406 



ROMAN EMPIRE. 



Roman 

 Empire, 



Fulvia and 

 Lucius 



vices, it was found upon their arrival that there was not a 

 sufficient number of new grants, and that the old inha- 

 bitants must make room for the soldiers. Crowds of 

 husbandmen and shepherds were thus driven from 

 their habitations ; and it was with difficulty that the 

 immortal Virgil retained possession of his patrimonial 

 farm. 



The maritime sovereignty which Sextus Pompey ex- 

 ercised over the Mediterranean, had cut off the Ro- 

 mans from their usual supply of corn, and this general 

 calamity was greatly increased by the insolence of the 

 newly settled soldiers, and by the commencement of 

 another civil war, which had been excited by the folly 

 of Fulvia the wife of Antony. Jealous of Cleopatra, 

 s he considered a quarrel with Octavianus as the most 

 raise a civil ]jk e ] v means to withdraw her husband from Egypt. 

 Her brother in law Lucius, who was the consul, aided 

 her in this scheme, and insisted that Antony should 

 have the same share as Octavianus in the distribution 

 of the lands. Octavianus offered to refer this question 

 to the decision of the army. But Lucius, declining 

 this arbitration, placed himself at the head of six le- 

 gions, consisting chiefly of the ejected peasantry. Oc- 

 tavianus however hemmed him in between two armies, 

 and forcing him to return to Perusia in Etruria, he 

 reduced him to such distress by famine, that he sur- 

 rendered to the conqueror. Octavianus generously 

 pardoned the aggressors, and returned to Rome in tri- 

 umph. 



Roused by the intelligence of his brother's defeat, 

 Antony sailed in a considerable fleet from Alexandria 

 to Tyre, and from thence to Cyprus and Rhodes. 

 Leaving his wife Fulvia on her death-bed at Sicyon, 

 he hastened to oppose Octavianus. The triumvirs met 

 at Brundusium. A reconciliation took place, and was 

 cemented by the marriage of Antony with Octavia, 

 the sister of Octavianus. To the former was assigned 

 the eastern division of the empire, and to the latter the 

 west ; while Lepidus was allowed the African provin- 

 ces, and Sextus Pompey those Mediterranean islands 

 which were already in his power. 



Though the Roman people now expected a general 

 tranquillity, yet the mutual jealousies of so many ty- 

 rants speedily involved the empire in fresh conten- 

 tions. Antony and Pompey having quarrelled respect- 

 ing the evacuation of the Peloponnesus, the latter re- 

 newed his piratical enterprises, and seized the corn 

 which was consigned to Italy. 



Octavianus now saw the necessity of putting down 

 the naval power of Pompey. With a fleet which he 

 had built at Ravenna, and another which Menodorus, 

 who had separated from Pompey, had brought to his 

 assistance, he invaded Sicily, but receiving a check 

 from Pompey, and being afterwards disabled by a 

 storm, he was obliged to postpone his designs. Rein- 

 forced, however, with one hundred and twenty ships 

 from Antony, he again invaded Sicily, but being again 

 shattered by a storm, he refitted his ships, and placed 

 them under his friend Agrippa. After different battles 

 Agrippa gave a final blow to the power of Pompey, 

 who surrendered himself to Antony, by whom he was 

 put to death. 



The ambition of Octavianus increased with the death 

 of Pompey. He now resolved to reign alone ; and the 

 conduct of his colleagues afforded him reasons suffi- 

 deieited by cientl y plausible for this resolution. Lepidus had, with- 

 his army, out anv reason, added Sicily to his province. He re- 

 aod ban. fused to listen to any expostulation on this subject, 

 and Octavian having marched against him, the soldiers 



Lucius 

 defeated. 



Antony 

 marries 

 Octavia. 



Octavianus 



opposes 



Pompey; 



who is de- 

 feated and 

 killed. 



of Lepidus saluted him as their general. Lepidus Roman 

 threw himself in submission at the feet of his colleague, Empire, 

 who spared his life, and banished him to Circaeum. v ^y^- 



Upon his return to Rome, Octavianus was idolized 

 both by the senate and the people. The imprudence 

 of Antony had displaced him from their affections ; and 

 it now became necessary, both for the welfare of Rome, 

 and for the establishment of Octavianus's authority, to 

 deprive Antony of his power and influence. The mi- 

 litary reputation of Antony had suffered greatly from 

 the failure of his expedition against the Parthians ; 

 in which he lost all his baggage, and nearly a fourth 

 of his army ; and his passion for Cleopatra seems to 

 have led him into actions of such extravagance and 

 vanity, that his fall could not be far distant. His tri- 

 umphal entry into Alexandria, after his defeat in Par- 

 thia, his transference of several of the Roman Asiatic 

 provinces to Cleopatra, his divorce of Octavia, and his 

 marriage with the Egyptian queen, and above all, his 

 idle pageantries and his profligate life, rendered him 

 unfit for any office under the commonwealth of Rome. 



Octavianus skilfully availed himself of the failings 

 and vices of his colleague, and after consulting with 

 the senate, he made the most active preparation for 

 war. Antony, being informed of this design, sent his 

 lieutenant Canidius into Europe with his army, while 

 he and Cleopatra set off for Samos to superintend the 

 preparations for war. Both parties were now ready to 

 commence hostilities. Antony had an army of 100,000, 

 foot, and 12,000 horse, with a fleet of 500 ships of war. 

 Octavianus was at the head of 80,000 foot and 12,000 

 horse; but his fleet was only half the size of Antony's. 



The war began with a naval engagement near Ac- Naval 

 tium, a city of Epirus. The rival fleets were drawn battle of 

 up in front of each other at the mouth of the Gulf of Actium. 

 Ambracia ; and the armies of the contending chiefs, 

 marshalled on the opposite sides of the gulf, shouted 

 for the commencement of the action. The prows of 

 the vessels, armed with points of brass, drove furiously 

 against each other, and on their sterns were erected 

 towers, from which arrows were discharged by mecha- 

 nical power. Octavianus's seamen fought with long 

 poles, hooked with iron, and the combat was in this 

 way maintained for a long time, with great equality of 

 success. On a sudden, however, Cleopatra fled with 

 sixty sail, and, what was still more unexpected, she 

 was followed by Antony. The battle, however, still 

 raged, and about five in the evening, Antony's fleet 

 submitted to Octavianus. His army soon after accept- 

 ed of terms from the conqueror, and Octavianus, with- 

 out even a skirmish by land, had driven his antagonist 

 from the empire. 



After these misfortunes, Cleopatra conceived the 

 extraordinary design of transporting her fleet over the 

 Isthmus of Suez into the Arabian Sea ; but the Ara- 

 bians having burnt some of them which she had suc- 

 ceeded in carrying over, she abandoned her plan, and 

 resolved to defend Egypt against Octavianus. Cleo- 

 patra would willingly have accepted of terms for her- 

 self; and Antony is said to have asked nothing more 

 than the right of spending the rest of life in retire- 

 ment. Octavianus, however, refused to listen to any 

 proposals, and again trusted his cause to the decision 

 of war. His lieutenant Gallus took Parsetonium, and 

 Octavianus himself invested Pelusium with another 

 army. This stronghold, which might for some time 

 have obstructed his march, was instantly surrendered, 

 either from the cowardice or treachery of the governor, 

 and Octavianus advanced without opposition to the 



