Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa entered the world in 63 BC, the same year Octavian was born. His family originated in the Italian countryside and held plebeian status, though they were massively wealthy compared to average Roman families. Pliny the Elder claimed his cognomen "Agrippa" derived from him having been born breech, suggesting his mother may have died during childbirth. He suffered from lameness as a child and had an elder brother named Lucius Vipsanius and a sister called Vipsania Polla. Scholars believe his family gained Roman citizenship after the Social War in 87 BC before immigrating to Rome for social mobility opportunities. Some historians argue his family originally came from Pisa in Etruria. Agrippa met the future emperor Augustus at Apollonia in Illyria while studying with Macedonian legions. The two boys became close friends and educated together despite their different political allegiances later in life.
Military Campaigns And Victories
In 42 BC, Agrippa fought alongside Octavian and Antony in the Battle of Philippi against Caesar's assassins. By 40 BC, he served as urban praetor defending Italy against Sextus Pompeius who occupied Sicily. Agrippa advanced on Pompeius forcing him to withdraw from southern Italy raids. In 39 or 38 BC, Octavian appointed him governor of Transalpine Gaul where he put down a rising of the Aquitanians. He also fought Germanic tribes becoming the next Roman general to cross the Rhine after Julius Caesar. Agrippa refused a triumph for his exploits in Gaul because Dio said he thought it improper to celebrate during trouble for Octavian. When Sextus Pompeius commanded the sea along Italian coasts, Agrippa created Portus Julius by cutting through land strips separating Lacus Lucrinus from the sea. This new harbor complex included an outer harbor and joined lake Avernus to Lucrinus serving as an inner harbor. In 36 BC, Agrippa won decisive victories at Mylae and Naulochus destroying all but seventeen of Sextus' ships. He received the unprecedented corona navalis decorated with ship beaks which Dio called "a decoration given to nobody before or since".