In 44 BC, when Julius Caesar, the supreme ruler of Rome, was assassinated in the Senate, his close comrade-in-arms Mark Antony was kept out by the conspirators. Hearing of Caesar's assassination and a brief disturbance in Rome, Antony ran to the cavalry commander Rebida, who had a legion in Rome and now declared allegiance to Antony. For their part, the conspirators paid to buy off some tramps, freed slaves and retired soldiers on the streets of Rome.
Antony would have had no problem with the bloodbath of the Senate at this time, but considering that doing so would only lead to greater retribution for now, and one of the main criminals who had absconded, Caesar's distant cousin Desimos Brutus, was now the governor of South Gaul, with three legions in command, it was easy to fight back against Rome. Antony then called a council of senators, and Anthony, who was usually eloquent, suddenly exploded in character, and persuaded the elders and the masses to hold a funeral for Caesar with a three-inch tongue, and read Caesar's will in public.
Stills from The New Cleopatra (1999): Anthony speaks in public
Caesar designated his nephew Octavian and his cousin Brutu as the first and second heirs in his will, but Brutu naturally had no right to inherit because of his assassination, octavian was not yet 20 years old at the time, and he firmly accepted Caesar's inheritance and decided to avenge Caesar. However, he did not have an army under him at this time, and Through partial reconciliation with the Senate, Antony gained command of the five Macedonian legions, which Caesar had prepared to use to attack the Dacians, and was now transferred by Antony to prepare for trouble in Rome.
Stills from the French drama The Fate of Rome (2011): Octavian comes to Rome
Although there are many films about the assassination of Caesar and cleopatra, almost all of them ignore the historical facts of caesar's assassination from Antony's speech to the defeat of Mark Brutus, the 1999 TV movie Cleopatra (1999) is a barely beginning and end, and the two episodes of the French drama "The Destiny of Rome" broadcast in 2011 are introduced in detail. But it also doesn't touch on Octavian's army, and the second season of the American drama Rome (2005) is the only episode that details the story of this period.
By spending Caesar's inheritance, Octavian formed three legions and bribed two of the Macedonian legions, as Caesar's old men were dissatisfied with Antony's reconciliation with the conspirators. Antony could not take care of this for the time being, and he decided to first eliminate Brutus, who had three legions, and Octavian was worthy of being the heir of a generation of tyrants, and he joined forces with Brutus and the two newly appointed consuls of the Senate to eliminate Antony, who was the greatest threat to his political position.
Desimos Brutus in the American drama Rome
After all, Antony had followed Caesar for many years, still had a few brushes, and annihilated six legions of two consuls after three battles, but he was also too depleted to retreat to Gaul to meet the Spanish corps of Rebida. Octavian recognized Antony's prowess and changed his strategy, and since two consuls had been killed, he forced the Senate to appoint him consul by force, and then offered to ally himself with Antony and Rebida, while Brutus was killed by a Gaulish chief on his way to Macedonia. However, although Lei Bida is one of the last three giants, his presence in related film and television works is almost zero.
Rebida in the American drama Rome
Antony and Rebida agreed to Octavian's invitation to an alliance, and as Caesar's culprits, Cassius and Marco Brutus, were developing in the East, Cassius ran to his old home, Syria, and easily obtained eight legions that Caesar had prepared to use against the Parthians, as well as four legions in Egypt. Marco Brutus, the son of Caesar's mistress, defeated Antony's brother Gaius Antoni, who remained in Macedonia, and assembled six legions there.
In order to eliminate Marco Brutus and Cassius, Antony and Octavian personally landed nineteen legions in northern Greece, and Marco Brutus and Cassius led the same number of legions to meet them, but the latter had more cavalry and more infantry shortages. Due to Octavian's illness, the troops were under Antony's command, and like Caesar's predicament at the Battle of Fasallu, Antony's forces were in danger of starvation in the desolate region of Macedonia, and the sea logistics lines had been cut off by Cassius's Eastern Allied fleet.
Model of the location of the two camps in the French drama The Fate of Rome (2011), with Antony's camp below
The two armies were camped separately under The City of Felipe, and since there was a swamp with reeds between the camp of Antony's and the camp of Cassius's, Antony secretly opened a passage in the swamp to directly attack Cassius's camp, and Marco Brutus, also launched a strong attack on Octavian's camp alone without warning. As a result, the chaotic battle was a draw, with Antony and Brutus capturing cassius and Octavian's camps, respectively, but cassius committed suicide due to defeat.
A brief diagram of Philippi's two campaigns
After the initial defeat, Brutus continued to use the tactic of stalemate, because he had received information that the other side was about to run out of food, and Antony sent people to insult Brutus's barracks all day long in order to fight quickly. Brutus's generals were sure to succeed in their plans and demanded to go to war, and since these generals were Caesar's old ministries, The always benevolent Brutus did not dare to suppress them too much and could only agree to fight. Antony won the battle, but the number of casualties is unknown, and Marco Brutus committed suicide after the war.
