Mark Antony
Leader of the Caesarians

In the turmoil surrounding the assassination, Antony escaped Rome dressed as a slave, fearing Caesar's death would be the start of a bloodbath among his supporters. When this did not occur, he soon returned to Rome. The conspirators, who styled themselves the liberatores ("liberators"), had barricaded themselves on the Capitoline hill. Although they believed Caesar's death would restore the Republic, Caesar had been immensely popular with the Roman middle and lower classes, who became enraged upon learning a small group of aristocrats had killed their champion.

Antony, as the sole consul, soon took the initiative and seized the state treasury. Calpurnia, Caesar's widow, presented him with Caesar's personal papers and custody of his extensive property, clearly marking him as Caesar's heir and leader of the Caesarians. Caesar's master of horse Marcus Aemilius Lepidus marched over 6,000 troops into Rome on 16 March to restore order and intimidate the liberatores. Lepidus wanted to storm the Capitol, but Antony preferred a peaceful solution as a majority of both the liberatores and Caesar's own supporters preferred a settlement over renewed civil war. On 17 March, at Antony's arrangement, the senate met to discuss a compromise, which, due to the presence of Caesar's veterans in the city, was quickly reached. Caesar's assassins would be pardoned of their crimes and, in return, all of Caesar's actions would be ratified. In particular, the offices assigned to both Brutus and Cassius by Caesar were likewise ratified. Antony also agreed to accept the appointment of his rival Dolabella as his consular colleague to replace Caesar. This compromise was a great success for Antony, who managed to simultaneously appease Caesar's veterans, reconcile the senate majority, and appear to the liberatores as their partner.

On 19 March, Caesar's will was opened and read. In it, Caesar posthumously adopted his great-nephew Gaius Octavius and named him his principal heir. Then only nineteen years old and stationed with Caesar's army in Macedonia, the youth became a member of Caesar's gens Julia with the name "Gaius Julius Caesar"; for clarity, it is historical convention to call him Octavian. Though not the chief beneficiary, Antony did receive some bequests.

Shortly after the compromise was reached, as a sign of good faith, Brutus, against the advice of Cassius and Cicero, agreed Caesar would be given a public funeral and his will would be validated. Caesar's funeral was held on 20 March. Antony, as Caesar's faithful lieutenant and incumbent consul, was chosen to preside over the ceremony and to recite a eulogy. In a demagogic speech, he enumerated the deeds of Caesar and, publicly reading his will, detailed the donations Caesar had left to the Roman people. Antony then seized the blood-stained toga from Caesar's body and presented it to the crowd. Worked into a fury by the bloody spectacle, the assembly turned into a riot. Several buildings in the Forum and some houses of the conspirators were burned to the ground. Panicked, many of the conspirators fled Italy. Under the pretext of not being able to guarantee their safety, Antony relieved Brutus and Cassius of their judicial duties in Rome and instead assigned them responsibility for procuring wheat for Rome from Sicily and Asia. Such an assignment, in addition to being unworthy of their rank, would have kept them far from Rome and shifted the balance towards Antony. Refusing such secondary duties, the two traveled to Greece instead. Additionally, Cleopatra left Rome to return to Egypt.

Despite the provisions of Caesar's will, Antony proceeded to act as leader of the Caesarians, including appropriating for himself a portion of Caesar's fortune rightfully belonging to Octavian. Antony enacted the lex Antonia, which formally abolished the dictatorship, in an attempt to consolidate his support among those who opposed Caesar's dictatorial rule. He also enacted a number of laws he purported to have found in Caesar's papers to ensure his popularity with Caesar's veterans, particularly by providing land grants to them. Lepidus, with Antony's support, was elected pontifex maximus, succeeding Caesar. To solidify the alliance between Antony and Lepidus, Antony's daughter Antonia Prima was engaged to Lepidus' homonymous son. Surrounding himself with a bodyguard of over six thousand of Caesar's veterans, Antony presented himself as Caesar's true successor, largely ignoring Octavian.
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