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ROME
Formation, a
ctivities and
breakdown
of the
Second
Triumvirate
Political
Developments in
the Late Republic

The Story
of
the Second
Triumvirate

The story of the second triumvirate
The political situation in Rome at this
time was very unstable. There was still
much conflict between the republicans
and the Caesarians.
The republicans were still attempting to
take control of the unrest. Brutus and
Cassius had left for Syria and Macedonia
to raise troops and naval forces and
Cicero had returned to Rome to lead the
senate against Antony. He have a series
of Philippics attacking Antony as a would
be tyrant. The Caesarians were also
attempting to consolidate their power.
Antony deprived Decimus Brutus of his
Gallic province, but Brutus refused to
leave Cisalpine Gaul. Antony laid siege to
Brutus at Mutina. Octavian was also
working towards consolidating his power
as Caesar’s heir. Although he had been
rebuffed by Antony, he appealed to
Caesar’s Veterans in Campania and
seduced two of Antony’s legions.
A statue of Augustus as a younger
Octavian, dated ca. 30 BC

Antony was threatening the safety of the
state by attacking Decimus Brutus.
Cicero urged active support for Brutus
but the republicans had no troops in
Italy. Cicero knew that Octavian had
raised his own army and gained the
support of two of Antony’s legions. He
decided to try and use Octavian to help
the republicans ad to “try to keep him
on the right side by honours and
compliments and loudly affirm his
loyalty to the republic”. Cicero ignored
the fact that what Octavian had done
was illegal. He urged the Senate to give
Octavian propraetorium imperium
despite not meeting the conditions.
Cicero was making a silly mistake. He
was very naïve to believe that he could
use this youth now and then put him
aside when he was no longer needed.
Clearly he had not learnt from recent
history.
Roman aureus bearing the portraits
of Mark Antony (left) and Octavian
(right). Struck in 41 BC, this coin was
issued to celebrate the establishment
of the Second Triumvirate by
Octavian, Antony and Marcus
Lepidus in 43 BC. Both sides bear the
inscription "III VIR R P C", meaning
"One of Three Men for the
Regulation of the Republic".

The senate ordered Antony to leave
Cisalpine Gaul; when he refused, the
consuls and Octavian marched
against him. Antony was soundly
defeated in two engagements and
fled to Transalpine Gaul; both
consuls were killed, which left
Octavian in sole command.
The senate then made a very poor
decision with lasting ramifications.
The attempted to discard Octavian
They awarded Decimus Brutus a
triumph and command against
Antony. The senate also gave
Caesar’s murderers, M.Brutus and
Cassius supreme command over the
Eastern provinces. Octavian was very
unhappy and this was a pivotal point
in deciding the future of Rome.

Lepidus and other commanders from
Spain and Gaul had joined Antony.
Octavian, realising that the republicans
had used him, decided that the best
course for his career was to go and join
Antony. His interests were better served
by the Caesarians. He refused the
senate’s demands to co-operate with
Decimus Brutus against Antony in
Transalpine Gaul and also refused to
surrender his legions.
Octavian wanted the consulship. He
knew it would make him a leading man
in the Caesarian party. He was only
twenty and did not qualify based on the
conditions of the Cursus Honorum.
Cicero also apposed this demand. At
the same time Antony defeated the
republicans in Gail and Decimus Brutus
was deserted by his army and killed
trying to escape to Macedonia
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

The Senate was still blocking
Octavian’s demand of a
consulship. Learning from
Pompey and Caesar he sent 400
troops to Rome to demand the
consulship. They still refused.
Octavian then marched on Rome
with his legions, seized the
treasury in order to pay his
troops and made arrangements
for the consular elections.
When he and his cousin Quintus
Pedius were elected (43), they
revoked the decree outlawing
Antony. He also legalised his
adoption and set up a court to
condemn Caesar’s assassins
EID MAR ("Ides of March") denarius,
issued by Marcus Junius Brutus in 43/42
BC. The obverse of the coin features a
portrait of Marcus Brutus. The inscription
reads BRVT IMP L PLAET CEST, which
means Brutus, Imperator, Lucius Plaetorius
Cestianus. Lucius Plaetorius Cestianus was
the moneyer who actually managed the
mint workers who produced the coin. The
two daggers on the reverse differ to show
more than one person was involved in the
slaying. The cap is a pileus (liberty cap)
that in Roman times was given to slaves on
the day of their emancipation – freedom
from slavery. In the context of the
assassination, Brutus is making it clear the
killers were defending the Republic and its
people from Caesar’s grasp at kingship.

