Hello, and welcome to the history of Rome, episode 49, Apollo and Dionysus.

Last time, Antony and Octavian, but really, Antony, defeated the combined armies of Bertus

and Cassius at the Battle of Philippine late 42 BC, just two years removed from the assassination

of Julius Caesar, an assassination that was supposed to herald the return of the Republic.

The Romans were as far removed from democracy as they had been under the Tarquins.

Power now resided fully in the hands of just three men, Octavian, Antony and Lepidus.

Their word was law, no debate, and no appeal.

But of course, it was not the final ambition of any one of the three to rule with colleagues,

they all aimed to hold the prize for themselves.

For now, the triple alliance held because their triumph was too fresh, not to be threatened

on all sides by men who, having submitted, now waited for any opportunity to throw off

the Triumph very yoke.

But even understanding their precarious position, the dynamic within the Triumph began to change.

Lepidus, who had been left in charge of Italy while the other two Triumphers went east,

was about to find himself the odd man out, and what had always been a struggle between

Octavian and Antony.

After Philippine, the balance of power that would define the next few years of alliance

and rivalry between the two lead Triumphers began to shake out.

Mark Antony stayed in the east with eight legions, while Octavian took the remaining troops,

old Cesarean veterans, and surrendered liberators soldiers alike, back to Italy.

The two Triumphers had signed an agreement, granting Antony power over the Empire east

of the Adriatic, and Octavian the West, accepting greater gall, which remained in Antony's hands.

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