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1. Syria Under the Predominating Influence of Pompey, B.C. 65–48

M. Aemilius Scaurus, B.C. 65, 62

Sent by Pompey, he arrived at Damascus in B.C. 65, where previously Lollius and Metellus had been stationed (Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 2. 3; Wars of the Jews, i. 6. 2; Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, iii. 346). From B.C. 64 to B.C. 63 Pompey himself was in Syria. He arrived there in B.C. 64, during the consulship of L. Julius Caesar and C. Marcius Figulus (Dio Cassius, xxxvii. 6). He passed the winter in Aspis (Dio Cassius, xxxvii. 7). He took the city of Jerusalem in B.C. 63, and went in B.C. 62 to Italy (Clinton and Fischer, under the year B.C. 62). On his departure, Pompey left Scaurus in Syria (Appian, Syr. 51; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 4. 5). This governor carried on to its close the campaign against the Arabian prince Aretas, contemplated by Pompey (Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 5. 1; Wars of the Jews, i. 8. 1). Reference is made to this on the coins bearing the inscription Rex Arreas, M. Scaurus, Aed. cur., ex S. C. (Eckhel, Doctr. Num. v. 131; Babelon, Monnaies de la république romaine, t. i. 1885, p. 120 sq.).—A decree of the Tyrians in honour of Scaurus is communicated by Renan in Mission de Phénicie, p. 533 sq. From Joppa Scaurus took with him the skeleton of the sea monster to which Andromeda had been fastened (Pliny, Historia Naturalis, ix. 5. 11).—Compare, in reference to Scaurus generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, i. 28–32; Pauly’s Real-Encycl. i. 1, 2 Aufl. pp. 372–374; Borghesi, Oeuvres, ii. 185 ff.; Gaumitz, Leipziger Studien zur class. Philologie, Bd. ii. 1879, pp. 249–289, especially p. 259.

Marcius Philippus, B.C. 61–60

According to Appian, Syr. 51, between Scaurus and Gabinius, Marcius Philippus and Lentulus Marcellinus were, for two years each, governors of Syria (τῶνδε μὲν ἑκατέρῳ διετὴς ἐτρίφθη χρόνος), both with praetorian power. Seeing that Gabinius arrived in Syria in the beginning of B.C. 57, we must assign to Marcius Philippus the years B.C. 61–60, and to Leutulus Marcellinus the years B.C. 59–58. Compare Clinton, iii 346, against Noris, p. 223, and Schöpflin, p. 466, who give to both only the two years B.C. 59–58. The correct statement is also given in: Lewin, Fasti Sacri, n. 101, 103; Godt, Quomodo provinciae Romanae per decennium bello civili Caesariano antecedens administratoe sint (Kiel 1876), pp. 7, 8.

Lentulus Marcellinus, B.C. 59–58

Compare what is said above. He too, like his predecessor, had still to carry on the war against the Arabians (Appian, Syr. 51).

