With the murder of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC, a new political constellation seized control of the city of Rome. Known as the Second Triumvirate, this alliance between Gaius Octavius (Augustus), Marc Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed in the year 43 BC and saw the three most powerful men in Rome overcome their own personal differences to bring about a new stability to their tumultuous city. It was a period of extreme violence, as the Second Triumvirate first needed to contend with the rebellious conspirators who had first assassinated Caesar and then broken away from the Roman state. Gradually emerging victorious over the assassins, the Second Triumvirate attempted to consolidate their hold on the Roman Empire by partitioning its vast expanse amongst themselves. However, as Rome always proves true only one man can master the greatest empire of the Mediterranean. In what followed, political intrigue pitted each member of the Triumvirate against one another, as all attempted to seize absolute power. This contest between the greatest Roman politicians mobilized vast armies from across the world, and featured battles that stretched from the sands of the Persian heartlands to the Spanish steppes. From the ashes of the Second Triumvirate emerged a new form of government that we now know as the Empire. It was a form of governance that reflected the violence from which it was born. Cruel and absolute in their use of power, the Roman emperors could now dictate the course of the nation without having to bow to the desires of the people of Rome. Under their direction, Rome would be resplendent and glorious once more.

The fourth of the twelve 'Octavian Chronicles' telling the story of the 'Rise to Power' of Octavian, the adoptive son Julius Caesar. The story takes place in Ancient Rome. It begins in 44 BC with the assassination of Julius Caesar and ends in 27 BC when Octavian takes the name Caesar Augustus and becomes Rome's first emperor.

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a significant force in Roman political, religious and military affairs during the late Republic. However, in most accounts he is dismissed quickly, made sport of, or bitterly attacked. Through a careful examination of Lepidus's career, Richard Weigel has shown why many of the sources are hostile and how these have created an inaccurate assessment of Lepidus's role in history. Weigel shows that Lepidus was a competent administrator and that he was consistent in serving the Republic's needs as he understood them.

Rome: Republic into Empire looks at the political and social reasons why Rome repeatedly descended into civil war in the early 1st century BCE and why these conflicts continued for most of the century; it describes and examines the protagonists, their military skills, their political aims and the battles they fought and lost; it discusses the consequences of each battle and how the final conflict led to a seismic change in the Roman political system with the establishment of an autocratic empire. This is not just another arid chronological list of battles, their winners and their losers. Using a wide range of literary and archaeological evidence, Paul Chrystal offers a rare insight into the wars, battles and politics of this most turbulent and consequential of ancient world centuries; in so doing, it gives us an eloquent and exciting political, military and social history of ancient Rome during one of its most cataclysmic and crucial periods, explaining why and how the civil wars led to the establishment of one of the greatest empires the world has known.

Analyzes the relationship between political power and public ceremonial in the period between Julius Caesar and the first emperor Augustus

A richly illustrated introduction to the contribution of Roman and provincial coinage to the history of this period, aimed at undergraduates.