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5 min readThe Man Behind Augustus: Robert Harris on Agrippa
In the twenty-five years after Marcus Agrippa died, Augustus systematically wrote his old friend out of the historical record. The emperor's great testament, carved in bronze and running to about 3,500 words, mentions Agrippa only twice, and then only in passing. Yet without Agrippa, Augustus would almost certainly never have become emperor. As Robert Harris puts it, Agrippa is "there waiting to be restored to his proper place."
The Bear and the Fox
The partnership that reshaped the ancient world began in a schoolroom on the Palatine Hill. Two teenagers—one from a grand family, the other a plebeian whose background is almost entirely unknown—studied together under the same tutor. Octavius was sickly, stoop-shouldered, and no soldier; Agrippa was robust, blunt, and a natural military commander. "Augustus was the brains and he was the brawn," Harris explains, "and neither I think would have got very far without the other."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:08) **Agrippa: The Bear to Augustus's Fox** - Robert Harris introduces Agrippa as a figure edited out of history by Augustus, a perfect subject for a historical novelist.
- 2 (06:10) **The Ultimate Buddy Movie** - Harris describes how the narrative of two teenagers from school who end up taking over the world is naturally compelling.
- 3 (08:18) **Agrippa's Mysterious Background** - Harris reveals how little is known about Agrippa's origins, making him a blank canvas for fiction.
- 4 (12:16) **The Turning Point: Caesar's Assassination** - The two young men, aged about 18, decide to return to Rome and claim Octavius's inheritance against all advice.
- 5 (15:40) **Agrippa Emerges as a Military Leader** - Agrippa begins to rise from bodyguard to senior commander, fighting in the endless civil wars.
- 6 (21:13) **The Father of the Roman Navy** - Agrippa's genius for organization and engineering is demonstrated in his naval campaigns against Sextus Pompey.
- 7 (27:23) **The Forgone Triumph** - Agrippa refuses a triumph to avoid getting ahead of his struggling boss, a defining moment of political shrewdness.
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Show Notes
Augustus was Rome's first Emperor. But who made his empire possible? Behind the throne stood Marcus Agrippa, the brilliant general whose victories secured the Roman world yet whose name was consciously erased from the record by his erstwhile great friend.
In this very special episode Tristan Hughes is joined by bestselling author Robert Harris to uncover the remarkable life of Agrippa. How did a man from relative obscurity become Augustus’s most trusted ally? What role did he play in the victory at Actium and the birth of the Roman Empire? And why did this extraordinary figure disappear from Rome’s public memory?
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Presented by Tristan Hughes. Editor is Natasha Hughes. Produced by Joseph Knight and McKenna Fernandez. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
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