Octavian had now achieved
all of his short term aims.
He now had to make
preparations to meet
Marcus Brutus and Cassius
in battle.
Octavian had obviously
been in communication
with Antony and Lepidus
and a meeting was
arranged between them
during which there was a
reconciliation and some
hard bargaining about their
immediate futures. They
them marched on Rome.

The second Triumvirate came into
existence in 43 by means of a tribune’s
law, proposed by P. Titus and passed in
the tribal assembly on 27 November.
They had absolute powers – the
powers of a dictator without the name
and the right to nominate all
magistrates in advance.. The purpose
of their alliance was to set the state in
order and t9o attack the republican
armies of Brutus and Cassius in the
east.
They set to work straight away. Their
first task was a savage campaign of
proscriptions. They had learnt from the
mistakes of Pompey and Caesar well –
it was dangerous to leave your enemies
alive. These proscriptions were very
similar to those of Sulla. Not only did
they want to destroy their enemies
(Caesars's assassination was fresh in
their minds) but they needed funds.
The proscriptions allowed them to
confiscate estates in order to have
money and land to pay their troops.

The proscriptions were brutal and
widespread. It included the death of
300 senators and 2000 equites.
Those republicans lucky enough to
escape joined Sextus Pompeius
Cicero’s name was amongst those
proscribed. Given that he had made
speeches (the Philippics) against
Antony it is no surprise. His attempts
to restore the republic had finally
cost him his life. When he was caught
by the triumvirs’ agents attempting
to escape from his country estate, his
throat was cut and on Antony’s
orders his head and hands were
removed and taken to Rome. They
were then ‘fastened up over the
ships’ rams on the public platform in
the Forum. It was a sight to make the
Romans shudder’. It is also believed
that Antony’s wife, Fulvia, who had
previously been married to
Clodius, pierced Cicero’s tongue with
a hairpin.
Cicero's death (France, 15th century).

There other activities at this time
included the official deification of
Julius Caesar, the appointment of
Lepidus as consul for 42 and they
made preparations for Antony and
Octavian to face Brutus and Cassius
in Macedonia
Brutus and Cassius, who had gained
control over the eastern
provinces, marched west with
nineteen legions and took up a
position at Philippi in Macedonia to
face Antony and Octavian, who had
control of twenty-eight legions. In
two engagements about three
weeks apart the republicans were
defeated; both Cassius and Brutus
took their own lives. Antony was
given the credit for the victories, as
Octavian was ill and took little part
in the action.
Commemorates the battle of Philippi, 42
B.C., in which Octavian and Antony defeated
the Republican tyrannicides Brutus and
Cassius, who subsequently committed suicide.
Augustus later settled the veterans of a
Praetorian Cohort at Philippi, and he conferred
upon them the right to mint coins, of which
this is an example

The defeat meant the end of the
republican party. Most of the
leaders had died fighting. Those
who escaped fled to join Sextus
Pompeius. In a signed
agreement, the triumvirs divided
the empire between them.
Antony had control of all Gaul
except for Cisalpine Gaul, which
became part of Italy. He was also
to take the majority of the
legions and proceed to the east
to settle the provinces and raise
money to pay the troops.
Octavian received
Spain, Sardinia and Africa and
was to return to Italy to settle
huge numbers of veterans. It
was also his job to deal with
Sextus Pompeius, who had
seized Sicily.
A Sextus Pompeius
denarius, minted for his victory
over Octavian's fleet. On the
obverse is the Pharus of
Messina, on the reverse the
monster Scylla.

Antony and Octavian went
their separate ways however
their relationship
deteriorated badly over the
next two years. Octavian had
returned to Italy to settle
veterans and build up his
prestige. He was forced to
confiscate the land of
eighteen towns due to land
shortages. There was a huge
protest to this but Rome and
Italy were threatened with
famine. This was because
Sextus Pompeius, based in
Sicily, kept preventing grain
ships from reaching Italy.
A Sextus Pompeius
denarius, minted for his
victory over Octavian's
fleet. On the obverse is the
Pharus of Messina, on the
reverse the monster Scylla.

