the assassination of Caesar, but the series itself  is about the civil wars that continued shaking the  

Roman Republic leading to the principate. Unlike  Caesar's Civil War that began with a clear act  

of war, the crossing of the Rubicon, the Civil War  that would be later called the War of Mutina began  

slowly, with a number of events slowly pushing the  relevant parties closer and closer to bloodshed.  

In this episode, we will talk about  this first post-Caesar civil war.

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By the summer of 44BC, Octavian had successfully  halted Brutus and Cassius' plan to win over  

the Roman public, forcing them to abandon  the city. Brutus had retreated to Greece,  

where he was greeted warmly in Athens, and began  rallying support, while Cassius was en-route to  

the East, where he held the most influence. Antony  and Dolabella, the two consuls for the year,  

had been assigned Macedonia and Syria  respectively for the following year,  

but their position was somewhat weak. The public  in Rome was starting to turn against them and  

they had no significant army under their command.  Dolabella had been granted command of the legions  

Caesar had picked out for the Parthian campaign,  currently in Illyria, but this command would not  

take effect until the end of his consulship  at the end of the year. They needed men now. 

Suddenly, a rumour reached Rome that a huge Getae  force had attacked Macedonia. Antony immediately  

requested that the Parthian army be put under  his command to defend the province. The Senate  

was initially reluctant, but not wanting to risk  the province, relented. Soon it was reported that  

the Getae were no longer in Macedonia, and some  reports claimed that they never even attacked.  

Nevertheless, Antony insisted that he maintain  command, claiming that if the army were moved,  

then there certainly would be a huge  attack on the undefended province.  

Antony had just secured himself a large, and  well-trained army consisting of Caesar's veterans. 

Antony immediately brought 4 legions to Brundisium  and demanded that the Senate reassign governance  

of Macedonia to his brother Gaius, while he  was to be given governance of Cisalpine Gaul.  

Just as Caesar before him, Antony knew he had  to secure governance of a province in order  

to have legal immunity. Moreover, Caesar  had shown how valuable the province was,  

and how much control the governor of Cisalpine  Gaul could exercise over Rome. Decimus Brutus  

was currently the governor, however, and the  Senate refused to allow Antony to replace him.  

Looking to bypass the Senate, Antony planned  to put the law to the Public Assembly,  

but his popularity greatly diminished,  he was unlikely to pass the law alone. 

The most popular man in Rome at the  moment was Octavian. The two men had  

constantly been at loggerheads, but Antony's  circle had been advising him to reconcile.  

Finally seeing the benefit in this, Antony and  Octavian made a temporary alliance. Octavian  

would swing the vote in the Assembly,  while Antony would later help Octavian.  

Still bitter towards Antony, Octavian was even  more resentful of Decimus and was willing to do  

what was necessary to weaken Caesar's assassins.  The law was passed by the People, ensuring Antony  

would be governor of Cisalpine Gaul, and  his brother governor of Macedonia for 43BC.  

The Senate, however, sent messages to Decimus to  not give in to Antony and to defend his province. 

Meanwhile, Sextus Pompey had ventured out  from his base in Sicily and had managed  

to stir up a revolt in Spain, which had  always had Pompeian sympathies. Lepidus,  

previously Caesar's Master of Horse, was able to  negotiate with Sextus to retreat without fighting  

and the Senate, praised him for that,  as winning over Lepidus would greatly  

strengthen their position and  severely undermine Antony. 

In Rome, one of the Tribunes of the Plebs died,  and needed to be replaced. Octavian was the  

popular candidate, but the Senate feared that he  would use his office to prosecute the Liberators.  

Octavian turned to Antony, calling to  repay the favour, but the latter refused,  

claiming that Octavian was too young. The  majority voted for Octavian nevertheless,  

but Antony once again interceded, annulling  the vote. Octavian was furious and immediately  

began sending his agents throughout Italy,  gauging which cities would be loyal to him  

and which of Antony's legions had wavering  loyalty, and amassing old veterans of Caesar.  

To further damage Antony's position, Octavian's  ally Cicero began disseminating the first of a  

number of speeches attacking Antony's  actions and character, the Philippics. 

