators of his See also:time, was See also:quaestor in 113, and See also:praetor in 102 with proconsular See also:powers, the See also:province of See also:Cilicia being assigned to him. Here he was so successful against the pirates that a See also:naval See also:triumph was awarded him. He was See also:consul in 99, See also:censor 97, and held a command in the Marsic See also:War in go. An adherent of See also:Sulla, he was put to See also:death by See also:Marius and See also:Cinna when they obtained See also:possession of Rome (87). Antonius's reputation for eloquence rests on the authority of See also:Cicero, none of his orations being extant. He is one of the See also:chief speakers in Cicero's De Oratore. Velleius Paterculus ii. 22; See also:Appian, See also:Bell.

Civ. i. 72; Dio See also:

Cassius xlv. 47; See also:Plutarch, Marius, 44; Cicero, Orator, 5, See also:Brutus, 37; Qumtilian, Instil. iii. 1, 19; O. Enderlein, De M. See also:Antonio oratore (See also:Leipzig, 1882). 2. MARCUS ANTONIUS, nicknamed CRETICUS in derision. See also:elder son of Marcus Antonius, the " orator," and See also:father of the triumvir. He was praetor in 74 B.C., and received an extraordinary command (similar to that bestowed upon See also:Pompey by the Gabinian See also:law) to clear the See also:sea of pirates, and thereby assist the operations against See also:Mithradates VI. He failed in the task, and made him-self unpopular by plundering the provinces (See also:Sallust, Hist. iii., fragments ed. B. See also:Maurenbrecher, p.

1(28; Velleius Paterculus ii. 31; Cicero, In Verrem, 91). He attacked the Cretans, who had made an See also:

alliance with the pirates, but was totally defeated, most of his See also:ships being sunk. Diodorus Siculus (xl. I) states that he only saved himself by a disgraceful treaty. He diedsoon afterwards (72—71) in See also:Crete. All authorities are agreed as to his avarice and incompetence. 3. See also:GAIUS ANTONIUS, nicknamed HYBRIDA from his See also:half-See also:savage disposition (See also:Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 213), second son of Marcus Antonius, the " orator," and See also:uncle of the triumvir. He was one of Sulla's lieutenants in the Mithradatic War, and, after Sulla's return, remained in See also:Greece to See also:plunder with a force of See also:cavalry.

In 76 he was tried for his malpractices, but escaped See also:

punishment; six years later he was removed from the See also:senate by the censors, but soon afterwards reinstated. In spite of his See also:bad reputation, he was elected See also:tribune in 71, praetor in 66, and consul with Cicero in 63. He secretly supported See also:Catiline, but Cicero won him over by promising hi1I1 the See also:rich province of See also:Macedonia. On the outbreak of the Catilinarian See also:conspiracy, Antonius was obliged to See also:lead an See also:army into See also:Etruria, but handed over the command on the See also:day of See also:battle to Marcus Petreius, on the ground of See also:ill-See also:health. He then went to Macedonia, where he made himself so detested by, his oppression and extortions that he See also:left the province, and was accused in Rome (59) both of having taken See also:part in the conspiracy and of See also:extortion in his province. It was said that Cicero had agreed with Antonius to See also:share his plunder. Cicero's See also:defence of Antonius two years before in view of a proposal for his recall, and also on the .occasion of his trial, increased the suspicion. In spite of Cicero's eloquence, Antonius was condemned, and went into See also:exile at Cephallenia. He seems to have been recalled by See also:Caesar, since he was See also:present at a See also:meeting of the senate in 44, and was censor in 42. Cicero, In See also:Cat. iii. 6, See also:pro Flacco, 38; Plutarch, Cicero, 12; Dio Cassius See also:xxxvii. 39, 40; xxxviii. to.

