Coppolino 1997) Only months after arriving in Apollonia, Octavian learned that Caesar was murdered. He also learned that he was named as the beneficiary in Caesars will and had been formally adopted as his son. The will thrust tremendous power on Octavian. He was now the leader of a great army ready to follow the commands of Caesars heir. Octavian used this army to occupy Rome and force the Senate to make him consul. Marc Antony, who had been consul with Caesar, was now forced to create the alliance with Lepidus, a high priest, and Octavian. The three leaders divided the land that Rome had conquered. Antony controlled the East and Octavian the West. Lepidus controlled Africa. The leaders led a ruthless campaign to punish Caesars assassins but soon turned on each other. Octavian first attacked Lepidus and took control of Africa and all of Italy. Antony strained relations between Octavian and himself by divorcing Octavians sister, in favor of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Finally, in 31 B.C.E, war broke out between Octavian and the combined forces of Cleopatra and Antony. Octavian defeated his foes at the naval battle of Actium and became sole ruler of Rome. He returned to Rome in 29 B.C.E and celebrated his recent victories against Antony. Although Octavian insisted that he had restored the Republic, Rome had finally become an empire. It was too large to be ruled by a group of people; it needed a strong central authority that could make quick, efficient decisions. In 27 B.C.E, Octavian made a bold and clever political move by declaring the Republican Government restored (Nardo 1994). To the public, this sounded sincere, but it was really a ploy to gain more power. He immediately offered to resign from the position of consul, but the Senate, instead of accepting his offer, decided to give him the position of princeps, or first citizen (Coppolino 1997). The Senate also gave him the name Augustus, meaning revered one. The Senate knew that it ...