Octavian's agents were successful in sewing  discontent among legions in Brundisium,  

as many legionaries saw Antony's actions  against Caesar's heir as disrespectful  

and insulting. Immediately, Antony rushed to  Brundisium to regain control of the situation.  

Octavian, nervous of what Antony was planning,  also left Rome, calling Caesarean veterans to  

his banner. He offered huge rewards  and soon had an army of thousands.  

With no legal right to command an army, he  justified it by calling them his bodyguards.  

He sent this force to Arretium and then started  waiting for Antony to make the first move. 

In Brundisium, Antony was  struggling to regain control.  

Octavian's agents had been effective, and  Antony's initial gift of 100 drachmae was  

laughed off. Infuriated, Antony rounded  up the ring-leaders and decimated them.  

This brutal action, combined with a larger  offered reward, was enough to temporarily win  

the legions back to his side, and Antony returned  to Rome, sending the 4 legions north to Arminium,  

joining with two more on the road. However, while  on the march two other Macedonian Legions, the  

Martian and 4th consisting of Caesar's veterans,  defected, pledging their loyalties to Octavian.  

Antony tried to win them back but was forced away  by arrow fire. Nevertheless, at this point in late  

November, Antony was in a solid position. He had  4 legions in Italy, Lepidus and Asinius Pollio in  

Spain commanded 4 and 3 legions respectively, and  Plancus commanded another 3 in Transalpine Gaul;  

Antony was confident that  they would side with him. 

Meanwhile, Dolabella had also begun his journey  from Rome to Syria collecting a small force,  

likely from Macedonia, to take up governorship  there when his term as consul ended.  

En route, he passed through Asia,  the province governed by Trebonius.  

While attempting to resupply, Dolabella  found all the cities closed to him. Furious,  

he attacked Smyrna where Trebonius was located but  was unsuccessful. Disgruntled, he began to retreat  

and was shadowed by Trebonius men. Dolabella's  scouts informed of this though, and he managed  

to lay an ambush, destroying Trebonius' force and  rushing back to seize the now undefended Smyrna.  

Trebonius was captured in his bed and beheaded by  Dolabella's men - the first of Caesar's assassins  

to die. With the year coming to a close, Dolabella  and Antony's terms as consul would also be ending  

soon. Antony, knowing he needed to secure  a governorship, sent messages to Decimus  

demanding that he give up his province, demands  that Decimus refused. Antony then left Rome to  

join his army to enforce his claim on the province  and was given a fabulous send-off by the Senate. 

Octavian, outraged at Antony's earlier betrayal,  also left Rome to join with his force in Arretium.  

He now also had a formidable force: effectively  2 legions of veterans and 2 of levies who had  

rallied to him, and the Martian and 4th Legions.  He too received a warm send-off from the Senate  

which hoped that two Caesareans would  wear each other down. Antony, marching  

to Cisalpine Gaul once again demanded Decimus'  resignation, and Decimus once again refused.  

Antony entered the province and began marching  on various towns, many of which simply open their  

gates to him, not wanting to be sacked. Decimus,  however, had 3 legions, two made of veterans,  

and a sizeable force of gladiators. He marched  to Mutina and prepared to defend the city. Antony  

arrived shortly, besieging the city and encircling  it with walls, just as Caesar had done at Alesia. 

44 BC had come to an end, and new consuls were  elected in Rome: Hirtius and Pansa. Both men had  

served under Caesar, but both were somewhat  moderate Caesareans, convinced by Cicero of  

the danger that Antony presented. Cicero was  doubling down on his attacks against Antony  

and in an impassioned speech in the Senate called  for Antony to be declared an enemy of the People.  

In an equally impressive speech, Caesar's  father-in-law Lucius Calpurnius Piso,  

who had been trying to decrease the  tensions during the last decade of wars,  

defended Antony insisting that his crimes were  not enough to be declared an enemy of the state  

and advocating for Antony to stand  trial. Despite Cicero's attempts,  

the Senate initially attempted to negotiate,  offering him the governorship of Macedonia,  

but Antony was having none of it citing  the vote of the People's Assembly. 

