The Second Triumvirate and the Birth of Empire After his murder, the friends of Caesar, especially his second-in-command Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) and Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son, rally against the assassins. Brutus and Cassius flee to Greece and raise an army of citizens “loyal to the Republic”. In 42 BC, at the Battle of Philippi, Antony and Octavian win easily. Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. Along with a minor politician, Marcus Lepidus, Antony and Octavian form a second triumvirate.

Antony OctavianLepidus (Notice the hair?)

Lepidus was involved in a scandal and went into exile in 36 BC. In the same year, Octavian won a battle against pirates led by Pompey’s son and gained great fame from it. Octavian gave his sister, Octavia, to Antony in marriage as a sign of friendship and political alliance. The marriage, like the alliance, did not last long.

Antony and Octavian split all Roman territory in half—Antony took the east and Octavian the west. Antony divorced Octavia and moved to Egypt to marry his mistress, Cleopatra. Octavian, in a brilliant political move, turned public opinion against his rival.

The entire political conflict came to a final decision in 31 BC off the coast of Actium, Greece. Antony’s Egyptian fleet was defeated. He and Cleopatra flee to Egypt and commit suicide. For the first time in almost 500 years, there is one man in charge of Rome and he is accepted by all as their savior from decades of civil war.

The Roman Republic is dead. Power now and forever lies in the hands of one man. In 27 BC, the Senate grants Octavian the title “Augustus”, which means “the revered one”. He becomes a figure of hope and prosperity to all Romans, and solidifies the government and its territories under one, unified empire. Augustus eventually begins to call himself Imperator, which simply means “commander”. From this we get the word “emperor”.