With Octavian’s first orders of business completed, but the Senate expected him to fight Antony, not Brutus and Cassius (conspirators). Brutus refused to give himself up at Mutina and Antony besieged Mutina with his army in order to conquer the city. Seeing Antony and his troops as a major threat, Octavian marched against Antony and, with the support of two consuls, ultimately defeated Antony’s army at Mutina. Shortly after, Octavian learned of the alliance between Mark Antony and Lepidus, and quickly deserted the aristocrat cause and joined them. The remaining troops of Brutus and his other co-conspirators were defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C, which Octavian commemorated in his Res Gestae, ‘deeds done’: I drove the men who slaughtered my father into exile with a legal order, punishing their crime, and afterwards, when they waged war on the state, I conquered them in two battles.” This alliance sparked the beginning of the Second Triumvirate. …show more content…
Once established, the three rulers gained most of the power over Rome, especially in law-making. They shared this power between the three of them, but it also divided up Rome’s territories among them: with Antony (the East), Lepidus (Africa), and Octavian (the West). The Senate named Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus as triumvirs;the overseers of any administrative departments, with dictatorial powers for five years. The Second Triumvirate lasted two terms from 43 B.C. to 33