A. Gabinius, B.C. 57–55

On account of the constant disturbances caused in Syria by the Arabs, it was resolved in B.C. 58 to send thither immediately a proconsul (Appian, Syr. 51), and indeed first of all they sent A. Gabinius, one of the consuls of the year B.C. 58 (Plutarch, Cicero, c. 30), who therefore arrived in Syria in the beginning of B.C. 57.—He used his power in an exceedingly oppressive and tyrannical manner (Dio Cassius, xxxix. 55, 56). Cicero also speaks frequently of his boundless rapacity. For example, it is declared in Pro Sestio, c. 43: “Gabinium haurire cotidie ex paratissimis atque opulentissimis Syriae, gazis inumerabile pondus auri, bellum inferre quiescentibus, ut eorum veteres illibatasque divitias in profundissimum libidinum suarum gurgitem profundat.” In De provinciis consularibus, c. 4: “In Syria imperatore illo nihil aliud [neque gestum] neque actum est nisi pactiones pecuniarum cum tyrannis, decisiones, direptiones, latrocinia, caedes.”—Gabinius was a favourite and an unswerving adherent of Pompey, and therefore when Pompey came into conflict with the senate he took the side of his patron, as he showed, for example, in his Egyptian campaign. He had engaged, as early as B.C. 56, in an expedition against the Parthians, well fitted to serve the interests of the republic, when he received instructions from Pompey to reinstate King Ptolemy Auletes, who had been driven out of Alexandria by a popular revolt. Ptolemy himself gave to this command the necessary stimulus by a present of 10,000 talents. These two reasons moved Gabinius more powerfully than the contrary wishes of the senate, and the existing law which forbade the proconsul to overstep the limits of his province. He suspended his operations against the Parthians, pushed forward to Egypt, and conquered the Egyptian army. In this campaign young Marc Antony, the future triumvir, distinguished himself. King Ptolemy was restored to his throne in the beginning of the year B.C. 55 (Dio Cassius, xxxix. 56–58; Cicero, in Pison. c. 21; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 6. 2; Plutarch, Anton. c. 3; Appian, Syr. 51; Fischer, Röm. Zeittafeln, pp. 244, 247). He was therefore at Rome on this account, mainly at Cicero’s instigation, in B.C. 55, accused de majestate. The trial was already going on when he, in September B.C. 54, after the province had been meanwhile transferred to Crassus, arrived in Rome (Cicero, ad Quint. iii. 1. 5–7). His wealth and the influence of Pompey prevailed in securing for him a favourable judgment in this matter; but on account of his boundless oppressions he was sentenced to exile, although now Cicero himself, induced to do so by Pompey, pled on his behalf (Dio Cassius, xxxix. 59–63, cf. 55; Appian, Syr. 51; Civ. ii. 24; Cicero, ad Quint. fr. iii. 1–4; pro Ralirio Postumo, cc. 8 and 12).—Compare on Gabinius generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, iii. 40–62; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. iii. pp. 565–571.

M. Licinius Crassus, B.C. 54–53

In the year B.C. 60, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus had formed what is called the first Triumvirate. In B.C. 56 this arrangement was renewed upon their meeting together at Luca. The result of this was that in B.C. 55 two of the triumvirs, Pompey and Crassus, obtained the rank of consuls. While they held the consulship, Pompey undertook the administration of Spain, Crassus that of Syria, to he entered upon by each in B.C. 55 (Dio Cassius, xxxix. 33–36; Livy, Epitome, 105; Plutarch, Pompeius, 52; Crassus, 15; Appian, Civ. ii. 18). Crassus started from Rome and went to Syria in November B.C. 55, even before the expiry of his consulship (see Clinton, ad ann. B.C. 54; Fischer, Röm. Zeittafeln, p. 250).—In B.C. 54 he fitted out an expedition against the Parthians, and pressed forward till he had crossed the Euphrates, but he then turned back and spent the winter in Syria. In the spring of B.C. 53 he renewed his campaign, crossed the Euphrates at Zeugma, but suffered a serious defeat, and was obliged to withdraw to Carrae. When he could not even here maintain his ground, he continued his retreat, and had reached as far as the Armenian mountain land when the Parthian general Surena offered him terms of peace on the condition that the Romans should confine themselves to the districts on the other side of the Euphrates. Crassus was obliged to agree to these terms; but when going to a conference with Surena, accompanied by a small retinue, he was treacherously set upon by the Parthian troops and murdered in B.C. 53 (according to Ovid, Fast. vi. 465: V. Idus Junias, or 9th June; see Clinton and Fischer, ad ann. B.C. 53). Many of his people were taken prisoners by the Parthians: part succeeded in making their escape; another part had even before this returned to Syria under the leadership of the quaestor Cassius Longinus (Dio Cassius, xl. 12–27; Plutarch, Crassus, 17–31; Livy, Epitome, 106; Justin, xlii. 4).—Compare on Crassus generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, iv. 71–115, Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. iv. 1064–1068. On the Parthian campaign, Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans und Seiner Nachbarländer (1888), pp. 87–93; and the literature referred to by Gutschmid, p. 171 f.

