Editing Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (section)

==Rise to power==

=== Friend to Octavian ===
After Octavian's return to Rome, he and his supporters realised they needed the support of legions. Agrippa helped Octavian to levy troops in [[Campania]].<ref>Nicolaus of Damascus, ''[http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/nicolaus.html Life of Augustus]'' 31. It has been speculated that Agrippa was among the negotiators who won over Antony's Macedonian legions to Octavian, but there is no direct evidence for this; see Reinhold, p. 16.</ref> Once Octavian had his legions, he made a pact with [[Mark Antony]] and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]], legally established in 43 BC as the [[Second Triumvirate]]. Octavian and his consular colleague [[Quintus Pedius]] arranged for Caesar's assassins to be prosecuted [[Trial in absentia|in their absence]], and Agrippa was entrusted with the case against [[Gaius Cassius Longinus]].<ref>Velleius Paterculus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2C*.html#69.5 2.69.5]; [[Plutarch]], ''[[Parallel Lives|Life of Brutus]]'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Brutus*.html#27.4 27.4].</ref> It may have been in the same year that Agrippa began his political career, holding the position of [[tribune of the plebs]], which granted him entry to the [[Roman Senate|Senate]].<ref>Mentioned only by [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius ''auctus'']] on [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' [https://archive.today/20120629050209/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Serv.+A.+8.682 8.682], but a necessary preliminary to his position as [[urban praetor]] in 40 BC. Roddaz (p. 41) favours the 43 BC date.</ref>

In 42 BC, Agrippa probably fought alongside Octavian and Antony in the [[Battle of Philippi]].<ref>Pliny the Elder [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/7*.html#148 7.148] cites him as an authority for Octavian's illness on the occasion.</ref> After their return to Rome, he played a major role in Octavian's war against [[Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony)|Lucius Antonius]] and [[Fulvia]], respectively the brother and wife of Mark Antony, which began in 41 BC and ended in the capture of [[Perusia]] in 40 BC. However, Salvidienus remained Octavian's main general at this time.<ref>Reinhold, pp. 17–20.</ref> After the Perusine war, Octavian departed for [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]], leaving Agrippa as [[urban praetor]] in Rome with instructions to defend Italy against [[Sextus Pompeius]], an opponent of the Triumvirate who was now occupying [[History of Sicily|Sicily]]. In July 40 BC, while Agrippa was occupied with the [[Ludi Apollinares]] that were the praetor's responsibility, Sextus began a raid in southern Italy. Agrippa advanced on him, forcing him to withdraw.<ref>Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/48*.html#20 48.20]; Reinhold, p. 22.</ref> However, the Triumvirate proved unstable, and in August 40 BC both Sextus and Antony invaded Italy (but not in an organized alliance). Agrippa's success in retaking [[Sipontum]] from Antony helped bring an end to the conflict.<ref>Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/48*.html#28 48.28]; Reinhold, p. 23.</ref> Agrippa was among the intermediaries through whom Antony and Octavian agreed once more upon peace. During the discussions Octavian learned that Salvidienus had offered to betray him to Antony, with the result that Salvidienus was prosecuted and either executed or committed suicide. Agrippa was now Octavian's leading general.<ref>Reinhold, pp. 23–24.</ref>

=== Governor of Transalpine Gaul ===
[[File:Empereur romain,mortel parmi les Dieux55a.jpg|thumb|180px|Bust of Agrippa, [[Musée Saint-Raymond]]]]
In 39 or 38 BC, Octavian appointed Agrippa governor of [[Gallia Narbonensis|Transalpine Gaul]], where in 38 BC he put down a rising of the [[Aquitani]]ans. He also fought the [[Germanic tribes]], becoming the next Roman general to cross the [[Rhine]] after [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>Dio, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/48*.html#49 48.49]</ref> He was summoned back to Rome by Octavian to assume the [[Roman consul|consulship]] for 37 BC. He was well below the usual minimum age of 43, but Octavian had suffered a humiliating naval defeat against Sextus Pompey and needed his friend to oversee the preparations for further warfare. Agrippa refused the offer of a [[Roman triumph|triumph]] for his exploits in Gaul – on the grounds, says [[Cassius Dio|Dio]], that he thought it improper to celebrate during a time of trouble for Octavian.<ref>Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/48*.html#49 48.49]; Reinhold, pp. 25–29. Agrippa's youth is noted by Lendering, "[https://www.livius.org/vi-vr/vipsanius/agrippa.html#Philippi From Philippi to Actium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710071825/http://www.livius.org/vi-vr/vipsanius/agrippa.html#Philippi |date=2014-07-10 }}".</ref> 

Since Sextus Pompeius had command of the sea on the coasts of Italy, Agrippa's first care was to provide a safe harbour for Octavian's ships. He accomplished this by cutting through the strips of land which separated the [[Lucrinus Lacus|Lacus Lucrinus]] from the sea, thus forming an outer harbour, while joining the [[lake Avernus]] to the Lucrinus to serve as an inner harbor.<ref>Reinhold, pp. 29–32.</ref> The new harbor-complex was named [[Portus Julius]] in Octavian's honour.<ref>Suetonius, ''Life of Augustus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#16 16.1].</ref> Agrippa was also responsible for technological improvements, including larger ships and an improved form of [[grappling hook]].<ref>[[Appian]], ''Civil Wars'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/5*.html#106 2.106], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/5*.html#118 118–119]; Reinhold, pp. 33–35.</ref> About this time, he married [[Caecilia Attica|Caecilia Pomponia Attica]], daughter of [[Cicero]]'s friend [[Titus Pomponius Atticus]].<ref name=":0">Reinhold, pp. 35–37.</ref>

=== War with Sextus Pompeius ===
{{Further|Bellum Siculum}}
In 36 BC, Octavian and Agrippa set sail against Sextus. The fleet was badly damaged by storms and had to withdraw; Agrippa was left in charge of the second attempt. Thanks to superior technology and training, Agrippa and his men won decisive victories at [[Mylae]] and [[battle of Naulochus|Naulochus]], destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender. Octavian, with his power increased, forced the triumvir Lepidus into retirement and entered Rome in triumph.<ref>Reinhold, pp. 37–42.</ref> Agrippa received the unprecedented honour of a ''[[Naval crown|corona navalis]]'' decorated with the beaks of ships; as Dio remarks, this was "a decoration given to nobody before or since".<ref>Dio [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/49*.html#14.3 49.14.3].</ref>