How Rome Almost Became Egyptian | What If
Many might think back to the days of Julius Caesar, and imagine that by the time he took power, there was very little which could have stopped the rise of Rome’s Empire from the ashes of its former Republic, but while certainly Rome had never quite been the same since the emergence of immensely more powerful dictators like Caesar and Sulla before him, we still saw a handful of efforts to restore the Republican model in some capacity, or install a new government quite different from the Rome we knew.
The Empire under Rome’s first Emperor, Augustus, still clung to aspects of the old Republican system, as a matter of fact; even retaining the title of a Republic for decades before clearly redefining itself as wholly imperial during the reign of Emperor Diocletian.
Augustus, originally known as Octavian, had been the grandson of Caesar’s sister, Julia Minor, and would ultimately be adopted by Caesar as his son and heir.
It’s been said that Caesar saw much potential in the young Octavian, his ambition and drive at such a young age reminding Caesar of himself. Without any officially recognized male heirs, and confident that Octavian possessed the skills necessary to carry out his grander goals, Caesar left in his will the majority of his fortune and power to Octavian, virtually assuring that he’d inherit control of Rome; however, Caesar would be assassinated before he could inform Octavian of this decision, thus, for a brief time, leaving the question of his succession up in the air.
Initially, Caesar’s assassins had hoped that the dictator’s death would restore confidence in republicanism, allowing for a return to normalcy now that Rome’s tyrant was overthrown, but such was not how many Romans viewed Caesar; to most of Rome’s citizens, especially those in the lower class, he had been a conquering hero, and a leader who put their interests first, delivering onto them the long stated promises of the Populare political faction. Caesar’s assassins, on the other hand, had largely been comprised of the elitist Optimate faction, painting the killing of Caesar as an act of aggression by the so-called “Liberators” belonging to the upper class against Caesar’s loyal public.
The people would be rallied against the Liberators by Caesar’s right-hand man, Marcus Antonius, or Mark Antony as he’s commonly known. Antonius was a prominent general who had served under Caesar during his conquest of Gaul, and in his Civil War against Optimate leader, Pompey. Though his upbringing was supposedly riddled with scandal and debauchery, in his military service he repeatedly demonstrating both a great enthusiasm which inspired his men, and a consistent willingness to negotiation to bring about peace, however, he also showed an impetuosity which at times led to premature action or hasty retreat both for better and for worse. These faults of his became especially apparent when he was briefly placed in charge of Italy in Caesar’s stead, and much later when he’d become infatuated with Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, who is said to have had overwhelming influence over him. In Italy, he proved unready for the responsibility bestowed upon him, and Caesar was forced to postpone his campaign to restore order back home; Antony would proceed to complicate Caesar’s efforts to the point that Caesar moved to briefly terminate Antony’s political career, and deny him reentry into military service, though Antonius would eventually convince Caesar to give him a second chance shortly before his assassination.
Despite these shortcomings, Antony was still a fine military leader, really at his best when working at Caesar’s side, and there’s no doubt their time together gave Antonius a unique perspective at how one of Rome’s greatest military minds conducted war; perhaps if not for flaws of personality, he might have even reached the same heights Caesar had, and proved himself worthy of leading Rome…but that wasn’t the case.
Ultimately, this relationship between the two had convinced many that if anyone were to succeed Caesar, Antony would be the most obvious choice, and he himself seemed convinced of this; Caesar, however, saw the weaknesses in Antony’s character, and understood that despite all he had learned, it wouldn’t be enough to compensate for who he was at his core; raised without a proper male role model, and leading a troubled youth, Antony likely found order and direction through Caesar as a surrogate father, explaining why he had become so devoutly loyal to him, and while Caesar valued that loyalty, that alone did not make for a competent leader.
To Antony’s shock, he’d discover following Caesar’s assassination that Octavian had been named successor instead of him. For a time, Antony opted to disregard Caesar’s will, later going as far as to call it a forgery. He proceeded to govern Rome himself, hoping to reorganize the nation so as to do away with the dictatorship, and thus, dash any opportunity for Octavian to claim the title, but again, he’d be done in by his own follies: Compromising a pardon for Caesar’s assassins to preserve governmental order, and failing to appease the public by following through with the same populist policies Caesar had become known for. Octavian, on the other hand, had learned of his inheritance, and seeing no compliance from Antonius, proceeded to fulfill Caesar’s promises to the public, and assumed an unforgiving stance against the assassins, beginning a fierce rivalry and struggle for power between Caesar’s Second in Command, who’d soon take control of the Republic’s Eastern realms, and the Dictator’s Chosen Heir, who’d come to dominate the West.