C. Cassius Longinus, B.C. 53–51

After the death of Crassus the supreme command in Syria fell to Cassius Longinus. The Parthians now made inroads upon the Roman territory, pressed on in B.C. 51 as far as Antioch, but were fortunately again driven back by Cassius in autumn of B.C. 51 (Dio Cassius, xl. 28–29; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 7. 3; Livy, Epitome, 108; Justin, xlii. 4; Cicero, ad Atticum, v. 20; ad Familiares, ii. 10; Philipp. xi. 14; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 117 f.; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. ii. 194 ff. On the chronology, see especially, Fischer, Zeittafeln, p. 260 f.).

M. Calpurnius Bibulus, B.C. 51–50

Cassius Longinus was succeeded by Bibulus (according to Cicero, ad Familiares, ii. 10; ad Atticum, v. 20; Dio Cassius, xl. 30). He is called Λεύκιος Βύβλος in Appian, Syr. 51. But from the testimony of Cicero, ad Familiares, xii. 19, xv. 1 and 3, and Livy, Epitome, 108, and Caesar, Bell. Civ. iii. 31, it is put beyond dispute that he was M. Bibulus, the colleague of Caesar in the consulship in B.C. 59.—He arrived in Syria in autumn of the year B.C. 51 (Cicero, ad Atticum, v. 18 and 20).—He also had still trouble with the Parthians (compare Cicero, ad Familiares, xii. 19), but was able to rid himself of it in great measure by stirring up internal feuds among them. According to Dio Cassius, xl. 30, these civil conflicts took place as early as B.C. 51, during the consulship of M. Marcellus and Sulp. Rufus. Compare Cicero, ad Atticum, vii. 2, sub fin.: Parthi repente Bibulum semivivum reliquerunt.—Cicero, who at this same time administered the neighbouring province of Cilicia, in ad Atticum, vi. 1. 13, mentions Bibulus among those who in the administration of their province “valde honeste se gerunt.”—Compare also Fischer, Röm. Zeittafeln, p. 264 f. On Bibulus generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 97–105; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. ii. 101 f.

Vejento, B.C. 50–49

“Bibulus de provincia decessit, Vejentonem praefecit.” So writes Cicero in the beginning of December B.C. 50 (ad Atticum, vii. 3. 5).

Q. Metellus Scipio, B.C. 49–48

When, during the first days of the year B.C. 49, the civil war between Caesar and Pompey broke out, the provinces had just been partitioned among the Pompeian party, and the province of Syria had been conferred on the father-in-law of Pompey, Q. Metellus Scipio, who had held the consulship in the year B.C. 52 (Caesar, Bell. Civ. i. 6; compare Cicero, ad Atticum, ix. 1).—Toward the end of B.C. 49 he withdrew from Syria two legions for the support of Pompey, and wintered with them in the territory of Pergamum (Caesar, Bell. Civ. iii. 4 and 31). In the following year he proceeded to Macedonia, and joined Pompey shortly before the battle of Pharsalia (Caesar, Bell. Civ. iii. 33, 78–82). In the battle of Pharsalia he commanded the centre of Pompey’s army (Caesar, Bell. Civ. iii. 86).—Compare on Metellus Scipio generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 44–49; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. ii. 32–34.

