8. Cleopatra also came to see him [Antony] in Cilicia, and he censured her for not taking part in their struggles to avenge Caesar. She did not excuse herself so much as present a list of what she had done for him and Octavian: she had promptly despatched the four legions which were with her to Dolabella; after preparing another expeditionary force, she had been foiled by the gales and by the premature defeat of Dolabella himself, she had not made an alliance With Cassius, although he had twice threatened her; she had personally sailed for the Adriatic with a fleet loaded down with equipment to help the triumvirs in their war campaign; she had not been terrified of Cassius and had paid no attention to Murcus' naval ambush, but finally a storm had not only ruined everything but also caused her to fall ill, for which reason she had not put to sea even afterwards, when the triumvirs had already gained their victory. The moment he saw her, Antonius lost his head to her like a young man, although he was forty years old. He is reputed to have always been prone to such behaviour, and also in the case of Cleopatra to have been provoked by the sight of her a long time previously, when she was still a girl and he was a young captain of cavalry on Gabimus' expedition to Alexandria."

9. So straight away the attention that Antonius had until now devoted to every matter was completely blunted, and whatever Cleopatra commanded was done, without consideration of what was right in the eyes of man or god. On Antonius' orders her sister Arsinoe, who had taken refuge as a suppliant at the temple of Artemis Leukophryene in Miletus," was put to death, and he ordered the Tyrians to surrender Serapion to her, who as her commander in Cyprus had supported Cassius but was now a suppliant in Tyre." He instructed the people of Aradus to hand over another suppliant, some man whom they were harbouring and making out to be Ptolemy, after the disappearance of Cleopatra's brother Ptolemy in the naval battle against Caesar on the Nile." He also ordered the priest of Artemis at Ephesus, whom they call Megabyzos, to be brought before him because he had once welcomed Arsinoe as queen, but released him when the Ephesians pleaded with Cleopatra herself. Such was the rapidity of the change in Antonius' behaviour, and this passion of his was the beginning and the end of the troubles which ensued.
After Cleopatra had sailed back to her own kingdom, Antonius sent his cavalry to plunder the city of Palmyra, which is not far from the Euphrates. He made a petty case against the Palmyrenes, that being on the border between Rome and Parthia they were showing goodwill to both sides (as they are a trading people, they bring Indian or Arabian products from Persia, and market them in Roman territory), but in fact he meant to enrich his cavalry. The Palmyrenes, having obtained advance warning of this, moved their essentials to the other side of the river and stood on the bank armed with bows, a weapon with which they are extraordinarily expert, to prevent an attack. The cavalry found the city abandoned, and sacked it without any fighting and without obtaining any booty.

10. This act of Antonius seems to have put the match to the Parthian war which soon flared up, for many of the rulers expelled from Syria had taken refuge with the Parthians. Until the time of Antiochus Eusebes and his son Antiochus, Syria had been ruled by kings descended from Seleucus Nicator, as I have said in my account of the Syrians;" but after Pompeius had annexed Syria for the Romans and appointed Scaurus to govern it, the men the senate sent to succeed Scaurus included Gabinius, who led an expedition against the Alexandrians, and then Crassus, who died in Parthia, and after him Bibulus. Then at the time of Caesar's death and the internal struggles which followed, the Syrian cities came under the rule of individual auto crats. The latter were supported by the Parthians, who naturally made in cursions into Syria after Crassus' disaster and co?operated with them. After expelling the autocrats, who took refuge on Parthian soil, and demanding oppressive contributions from the ordinary people, and taking this mis taken action against the Palmyrenes, Antomus did not even stay to restore order to the troubled country but sent his army to various winter quarters in the provinces, and went himself to join Cleopatra in Egypt.

