so, "as quick as boiled asparagus" [a favourite expression of his]. So Maecenas took Agrippa aside and said: "Now, old friend, what is it that you want? I realise that you think you have been badly treated, but I assure you that Augustus has a right to think himself equally injured by you.
Can't you see how badly you behaved towards him, by not being frank? It was an insult both to his justice and to his friendship for you. If you had explained that Marcellus' faction put you in a very uncomfortable position and that Marcellus himself had insulted you--I swear to you that Augustus never knew about this until just the other day he would have done all in his power to right matters. My frank opinion is that you have behaved like a sulky child--and he has treated you like a father who won't be bullied by that sort of behaviour. You say that he wrote you very cold letters. Were your own, then, written in such affectionate language? And what sort of a good-bye had you given him? I want to mediate between the two of you now, because if this breach continues it will be the ruin of us all. You both love each other dearly, as it is only right that the two greatest living Romans should. Augustus has told me that he is ready, as soon as you show your old openness to him, to renew the friendship on the same terms as before, or even more intimate ones."
"He said that?"
"His very words. May I tell him how grieved you are that you offended him, and may I explain that it was a misunderstanding--that you left Rome, thinking that he was aware of Marcellus' insult to you at the banquet? And that now you are anxious, on your side, to make up for past failures in friendship and that you rely on him to meet you half-way?"
Agrippa said: "Maecenas, you are a fine fellow and a true friend. Tell Augustus I am his to command as always."
Maecenas say: "I shall tell him that with the greatest pleasure. And I shall add, as my own opinion, that it would [37] not be safe to send you back to the City now. to restore order, without some outstanding mark of personal confidence."
Then Maecenas went to Augustus. "I smoothed him down nicely. He'll do anything you want. But he wants to believe that you really love him, like a child jealous of his father's love for another child. I think that the only thing that would really satisfy him would be for you to let him many Julia."
Augustus had to think quickly. He remembered that Agrippa and his wife, who was Marcellus' sister, had been on bad terms ever since the quarrel with Marcellus, and that Agrippa was supposed to be in love with Julia. He wished Livia were present to advise him, but there was no escape from an instant decision: if he offended Agrippa now he would never recover his support. Livia had written "at any price": so he was free to make what arrangements he pleased.
He sent for Agrippa again, and Maecenas staged a dignified scene of reconciliation. Augustus said that if Agrippa would consent to marry his daughter, it would be proof to him that the friendship which he valued before any other in
‘the world was established on a secure foundation. Agrippa wept tears of joy and asked pardon for his shortcomings. He would try to be worthy of Augustus' loving generosity.
Agrippa returned to Rome with Augustus, and immediately divorced his wife and married Julia. The marriage was so popular and its celebration so magnificently lavish that the political disturbances immediately subsided.
Agrippa won great credit for Augustus, too, by [B.C. 21 carrying through the negotiations for the return of the Eagle standards, which were formally handed over to Tiberius as Augustus' personal representative. The Eagles were sacred objects, more truly sacred to Roman hearts than any marble statues of Gods. A few captives returned, too, but after thirty-two years of absence they were hardly worth welcoming back; most of them preferred to remain in Parthia, where they had settled down and married native
Can't you see how badly you behaved towards him, by not being frank? It was an insult both to his justice and to his friendship for you. If you had explained that Marcellus' faction put you in a very uncomfortable position and that Marcellus himself had insulted you--I swear to you that Augustus never knew about this until just the other day he would have done all in his power to right matters. My frank opinion is that you have behaved like a sulky child--and he has treated you like a father who won't be bullied by that sort of behaviour. You say that he wrote you very cold letters. Were your own, then, written in such affectionate language? And what sort of a good-bye had you given him? I want to mediate between the two of you now, because if this breach continues it will be the ruin of us all. You both love each other dearly, as it is only right that the two greatest living Romans should. Augustus has told me that he is ready, as soon as you show your old openness to him, to renew the friendship on the same terms as before, or even more intimate ones."
"He said that?"
"His very words. May I tell him how grieved you are that you offended him, and may I explain that it was a misunderstanding--that you left Rome, thinking that he was aware of Marcellus' insult to you at the banquet? And that now you are anxious, on your side, to make up for past failures in friendship and that you rely on him to meet you half-way?"
Agrippa said: "Maecenas, you are a fine fellow and a true friend. Tell Augustus I am his to command as always."
Maecenas say: "I shall tell him that with the greatest pleasure. And I shall add, as my own opinion, that it would [37] not be safe to send you back to the City now. to restore order, without some outstanding mark of personal confidence."
Then Maecenas went to Augustus. "I smoothed him down nicely. He'll do anything you want. But he wants to believe that you really love him, like a child jealous of his father's love for another child. I think that the only thing that would really satisfy him would be for you to let him many Julia."
Augustus had to think quickly. He remembered that Agrippa and his wife, who was Marcellus' sister, had been on bad terms ever since the quarrel with Marcellus, and that Agrippa was supposed to be in love with Julia. He wished Livia were present to advise him, but there was no escape from an instant decision: if he offended Agrippa now he would never recover his support. Livia had written "at any price": so he was free to make what arrangements he pleased.
He sent for Agrippa again, and Maecenas staged a dignified scene of reconciliation. Augustus said that if Agrippa would consent to marry his daughter, it would be proof to him that the friendship which he valued before any other in
‘the world was established on a secure foundation. Agrippa wept tears of joy and asked pardon for his shortcomings. He would try to be worthy of Augustus' loving generosity.
Agrippa returned to Rome with Augustus, and immediately divorced his wife and married Julia. The marriage was so popular and its celebration so magnificently lavish that the political disturbances immediately subsided.
Agrippa won great credit for Augustus, too, by [B.C. 21 carrying through the negotiations for the return of the Eagle standards, which were formally handed over to Tiberius as Augustus' personal representative. The Eagles were sacred objects, more truly sacred to Roman hearts than any marble statues of Gods. A few captives returned, too, but after thirty-two years of absence they were hardly worth welcoming back; most of them preferred to remain in Parthia, where they had settled down and married native
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