At first Antony and Octavius were at strife; but finally they became
reconciled, and associating with them Lepidus, the “master of the
horse,” the three formed the Second Triumvirate (43 B. C.), and
concerted a plan to divide among themselves the supreme authority. In
order to do this it was necessary utterly to crush both their personal
enemies and the forces of the republic.
To accomplish the first object, they began a system of proscription more
ruthless and bloody than that of Marius and Sulla. It is recorded that
three hundred senators, two thousand knights, and many thousands of
citizens were sacrificed. The most illustrious of the victims was the
famous orator Cicero, whose severe invectives against Antony had
procured him the relentless hatred of the triumvir. The aged patriot,
while escaping from Rome in a litter, was assassinated.