11. She gave him a splendid reception. He spent the winter there, without any insignia of rank, adopting the dress and way of life of an ordinary person, whether because he was in a country not ruled by himself, in a city which had a monarchy, or because he was treating the winter period as a holiday. Certainly he had laid aside his cares and his general's escort. He wore the square Greek garment instead of his native Roman one, and his shoes were the white Attic type they call the phaicasion, which are also worn by the priests at Athens and Alexandria. He went out only to temples or gymnasia or scholarly discussions, and he passed his time in the company of Greeks, deferring to Cleopatra, who was the chief object of his attention during his stay.
…

14. Antonius' brother Lucius Antonius, who was consul at the time, observed this and plotted with Antomus' wife Fulvia and agent Manius to postpone the founding of the colonies until Antonius arrived back in Italy, so that it should not appear to be entirely the work of Octavian." Thus Octavian would not be the sole beneficiary of the soldiers' gratitude, nor would Antonius be deprived of their goodwill. When this scheme appeared impracticable because of the urgency of the army's demands, they requested Octavian to take the organizers of the colonies for Antomus' legions from Antonius' partisans, although the agreement with Antonius gave the choice to Octavian alone, and they complained that action was being taken in Antonius' absence. They brought Fulvia and the children of Antonius in front of the army and maliciously begged them not to ignore the fact that Antonius was being deprived of the glory and the gratitude he was owed for his help to them. At this period in particular Antonius' reputation was at a peak in the eyes of both the army and everyone else, because they thought that the victory at Philippi was entirely his work, as Octavian had been ill at the time. So Octavian, although well aware that he was in the right by the terms of the agreement, gave way as a favour to Antonius. Antomus' supporters then appointed organizers of the colonies for Antonius' legions, and these organizers colluded with the soldiers to permit still more injustices, in order to appear to be doing them even greater favours than Octavian. There was also a large number of people from other towns which had suffered at the hands of the soldiers, because they were situated next to towns where land had been allocated for settlements. These protested vociferously against Octavian, saying that the colonies constituted a worse wrong than the proscriptions: for while the latter had been directed against personal enemies, the former operated against the innocent.
…

19. Lucius, who held republican views and disapproved of the triumvirate, which, was not thought likely to come to an end when its time came, experienced difficulties and more serious disagreements with Octavian. The farmers who had lost their land sought protection from any powerful man, but Lucius was the only one who listened to them and promised to help them, while they for their part promised to give him any assistance he might demand. Antonius' troops and Octavian therefore accused him of opposing Antonius, and Fulvia criticized him for fomenting war at the wrong time, until Manius maliciously put the matter in a different light by pointing out that if Italy remained at peace, Antonius would stay with Cleopatra, but if there was a war he would come back without delay. Then Fulvia, her woman's passions aroused, incited Lucius to pick a quarrel. When Octavian left the city to perform the foundation of the remaining colonies, she sent Antonius' children after him along with Lucius so that Octavian should not acquire undue credit with the soldiers by appearing alone." And when Octavian's cavalry made a sortie along the Bruttian coast, which was being plundered by Pompeius, Lucius either thought or pretended that this squadron had been sent out to attack himself and the children of Antonius. He hurried away to the Antonian colonies and raised a bodyguard, and accused Octavian in front of the troops of disloyalty to Antonius. Octavian countered by stating that all was friendship and harmony between himself and Antonius, but that Lucius had a different policy: he was stirring up war between them because he opposed the triumvirate, which was the soldiers' guarantee of their land settlements, and as for the cavalry, they were at this moment obeying their orders in Bruttium.

20. When the officers in command of the army heard about these exchanges, they mediated between the two of them at Teanum and reconciled them to each other on these conditions: the consuls were to exercise their traditional functions without interference from the triumvirs; land was not to be allotted to anyone who had not fought at Philippi; Antonius' forces in Italy were to have an equal share of the money from confiscated estates and of the value of what was still being sold; neither man was in future to recruit in Italy; two legions of Antonius' were to assist Octavian's campaign against Pompeius; the passage through the Alps was to be opened to forces. sent by Octavian to Spain, and Asinius Polho was no longer to obstruct thern;? and Lucius, on agreeing to these terms, was to dismiss his bodyguard and go about his civil duties without fear. These were the terms they agreed with each other through the officers of the army, but only the two last were acted on; and Salvidienus unwillingly went round the Alps with him."

