Heavenly Father
In January of 42 BC, the Roman Senate officially deified Julius Caesar, granting him the title Divus Iulius, the Divine Julius. This was an unprecedented move, as it was the first time in living memory a public figure was granted status as a god. The implications of this were far reaching. Octavian, one of the main contenders in the political power struggle within Rome, and the adopted son of Julius Caesar, became the son of a god. Regardless of any priesthoods he may have held or tenuous connections to mythological ancestry, a divine father was the ultimate political power tool; one which Octavian was more than willing to exploit. Between 41 and 39 BC, Octavian began minting coins with the inscribed title DIVI IVLI FILIVS, ‘son of the divine Julius’, broadcasting his divine parentage to strengthen his political standing (RRC 526/1; RRC 526/2; RRC 535/1; RRC 535/2). [1]
It is possible, however, that Octavian was not the first of the political players at this time to flaunt a divine parent.
By 43 BC, Sextus Pompeius had minted coinage which featured on its obverse the bust of Pompey the Great and next to it a three-pronged trident and a dolphin: symbols of the god Neptune. These two elements on their own could have been a reference to Pompey the Great’s naval prowess throughout his career. Through the lex Gabinia, Pompey gained control of the Mediterranean, by receiving dominion over all of the waters in the region and a considerable naval force of 500 ships, 12000 infantry, and 5000 cavalry. [2] It would be understandable that Sextus Pompeius was again using his father’s image and reputation to build upon his own. However, it is the inscription of NEPTVNI on RRC 483/2 which clues us in to the shift in the propagandistic messages on Sextus’ coinage. NEPTVNI, typically meaning ‘of Neptune’, was used in a context which changes the meaning to ‘son of Neptune’. Sextus Pompeius deliberately surrounded the bust of his father with symbols associated with Neptune; to anyone viewing RRC 483/2, the immediate connection between Pompey the Great and Neptune would be obvious. Sextus completed the scene by calling himself the son of Neptune, reinforcing the allusion of Pompey the Great’s divinity through the Roman sea god. By granting divinity to his father, Sextus Pompeius would also be able to benefit through the connection as the son of a deified general. [3]
Sextus would continue to use this imagery in his coinage, and the connection between Sextus Pompeius, Pompey the Great, and Neptune would only grow more pronounced. The obverse of RRC 511/3a, minted in Sicily between 42 and 40 BC, features the bust of Pompey the Great, but does not include specific symbols to associate Pompey with Neptune, as opposed to coins such as RRC 483/2. However, the reverse of this coin displays three figures. The central figure is Neptune holding an aphlaston and his foot resting on the prow of a ship. Surrounding Neptune are two young men, who are identified as the Catanaean brothers, historic Sicilian brothers who were paragons of pietas in Roman culture. A more in-depth discussion of Sextus’ use of familial pietas is continued here. The three figures on the reverse, while symbolically conveying the cultural and political influences they commonly represented, were also direct allusions to the immediate Pompeian family. Sextus Pompeius and his older brother, Gnaeus Pompeius appear as the Catanaean brothers, and standing between them, their father Pompey the Great as Neptune. Therefore, it is clear that the public connection between Pompey the Great and Neptune was ubiquitous; Sextus no longer needed to spell out the connection between his father and the god of the sea. The public perception of Sextus’ relation to Neptune had spread beyond even coinage.
…the people in Rome…they were alienated from [Caesar and Antony] and favoured Sextus…at the games in the Circus honoured by loud applause the statue of Neptune carried in the procession, thus expressing their great delight for him.
Cass. Dio. 48.31
Not only were the Roman public praising Sextus by recognising his connection to Neptune, it appears that Sextus himself chose to attribute his various naval victories against Octavian to his connection with Neptune. During his time in Sicily, Octavian made several attempts to engage with Sextus and his fleet. The first major naval conflict between Caesarean and Pompeian forces being the Battle of Rhegium in 42 BC, where Q. Salvidienus Rufus was tasked by Octavian to end Sextus’ harassment of the Italian coasts. Salvidienus was soundly defeated, and Octavian did not attempt another naval battle until 38 BC, after the break down of the Treaty of Misenum. Following the dissolution of the peace treaty between Sextus Pompeius and Octavian and Antony, Octavian once again ordered attacks against Sextus off the coast of Sicily. Sextus Pompeius came out the victor in the Battle of Cumae in 38 BC, as a massive storm resounded in the near destruction of Octavian’s fleet. [4]
…but Sextus was still more elated, believing himself in very truth to be the son of Neptune…
Cass Dio 48.48
While the literary accounts of Sextus at this time should be considered with some scepticism, it is certainly worth assessing Sextus’ connection to Neptune, and his claims to be the NEPTVNI, the ‘son of Neptune’. By cultivating an image that so completely interwove Pompey the Great and Neptune, Sextus was able to capitalise on both the notion that his father was divine, or at least pseudo-deified, and that Sextus himself had the favour of his divine father and patron. Much in the way Octavian recognised the immense political value of a divine father, Sextus too used divine Pompey as an extension of divine legitimisation.