The war at Mutina, December 44–April 43 B. C. In Cisalpine Gaul Decimus Brutus, relying upon the support of the Senate, refused to yield to Antony and was blockaded in Mutina. The Senate made preparations for his relief. Antony was ordered to leave the province, and Hirtius and Pansa, who became consuls in January, 43, took the field against him. The aid of Octavian was indispensable and the Senate conferred upon him the propraetorian imperium with consular rank in the Senate. The combined armies defeated Antony in two battles in the vicinity of Mutina, forcing him to give up the siege and flee towards Transalpine Gaul. But Pansa died of wounds received in the first engagement and Hirtius fell in the course of the second. Ignoring Octavian, the Senate entrusted Brutus with the command and the task of pursuing Antony. The power of the Senate seemed reëstablished, for Marcus Brutus and Cassius had succeeded in their design of getting control of the eastern provinces, Dolabella having perished in the conflict, and were at the head of a considerable military and naval force. The Senate accordingly conferred upon them supreme military authority (maius imperium), and gave to Sextus Pompey, then at Massalia, a naval command. At last Cicero [pg 188]could induce the senators to declare Antony a public enemy. He no longer felt the support of Octavian a necessity and expressed the attitude of the republicans towards him in the saying “the young man is to be praised, to be honored, to be set aside.”[14] But it was soon evident that the experienced orator had entirely misjudged this young man who, so far from being the tool of the Senate, had used that body for his own ends. Octavian refused to aid Decimus Brutus, and demanded from the Senate his own appointment as consul, a triumph, and rewards for his troops. His demands were rejected, whereupon he marched upon Rome with his army, and occupied the city. On 19 August, he had himself elected consul with Quintus Pedius as his colleague. The latter carried a bill which established a special court for the trial of Caesar’s murderers, who were condemned and banished. The same penalty was pronounced upon Sextus Pompey. The Senate’s decree against Antony was revoked.
The Triumvirate, 43 B. C. On his way to Transalpine Gaul Antony had met with Lepidus, whom the Senate had summoned from Spain to the assistance of Decimus Brutus. But Lepidus was a Caesarian and, alarmed by the success of Marcus Brutus and Cassius, allowed his troops to go over to Antony. Decimus Brutus had taken up the pursuit of Antony and joined forces with Plancus, governor of Narbonese Gaul. However, upon news of the events in Rome, Plancus abandoned Brutus and joined Antony. Brutus was deserted by his troops and killed while a fugitive in Gaul.
II. The Triumvirate of 43 b. c.
Octavian had taken care to have the defense of Italy against Antony and Lepidus entrusted to himself, and hastened northwards to meet the advance of their forces. But both sides were ready to come to terms and unite their forces for the purpose of crushing their common enemies, Brutus and Cassius. Accordingly, at a conference of the three leaders on an island in the river Renus near Bononia, a reconciliation between Antony and Octavian was effected and plans laid for their coöperation in the immediate future. The three decided to have themselves appointed triumvirs for the settlement of the commonwealth (triumviri reipublicae constituendae) for a term of [pg 189]five years. They were to have consular imperium with the right to appoint to the magistracies and their acts were to be valid without the approval of the Senate. Furthermore, they divided among themselves the western provinces; Antony received those previously assigned to him, Lepidus took the Spains and Narbonese Gaul; while to Octavian fell Sardinia, Sicily and Africa. Octavian was to resign his consulship, but in the next year to be joint commander with Antony in a campaign against the republican armies in the East while Lepidus protected their interests in Rome. The triumvirate was legalized by a tribunician law (the lex Titia) of 27 November, 43, and its members formally entered upon office on the first of January following. Unlike the secret coalition of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar, the present one constituted a commission clothed with almost supreme public powers.
Proscriptions. The formation of the coalition was followed by the proscription of the enemies of the triumvirs, partly for the sake of vengeance but largely to secure money for their troops from the confiscation of the properties of the proscribed. Among the chief victims was Cicero, whose death Antony demanded. He died with courage for the sake of the republican ideal to which he was devoted, but it must be recognized that this devotion was to the cause of a corrupt aristocracy, whose crimes he refused to share, although he forced himself to condone and justify them. The exactions of the triumvirs did not end with the confiscation of the goods of the proscribed; special taxes were laid upon the propertied classes in Italy and eighteen of the most flourishing Italian municipalities were marked out as sites for colonies of veterans.
Divus Julius. In 42 B. C. Octavian dedicated a temple to Julius Caesar in the forum where his body had been burned. Later by a special law Caesar was elevated among the gods of the Roman state with the name of Divus Julius. Meanwhile Octavian had found difficulty in occupying his allotted provinces. Africa was eventually conquered by one of his lieutenants, but Sextus Pompey, who controlled the sea, had occupied Sardinia and Sicily. His forces were augmented by many of the proscribed and by adventurers of all sorts, and Octavian could not dislodge him before setting out against Brutus and Cassius.
Philippi, 42 B. C. These republican generals had raised an army of 80,000 troops, in addition to allied contingents, and taken up a [pg 190]position in Thrace to await the attack of the triumvirs. In the summer of 42 B. C. the latter transported their troops across the Adriatic in spite of the fleet of their enemies, and the two armies faced each other near Philippi on the borders of Macedonia and Thrace. An indecisive battle was fought in which Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide in despair, but Brutus routed the troops commanded by Octavian. Shortly afterwards Brutus was forced by his soldiers to risk another battle. This time he was completely defeated, and took his own life.
The division of the Empire. The triumvirs now redistributed the provinces among themselves, Cisalpine Gaul was incorporated in Italy, whose political boundaries at length coincided with its geographical frontier. The whole of Transalpine Gaul was given to Antony, Octavian received the two Spains, while Lepidus was forced to content himself with Africa. He was suspected by his colleagues of having intrigued with Sextus Pompey, and they were now in a position to weaken him at the risk of his open hostility. From the time of the meeting near Bononia Antony had been the chief personage in the coalition and his prestige was enhanced by his success at Philippi. It was now agreed that he should settle conditions in the eastern provinces and raise funds there, while Octavian should return to Italy and carry out the promised assignment of lands to their troops. This decision was of momentous consequence for the future. In the summer of 41 B. C. Antony received a visit from Cleopatra at Tarsus in Cilicia. Her personal charms and keen intelligence, which had enthralled the great Julius, exercised an even greater fascination over Antony, whose cardinal weaknesses were indolence and sensual indulgence. He followed Cleopatra to Egypt, where he remained until 40 B. C.
Octavian in Italy, 42–40 B. C. In Italy Octavian was confronted with the task of providing lands for some 170,000 veterans. The eighteen municipalities previously selected for this purpose proved insufficient, and a general confiscation of small holdings took place, whereby many persons were rendered homeless and destitute. Few, like the poet Virgil, found compensation through the influence of a powerful patron. A heavy blow was dealt to the prosperity of Italy. The task of Octavian was greatly hampered by opposition from the friends of Antony, led by the latter’s wife Fulvia and his brother Lucius Antonius. Hostilities broke out in which Lucius was be[pg 191]sieged in Perusia and starved into submission (40 B. C.). Fulvia went to join Antony, while others of their faction fled to Sextus Pompey who still held Sicily. Of great importance to Octavian was his acquisition of Gaul which came into his hands through the death of Antony’s legate, Calenus. An indication of the approaching break between Octavian and Antony was the former’s divorce of his wife Clodia, and his marriage with Scribonia, a relative of Sextus Pompey, whom he hoped to win over to his side.