Stills from New Cleopatra (1999): Marco Brutus committed suicide in public
Stills from Cleopatra (1963): Anthony shows marco brutus in public
After eliminating the most dangerous enemy, Antony and Octavian temporarily reconciled, Antony was responsible for passing through the east against the Parthians, Octavian ruled a corner of Italy, the honest man Rebida got Africa, and there were Antony generals in other places, so from the overall situation, Octavian was in a situation of siege. In 41 BC, Anthony's younger brother Ruxias Antony, who was consul in Rome, first went to war with Octavian at the instigation of Antony's wife, Flvia.
Ruchas Antony had 6 legions, octavian had only 4, but Octavian's little friend Agrippa preemptively besieged Ruxias Anthony's lair, and the other Antony's men hesitated to come to the rescue, resulting in Ruxias Antony eventually being forced to surrender. At this time, The Antony general Carrenus, who commanded 11 legions in southern Italy, died suddenly, and his son was a wreck, and Octavian took the opportunity to rush over and easily seize the command of this army.
Octavian and Agrippa in Cleopatra (1963).
In 40 BC, Antony also supported the Roman naval commander and pirate leader, Pompey's second son, Sextus (Pompey the Younger), against Octavian, who fought three major battles with Pompey the Younger, the first two of which were completely destroyed, and the third time to wipe out Pompey the Younger's forces. At the same time, Agrippa quelled the rebellion along the Rhine, and he would soon grow into a good general. Antony and Octavian reconciled again, and Octavian even rewarded anthony with his sister Octavia.
Octavia, forced to remain widowed in Cleopatra (1963).
While Caesar and Pompey's respective successors were busy fighting on the Mediterranean, Antony gathered an army of 70,000 men and invaded Parthia in 36 BC, fantasizing about replicating alexander the Great's miracle, only to be defeated by the Parthian cavalry corps, with more than 30,000 Roman soldiers killed in present-day Azerbaijan. The honest man Rebida wanted to seize Octavian's Sicily, but his army mutinied, and he himself was handed over to Octavian and imprisoned for 23 years before his death.
Hearing that Anthony had suffered a great defeat, Octavian felt no need to look at him again, and the conflict between the two resumed, and Antony even publicly announced his marriage to Cleopatra VII, who had already given him three children. Octavian seized on this point and made a big fuss, declaring that Antony wanted to dedicate the city of Rome to this woman, so the whole of Italy was instigated to help Octavian mobilize an army of 80,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, still commanded by his little friend Agrippa.
Cleopatra (1963): Octavian's declaration of war at the Senate
Agrippa in The Roman Emperor (2003).
Regarding the war between Felipe and the Battle of Yaksing, the respective battles between Antony and Octavian are not mentioned in film and television works at all, even the American drama "Rome" (2005) is perfunctory with the private affairs of the two and the original plot of the small characters, most of the film and television works focus on the love tragedy between Anthony and Cleopatra in the Battle of Yaksing, and in 1607, the British playwright Shakespeare wrote the famous tragedy "Anthony and Cleopatra" based on this. It has become a model for adaptation of related film and television works.
Shakespeare and Anthony and Cleopatra
Antony had an Egyptian fleet of 73,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 150,000 sailors, but instead of immediately invading Italy, he chose to spend the winter at Yaksin on the west coast of Greece, where historians believe he actually wanted to continue his advance to the East, so he was completely defenseless against Octavian. Agrippa led a surprise attack with a fleet that not only captured Antony's supply fleet, but also cut off its supply lines with Egypt.
Antony's adjutant General Canidius advised Antony to abandon the navy and withdraw the army to Macedonia to fight another war, but Cleopatra advocated a naval battle with Octavian, after all, this navy was her family," which was the famous Battle of Jacquesin. There were more than 400 warships on both sides, antony had a slightly more, and at first Antony did have the advantage, but some of his left and center ships suddenly surrendered, and Anthony had to take some of his ships through the siege and flee back to Egypt with Cleopatra.
The naval battle sandbox on Anthony's side in Cleopatra (1963).
A Roman warship firing stones in Cleopatra (1963).
The most restorative of the Battle of Yaksing is naturally the 1963 Hollywood loss-making blockbuster "Cleopatra", the film side produced a number of 1:1 restoration of Roman warships for live-action shooting, these warships can also fire the guns of the classical navy - can project a trebuchet smeared with burning pine resin, but the plot is changed to Cleopatra's active escape from the battlefield, resulting in the rout of Anthony's army.
Although most of Antony's army in Greece surrendered to Octavian, he still had 11 legions in Egypt, but at this time Antony fell into a cyclical downturn, borrowing wine all day long, causing dissatisfaction among his generals. In July 30 BC, Octavian led an army to land in Egypt, and Antony suddenly perked up again and wanted to fight Octavian to the death, although the initial battle was won, but the next day most of his legions either fled or surrendered.
Antony's vice-admiral Canidius in Cleopatra (1963).
At the end of Cleopatra (1963), Octavian is in a daze in front of Cleopatra's corpse
Returning to the Egyptian palace, hearing the false news that his wife had committed suicide, Antony also directly begged for pleasure. Cleopatra originally announced her surrender, but when she heard that Octavian was going to take her to Rome to show the streets, she simply let the poisonous snake bite her. Antony's adjutant general, Carnidius, although he surrendered with the remnants, was still unable to escape death. Prior to the film Cleopatra (1963), the Italian film Le legioni di Cleopatra (1960) also used this history as the main plot.