2. Syria During the Time of Caesar, B.C. 47–44

Sextus Caesar, B.C. 47–46

After the battle of Pharsalia, 9th August B.C. 48, Caesar followed Pompey by sea to Egypt, which he reached in the beginning of October, shortly after the assassination of Pompey, which had taken place on the 28th September. Contrary to expectation, he became involved in Egypt in a war with King Ptolemy, which detained him there for nine months (Appian, Civ. ii. 90). Not till the end of June B.C. 47 could he get away from Egypt, and then he went as speedily as possible (Dio Cassius, xlii. 47: τάχει πολλῷ χρησάμενος) through Syria to Asia Minor in order to make war upon Pharnaces, king of Pontus (Auct. de Bell. Alexandr. c. 33, 65 ff.; Plutarch, Caesar, 49, 50; Suetonius, Caesar, 35; Appian, Civ. ii. 91). Hitherto Syria, as it would seem, had been left very much to itself. Now for the first time, during his short visit to the province (according to Cicero, ad Atticum, xi. 20, Caesar was at Antioch in the middle of July B.C. 47), Caesar organized the administration of Syria by setting up a relative of his own, Sextus Caesar, as governor (Bell. Alexandr. c. 66; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 26; compare Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 9. 2).—Many cities of Syria then obtained from Caesar important privileges, and, in consequence, began reckoning from a new era, the aera Caesariana; so, e.g., Antioch, Gabala, Laodicea, Ptolemais (see Noris, Annus et epochae Syromacedonum, ed. Lips. pp. 162 sqq., 270 sqq., 293 sqq., 424 sqq.; Eckhel, Doctr. Num. Vet. iii. 279 sqq., 313 sqq., 315 sqq., 423 sqq.). Compare Bell. Alexandr. 65: commoratus fere in omnibus civitatibus, quae majore sunt dignitate, praemia bene meritis et viritim et publice tribuit. Marquardt. Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 397.

Caecilius Bassus, B.C. 46

While Caesar in the spring of B.C. 46 had still to fight in Africa with the party of Pompey, a Pompeian, Caecilius Bassus, sought to secure to himself the governorship of Syria. He was indeed beaten by Sextus, but he succeeded in getting the governor put out of the way by assassination, won over the soldiers to his side, and made himself master of Syria (Dio Cassius, xlvii. 26–27; Livy, Epitome, 114; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 11. 1. Diverging in points of detail, Appian, Civ. iii. 77, iv. 58, with whom Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 125–127, and Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. ii. 36 f., agree).

C. Antistius Vetus, B.C. 45

In opposition to Caecilius Bassus the party of Caesar was headed by Antistius Vetus. In autumn of the year B.C. 45 he besieged Bassus in Apamea, but could gain no decided advantage over him, because the Parthians brought assistance to Bassus (Dio Cassius, xlvii. 27. Compare Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 11. 1. The date is given by Cicero, ad Atticum, xiv. 9. 3, and Dio Cassius, xlvii. 27, as διὰ τὸν χειμῶνα).

L. Statius Murcus, B.C. 44

In order to put down Caecilius Bassus, Caesar sent, probably in the beginning of B.C. 44 L. Statius Marcus to Syria with three legions. He was supported by the governor of Bithynia, Q. Marcius Crispus, who also had three legions under his command. By both Bassus was again besieged in Apamea (Appian, Civ. iii. 77, iv. 58; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 27; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 11. 1. Compare Strabo, xvi. p. 752).

