Upon the assassination of Caesar the dictator a power struggle emerged within Rome. No longer did people strive to be Consul for one year, Caesar's long dictatorship had set a precedent and now the ambitious men in Rome wanted this ultimate power, they wanted to become an Emperor, to become a God. When Caesar died, there was a power vacuum and three powerful men rose to prominence, Marcus Aeimilius Lepidus, Marc Antony and Octavian. A second triumvirate was formed and the Lex Titia was passed which officially sentenced the end of the Republic though in reality it had died when Caesar became dictator. These three men were given power above the senate and any consul and were tasked with uniting the split armies and territory of Rome. Lepidus felt inferior to his fellow 'allies' Octavian and Mark Antony and in a desperate attempt at more power seized the oppurtunity to crush Pompey's son Sextus' rebellion on Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. However once his forces had defeated Pompey in Sicily he claimed that the land should belong to him but whilst he owned part of Africa and Spain (Carthage's old territory) in the East, Octavian owned Italy and Gaul and was able to politically dismiss Lepidus for trying to take what had been Octavian's (Siciliy). With him out of the picture the tensions between Mark Antony and Octavian mounted. Both had held high positions in Caesar's campaign of Gaul and felt it their duty to succeed him. Octavian was actually Julius Caesar's nephew and adopted son, and thus many felt he had the right to lead Rome if he could prove himself. Besotted by Cleopatra Marc Antony abandoned Rome and travelled with her back to Egypt where he ruled the West of Rome's lands including Egypt, Asia and Greece.
Ultimately civil war was inevitable and surely enough Octavian and Mark Antony fought a bitter war for control of Rome, Antony backed by Egypt and Octavian by Rome's allies amongst the Gallic tribes. Antony decided to invade Parthia to extend his section of the Empire (which it ultimately was at this point) and stretched his troops and supplies too far, suffering many losses. Meanwhile Octavian seized Illyria from Mark Antony (North East of Greece) and proved his worth as a leader to his troops, rewarding them with booty and spoils of war. Meanwhile Octavian managed to obtain a copy of Antony's will in which it stated that he would leave Roman territory to Cleopatra and their children together in Egypt. Furious the Senate and Rome declared war on Cleopatra giving Octavian the right to defeat his rival and appear to be doing Rome a service at the same time. This returns to the notion that Romans always wanted to feel that they were morally correct and that their enemies forced them to declare war with their evil actions. In reality it was a civil war within Rome but it was officially referred to as a war on Cleopatra's Egypt (which included all the Eastern Roman territories under Antony). At the battle of Actium Octavian's forces crippled that of Antony and Cleopatra in Greece and they fled to Egypt where they committed suicide. Upon their deaths Octavian became the sole ruler of all Roman territory and was renamed Augustus Caesar, the first Roman Emperor.
IMAGE 1: http://s1.dmcdn.net/HA1Sd/1280x720-luE.jpg - A virtual representation of Octavian (Augustus).
IMAGE 2: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2813/8981188535_e317995cb1_o.jpg - A virtual representation of Mark Antony with Cleopatra.
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