The Second Triumvirate (43 to 33 BC), the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), Antony's Eastern policy and his alliance with Cleopatra, the propaganda war, and the Battle of Actium (31 BC)

What this dot point is asking

NESA expects you to explain the trajectory of the Second Triumvirate from its formation in 43 BC through Philippi, the rivalry with Antony, the propaganda war, and the Battle of Actium (31 BC), and the consequent emergence of Octavian as sole master of the Roman world.

The answer

The Triumvirate's first achievement: Philippi (42 BC)

The Liberators Brutus and Cassius had raised armies in the East after Caesar's assassination. Their forces met those of Antony and Octavian at Philippi in Macedonia in October 42 BC.

Two battles were fought. In the first, Brutus defeated Octavian's wing while Antony defeated Cassius's wing; Cassius committed suicide. In the second battle three weeks later, Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus, who committed suicide.

Philippi destroyed the Republican opposition. The Triumvirate now controlled the Roman world.

Division of the Empire and the Treaty of Brundisium (40 BC)

After Philippi the Triumvirate divided the empire. Octavian took Italy and the West (Spain, Gaul). Antony took the East (Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt's region of influence). Lepidus took Africa.

Tensions between Octavian and Antony nearly led to civil war in 40 BC. The Treaty of Brundisium (October 40 BC) restored the alliance. The treaty was sealed by Antony's marriage to Octavia, Octavian's sister. Octavia bore Antony two daughters.

Antony in the East

Antony based himself in the East, first in Athens with Octavia and then increasingly in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII.

The Parthian campaign (36 BC) was a disaster. Antony lost around 22,000 men in the Mesopotamian withdrawal. The setback weakened his prestige.

Antony and Cleopatra had three children: Alexander Helios (named for Alexander the Great, sun god), Cleopatra Selene (moon goddess), and Ptolemy Philadelphus.

The Donations of Alexandria (34 BC)

In a public ceremony at the Gymnasium of Alexandria, Antony conferred royal titles on Cleopatra and her children.

Caesarion (Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar) was named "King of Kings"; Cleopatra was named "Queen of Kings." Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia and ruler of regions east of the Euphrates. Cleopatra Selene was named queen of Cyrenaica and Libya. Ptolemy Philadelphus (then 2) was named king of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia.

The Donations transferred Roman provincial territories to a foreign queen and her children, by the authority of a Roman triumvir. Whether this was a serious political programme or Hellenistic royal theatre is debated. In Rome it was incendiary.

The propaganda war

From 33 to 32 BC, Octavian and Antony fought for Roman public opinion.

Octavian's case. Antony was the servant of an Eastern queen, betraying Roman virtue. Antony had abandoned the lawful wife Octavia for the foreign sorceress Cleopatra. The Donations were the giveaway of Roman territory. Antony's behavior threatened the Roman state itself.

Antony's case. Octavian was a usurper, an enemy of his fellow triumvir, and the violator of triumviral agreements. Octavian's adoption was suspect; his power rested on military force alone.

Antony's will. Octavian claimed to have seized Antony's will from the Vestal Virgins and published its contents. The will allegedly confirmed Antony's identification with Cleopatra: he asked to be buried in Alexandria. The publication, though probably partly fabricated, completed Antony's political destruction in Rome.

The declaration of war (32 BC)

The Triumvirate had legally expired on 31 December 33 BC. Octavian and Antony's consulships continued the impasse.

In 32 BC Octavian, having secured an oath of allegiance from Italy and the western provinces (tota Italia), declared war on Cleopatra. The declaration framed the war as one against a foreign queen, not as a civil war against Antony. The traditional fetial ceremony at the Temple of Bellona was used.

Antony and Cleopatra spent the winter of 32 to 31 BC at Patrae and Athens preparing the campaign.

The Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BC)

The decisive engagement took place at the entrance to the Ambracian Gulf, off the western coast of Greece.

Forces. Octavian's fleet under Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa consisted of around 250 lighter Liburnian ships. Antony commanded around 230 heavier quinqueremes. Cleopatra's Egyptian squadron of around 60 ships, including the treasure transports, was behind Antony's line.

Pre-battle situation. Agrippa had blockaded Antony's fleet and army on land for months. Antony's troops were suffering from disease and desertion. Antony's strategy was either to defeat Octavian in a decisive battle or to break out to Egypt with the fleet.

The battle. On 2 September 31 BC, Antony's fleet sailed out to engage. After several hours of indecisive fighting, Cleopatra's Egyptian squadron raised sail and broke through the centre carrying the treasure. Antony followed in a smaller vessel. The remaining fleet, abandoned by its commanders, surrendered. Antony's land army on the Greek shore surrendered days later.

Aftermath (30 BC)

Octavian pursued Antony and Cleopatra to Egypt. In August 30 BC Antony, hearing false reports of Cleopatra's death, fell on his sword. Cleopatra, after attempting to negotiate with Octavian, committed suicide (traditionally by asp; the historicity is debated).

Caesarion, Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar (now 17), was killed on Octavian's orders ("Two Caesars are too many"). Egypt was annexed as a Roman province under the direct administration of the emperor's personal prefect; senators were forbidden to enter Egypt without imperial permission.

Octavian's path to Actium at a glance

Historiography

Adrian Goldsworthy (Augustus: First Emperor of Rome, 2014) treats Actium as the decisive military victory but emphasises the political and propaganda preparation.

Mary Beard (SPQR, 2015) reads the Donations as legitimate Hellenistic dynastic politics that Octavian successfully framed as Eastern decadence.

Ronald Syme (The Roman Revolution, 1939) treats Actium as a propaganda victory: the political destruction of Antony in Rome had been accomplished before the naval engagement.

How to read a source on this topic

Section IV sources typically include extracts from Augustus's Res Gestae, Suetonius, Plutarch's Life of Antony, Cassius Dio, or images on the Actium coinage. Three reading habits.

First, watch for the post-victory frame. Augustus's Res Gestae presents Actium as a war "against external enemies"; in fact it was a civil war framed as foreign war. Note the framing.

Second, distinguish propaganda from event. The Donations were real, but Octavian's interpretation of them is propaganda. Use both as evidence at different levels.

Third, identify the source's affiliation. Augustan-era sources (Virgil, Horace, Res Gestae) are pro-Octavian. Later sources (Plutarch, Dio) are more balanced.

Common exam traps

Treating Actium as a great battle. It was a relatively brief naval engagement after a long blockade; Antony's army was already collapsing.

Forgetting Agrippa. Octavian's admiral Agrippa was the operational commander. He was the most important military figure of the period.

Missing the propaganda dimension. Syme emphasises the political destruction of Antony in Rome before the naval battle.

Skipping Caesarion's death. Octavian's killing of Caesar's biological son is morally and politically significant.

In one sentence

The Second Triumvirate, after defeating the Liberators at Philippi (42 BC) and restoring its internal balance through the Treaty of Brundisium (40 BC) with Antony's marriage to Octavia, broke down through Antony's Eastern policy and his alliance with Cleopatra VII (culminating in the Donations of Alexandria, 34 BC), the propaganda war centred on Antony's will, and Octavian's tota Italia oath in 32 BC, before being decided militarily by Octavian's fleet under Agrippa at the Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BC) and consolidated by the suicides of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC, leaving Octavian, as Syme reads it, sole master of the Roman world through victory whose decisive phase was political rather than military.