"Their heads were displayed on the rostrum"

What the actors thought of each other was already shown by their attire. Three armies of roughly equal strength were deployed. A small island had been designated as the place of negotiation for their commanders. Each was accompanied by an equal number of bodyguards. Before the talks began, they examined each other to see if one of them was carrying a hidden dagger. Only then did the meeting begin.

"They mortally hated each other, but feigned unity," the Roman historian Cassius Dio described the meeting of generals Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus in late October 43 BC. at Bononia (Bologna). Perhaps on November 11, the result was clear: With a temporary pact, they wanted to put their rivalry on hold and devote themselves first to their common enemies. The alliance went down in the history of the Roman Empire as the Second Triumvirate.

Actually, the count is wrong. Triumvirate, in German three-man commissions appointed for specific tasks, had long existed in the Roman Republic. There were, for example, the tresviri capitales, who were responsible for legal tasks, or the tresviri monetales, who took care of the minting of coins. These were state-legitimized bodies.

In contrast, the so-called First Triumvirate was a purely private enterprise. 60 B.C. The general Pompeius, the up-and-coming politician Caesar and the ambitious banker Crassus teamed up not to waste their energies fighting each other, but to pool their energies against their political opponents. Her success must also have been evident to the men on the island near Bononia. However, they also knew that the relationship was limited in time. Crassus lost army and life against the Parthians. Pompeius joined the enemy camp. His defeat made Caesar a dictator for life.

Now it was the turn of his heirs. After the assassination of Caesar in March 44 B.C. BC Mark Antony was the leader of the Caesarians as consul and close confidant of the dictator. However, this position was challenged by Gaius Octavianus, who had not only been adopted by Caesar but also made him the main heir. As cavalry general and commander-in-chief of several powerful legions in Gaul, Lepidus had the role of tipping the scales; he had probably also prepared the meeting at Bononia.

The fact that Antonius and Octavian got involved at all had to do with their military followers. For a war against the Parthians, Caesar had assembled a huge army, large parts of which were camped near Brundisium (Brindisi). Antony's original plan to join these troops in the fight against Caesar's murderers, the Senate in Rome and the dictator's adopted son failed due to the loyalty of the legionnaires. Octavian, using his new name Gaius Iulius Caesar, not only succeeded in recruiting troops from among the veterans of his adoptive father, but in winning over entire legions to convert.

Cicero, who had risen to become spokesman for the senate after Caesar's death, relied on an alliance with Octavian, whom he thought would be easier to include in a front against Antony. In fact, the young Caesar marched on Rome and placed his soldiers at the disposal of the Republic. In return, he was showered with honors and consular powers. Together with the consuls Hirtius and Panza, he forced Antonius on the defensive, who in April 43 BC lost the battle against the Senate army at Mutina (Modena).

But the consuls fell, leaving Octavian the sole winner and all the less reluctant to accept the role of a Senate puppet. However, his request to receive one of the vacated conulates was initially rejected by the Senate. When Octavian then marched on Rome again, the venerable body had to bow to military pressure. Caesar's adopted son received the highest office, and at the same time Antony's declaration as an enemy of the state was withdrawn. Instead, the assassins of Caesar, who built a power base in the east of the empire, were declared enemies of the state.

With this, Octavian had built a bridge to Antony, who had meanwhile joined forces with Lepidus. In Bononia the three men distributed the provinces. Antony received Gaul, Lepidus Spain and Octavian had to fight with Africa, Sicily and Sardinia against Sextus Pompeius, the son of the great Pompeius, who controlled large parts of the Mediterranean with his fleet. By Senate resolution of November 27, the triumvirate "to establish the state" became an institution of the republic, which was responsible for legislation and appointments to all offices for five years.

Furthermore, "they further determined to kill all their enemies," writes Cassius Dio. Following the example of the dictator Sulla, the proscription lists filled up. About 300 senators and 2000 knights fell victim to the murder squads, above all Cicero, whose name was set by his deadly enemy Antonius. "The city filled with corpses," writes Cassius Dio. “Their heads were displayed on the rostrum, and their bodies were thrown at the scene of the murder and devoured by dogs and birds, and thrown into the river (Tiber).”

However, the "second" triumvirate also followed his private example. After defeating Caesar's assassins together, Octavian broke all resistance in the west. Lepidus was initially reconciled with Africa and, as pontifex maximus, lost all influence but not his life. At Actium on the west coast of Greece, Octavian on the one hand and Antony and his mistress Cleopatra defeated in 31 BC. the decisive battle. Octavian rose to the rank of Augustus, but – unlike his adoptive father Caesar – during his long reign up to AD 14 he had the chance to give his sole rule a stable corset.

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