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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (64/63 BC – 12 BC) was a Roman statesman and general. He was “everything” to his great partner Octavian (later, Emperor Caesar Augustus): close friend, son-in-law, project manager, and trusted military lieutenant.
The probable AE dupondius from Gaul depicts the busts of both the great partners on the obverse and, on reverse, the subjugation of Egypt with the design symbology of a chained crocodile of the Nile.
Also, Agrippa was father-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, maternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He was responsible for most of Octavian’s military victories, most notably winning the naval Battle of Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
In the aftermath of Julius Caesar’s assassination, Agrippa had fought with Octavian and Antony to defeat the assassins at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. Several domestic grabs for power were then put down with Agrippa in charge of Octavian’s forces against, notably, Sextus Pompey and even Antony himself.
Around 39 BC, Agrippa put down a rising of the Aquitanians in Gaul and fought off the Germanic tribes across the Rhine River. Returning to Rome at Octavian’s request, he was instrumental in the ultimate defeat of Sextus in 36 BC though his generalship and his technological inventiveness.
By 34 BC he returned to Rome to oversee a number of additions and improvements to the city: renovation of the Aqua Marcia aqueduct, extension of the water distribution network, street repairs, and additions of public baths and gardens.
On September 2, 31 BC, the famous Battle of Actium was fought. Octavian's victory, which gave him the mastery of Rome and the Empire, was mainly due to Agrippa’s advice and leadership. In 27 BC, while Agrippa held his third consulship, Octavian was proclaimed by the Senate as Emperor Augustus.
In commemoration of the Battle of Actium, Agrippa built and dedicated the building that served as the Roman Pantheon before its destruction in 80 AD. (Emperor Hadrian used Agrippa's design to build his own Pantheon, which survives in Rome. The inscription of the later building, which was built around 125 AD, preserves the text of the inscription from Agrippa's original structure.)
Agrippa continued to ably serve his friend Augustus until his death at the age of 51 in 12 BC. Augustus greatly honored the memory of his longtime partner including internment of his friend in his own mausoleum.