3. Syria Under the Administration of Cassius, B.C. 44–42

C. Cassius Longinus, B.C. 44–42

Affairs took a new turn in consequence of the murder of Caesar on 15th March B.C. 44. Among the conspirators who accomplished that deed was, besides Brutus, the celebrated C. Cassius Longinus, the same man who, in the years B.C. 53–51, had successfully defended Syria against the attack of the Parthians. He had been already nominated by Caesar as governor of Syria for the year B.C. 43 (Appian, Civ. iii. 2, iv. 57). But after Caesar’s death Marc Antony contrived it so that Syria was given to Dolabella, and another province, possibly Cyrene, to Cassius (Appian, Civ. iii. 7–8, iv. 57). Cassius, however, did not agree to these arrangements, but went to Syria as the province assigned to him by Caesar. He arrived there in the end of the year B.C. 44, before Dolabella had made his appearance (Appian, Civ. iii. 24, iv. 58; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 21, 26).—At the time of his arrival Caecilius Bassus was still under siege by Statius Murcus and Marcius Crispus in Apamea. He succeeded in winning over to himself the two besieging generals, where-upon also the legion of Bassus went over to him. Cassius himself relates to Cicero that this occurred in March and May B.C. 43 (Cicero, ad Familiares, xii. 11 and 12. Compare ad Brutum, ii. 5; Philippic, xi. 12, 30; Appian, Civ. iii. 78, iv. 59; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 28; Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 11. 2; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 128).—Thus Cassius had considerable fighting power at his command before Dolabella, who had meanwhile established himself in the interests of Marc Antony in Asia Minor, made his appearance in Syria in B.C. 43, and pressed forward as far as Laodicea, on the sea-coast south of Antioch (Appian, Civ. iii. 78, iv. 60; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 29–30). Cassius laid siege to him there (Cicero, ad familiares, xii. 13–15), and compelled him to yield, whereupon Dolabella had his head struck off by a soldier of his bodyguard (Appian, Civ. iv. 60–62; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 30; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 129 ff., 514 ff.; Wegehaupt, P. Cornelius Dolabella, 1880).—After the defeat of Dolabella, Cassius intended to turn to Egypt, but instead of this was called by Brutus to Asia Minor in B.C. 42. He therefore left his nephew with a legion in Syria (Appian, Civ. iv. 63), met with Brutus at Smyrna, then undertook an expedition against Rhodes, again joined Brutus at Sardes, and then accompanied him to Macedonia, where, late in autumn of the year B.C. 42, at Philippi, the troops of the conspirators were defeated by Marc Antony and Octavian. Cassius, as well as his confederate Brutus, ended his life by his own hand (Appian, Civ. iv. 63–138; Dio Cassius, xlvii. 31–49; Plutarch, Brutus, 28–53).

4. Syria Under the Rule of Marc Antony, B.C. 41–30

Decidius Saxa, B.C. 41–40

After the battle of Philippi, Octavian went to Italy, while Marc Antony proceeded first of all to Greece and afterwards to Asia (Plutarch, Antonius, 23–24). On his march through Asia, Antony met for the first time, in B.C. 41, at Tarsus, Cleopatra, who managed so to fascinate him by her charms, that he followed her to Egypt, where he spent the winter of B.C. 41–40 in inactivity and self-indulgence (Plutarch, Antonius, 25–28).—During B.C. 41, before he went to Egypt, he arranged the affairs of Syria, exacted on every hand an exorbitant tribute (Appian, Civ. v. 7), and left Decidius Saxa as governor (Dio Cassius, xlviii. 24; Livy, Epitome, 127).

In the spring of B.C. 40, Antony left Egypt, and in the summer of the same year arrived in Italy, with the intention of engaging in conflict with Octavian; but after some unimportant skirmishing, he concluded with him at Brundisium a treaty, according to which the provinces were to be partitioned between Octavian and Antony, in such a way that the former should have the West and the latter the East (Appian, Civ. v. 52–65; Dio Cassius, xlviii. 27–28. The dividing line was at Scodra, now called Scutari, in Illyria, Appian, v. 65). Antony remained for somewhere about a year in Italy, during which time he appointed several vassal kings, among whom was Herod, and then went in autumn of B.C. 39 to Athens (Appian, Civ. v. 75–76; Dio Cassius, xlviii. 39), where, with several intervals of absence, he remained till the spring of B.C. 36 (Drumann, Geschichte Roms, i. 441 f., 447 f.).