In the end Antonius and Cleopatra were defeated, and Octavian assumed the throne as Rome’s first emperor…but what if that changed? What if Octavian hadn’t defeated Antonius, but rather was himself defeated, leaving the fate of Rome in Antony’s hands?
While Octavian certainly did well to shift the balance of power further toward himself at the political, social, and military level, he couldn’t have done so alone, most especially in regard to the latter. Octavian’s success in battle is in great part owed to his loyal ally, Marcus Agrippa, one of Rome’s finest generals, easily standing toe to toe with Antonius. He was a valuable advisor who often kept Octavian from making hasty assumptions, providing detailed analysis of all factors in play during any battle, so that the best possible strategy could be implemented. His was an analytical, innovative, and dedicated mind, above all else, he was fiercely loyal to Octavian; while other generals and politicians abandoned the young man for the more experienced Antony at various points, Agrippa never once demonstrated even a lapse of support for his commander and friend, eventually assuring him the victory which finally put an end to Antonius’s claims to Rome.
Had Octavian lost the support of Agrippa either through his falling in battle, or defecting to the side of Antonius, the pivotal battle of Actium would have shifted well in favor of Antonius, allowing him to reassert his control over the East, and prepare to further challenge the west, drastically altering the course of Roman history.
To understand why Antony’s rule would have been so radically different from that of Octavian, we first need to look at what he had been doing in the East all this time, and what that might have meant for the rest of the would-be empire had he been allowed to continue.
For years now, Antonius had oriented his focus away from the barbarian hordes on Rome’s Western borders, to the Republic’s civilized rivals in Persia instead; he believe Western Rome stood secure enough, and no longer stood to gain anything by conquering the tribal Germans, rather, the Republic should fulfill it’s destiny of retaking the conquered lands of Alexander the Great for the Western World. Caesar’s own ambition of accomplishing this prior to his assassination had reassured Antonius that this was the proper direction to take, and the true will of Caesar, further seeing a need to restore Roman honor following the humiliating defeat of Caesar’s ally Crassus during his own attempt to conquer Persia.
Antonius also had a particular affinity for Greek culture, and the old Hellenistic world, likely owing to his early study in the Greek city of Athens. He openly expressed a desire to restore the Greek World to it’s former glory, these beliefs only being strengthened by his romantic relationship with Egypt’s ethnically Greek Queen, Cleopatra, whose Kingdom stood as the last major Greek power not yet dominated by Rome. Together they proposed a new Greco-Roman Imperial Dynasty, one which would restore the old Hellenistic order with Egypt at it’s heart, and stretch from the Western shores of Iberia to the borders of India.
To achieve this, Antony would first launch an invasion of Parthia, initially claiming it for Rome, before dividing the Republic’s possessions among his and Cleopatra’s children. In this arrangement, Cleopatra was to assume the title Queen of Kings, essentially making her an empress, and it’s likely he intended on naming himself King of Kings, and Emperor of this new realm, however, given that the details of this plan come primarily from his will, he instead names Caesarion, the alleged son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, as Cleopatra’s co-ruler. Caesarion’s personal realm within the greater empire was implied to be Rome itself, as Antony asserted that, being Caesar’s biological son, Caesarion was Caesar’s true successor, directly challenging Octavian’s claim, and lesser adopted status. This new empire would see it’s capitol, as dictated by Antony, moved from Rome to Alexandria in Egypt, where a new governing order would be formally established upon the ascension of Caesarion.
Of course, Antony’s invasion of Parthia proved disasterous, even more of a disaster than the humiliating defeat of Crassus. Romans were appalled by the suggestion that the Republic’s capitol should be moved, especially to the lands of a foreign temptress, costing Antony much popularity. And Octavian absolutely would not stand to have his rightful inheritance challenged by a successor Caesar never formally acknowledged, and which some were convinced wasn’t related to Caesar at all, the pretender ultimately being executed by Octavian, securing his place as the one true son of Caesar…but this time, things are different.