21. When the rest of the terms were either not fulfilled, or their implementation was delayed, Lucius withdrew to Praeneste, saying that he was afraid of Octavian, who held an office which gave him a bodyguard, while he himself had no protection. Fulvia also left Rome to go to Lepidus, clain?ling now that she was afraid for her children, for she preferred Lepidus to Octavian. Both sides wrote to Antonius about these events, and supporters accompanied the letters to explain individual episodes. Although I have made enquiries, I have failed to find out with any certainty what Antonius' replies were. The officers of the army, after making a pact to decide for their leaders whatever they thought was right, and to join in compelling any dissenters to comply, summoned Lucius' party to discuss this, but they would not agree to the terms, and Octavian attacked them viciously, both to the officers of the army and to the Roman aristocracy. The latter hurriedly came out to see Lucius and beg him to spare Italy and Rome civil war, and to accept that by common agreement the decision should rest
…

59. His praetorian cohorts were encouraged by this same reputation to approach Octavian's defences in small groups and blame the men who had been their comrades in arms for coming to fight against Antonius, who had saved them all at Philippi. Octavian's men replied with accusations that Antonius' had likewise come to fight against themselves, and both sides stood there arguing and accusing each other; one side cited the barring of Brundisium against them and the theft of Calenus' army, the other the investment and siege of Brundisium, the attack on Ausonia, and the two agreements, the one with Ahenobarbus, one of Caesar's assassins, and the other with their joint enemy Pompeius. Finally, Octavian's men revealed their plan to the others, that they had accompanied Octavian not because they had forgotten Antonius' virtues, but because they intended either to impose a reconciliation on the pair, or, if Antonius refused, to fight him if he chose war. And they in their turn came up close to Antonius' fortifications and announced this openly.

While these events were taking place, news arrived that Fulvia had died. It was said that she had become depressed and fallen ill as a result of Antonius' reproaches, but she was also believed to have aggravated the illness deliberately because she was angry with Antomus for leaving her when she was sick and not Corning to see her even when he was on the point of departure. Both men thought her death highly convenient, as they were rid of an interfering woman whose jealousy of Cleopatra had made her fan the flames of such a serious war. None the less Antonius was much affected by her death, since he considered himself partly to blame for it.

60. One Lucius Cocceius, who was a friend of both men, and had been sent by Octavian with Caecina the previous summer to Antonius in Phoenicia, had remained behind with Antomus when Caecina went back. This Cocceius did not now let the moment shp, but pretended that Octavian had asked him to come and pay his respects. After obtaining permission to go, he sounded Antonius out by asking if he was sending any letter to Octavian, seeing that he, Aritonius, was in receipt of one brought by himself. Antonius said 'At the moment we are enemies, so why would we write to each other except to insult each other? I sent my answers to his old accusations back with Caecina; if you like, take the copies.' So he sneered, but Cocceius refused to let him call Octavian his enemy yet, because of Octavian's treatment of Lucius and his other friends. To this Antonius replied, 'He has shut me out of Brundisium, stolen my provinces and Calenus' army from me, and remains well disposed only to my friends. Nor, apparently, is he saving their lives for me, but turning them against me by his favours.' Then Cocceius, having learnt what Antonius' complaints were, irritated his irascible temperament no further, but went to Octavian.

