Augustus

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Such a decree was only passed in emergencies and gave the consuls the authority to act as they saw fit to ensure the safety of the state.

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Octavian was included along with the consuls in the decree despite his youth, his lack of experience, and the fact that he had raised a private army without any legal authority and had done so partly by bribery.

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Antony was defeated in the Campaign of Mutina and fled.

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The two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, died and Octavian was left in sole command of the consular armies.

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The historian Suetonius mentions the rumour that Octavian was implicated in the deaths of both of these men.

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Octavian was then slighted by the senate, which did not give him the consulship he expected, instead intending to spread powers among the other magistrates.

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The senate felt it no longer needed Octavian and that he would pose no threat if unrewarded.

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In this they greatly underestimated his ambition and determination, and in August 43 BC Octavian led his army against Rome.

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The senate was again forced to yield to a leader with an army behind him and Octavian received his consulship.

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As Suetonius relates in Augustus 26, Octavian's envoy showed his sword hilt  to the senate and said, "This will elect him if you don't first".

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The Second Triumvirate 43 BC

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A triumvirate is an alliance made among three men.

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The members of the First Triumvirate were: Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus
The members of the Second Triumvirate were: Octavian, Mark Antony, Aemilius Lepidus

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Reasons for formation of the Second Triumvirate:

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After a period of political uncertainty in Rome, Octavian and Antony realised they needed a political alliance.

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Each member had been snubbed by the senate and needed the military and financial support of the others to dominate the senate, as well as the help of the others to fight the assassins of Caesar.

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Power shared among three men would reduce suspicion of a dictatorship. (The role of Lepidus was basically to deflect attention from so much power being shared between two).

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Lepidus supported Antony who had made him Pontifex Maximus.

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The fact that it was a legal agreement made it more "palatable" to the populace.

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Essential features of the Second Triumvirate

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The three men met on an island near Bononia in northern Italy in November 43 BC and the alliance was to last five years.

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The triumvirs had the right to make laws, nominate magistrates in advance and nominate governors of their choice.

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The presence of legions made it a military alliance.

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It differed from the First Triumvirate because the First Triumvirate was a private agreement, made for mutual benefit.

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The Second Triumvirate was a legal agreement, allowing the three men to dominate the senate and state.

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Although the title of dictator, invoked during the Republic in emergencies only, had been formally abolished with the death of Julius Caesar, this new agreement virtually created three dictators.

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The triumvirs' power and thus the end of the Republic were advertised by coins bearing their portraits.

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The triumvirs allocated the western provinces--Octavian had control in Africa, Sicily, Sardinia. Antony had control in Transalpine and Cisalpine Gaul. Lepidus had control in the rest of Gaul and in Spain.

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In 42 BC Lepidus was to become consul and Octavian and Antony would be free to deal with the Republican armies in the east.

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The proscriptions 43 BC