The second object was the destruction of the republican forces. Now
Brutus and Cassius, finding their position in Italy to be desperate, had
retired to the East, where in Thrace they gathered an army of about one
hundred thousand men. Antony and Octavius pursued them with a still
larger force, and the two armies met at Philippi. The republican army
was totally defeated (November, 42 B. C.); both Brutus and Cassius
killed themselves.
The victors now divided the Roman world among themselves,--Antony taking
the East, Octavius the West, and Lepidus the province of Africa. But
the Roman world was scarcely theirs before they began to quarrel over
it. The feeble Lepidus never possessed much influence, and was soon
robbed of his share. After this it was quite certain that a contest
between Antony and Octavius could not long be delayed, and each began to
intrigue against the other.