On See also:

Iris trial see See also:article in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopadie. 4. MARCUS ANTONIUS, commonly called See also:MARK ANTONY, the Triumvir, See also:grandson of Antonius the " orator " and son of Antonius Creticus, related on his See also:mother's See also:side to See also:Julius Caesar, was See also:born about 83 B.C. Under the See also:influence of his stepfather, See also:Cornelius See also:Lentulus Sura, he spent a profligate youth. For a time he co-operated with P. See also:Clodius Pulcher, probably out of hostility to Cicero, who had caused Lentulus Sura to be put to death as a Catilinarian; the connexion was severed by a disagreement arising from his relations with Clodius's wife, Fulvia. In 58 he fled to Greece to See also:escape his creditors. After a See also:short time spent in attendance on the philosophers at See also:Athens, he was summoned by Aulus See also:Gabinius, See also:governor of See also:Syria, to take part in the See also:campaigns against See also:Aristobulus in See also:Palestine, and in support of See also:Ptolemy Auletes in See also:Egypt. In 54 he was with Caesar in See also:Gaul. Raised by Caesar's influence to the offices of quaestor, augur, and tribune of the See also:plebs, he supported the cause of his See also:patron with See also:great See also:energy, and was expelled from the senate-See also:house when the See also:Civil War See also:broke out. See also:Deputy-governor of See also:Italy during Caesar's See also:absence in See also:Spain (49), second in command in the decisive battle of Pharsalus (48), and again deputy-governor of Italy while Caesar was in See also:Africa (47), Antony was second only to the See also:dictator, and seized the opportunity of indulging in the most extravagant excesses, depicted by Cicero in the See also:Philippics. In 46 he seems to have taken offence because Caesar insisted on See also:payment for the See also:property of Pompey which Antony professedly had See also:purchased, but had in fact simply appropriated.

The estrangement was not of See also:

long continuance; for we find Antony meeting the dictator at Narbo the following See also:year, and rejecting the See also:suggestion of Trebonius that he should join in the conspiracy that was already on See also:foot. In 44 he was consul with Caesar, and seconded his ambition by the famous offer of the See also:crown at the festival of See also:Lupercalia (See also:February 15). After the See also:murder of Caesar on the 15th of See also:March, Antony conceived the See also:idea of making himself See also:sole ruler. At first he seemed disposed to treat the conspirators leniently, but at the same time he so roused the See also:people against them-by the publication of Caesar's will and by his eloquent funeral oration, that they were obliged to leave the See also:city. He surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Caesar's veterans, and forced the senate to See also:transfer to him the province of Cisalpine Gaul, which was then administered by Decimus See also:Junius Brutus, one of the conspirators. Brutus refused to surrender the province, and Antony set out to attack him in See also:October 44, But at this time Octavian, whom Caesar had adopted as his son, arrived from See also:Illyria, and claimed the See also:inheritance of his " father." Octavian obtained the support of the senate and of Cicero; and the See also:veteran troops of the dictator flocked to his See also:standard. Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Octavian was entrusted with the command of the war against him. Antony was defeated at Mutina (43) where he was besieging Brutus. The consuls Aulus See also:Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa, however, See also:fell in the battle, and the senate became suspicious of Octavian, who, irritated at the refusal of a triumph and the See also:appointment of Brutus to the command over his See also:head, entered Rome at the head of his troops, and forced the senate to bestow the consul-See also:ship upon him (See also:August 19th). Meanwhile, Antony escaped to Cisalpine Gaul, effected a junction with See also:Lepidus and marched towards Rome with a large force of See also:infantry and cavalry. Octavian betrayed his party, and came to terms with Antony and Lepidus.

The three leaders met at See also:

Bononia and adopted the See also:title of Triumviri reipublicae constituendae as See also:joint rulers. Gaul was to belong to Antony, Spain to Lepidus, and Africa, See also:Sardinia and See also:Sicily to Octavian. The arrangement was to last for five years. A reign of terror followed; proscriptions, confiscations, and executions became See also:general; some of the noblest citizens were put to death, and Cicero fell a victim to Antony's revenge. In the following year (42) Antony and Octavian proceeded against the conspirators Cassius and Brutus, and by the two battles of See also:Philippi annihilated the senatorial and republican parties. Antony proceeded to Greece, and thence to See also:Asia See also:Minor, to procure See also:money for his veterans and See also:complete the subjugation of the eastern provinces. On his passage through Cilicia in 41 he fell a victim to the charms of See also:Cleopatra, in whose See also:company he spent the See also:winter at See also:Alexandria. At length he was aroused by the See also:Parthian invasion of Syria and the See also:report of an outbreak between Fulvia his wife and See also:Lucius his See also:brother on the one See also:hand and Octavian on the other. On arriving in Italy he found that Octavian was already victorious; on the death of Fulvia, a reconciliation was effected between the triumvirs, and cemented by the See also:marriage of Antony with See also:Octavia, the See also:sister of his See also:col-See also:league. A new See also:division of the Roman See also:world was made at Brundusium, Lepidus receiving Africa, Octavian the See also:west, and Antony the See also:east. Returning to his province Antony made several attempts to subdue the Parthians, without any decided success. In 39 he visited Athens, where he behaved in a most extravagant manner, assuming the attributes of the See also:god See also:Dionysus.