At the time when Antony secured to himself from Octavian the rule over the East, a large portion of the eastern territory, the whole province of Syria, had been taken possession of by the Parthians. These had, in B.C. 42, just about the time when Cassius left Syria (Appian, Civ. iv. 63), been invited by Cassius to join a league against Octavian and Antony. But nothing came of that plan then, for the whole programme fell through at Philippi, and the negotiations that had been for a long while under consideration were brought to an end. But Labienus, the chief of the embassy, remained at the Parthian court, and succeeded by his persistent representations in persuading King Orodes at length to make an inroad upon the Roman territory. As early perhaps as the autumn of B.C. 41, at latest in the spring of B.C. 40, a great Parthian army, under the command of Labienus and Pacorus, the son of King Orodes, invaded Syria, and attacked Decidius Saxa, who fell in the battle. He then conquered all Syria, Phoenicia (with the exception only of Tyre), and Palestine, and finally pressed on to Asia Minor, and even went as fur as the Ionian coast (Dio Cassius, xlviii. 24–26; Appian, Syr. 51; Civ. v. 65; Plutarch, Antonius, 30; Livy, Epitome, 127).—On the chronology, see especially, Bürcklein, Quellen und Chronologie der römisch-parthenischen Feldzüge in den Jahren 713–718 d. St. (Leipziger Dissertat. 1879) pp. 49–51. Generally, Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans und seiner Nachbarländer (Tüb. 1888), p. 93 ff., and the literature there referred to by Gutschmid.

P. Ventidius, B.C. 39–38

Toward the end of the year B.C. 40, according to Bürcklein, or, according to the usual reckoning, in B.C. 39, Antony sent P. Ventidius with an army to Asia. This general, in B.C. 39, drove Labienus back to Taurus, and defeated him there in a decisive battle. Labienus was himself taken prisoner and put to death. Ventidius then overran Cilicia, gained a victory over Pharnapates, a general under Pacorus, at Amanus, the mountain boundary between Cilicia and Syria, and took possession now without difficulty of Syria and Palestine (Dio Cassius, xlviii. 39–41; Livy, Epitome, 127; Plutarch, Antonius, 33).—In B.C. 38 the Parthians made a new invasion, but suffered a complete defeat in the district of Cyrrestic at the hands of Ventidius. Pacorus was slain in the battle, on the same day on which Crassus had fallen fifteen years before. This gives as the date of the battle V. Idus Junias, or 9th June (Dio Cassius, xlix. 19–20; Livy, Epitome, 128; Plutarch, Antonius, 34. Compare also Dio Cassius, xlix. 21: ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἑκατέρου τοῦ ἔτους ἀμφότερα συνηνέχθη).—Ventidius now went forth against Antiochus of Comagene. While he laid siege to his enemy in Samosata, Antony himself arrived, dismissed Ventidius, and continued the siege. But he met with little success, was satisfied with an apparent submission on the part of Antiochus, and went back to Athens, leaving C. Sosius governor in Syria (Dio Cassius, xlix. 20–22; Plutarch, Antonius, 34).—On the chronology, see Bürcklein, Quellen und Chronologie des röm. parth. Feldzüge, pp. 51–61.

C. Sosius, B.C. 38–37

Sosius completed the subjugation of Syria by conquering the Jewish king Antigonus, the confederate of the Parthians, and taking Jerusalem. He then set up Herod as king, who had been nominated before by Antony. Dio Cassius, xlix. 22, assigns this to B.C. 38, under the consulship of Ap. Claudius Pulcher, and C. Norbanus Flaccus. But compare what is said under § 14.

In the year B.C. 36 Antony himself again appeared in the East. Wishing to deal a decisive blow at the Parthians, he advanced against them with a great force, but accomplished nothing, and was obliged, after the beginning of the winter, to retire again with heavy losses (compare Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans, pp. 97–101).—But before he went forth against the Parthians, in the spring of B.C. 36, he had again met with Cleopatra in Syria. And after his return from that unfortunate expedition, he gave himself up in Leuke Kome, between Sidon and Berytus, to the usual luxurious indulgences in her company (Dio Cassius, xlix. 23–31; Plutarch, Antonius, 36–51).—He then followed her, before the end of the year B.C. 36 (Fischer, Röm. Zeittafeln, p. 358 f.), to Egypt, and remained there till B.C. 33, abandoning himself to unbounded revels and pleasures, which were interrupted only by two short campaigns against Armenia in B.C. 34 and B.C. 33 (Dio Cassius, xlix. 33, 39–41, 44; Plutarch, Antonius, 52–53; Drumann, Geschichte Roms, i. 461–467; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. i. 1, 2 Aufl. p, 1178).

