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Tension in the Second Triumvirate
Despite their promises under the Second Triumvirate, the relationship had always been tense between Octavian and Antony. In 40 BCE, Antony returned from the East and, after being initially refused entrance into Italy, negotiated the Treaty of Brundisium with Octavian. Under this treaty, Antony kept control of eastern provinces while ceding Spain, Gaul, and Illyricum to Octavian. Lepidus received Africa. The deal was sealed when Octavian's sister, Octavia, married Mark Antony (Fulvia had died shortly after the Perusine War, and had largely been blamed for the conflict between Antony and Octavian).
Shortly after, a problem emerged in Italy. Sextus Pompey, controller of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, had been acting as a pirate with his small republican army and fleet, disrupting trade and communication. In 39 BCE, Octavian and Lepidus’s forces finally defeated Sextus at Naulochus. His 23 legions surrendered to Lepidus, who then requested Octavian's evacuation of the area. Octavian refused, winning the support of Sextus's war-weary legions, and forced Lepidus out of the triumvirate and into retirement. With Lepidus’s forces and land now his, Octavian had the most forces and least liabilities of the two remaining triumvirate members. For the next five years (38-33 BCE), he remained mostly in the West as the restorer of peace to the Roman world. Mark Antony was still off in the East campaigning.
Mark Antony’s Downfall
These eastern campaigns proved Mark Antony's undoing as they distracted him from Italy, weakened his forces, and ultimately made him appear a political and cultural turncoat. On top of this, he had fathered two children with Cleopatra. This was at the same time Octavian was acting as the restorer of Rome, defending Italy from brigands, and engaging in urban renovation programs. Meanwhile, Antony was fighting a losing battle against Parthia. He did initially drive the Parthians out of eastern territories, including Judea and Macedonia, but was soundly defeated in 36 BCE when he attempted to mount an offensive in Albania.
Antony was politically and financially weakened, with a depleted military. He also became more financially and emotionally dependent on Cleopatra, who had borne him a third son. In a ceremony called the donations of Alexandria, he named this son, Ptolemy Caesar, as the heir to Caesar's position, further cementing his apparent rejection of Roman culture. War between Octavian and Antony was now imminent.
End of the Second Triumvirate
In 33 BCE, the triumvirate came to a legal end. For the next year, Antony and Octavian engaged in mutual slander, with the real break coming in 32 BCE. By this time, both had blocs of supporters in the Senate, and Antony’s supporters decided to flee to the East to join their leader. With these, Antony formed a government in exile in Asia Minor and raised an army. In retaliation, Octavian released what he claimed was Antony’s will, alleging that Antony planned to name Ptolemy Caesar as Caesar’s son and divide his Roman lands among his and Cleopatra’s children. This sparked public outrage in Italy, and so Octavian was free to declare war.
The final battle was in 31 BCE, where Octavian defeated Antony in a naval battle, with his ground forces surrendering two weeks later. Antony and Cleopatra fled for Egypt, and Octavian followed in 30 BCE. After failed negotiations, and with Octavian advancing, Antony killed himself, and Cleopatra was taken prisoner shortly before doing the same. Octavian also had Ptolemy Caesar killed, ending the Ptolemaic dynasty. Egypt was made Octavian's personal property and annexed to the Roman Empire. Octavian then celebrated a triple triumph in Rome, after which he reduced the Roman army from 60 to 28 legions. Veterans were given purchased lands across the Empire, and Antony's (living) supporters were given amnesty.
The Fated Fall of the Second Triumvirate
From the beginning, the Second Triumvirate could not last. Tensions between Octavian and Mark Antony, even if overlooked for a time, would be their undoing. Antony perceived himself as Caesar’s true heir with the experience to back it up, while Octavian, inexperienced as he was, had Caesar's will on his side, as well as a growing body of senators who saw Mark Antony as a threat to the republican order. He also won favor with the masses by to providing the stability and protection that the Roman people needed at home, something that Antony could not do with his costly military campaigns in the East. Furthermore, Octavian was able to exploit anti-Egyptian sentiments in to cast Antony as a monarchist (because of his involvement with the Egyptian monarchy) and culturally separate from Rome.