In 37 he crossed over to Italy, and renewed the triumvirate for five years at a meeting with Octavian. Returning to Syria. he resumed relations with Cleopatra. His treatment of Octavia, her brother's See also:

desire to get rid of him, and the manner in which he disposed of kingdoms and provinces in favour of Cleopatra alienated his supporters. In 32 the senate deprived him of his powers and declared war against Cleopatra. After two years spent in preparations, Antony was defeated at the battle of See also:Actium (2nd See also:September 31). Once more he sought See also:refuge in the society of Cleopatra, who had escaped with sixty ships to Egypt. He was pursued by his enemies and his troops abandoned him. Thereupon he committed See also:suicide in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so (30 B.c.). Antony had been married in See also:succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia and Octavia, and left behind him a number of See also:children. See See also:Roma, See also:History, II. " The See also:Republic " (ad See also:fan.) ; Caesar, De See also:Bello Gallico, De Bello Civili; Plutarch, Lives of Antony, Brutus, Cicero, Caesar; Cicero, Letters (ed. See also:Tyrrell and See also:Purser) and Philippics; Appian, Bell.

Civ. i.-v.; Dio Cassius xli.-liii. In addition to the standard histories, see V. Gardthausen, See also:

Augustus and See also:seine Zeit (Leipzig, 1891—1904); W. Drumann, Geschichte Roms (2nd ed. P. Groebe, 1899), i. pp. 46-384; article by Groebe in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopddie; and a short but vivid See also:sketch by de Quincey in his See also:Essay on the Caesars. 5. Lucius ANTONIUS, youngest son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, and brother of the triumvir. In 44, as tribune of the people, he brought forward a law authorizing Caesar to nominate the chief magistrates during his absence from Rome. After the murder of Caesar, he supported his brother Marcus. He pro-posed an agrarian law in favour of the people and Caesar's See also:ANTRAIGUES 151 veterans, and took part in the operations at Mutina (43).

In 41 he was consul, and had a dispute with Octavian,. which led to the so-called Perusian War, in which he was supported by Fulvia (Mark Antony's wife), who was anxious to recall her See also:

husband from Cleopatra's See also:court. Later, observing the See also:bitter feelings that had been evoked by the See also:distribution of See also:land among the veterans of Caesar, Antonius and Fulvia changed their attitude, and stood forward as the defenders of those who had suffered from its operation. Antonius marched on Rome, drove out Lepidus, and promised the people that the triumvirate should be abolished. On the approach of Octavian, he retired to Perusia in Etruria, where he was besieged by three armies, and compelled to surrender (winter of 41). His See also:life was spared, and he was sent by Octavian to Spain as governor. Nothing is known of the circumstances or date of his death. Cicero, in his Philippics, actuated in great measure by See also:personal animosity, gives a highly unfavourable view of his See also:character. Appian, Bellum Civile, v. 14 ff.; Dio Cassius xlviii. 5-14. 6. Gains ANTONIUS, second son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, and brother of the triumvir.

In 49 he was See also:

legate of Caesar and, with P. Cornelius See also:Dolabella, was entrusted with the defence of Illyricum against the Pompeians. Dolabella's See also:fleet was destroyed; Antonius was shut up in the See also:island of Curicta and forced to surrender. In 44 he was city praetor, his See also:brothers Marcus and• Lucius being consul and tribune respectively in the same year. Gaius was appointed to the province of Macedonia, but on his way thither fell into the hands of M. Junius Brutus on the See also:coast of Illyria. Brutus at first treated him generously, but ultimately put him to death (42). Plutarch, Brutus, 28 ; Dio Cassius xlvii. 21-24. On the whole family, see the articles in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopddie, i. pt. 2 (1894).

End of Article: ANTONIUS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ANTONIO, NICOLAS (1617-1684) 		[next]
ANTONOMASIA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries