Three Men Vie to Be Emperor

Three men with ties to Caesar emerged to compete for his position. Marc Antony (c. 83-30 B. C.E.) had been one of Caesar’s trusted aides. Lepidus (d. c. 12 B. C.E.) had served in Caesar’s government. The third man was the only one with family ties: Octavian was Caesar’s grandnephew, and in his will Caesar also adopted him as his son. Just 19 years old at the time, Octavian thought he had the best claim to power. He also had many powerful supporters in the Senate.

In 43 B. C.E. Octavian battled forces led by Antony, who shortly afterward teamed up with Lepidus. The three men then decided to rule together, forming what was called the Second Triumvirate. Each ruled part of the empire on his own. The triumvirs still faced enemies, as two of Caesar’s assassins, Brutus and Cassius (d. 42 b. c.e.), commanded legions in the east. After defeating them, each triumvir tried to gain total control at the expense of his partners. Lepidus gradually lost influence, leaving Octavian and Antony in a struggle for power.

Caesar's Murder

Caesar's dramatic and bloody death may be the most famous political assassination in world history. to the writings of Roman historians and the English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616), people today still know the phrase, "Beware the Ides of March." According to Suetonius and Plutarch, an augur—a person who reads signs in nature to predict the future—had warned Caesar something terrible would happen on the Ides, which is the 15th of the month. Caesar was, in fact, murdered on that day.

The records of the assassination also suggest that Caesar spoke his last words to a former friend who turned against him. One of the leaders of the assassins was Brutus (c. 85-42 B. C.E.). Caesar supposedly said to him in Greek, "You too, Brutus my son?" In his play about Caesar, Shakespeare presents the phrase in Latin as, "Et tu, Brute?''That version is still sometimes used today by people who feel they have been betrayed by someone they trusted.

At first Antony was stronger, but he lost support when he began focusing his attention on Egypt and his relationship with its queen, Cleopatra. Octavian, meanwhile, gained important allies in the Italian peninsula, including army veterans and people who had supported Caesar. Octavian also won popularity after ending a military threat against the Italian peninsula from Sextus Pompey, an old enemy of Caesar and the Triumvirate.

By 36 B. C.E., Octavian controlled the western part of the empire and Antony the east. Their struggle to control the entire empire ended five years later when Octavian’s naval forces defeated Antony’s fleet, which included ships supplied by Cleopatra. By 29 B. C.E., Octavian returned to Rome as the supreme ruler. The official Roman Empire, with him as the first emperor, was about to begin.