61. On seeing Cocceius, Octavian expressed his surprise that he had not come sooner: 'I did not save the life of your brother, too, in order to have you as an enemy.' To which Cocceius replied, 'What is the reason that you make friends of your enemies, but call your friends enemies and steal their military forces and their provinces?' 'I did it', Octavian said, 'because after Calenus' death it was wrong for young Calenus to have access to such considerable resources while Antonius was still away. It was these resources which encouraged Lucius to lose his senses, and Asinius and Ahenobarbus, who were at hand, were busy employing them against us. For the same reason I also hurriedly took possession of Plancus' legions, to prevent him joining Pompeius. Their cavalry have in fact crossed to Sicily.'

Cocceius replied, 'Other versions of this business were in circulation, but not even Antonius believed them until he was shut out of Brundisium like an enemy.' Whereupon Octavian denied that he had given any order to this effect, since he had neither received advance warning that Antonius was coming, nor expected him to arrive in enemy company, and said that the Brundisians themselves and the military tribune stationed there on account of Ahenobarbus' attacks had barred the gates against him on their own initiative. 'They did so because he allied himself with ourjoint enemy Pompeius, and brought with him Ahenobarbus, who was one of my father's assassins and has been condemned by vote, by legal judgement and by proscription. This man not only laid siege to Brundisium after Philippi, and is still conducting siege operations all round the Adriatic, but has also burnt ships of mine and plundered Italy for booty.'

62. 'You agreed between you', Cocceius said, 'that you could make terms with anyone you liked; and Antonius has made terms with none of the murderers and has paid no less honour than you to your father. Ahenobarbus was not one of the murderers, and the vote against him was due to ill?feeling: he had no part in the plot at that stage. If we were to refuse to pardon him, on the grounds that he was a friend of Brutus, would we not be the first to have reached the point of being at enmity with virtually everyone? As to Pompeius, Antonius did not agree to join him in fighting you, but said that if he found himself at war he would take him as an ally or include him too in any settlement with you, as not even he had done anything irreparable. You are in fact responsible for this state of affairs, because if there had been no war in Italy, those men would not have been encouraged to make these approaches to Antonius.' Persisting with his accusations, Octavian said, 'It was against Italy, and against myself along with Italy, that Manius, Fulvia, and Lucius made war; and Pompeius, who has not previously made any attacks on the coast, is doing so now because he is confident of Antonius' support.' 'Not "confident of Antonius' support",' Cocceius said, 'but "instructed by Antorlius". I will not conceal the fact that he will descend with a large fleet on the rest of Italy, which has no fleet to defend it, if you two do not resolve your quarrel.' Octavian, hesitating a little (for the import of this gambit was not lost on him), rephed, 'But Pompeius will not get away with it. He has just been ignominiously driven off from Thurii.' Then Cocceius, having identified all the points in dispute, brought up Fulvia's death and the manner of it. He told how she had fallen ill out of resentment at Antonius' anger, and how her illness had been aggravated by her depression because Antonius had not come to see her even when she was sick, so that he bore the blame for his wife's death. He pointed out: 'Now that she too is out of the way, there is nothing you need do but speak frankly to each other about your suspicions.'

63. In this way Cocceius won Octavian's trust, and he spent that day as Octavian's guest and begged him, as the younger man, to write to Antomus as his senior. But Octavian refused to do so because Antomus was still conducting hostilities, and argued that Antonius had not written either. However, he intended to complain to Antonius' mother, because although she was related to himself and had enjoyed the highest place in his esteem, she had fled from Italy as though he would not grant her everything like a son." Thus Octavian also laid plans, and wrote to Julia. As Cocceius was leaving the camp a considerable number of the senior officers made the view of the soldiers known to him, and he conveyed this, along with his other information, to Antonius, to make him realize that ifhe did not come to an agreement they would fight against him. He accordingly advised Antonius to order Pompeius back to Sicily from the areas which he was devastating and to send Ahenobarbus somewhere else until agreement had been reached. When his mother (who by birth was a member of the Julian family) also made pleas to the same effect, Antonius felt ashamed to ask Pompeius to support him again militarily if an accommodation did not result. In the face of his mother's confidence that it would, and Cocceius' insistence on it and expectation that he would want to continue negotiations, Antonius relented. He told Pornpeius to withdraw to Sicily, on the grounds that he himself would take care of their agreed interests, and sent Ahenobarbus to be governor of Bithynia.

