This was necessary due to the fact that the region's current governor, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Julius Caesar’s killers, was unwilling to accept the law that Antony had earlier passed which would have given him the two governorships in Gaul. His law was seen as wildly illegal and thus Brutus was determined to fight it. Antony subsequently laid siege to Mutina, quite possibly severing the final positive ties he’d had left with the Roman Senate. They now responded to the treacherous siege by sending the new year’s consuls, Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa, alongside Octavian himself, to defend the governor. 

The Senate’s plan worked - as Antony and his men were forced to defend themselves against the approaching armies, the siege on Mutina softened. Both consuls would end up dead, but the siege would be lifted after Hirtius and Octavian attacked Antony’s camp, scaring him into believing another assault would come soon. That, however, was the full extent of the Senate’s victory. Octavian was now claiming the consul legions and many were defecting in his favor from the side of Decimus Brutus. Octavian, furthermore, was now no longer willing to work with his uncle’s killer, and Brutus was convinced to abandon his post. 

He hoped to flee to Macedonia where he would join some of his fellow conspirators, but an ally of Antony would deliver the man’s demise along the way. And back in Rome, Mark Antony was now declared an enemy of the state, meanwhile, two consulship positions were suddenly vacant. The latter fact was one that Octavian took great pleasure in, as he had eyes on the role for himself. Marching to Rome, the heir to Julius Caesar took what he wanted, and alongside his cousin, Quintus Pedius, he took his place as consul. 

Among the first changes that Octavian and Pedius now made was the curious decision to revoke the declaration making Mark Antony an enemy of Rome. With Octavian himself and Antony being two of the most prominent supporters of Caesar remaining, the former decided that it would serve him well to form an alliance with the latter. Another massive supporter of Julius Caesar and a man of significant influence, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, had already negotiated with Mark Antony, either by his own accord or because Lepidus’s troops had insisted upon it. 

Likewise, all of those forces who supported Caesar were now pressuring Octavian to do the same, and thus after meeting with the other men, Caesar’s heir, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus entered into what is known now as the Second Triumvirate… This new friendship of sorts was solidified with the passage of the lex Titia, modeled after Sulla’s lex Valeria, and granted the triumvirs political and legal powers that outshined that of the consuls.

The trio would also walk back on earlier agreements to let those who conspired against Julius Caesar off the hook and in a violent turnaround had hundreds executed. Further, the lands of the Republic were divvied out between the men with Octavian taking Africa, Sicily, and Sardinia; Antony winning Cisalpine Gaul and Gaul as he had hoped for prior, and Lepidus being gifted Spain and Narbonesis. Next, there was the problem of the other assassins: the Liberatores, as Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus were known… 

Having escaped prosecution of any kind in Rome, Cassius and Brutus had fled east where they were attempting to take control of all eastern Roman territories whilst the triumvirs were in the west. As 42 BC rolled around, however, Antony and Octavian were on their way to the east… The Liberatore’s Civil War officially began with the Battle of Philippi… As the battle began, Mark Antony came face to face with Cassius Longinus while Brutus and Octavian squared off as the fall leaves began to turn.

The fight between Caesar’s heir and friend-turned-killer seemed like a fair match, and there failed to be one side with a clear advantage - quite contrary to the clash between the forces of Antony and Cassius. The Caesarian beat down his opponent, but Cassius managed to initially escape the battle alive. Despite the truth being far different, nevertheless, Cassius had then heard that his ally had been routed and in dramatic fashion, reacted to the false news by taking his own life. 

Now alone in the fight, Brutus managed to take the reigns of Cassius’s abandoned forces as both he and his foes withdrew from the battlefield. The Triumvirs and Liberatores now began attempting to re-ignite their armies with promises of more money as Octavian, Antony, and Brutus looked for what their next steps would be… Brutus was hoping to avoid a pitched battle just yet, and with the Liberatore’s fleet having defeated the Triumvirs’ on the Ionian Sea, Brutus may have been in a fair position if he was able to do just that.

The risk of masses of Caesar’s veterans, now in the Liberatore forces, defecting to Octavian and Antony’s side was one worth constantly considering, and when some of Brutus’s other forces began to do just that, there wasn’t much left that could be done. The Liberatore had to either fight and fight now, or run with his tail between his legs in a humiliating defeat. Brutus chose the first option, though the second may have been better in the end as the result of an October 23rd battle was the trouncing of his forces and the suicide of the remaining Liberatore... 

Many surviving members of Brutus and Cassius’s forces subsequently joined the Caesarian fight, as did a handful of nobles who had thus far opposed Octavian and Antony. When the body of Brutus was discovered amongst the carnage in the aftermath, it is said that Mark Antony paid his respects to his deceased foe and former friend by laying a purple cloth over the corpse. A symbolic moment, putting a face to the true ramifications of the ongoing civil wars of the Roman Republic and its remains. Friend against friend, brother against brother, rival factions, and political games had torn Rome apart.

The way of the Romans, alliances were short-lived and friends were quick to become enemies. The Second Triumvirate was no different… … Following the war against the Liberatores, the members of the three-way alliance split up geographically, particularly Antony and Octavian, the latter of which had to now move on to facing \Pompey in Sicily whilst Antony focused on the east and Parthia. Cleopatra would also enter the picture again, this time striking up an affair with Antony, much as she had with Caesar before him. This allowed Antony and Cleopatra an advantage - both could use each other to strengthen their own positions. But, after all, this was an adulterous relationship - Antony had a wife back in Rome, and that wife of his was not one to be ignored… 

As the Parthians readied for a preemptive attack against some of Rome’s eastern holdings, Antony’s wife, Fulvia, alongside Lucius Antonius, consul and brother to Mark Antony, were mapping out their own plans for war. Amongst domestic unrest triggered by Octavian’s treatment of his veterans and ongoing war with \Pompey, Fulvia and Antonius decided to target the triumvir personally with a slew of propaganda that only fanned the flames of the ongoing discontent. The situation soon escalated to the point of Antonius’s military occupation of Rome and subsequent warfare against the forces of Octavian. The debacle was shortlived, lasting only from 41 through 40 BC and ending in a victory for Octavian who eventually seized Perusia as a result. 

Both Antonius and Fulvia were allowed to live, and at the request of Octavian’s soldiers, so were those belonging to Antony’s family. And while Antony himself had stayed absent during the clashes, feigning distraction throughout it all, he was now watching his fellow triumvir with mild suspicion. Octavian had taken more than Perusia, he had furthermore seized Gaul after the death of Antony’s governor, and held additional territory elsewhere within Rome’s grasp. With distrust being one of the pillars holding up the might of the Second Triumvirate, it’s no surprise that Antony thus dropped everything to return to Italy with an army of his own, just in case. As another just in case, Antony furthermore attempted to enter discussion with Octavian’s current nemesis, \Pomey. 

This plan worked well enough, but it led Antony into direct conflict with Octavian’s garrison at Brundisium. Had it not been for the pleas of both armies to make peace, the scuffle could’ve turned into yet another civil war. But alas, the soldiers managed again to trigger negotiations, or maybe it was just that these Romans understood well the concept of fairness to their men. By the fall of 40 BC, an agreement had again been made between the triumvirs. Antony and Octavian’s new positions in the east and Gaul respectively were made official, and Lepidus, the rather forgotten