With Actium and the East secured, the West might call for peace in an attempt to regroup and secure it’s borders, but regardless of whether or not this is the case, the conflict would inevitably continue at some point, with Antony squarely intent on bringing down Octavian, and replacing him with Caesarion.
Of course, this is much easier said than done; not only would Antony need to successfully invade and occupy Octavian’s domain, but also apply just enough pressure to the Roman public to prevent them from rising up against his unpopular rule. Caesarion would not help boost Antony’s popularity either, only giving him a legitimate claimant to replace Octavian with, though that being said, Octavian, by this point, had already earned the respect and support of the Roman people, while Caesarion, as far as most were concerned, was but a foreigner using Caesar’s name.
We might assume that without Agrippa as a check against Antony’s naval supremacy, he might borrow a strategy used by Sextus Pomey, and blockade Italy to starve it of resources, all the while pressing forward with his invasion, promising to resume grain-shipments, which primarily came from Egypt, mind you, to all occupied territories who pledged allegiance to Caesarion.
Though Octavian still has a good chance of repelling Antony’s invasion, and maintaining control of at least the Western part of the Republic, for the sake of this video, let us just assume that he is decisively defeated, and either exiled or executed by Antonius, allowing for the Roman Republic to be reorganized as Antony saw fit. As was the case under Octavian, the republic, now empire, would retain some semblance of continued republicanism, with real power being concentrated in Caesarion as a king of some variety, though adopting a less explicitly monarchical title as Octavian had.
Caesarion’s domain, encompassing Italia, Gaul, and Iberia, would become a secondary force within the Empire as the city of Rome was relegated to merely a regional capitol, while Alexandria assumed a status above it. Antony and Cleopatra’s eldest son, Alexander Helios, would be named king of the far east, including the yet to be conquered Parthia. His twin sister, Cleopatra Selene would be named Queen of North Africa west of Egypt. And the youngest of their children, Ptolemy Philadelphus, would be made king of the near east. Antony and Cleopatra would rule directly over Greece and Egypt, while maintaining extended control of their child kingdoms in this new imperial order.
Not very much is known of Caesarion, but there’s no doubt he’d have his hands full with rebellions and assassination attempts, possibly escalating to the point of a continued Civil War; because of all this, there’s no telling how effective he’d be at governing Rome, but we should expect Antonius to help him bring his new domain back into line, possibly bringing Caesarion along to learn firsthand as he had under Caesar. The same could be said of Cleopatra and her Child Kingdoms in Africa and the East, as all her children, save for Caesarion, would be far too young to rule alone, leaving Cleopatra as immediate Queen of not only Egypt, but the Near East, North Africa, and the Southern Balkans.
Clearly, this makes for a very chaotic situation, worse yet, a chaotic situation left in the hands of two of history’s worst Greats. We’ve already gone over Antony’s shortcomings without Caesar, and as a politician in general, and while it’s certainly possible a great deal of this might have been exaggerated by Octavian upon assuming power, context suggests Antony, at the very least, wasn’t as capable in statecraft as Octavian had been, even if he was a sufficiently capable general. Cleopatra presided over an already failing Kingdom desperately trying to regain it’s lost glory, and she had managed to achieve glimmers of that but largely only with Rome’s assistance. Realizing Rome was her last ticket to saving Egypt, Cleopatra built her relationships, first with Caesar, and later with Antonius, hoping desperately that by siring a successor to the most power men of the west, they might assure Egypt an equal place in the inevitably Roman dominated Western-World. Relatively speaking, Cleopatra’s accomplishments were minor and few for someone who is perhaps the most famous woman in all of history, and none of this suggests she’d be exceptionally capable of managing a massive empire alone, one which would now directly clash the ambitions of the powerful Parthian Empire.
With Octavian gone, it’d only be a matter of time before the warring Republican collapsed, leaving neither Antony nor Caesarion with anything major to show for their efforts. Cleopatra’s grip over the east would not be sufficient enough to prevent the expansion of the Parthians further Westward, leaving what remained of her and Antony’s briefly great empire with only the lands of North Africa, coastal Anatolia, Greece, and the Levant. Though reduced of territory, these possessions are still exceptionally valuable, but only time would tell if Cleopatra and Antony’s successors made better use of it than they themselves.