64. When they heard this, Octavian's army selected representatives, the same men in each case, to approach both leaders. The delegation refused to listen to their accusations against each other, regarding themselves as having been chosen not to judge between the two men, but simply to bring about a reconciliation. They co?opted Cocceius,, because he was an intimate of both, along with Pollio from Antonius' supporters and Maecenas from Octavian's, and they decided that there should be an amnesty between Octavian and Antonius in respect of past acts, and friendship in the future. Marcellus, the husband of Octavian's sister Octavia, had recently died, and the negotiators recommended that Octavian should betroth her to Antonius. He immediately did so, and after the two men had embraced each other, cheers and congratulations from the troops for each of them went on all day and continued right through the night.

65. Octavian and Antonius made a new division of the Roman Empire, fixing as the boundary between them the Illyrian town of Scodra, which was believed to be the place nearest to the middle of the Adriatic gulf. Antonius was to have all the provinces and islands to the east of this as far as the river Euphrates, Octavian everything to the west as far as the Atlantic, and Lepidus was to have Africa, in accordance with Octavian's grant. Octavian was to go to war against Pompeius, unless terms were made, and Antomus against the Parthians, to punish them for their breach of faith in attacking Crassus. Ahenobarbus was to enjoy the same agreement with Octavian as had been made with Antonius. Both principals were to have the right to recruit equal numbers of additional troops in Italy without hindrance.

These were the final arrangements agreed between Octavian and Antonius. Each of them immediately sent his friends off to deal with urgent business. Antonius despatched Ventidius to Asia to drive out some Parthians, along with Labienus son of Labienus, who during this period of turmoil had made an incursion in concert with the Parthians into Syria and an area stretching as far as Ionia." However, the exploits and the fate of Labienus and the Parthians will be treated in my Parthian history.

66. Helenus, Octavian's commander, who had made a sudden attack on Sardinia and gained possession of it, was driven out again by Menodorus, the Pompeian commander, and Octavian became particularly indignant at this and refused to countenance Antonius' attempts to include Pompeius in the peace. They then went to Rome and celebrated the marriage. Antonius also put Manius to death on the grounds that he had incited Fulvia with his slanders against Cleopatra and was responsible for the enormity of the consequences. In addition, he admitted to Octavian that ' Salvidienus,.the commander of Octavian's army on the Rh6ne, was secretly plotting to defect ?and had sent him a message to this effect while he was besieging Brundisium. Antonius did not win general approval for making this admission, but surely acted in this way because he had an honest disposition and was quick to do a kindness. Octavian immediately issued an urgent summons to Salvidienus, pretending he wanted to see him alone for some purpose and would send him back to the army directly afterwards. On his arrival Octavian established his guilt and put him to death; the army under his command he gave to Antonius, as he was doubtful of its loyalty.
…

75. After this they set out, Octavian for Gaul, which was disturbed, and Antonius for the war against the Parthians. Since the senate had voted to ratify all his past and future acts, Antonius again appointed governors everywhere and made any other administrative arrangements according to his own wishes. In some places he established kings of whom he approved, on payment of set amounts of tribute: in Pontus, Darius, who was the son of Pharnaces and grandson of Mithridates; in Idumaea and Samaria, Herod; in Pisidia, Amyntas; Polemon in part of Citicia; and others in other regions. Since he wanted to train and enrich that portion of his army which was going to go into winter quarters with him, he sent some of them against the Parthim, an Illyrian people living around Epidarrmus who had been enthusiastic supporters of Brutus, and some against the Dardam, another Illyrian people who were always making incursions into Macedonia. Others he ordered to remain in Epirus, so that he should have his forces all round him, his intention being to pass the winter himself in Athens. He also sent Furnius to Africa to fetch the four legions which were under Sextius' command for the campaign against the Parthians, since he was as yet unaware that Lepidus had taken them from Sextius.

