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turn. Upon his arrival, the garrifon of Riiindurium, which 

 was very numerous, and which confifted of veteran foldicrs, 

 went out to meet him, and introduced liim by a kind of 

 triumph into the city. Oftavius thaiil<.ed them for tlieir 

 attachment and refpeft ; and haring offered a folemn facra- 

 fice to the gods, declared himfelf Cxfar's heir, and affumed 

 the titles of Cains Julius Csfar Oftavianus; avowing liin.felf 

 by the latter of thefe appellations tobe of theOftavian family. 

 Having fupplied himfelf with money, arms, and proviiions, 

 he purfued his route through Campania, and after paying 

 a vifit to Cicero in the neighbourhood of Cum«, arrived at 

 Rome, where the party of Antony and Lcpidus, which, 

 under a pretence of avenging Cxfar's death, aimed at efta- 

 blilhing its own power, had obtained an univerfal fway. As 

 Odtavianus approached the capital, he was met by mofl; of 

 the magiftrates, the officers of tlie army, and the people ; 

 but Antony dechned (liev.-ing him any token of refpedl. 

 As foon as his adoption was publicly ratified in the forum, 

 and duly regiftered, he waited upon Antony; andrequelk-d 

 to have delivered to him, as Csfar's chief heir, the money 

 which he had conveyed from Casfar's houfe to his own, that 

 he might be enabled to difcharge his legacies. Antony's 

 behaviour, at this intervievr, was haughty and imperious ; 

 his reply with regard to the money which he demanded, and 

 of which part had been appropriated to the purpofes of 

 avarice and ambition, wab unfatisfac^ory ; and his addrcfs 

 clofed with reminding Octavianus, in a ftyle of authority 

 and menace, that the favourites of the people are, generally 

 fpeaking, (hort-lived, and that popular affeftion is niore in- 

 conftant than the waves of the ocean. Oftavianus retired, 

 difgufted and offended ; and apprifcd, that the conful with- 

 held his father's money and eftate from him in order to 

 difable him from purchafmg the favour of the people, he 

 fold his own patrimony, and the ellatcs of his mother and 

 father-in law, and with the produce of thefe fales, he paid 

 part of Cjefar's legacies : and by this aft of generofity he 

 ib charmed the populace, that they unanimoufly cfpoufed 

 his intcreft, and broke out into bitter inve&ives againft 

 Antony, for withholding his father's eftate. An attempt, 

 however, was made towards reconciling thefe two com- 

 petitors for the public favour ; and it was attended with a 

 partial and temporary' fuccefs. But new occafions of variance 

 occurred ; and at length Ocf avian us was charged with a 

 dcfign of afTafTmating his rival. This furnilhed Antony 

 with a pretence for drawing into Italy a confiderable army. 

 Odlavianus, alarmed by this hoftile preparation, hallcned 

 into Campania, and having coUedled 10,000 brave veterans 

 who had ferved under Cxfar, marched immediately 

 towards Rome. But as he had no military title, nor any 

 niagiftracy which gave him a right to command the forces 

 of the republic, efpecially againil a conful, he thought it 

 advifable to halt at the temple of Mars, within two miles of 

 the city, till he obtained the confent of the people for his 

 entr)', which was foon granted him. Antony was at this 

 time at Brunduiium, and as he was houriy expefted with a 

 confiderable force, it was juftly apprehended that the flames 

 of a civil war would be inftantly kindled within the 

 walls of the city. Parties were formed for one and the 

 other of thefe formidable rivals ; and whilft many of 

 the fenators were deliberating which fide to take, Cicero, 

 probably, as it has been faid, more with a view of procuring 

 for himfelf a bountiful mailer, than for refcuing his country 

 from tyranny, declared for Oftavianus.. At his motion, 

 Antony, who had aftually invaded the province of Cifalpiue 

 Gaul, and laid fiege to Mutina, was declared an enemy to 

 his country. Two new confuls, viz. Panfa and Hirtius, 

 who had both ferved under Csefar, and who were the inti- 



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mate friends of Cicero, were ordered to rai'e troop«, and to 