Antony spent his time extracting
money from the provincials of Asia
Minor and Syria. He arbitrated
(mediated) in dynastic disputes –
establishing rulers according to their
loyalty to Rome. Around this time he
met with Cleopatra at Tarsus and
accepted an invitation to winter in
Alexandria. He wanted some of the
wealth of the Ptolemies, while she
needed his help to gain control of
Egypt.
Octavian also had issues with some of
Antony’s relatives. Antony’s brother,
who was the consul in 42) and wife
were hostile. They raised six legions
and sent these troops to engage in
battle. Octavian laid siege to them at
Perusia, where they were starved into
submission. (41-40BC) Antony was
probably unaware of the war between
Octavian and his brother and wife until
it was over.

Antony’s legates in Gaul changed
sides. They went over to Octavian
who now commanded most of the
west except Africa and Sicily. At this
point Antony decided to return to
Italy but was prevented from
landing at Brundisium by Octavian’s
troops. Civil war appeared
imminent.
In 40BC the three men got together
and signed the treaty of
Brundisium. This reconciled the
three men and prevented the civil
war. Antony was to marry Octavia
(Octavian’s sister – Fulvia had died)
and a further division of the empire
was carried out. Octavian got all of
the provinces west of Iiilricum
except Africa. Lepidus kept Africa.
Antony controlled all the provinces
eastwards from Macedonia and
Cyrenaica. Italy was shared
amongst the three.coin of Antony and his wife Octavia

In 39 Sextus Pompeius demanded a
share in the control of the
empire, since he had occupied Sicily
and Sardinia and could interfere with
the corn trade. He was given control of
Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and Achaea
(Treaty of Misenum 39) as proconsul
for five years. This peace didn’t last
long. War broke out between
Pompeius and Octavian when one of
Pompeius’ freedmen handed over
Sardinia, Corscia and a naval force to
Octavian. Octavian was unsuccessful
against Pompeius in Sicily and asked
Lepidus and Antony for help. He was
also forced to rely on his trusted
friend, Agrippa, to supervise
construction of a fleet and training of
the crews. Antony arrived at
Brundisium to bring help to
Octavian, but when Lepidus failed to
appear, Antony returned to Greece. He
was angry at Octavian for breaking the
treaty with Pompeius.

In 37BC (Tarentum
Conference) renewed the
conference for five years.
Octavian wanted ships
from Antony for his war
against Sextus Pompeius;
Antony wanted 20 000
soldiers from Octavian for
his war against the
Parthians. An agreement
was made, but Octavian
did not fulfil his part.
Lepidus was persuaded to
help Octavian and the
triumvirate was renewed
for a further five years.
coin of Octavian with military trophy

Octavian strengthened his position in
Rome and secured a safe route from
Italy to Macedonia. Antony failed in his
efforts in Parthia but strengthen his
bonds with Cleopatra and Egypt. He
helped Cleopatra to extend Egypt’s
power. Antony shared
Armenia, Syria, Phoenicia and Cilicia
amongst their three children and
Caesar’s son Caesarian. This was
known as the DONATIONS OF
ALEXANDRIA. His alliance with
Cleopatra caused a lot of resentment in
Rome. Octavian feared the wealth of
Egypt being used against him. Octavia
was ‘replaced’ by Cleopatra as Antony’s
wife (he divorced her 32/31). This new
marriage was not recognised by Roman
Law. Antony’s behaviour in the east
between 36-34 can perhaps be
explained by the fact that he fell totally
under the spell of Cleopatra, whose
main aim was to restore the old
Ptolemaic kingdom.
Coin minted in 41 BCE, depicting
Antony on one side and Cleopatra on
the reverse.

The triumvirate was over
(33BC). It had been due to
end officially in December
33. The removal of Lepidus
(he had been removed from
the triumvirate in 35) had
weakened it, but it was
Antony’s treatment of
Octavia (in recognising
Cleopatra as his wife) which
severed the alliance.
Octavian gave up the title of
triumvir at the end of 33;
Antony kept it as though he
was still in office. War
between the two was
inevitable.

The Legacy of Sulla
Formation, a
ctivities and
breakdown
of the
Second
Triumvirate

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Option M (Rome) 3.2

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