76. After making these arrangements he wintered in Athens with Octavia just as he had in Alexandria with Cleopatra." He paid attention to military matters only in so far as they were referred to him by letter, and he again laid aside the role of commander to assume the simplicity, Greek clothes, Attic shoes, and quiet front door of a private citizen. Likewise: there was no pomp when he went out, with a couple of friends and a couple of attendants, to the schools of the teachers or to lectures. He dined in the Greek manner, took exercise with Greeks, and attended festivals in Octavia's company, in which he took great delight. With her, too, he was very much in love, because he was easily attracted by women. But when the winter was over he was like a different man. He changed his dress again, and with his dress his image. Straight away a mass of military standards, officers, and guards appeared at his door, and fear and awe were omnipresent; embassies which had been summoned and had so far waited in vain were admitted, legal decisions were given, ships were launched, and every other sort of preparation was put in hand.
…

93. At the beginning of spring Antonius sailed from Athens to Tarentum with 300 Ships to fight alongside Octavian, as he had promised, but the latter had changed his plan and was waiting for the ships which were still in the course of being built for him. On being invited a second time to join Antonius' forces, because they were ready and sufficient for the task, he pleaded other engagements and it was obvious that he was either again blaming Antonius for something or disregarding his military support because he had plenty of his own. Although Antonius was irritated, he none the less waited and sent another invitation to Octavian. He found the maintenance of the fleet a burden and needed Italian soldiers against the Parthians, and so he thought he would give Octavian ships in exchange for them ? for although it was part of their agreement that either could recruit in Italy, it was going to be difficult for him to do so as the country had fallen to Octavian to govern. Octavia therefore went to Octavian to mediate between the two men. Her brother said that he had been left in the lurch when the catastrophe struck him in the Straits, to which she replied that Maecenas had received an explanation on that point. He alleged that Antonius had also sent the ex?slave Callias to make a pact with Lepidus against him, but she said that she knew that Calhas had been sent to arrange a marriage, because Antonius wanted his daughter to be betrothed to Lepidus' son, as had been agreed, before the Parthian campaign. This was Octavia's explanation, and Antonius was also ready to send Callias for Octavian to question under torture; but Octavian refused the offer and agreed to come and meet Antomus between Metapontum and Tarenturn, with the river which gives its name to the town between them.

94. By chance they both approached the stream at the same time. Antonius sprang down from his carriage, jumped unaccompanied into one of the small boats moored alongside, and started to cross to Octavian, trusting him as a friend. When Octavian saw this, he imitated Antonius' example, and they met on the water and had an argument, because each of them wanted to disembark on the other's bank. Octavian won, since if he went to Tarenturn he would also be going to Octavia; he sat beside Antomus in his carriage, arrived unescorted in Antonius' quarters in Tarentum, and likewise slept there that night without any armed guards beside him. The same trust was displayed by Antonius on the following day. Thus their behaviour constantly swung between suspicion, arising from their desire for power, and trust, arising from their current needs.

95. Octavian wanted to put off the expedition against Pompeius to the following year, but Antonius 'was unable to stay on account of the Parthians. Nevertheless they made an exchange of forces, Antonius giving Octavian 120 ships, which he sent immediately and handed over at Tarentum, and Octavian giving Antonius 20,000 Italian legionaries, whom he promised to send later. In addition Octavia begged from Antonius and presented to her brother ten light triremes of a hybrid type between merchantmen and warships, and Octavian gave his sister 1,000 picked praetorians, chosen by Antonius. Also, since the triumviral authority voted to them had expired, they gave themselves another five?year period without seeking any further approval from the people. On these terms they parted, and Antonius at once hastened to Syria, leaving Octavia, and the daughter who had already been born to them, with her brother.