Antony's rejection played into Cicero's hands  perfectly, and he convinced the Senate to declare  

both Antony and Dolabella enemies of the state.  At the same time, Cicero ensured that Octavian had  

the legal right to command armies under the Senate  assigning him to assist Hirtius and Pansa, who had  

been instructed to raise troops to fight Antony.  Lastly, Brutus and Cassius were both confirmed  

as governors of Macedonia and Syria, with all  governors East of the Adriatic being instructed  

to assist them in any way they could. It was a  masterful play that returned the power to the  

Senate with Consuls sympathetic to their cause,  a large army in Italy, and the East secured. 

Brutus and Cassius were quick to seize the  moment. Brutus, having rallied support in  

Greece throughout 44BC, marched into Macedonia,  seizing it and capturing Antony's brother Gaius.  

Meanwhile, Cassius had leveraged his  incredible popularity in the east,  

a result of his heroic conduct in Crassus'  otherwise disastrous Carrhae campaign. With  

the Senate having assigned all eastern governors  to assist him and Brutus, Cassius had managed to  

gather a huge force of 12 legions and marched  to Syria, confronting Dolabella at Laodicea.  

He easily captured the town, Dolabella committing  suicide with the assistance of his soldiers. 

Antony's position, was now perilous,  but Octavian too was nervous,  

as, despite the imperium to command armies,  he was still outranked and subservient to the  

new Consuls, who could easily remove him from his  command. His primary motivation was to destroy the  

Liberators and the Pompeians, but it now seemed  that the Pompeian faction had been revived and  

in power. Still thinking that his best chances lay  with the Senate, Octavian continued to assist the  

two Consuls. Pansa was still levying legions, but  Hirtius joined Octavian, taking command of the two  

ex-Antonine Legions. With winter closing in and  Decimus running low on supplies, the two marched  

to his position to put pressure on Antony. Given  the quality of Antony's army, however, they were  

apprehensive to commit to a battle, preferring to  skirmish while they waited for Pansa's arrival. 

Meanwhile, in Rome, Cicero was effectively  in charge, pursuing a stringent anti-Antony  

policy and extracting heavy taxes from  Antony's allies, to raise war funds.  

However, he went too far, pushing one of them -  Ventidius, to rally 3 legions worth of veterans.  

With this force, he tried to make his  way to Antony, but finding the road  

blocked by Octavian and Hirtius, diverted to  Picenum to bide his time. Meanwhile, Pansa,  

having recently levied 4 new legions, marched  to Octavian and Hirtius in late March of 43BC. 

Antony, upon hearing this and fearing that  he would soon be massively outnumbered,  

decided to try and defeat his enemies in  detail. Leading two of his veteran Legions,  

the 2nd and 35th, a few cohorts of his picked  bodyguard, and a significant number of cavalry,  

between Octavian and Hirtius' armies, Antony  marched to the Via Aemilia, positioning  

themselves near the Forum Gallorum just outside  the marshes ready to ambush Pansa. He also sent  

smaller forces under his brother Lucius to harass  Octavian's camp, keeping him pinned inside. 

Fortunately for Pansa, both Hirtius and Octavian  had been cautious, Hirtius sending the veteran  

Martian Legion under Galba, one of Caesar's  assassins, and Octavian sending 2 cohorts of his  

bodyguard to escort the new levies. It was a wise  move. As Pansa's force marched through the marsh,  

they were harassed by some of Antony's cavalry.  The Martian Legion and Octavian's bodyguard  

advanced to chase them from the levies. On the  14th April, as they made it out of the marshes  

onto open ground, they deployed in a line but  were suddenly attacked by Antony's main force.  

It was a cunning move, with the Martian Legion  deployed in line in front of the marshes,  

they had effectively blocked the road from the  marshes, preventing the levies from joining them.  

The bodyguards of Antony and Octavian, both  in the respective center of their armies,  

engaged, while the Martian Legion, split in  two on either flank, engaged the 2nd and 35th.  

The officers of the Martian Legion, worried that  the levies would simply cause confusion and break  

the battle line, ordered them to retreat back to  their camp. Appian's description of the battle is  

harrowing. The three Legions that were engaged  were all veterans who had fought under Caesar,  

and the two sides bitterly resented each  other, seeing their opponents as traitors.  

According to Appian, the battle was fought in near  silence, only broken by groans of pain and the  

clash of weapons. There were no war-cries, the  veterans on both sides knowing that this would