Octavian, who succeeded Caesar, had no military talent.
His commanding ability is almost the worst of all Roman figures, and he is largely defeated in the battles he commanded.
So was Octavian incompetent?
The answer is "no."
Caesar can be said to be a versatile genius.
Under his command, he won a series of battles, defeated Pompey, one of the strongest in Roman history, has the highest political ability, and the bookstores of Gallia are still lined up in bookstores, and the support from people is outstanding.
As a matter of course, his eyes were top notch, and his successors did not consider Antonius and Lepidus, who were active as adjutants. Caesar valued their military capabilities, but knew who was the right person to carry the country.
What is the strength of Octavian?
The strength of Octavian is that he doesn't try to do anything himself.
A truly good prince relies on people.
Zhuge Liang, who appears in the Three Kingdoms, tried to do everything himself and failed.
Han's high-ranking ancestor, Liu Kun, knew his incompetence, so he left most of it to others.
One day I asked a military commander named Hanshin. "How many soldiers can an eagle lead?" Han Xin replies, "I think it's 100,000 at best, by the way, I'm 1 million." Liu Kun resents this, but Han Xin continued.
"The Emperor Gaozu is a general general."
Octavian has a similar tendency.
Caesar saw it and made Octavian his successor.
The proof is that he always had a young man named Agrippa with military talent beside him.
Octavian's right arm
The origin of Agrippa is not well understood. He knew he was from the Equites class, and his father of the same name was one of those who survived the Roman civil war with Caesar.
Agrippa was born around 63 BC, so it's the same year as Octavian. Caesar seems to have found that talent, even though he has no military record in Rome because he cannot enter the war until he is 18 years old.
Agrippa was spotted by Caesar quite early on and also traveled to Greece. And in the meantime Caesar was assassinated.
When he returned to Rome with Octavian, Antonius was in control, but because Antonius had left the Caesar assassin, he gave Octavian a sneak peek.
When Oktavianus, along with Lepidus and Antonius, conducted the Second Triumvirate, Agrippa effectively commanded the army on behalf of Oktavianus and fought against Caesar's assassins.
Perhaps because he was still young, he lost the battle with Brutus in the Battle of Philippi, and Antonius won the overall victory because he defeated Cassius' army.
After that, he made a battle in North Africa, succeeded in defeating Pompey's son, and won the battle with the Allied Forces of Antonius Cleopatra with the same momentum, bringing the glory of victory to Octavian.
As the emperor's right arm
Octavian, who won the battle with Antonius, was given the name of Augustus by the Senate and started Principate.
Agrippa continued to play an active role as Augustus' right arm, fighting against opponents in various places, and steadily piled up the ground of Augustus.
Augustus trusts Agrippa from the bottom of his heart, giving him the same tribune privileges and Imperius (highest military command), and marrying his only bloody daughter, Julia, to Agrippa. ..
Agrippa and Yuria seem to have been on good terms, with as many as five children born between them.
Octavian wanted to let these grandchildren take over his footsteps, but the first two boys died prematurely, and the younger ones were crying and crying because they violated Augustus's own adultery. But that's another story.
By the way, Agrippa herself was married to the daughter of Cicero's best friend, Atticus, before she married Julia, and she was divorced and married to Julia.
Augustus often does this. He also divorced his son-in-law, Tiberius, and instead married Julia after the death of Agrippa.
Augustus had a section that was obsessed with hereditary succession by his own blood, and he forced him to marry quite like a force.
Agrippa and others didn't seem to complain at all, but Tiberius and others opposed this and once withdrew from politics.
Augustus, who had died by his grandson, seemed to think of Agrippa for the next emperor, but Agrippa, who had never been sick since he was young, died earlier than Octavian, who had been ill since he was young. rice field.
As the emperor's right-hand man, Agrippa took control of public works projects such as the Pantheon, showing his excellence not only in military terms but also in political terms.
In 12 BC, he died at the age of 51.
Personal evaluation of Agrippa
He can be said to be a master who demonstrated his talent in military and politics.
His commanding ability was incomparable to Caesar and Sulla, and was comparable to Antonius, but he helped Octavian, who was sick and military-savvy, to lead the civil war to victory, and Pax Romana's. Contributed to completion.
It was in Rome during the first century of the internal turmoil that many boats climbed the mountain, but in that sense Agrippa was not a person like a captain, and it can be said that it was more necessary for the realization of peace. Yeah.
Not to mention Agrippa himself, he admires Caesar's personnel who placed such a person beside his successor.