After Caesar's assassination, there was a power struggle between his two most trusted men, Mark Antony and Octavian. They worked together to defeat Caesar's killers at the Battle of Philippi but later had a falling out when Antony divorced Octavian's sister to marry Cleopatra. This led to a civil war where Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. Octavian then consolidated power, taking the title of Augustus and establishing himself as Rome's first emperor, bringing an end to the Roman Republic.

1. End of the Republic
S O CIA L ST UDIES F O R 9 ° E G B
T E ACHE R : MA UR I CI O TO R R E S

2. Life After Caesar
• Even though Caesar had named Octavian as his successor, there was a
power struggle after he was murdered.
• Two of his most trusted men, rose to prominence in order to achieve power
• Mark Antony: his former assistant and right hand.
• Octavian: his young and adopted son and “heir”.

3. Antony and Octavian
• The priority that both of these men
had, was to punish the men
responsible for killing Caesar.
• The murderers miscalculated and thought
they would be looked upon as heroes. They
didn’t count on Caesar’s popularity! They had
to flee for their lives, because Rome was
shocked because of the murder.
• Antony delivered a famous speech that
turned the crowd against the plotters.
• Along with Octavian, they set out to
find them and kill them, with an army.

4. Philippi
• Antony and Octavian caught up with the killers at Philippi, in
northern Greece.
• Here they defeated them, and both leaders Brutus and Cassius committed
suicide when they faced their reality.

6. Octavian vs. Antony
• After Philippi, Octavian
returned to Rome, and Antony
remained in the east fighting
the last part of the resistance.
• Antony married
Octavia, Octavian’s sister, but
divorced her eight years later in
order to marry Cleopatra in
Egypt.
• Octavian was obviously insulted
by this.

7. Civil War… (yes, again)
• Octavian set out to capture Mark Antony starting yet another civil war.
• Both their fleets met at Actium, near Greece.
• Antony was defeated and had to flee back to Cleopatra in Egypt.
• In Egypt, Cleo and Mark committed suicide to avoid capture.
• With Mark Antony dead and Lepidus in exile, Octavian was now the sole
ruler.

8. Imperator, Princeps… Augustus
• Octavian slowly gained more an more
power.
• He became “princeps” (first citizen) when
he had achieved near limitless power.
• But in 27 BC, he announced he was
giving up his power to the Senate…
• … but in reality, he kept it all.
• The Senate gave him a new name:
Augustus (revered one).
• With this, the Republic was officially over and
the Empire was born.

10. Ask Yourself
• Identify:
• How did most Romans feel about Caesar’s death?
• Recall:
• What happened to Caesar’s killers?
• Draw Conclusions:
• Why did Octavian turn against Mark Antony?
• Summarize:
• How did Octavian become an Emperor?
• Evaluate:
• Why was it significant that Octavian took the title Princeps and not Dictator?