During this period and that immediately following, down to the battle of Actium, only two governors of Syria are known to us.

L. Munacius Plancus, B.C. 35

In B.C. 35, while L. Cornificius and Sextus Pompeius were consuls (Dio Cassius, xlix. 18), Sextus Pompeius, who after his defeat by Octavian had fled to Asia Minor, was there put to death. Appian, Civ. v. 144, says that it is uncertain whether the order for his execution was given by Antony himself or by Plancus the governor of Syria (εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ Πλάγκον, οὐκ Ἀντώνιον λέγουσιν ἐπιστεῖλαι, ἄρχοντα Συρίας). We see from this incidental statement that at this time L. Munacius Plancus was governor of Syria. He was one of the most trusty friends of Antony, but went over to the side of Octavian before the outbreak of the war between that prince and Antony in B.C. 32 (Dio Cassius, 1. 3).—Compare also generally, Drumann, Geschichte Roms, iv. 207–213; Pauly’s Real-Encyclop. v. 204–208; Borghesi, Oeuvres, ii. 83 ff.

L. Calpurnius Bibulus, B.C. 32–31 (?)

Appian, Civ. iv. 38, makes a passing reference to L. Bibulus among the conspirators who subsequently effected a reconciliation with Octavian and Antony. “But Bibulus reconciled himself [with Antony and Octavian] at the same time as Messala, and served under Antony as the commander of a ship, and was often employed in negotiations for peace between Antony and Octavian, and was appointed by Antony governor of Syria, and died while he held the office of governor.” Since Bibulus is here said to have died during his governorship, but was, according to the evidence of the coins, alive at least in B.C. 33 (Drumann; Geschichte Roms, ii. 106), Noris, Cenot. Pison. p. 286; Schöpflin, p. 477, and others correctly place his term as governor in the period of the wars between Antony and Octavian. Compare also Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. 105 f.; Borghesi, Oeuvres, ii. 92 ff.; Lewin, Fasti sacri, n. 581. The coins in Babelon, Monnaies de la république romaine, t. i. 1885, p. 304 sq.

Antony was meanwhile becoming more and more enslaved by the caresses of Cleopatra. He had allowed himself to be persuaded to promise Roman provinces to her and to her children. Thus Cleopatra obtained, among others, Coele-Syria, Phoenicia as far as Eleutherus, with the exception of Tyre and Sidon, portions of Judea and Arabia, which were taken away from their kings Herod and Malchus, and, finally, a part of Iturea, the king of which, Lysanias, had been slain (Josephus, Antiq. xv. 3. 8, 4. 1–2; Wars of the Jews, i. 18. 5; Dio Cassius, xlix. 32; Plutarch, Antonius, 36. On the time at which these donations were made, see below at § 15). Cleopatra’s son, Ptolemy, whom she had borne to Antony, at a somewhat later period obtained Syria as far as the Euphrates and Phoenicia, while Coele-Syria continued the portion of his mother (so Plutarch, Antonius, 54; compare Dio Cassius, xlix. 41). See generally, Mommsen, Res gestae divi Augusti, 2 Aufl. p. 118.—These donations were not indeed confirmed by the senate (Dio Cassius, xlix. 41). And the glory of Antony soon came to an end. After the last Armenian campaign of B.C. 33 he went to Greece. While he was there in B.C. 32 the war between him and Octavian broke out, and in the following year, by the battle of Actium of 2nd September B.C. 31, the power of Antony was finally and completely overthrown.