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BANDITS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Chamates or Herophilus indicate that he came from the Greek East, and
suggest a Greek slave. 143 Herophilus is supposed to have been a doctor, 144 a
profession generally (though not exclusively) practised by people of unfree
status. 145 Attractive, albeit unproven, is the set of names proposed by A.E.
Pappano. In his view, Herophilus could have been the slave of a certain
C. Amatius who, after his manumission by his owner, took the name of
the latter to which, in the usual fashion, he added his own: C. Amatius
C. l. Herophilus. 146
Anyway, we are told that while Caesar was away campaigning against
Pompeians in Spain the imposter was very successful in recruiting supporters
and that, thanks to his Marian descent, he won extensive popular acceptance.
147 Many cities, in particular veteran colonies, are supposed to have
made him their patron. 148 According to Cicero and, indeed, Octavian, 149
Caesar always kept him at arm’s length. But Caesar was Marius’ nephew;
and a descendant of Marius could always make himself out to be a relative
of the Dictator and, in his wake, attempt to gain political advantage. 150 On
his return from Spain, Caesar was forced to experience how much popularity
the ‘pseudo-Marius’ (Appian’s name for him) had won in Rome in a very
unpleasant manner during his absence. On the day that the Dictator threw
open his gardens to the public the imposter put in an appearance nearby and
won almost as much attention as did Caesar with his grand gesture. 151 This
made the Dictator think, and he abruptly banished him from Italy. 152
On Caesar’s death, Marius’ ‘grandson’ saw a chance to revive his fortunes.
He returned to Rome 153 to play the avenger of the murdered Dictator, 154
erecting an altar on the spot where Caesar’s body had been cremated. 155 This
was a powerful piece of theatre, by which he regained the attention of the
Roman public. He is then said to have gathered together a band of thugs,
with whose aid he intended to hunt down Caesar’s killers. 156 It was even
claimed that he had it in mind to wipe out the whole Senate. 157 This must
be a gross exaggeration, but he seemed dangerous enough to those holding
the reins of power for in April 44 Mark Antony, with the agreement of his
fellow consul, Dolabella, had him summarily arrested and executed without
trial. 158
This imposter had at first used his fictional identity to carve out a position
for himself in the political life of the collapsing Republic, becoming an
avenger only accidentally, after the assassination of Julius Caesar. His case
demonstrates a type of vengeance inspired purely by feigned indignation at
an act of injustice. His rapid reversal of thinking, to exploit the avenging of
Caesar for his own ends and make it the basis of his own bid for power,
proves that he had a keen political instinct. It was this which enabled him,
as executor of the wishes of the people, unerringly to press for the deification
of the Dictator and thereby appeal to the political sentiments of his supporters.
Meanwhile, Mark Antony, as he did by unhesitatingly arranging the
destruction of the false Marius, consistently represented the position of those
156