[B.C. 33 (a. u. 721)]

[-43-] The next year Agrippa agreed to be made aedile and without taking anything from the public treasury repaired all the public buildings and all the roads, cleaned out the sewers, and sailed through them underground into the Tiber.  And seeing that in the hippodrome men made mistakes about the number of turns necessary, he established the system of dolphins and egg-shaped objects, so that by them the number of times the track had been circled might be clearly shown.  Furthermore he distributed to all olive oil and salt, and had the baths open free of charge throughout the year for the use of both men and women.  In the many festivals of all kinds which he gave (so many that the children of senators could perform the “Troy” equestrian exercise), he also paid barbers, to the end that no one should be at any expense for their services.  Finally he rained upon the heads of the people in the theatre tickets that were good for money in one case, clothes in another, and something else in a third, and he also would place various other large stocks of goods in the squares and allow the people to scramble for them.  Besides doing this Agrippa drove the astrologers and charlatans from the city.  During these same days a decree was passed that no one belonging to the senatorial class should be tried for piracy, and so those who were under any such charge at the time were released and some were given carte blanche to commit crimes in future.  Caesar became consul for the second time with Lucius Tullus as his colleague, but on the very first day, as Antony had done, he resigned; and with the sanction of the senate he introduced some persons from the populace to the rank of patricians.  When a certain Lucius Asellius, who was praetor, on account of a long sickness wished to lay down his office, he appointed his son in his stead.  And another praetor died on the last day of his term, whereupon Caesar chose another for the remaining hours.  At the decease of Bocchus he gave his kingdom to no one else, but enrolled it among the Roman provinces.  And since the Dalmatians had been utterly subdued, he erected from the spoils thus gained the porticoes and secured the collection of books called the Octavian, after his sister.

[-44-] Antony meantime had marched as far as the Araxes, presumably to conduct a campaign against the Parthians, but was satisfied to arrange terms with the Median monarch.  They made a covenant to serve each other as allies, the one against the Parthians and the other against Caesar, and to cement the compact they exchanged some soldiers; the Median prince received a portion of the newly acquired Armenia and Antony his daughter Iotape, to be united in marriage with Alexander, and the military standards taken in the battle with Statianus; after this Antony bestowed upon Polemon, as I have stated, Lesser Armenia, both made Lucius Flavius consul and removed him (as his colleague), and set out for Ionia and Greece to wage war against Caesar.  The Median at first, by employing the Romans as allies, conquered the Parthians and Artaxes who came against him; but as Antony sent for his soldiers and moreover retained those of the prince, the latter was in turn defeated and captured, and so Armenia was lost together with Media.