 march to the relief of Dccimus Brutus, who was clofcly 

 brfieged in Mutina. In two battlis that were fought by 

 the contending armies in the niighbourhood of this town, 

 both the confuls fell ; and Oclavianus became cotr.mander 

 in chief of the whole army. Panfa, when lie was dying of 

 the wounds which he had received, earneftly advifed Ocla- 

 vianus to compromife his difference with Antony, as the 

 only means of faving his life and advancing his fortune ; 

 and the conful's dying words made a deep imprcflion on the ' 

 mind of Oflavianus. The fenate, concci%-ing Antony to be 

 utterly ruined, began to (light Oftavianus, of whofe fervices, 

 as they thought, they (hould have no further occafion : and 

 rerufed his demand of a triumph, which they granted 10 

 Decimus Brutus; heaping upon him various h.onours, and 

 appointing him commander of all the forces in Cifalpinc 

 Gaul ; charging him at the fame time, without even men- 

 tioning Otlavianus, to purfue Antony, and treat him as a 

 public enemy. Whilft Antony, after experiencing fome 

 viciffitudes, and after having fled before Brutus and a' andoned 

 Italy, was ready to re-enter it with the command of twenty- 

 three legions and above 10,000 horfe, Odavianus was at 

 Bononia, where he had been endeavouring, by the intereft 

 of Cicero, to obtain the confnUte. But being djfappointed 

 with legard to this objeil of liis ambition, he refolvcd no 

 longer to defer his reconciliation with Antony. Accord- 

 ingly, this bufinefs being fettled, and a treaty having been 

 concluded betv.een them and Lepidus, of which the fenate 

 was wholly ignorant ; Oftavianus being placed at the head 

 of an army, for the purpofc of conducting the war, in can- 

 juncftion with Decimus Brutus, againil Antony and Lepidus, 

 marched towards Rome in order to demand the confulate. 

 It was now too late to concert or to carry into effeA any 

 meafures of refiftance. Oflavianus was received in the ca- 

 pital with the loudell acclamations of the people ; he was 

 immediately joined by the legions Rationed in the city ; and 

 he was unanimoudy elected iirft conful, though he had not 

 yet completed his twentieth year. A. U. C. 71 1. B. C. 43. 

 Immediately after his promotion to the confuKhip, he pro- 

 cured the confirmation of his adoption in a general alTem- 

 bly of the people ; he caufed the decree againil Antony 

 and Lepidus to be revoked ; and he invited them into 

 Italy. As they advanced, he went out to meet them ; and 

 their meeting took place at a fmall ifland formed by the 

 river Rhenus, now Reno, which falls into the Po, after 

 having watered the territory of Bononia, or Bologna. 

 Here was planned the famous fyllem of power called the 

 Triumvirate; which fee. Having cemented and dif- 

 graced theirnewconnetlion by thedetellable Prosrciptios, 

 which was to cut off all their enemies public and private, 

 and to fill their treafury by confifcations, and by the m.u- 

 tual facrifice of fome of their nearefl friends and relations, 

 among whom was Cicero ; tiKy proceeded to Rome, and 

 filled the city with blood and rapine. In fulfilment of one 

 article of the treaty, fettled on this occafion, Odavianu* 

 and Antony prepared for an expedition againft Marcus 

 Brutus and Caffuis, who had made thcmfcK-cs mafters ot 

 moft of the provinces in the Haft. Accordingly they parted 

 over into Maccdon ; and met the republican leaders on the 

 plains of Philippi, where the contell was decided by two 

 battles, the fecond of which terminated with the death of 

 Brutus. (See Bki'tus.) On this occafion, Ooitavianus, who 

 was aftuated by an implacable fpirit of revenge agaiijft the 

 authors of Caefar's death, is chargeable with a degree of 

 cruelty which fixed an indelible ftaiu upon his reputation. 

 Before his return to Rome, he found a difficulty, and in- 

 cuired confiderable danger, in the dillributioa of the Jor- 

 X X 2 fe>tc<i 



