Summary

After Julius Caesar's assassination, his adopted heir quickly rose to power in a military coup. Gaius Octavian, who would become known as Augustus, dominated Roman politics until his death in 14 CE and established a model for imperial rule. Initially opposing Octavian were Mark Antony and his wife Fulvia; after her death, Antony would enter into his famous alliance with Cleopatra. A series of battles were fought between them in the years after Caesar's assassination. Most notably, the defeat of Fulvia and her ally Lucius Antonius at Perugia in 40 BCE and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra after a series of battles between 31-29 BCE. The history, written by the victors, emphasizes the extravagance of Cleopatra's court and the impressiveness of Octavius's victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BCE, but both accounts have been exaggerated. It is likely that...