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Whatever plans Caesar had for Antony died with his assassination at the hands of the LIBERATORS on
March 15 of that year. Antony seized the dead general's papers, read his will, gave the funeral oration and
occupied Caesar's property, representing himself to the people as Caesar's heir.
Antony gained control of Cisalpine Gaul and faced the forces of BRUTUS and Caesar's assassins, who
were joined by Cicero and the Roman Senate and Octavian, Caesar's heir. He was defeated in April 43,
suffering setbacks at Forum Gallorum and especially at Mutina. He retreated into Gallia Narbonensis,
joined by the provincial governors of the West, Plancus, Asinius Pollio and Lepidus.
The SECOND TRIUMVIRATE was established in November of 43, comprising Antony, Octavian and
Lepidus. These men and their forces faced the Republicans at Philippi in 42, where the last of the
Liberators fell in battle. Antony took control of the East, with plans to carry out Caesar's Parthian
expeditions. He was delayed by a meeting with Cleopatra of Egypt, in Tarsus in 41. The growing rift
between Antony and Octavian was furthered in the PERU-SINE WAR when Fulvia, Antony's wife, and
Lucius, his brother, also opposed Octavian in the conflict.
Fulvia's death ended the dispute, and peace was made between Octavian and Antony in 40 B.C., at
Brundisium; Octavian gave his sister Octavia to Antony in marriage, receiving in return Cisalpine Gaul.
The Parthian Campaign of 36 was less than successful. Antony repulsed King Phraates IV of Parthia
around Phraaspa but was forced to retreat because of the heat and the cunning horsemanship of the
enemy. He may have carried out the campaigns of Caesar, but he had not proven himself the equal of the
murdered general - despite a victory in Armenia in 34. At the same time, Lepidus fell from the
triumvirate, leaving mastery of the Roman world to only two combatants.
The East tempted Antony with dreams of unlimited power, and he succumbed completely. Cleopatra and
the wealth of Egypt became his principal ally, and Antony drifted further from Rome. A split with
Octavian came in 33, followed by a divorce from Octavia. Sensing that universal support would be
crucial, Octavian swayed public opinion in Rome by publishing Antony's will, which left large gifts to
his illegitimate children by Cleopatra. Antony was stripped of his authority by the Senate, and war was
declared upon Cleopatra.
The war climaxed at ACTIUM, off the west coast of Greece, on September 2, 31 B.C. It proved a disaster
for Antony. His personal courage and determination were not enough to overcome the precision of
Octavian's fleet or the halfhearted support of the Romans who served Antony's cause. Following the
battle he joined Cleopatra in Alexandria, and when Octavian's legions approached the city in August of