Augustus

==== Proscriptions ====
[[File:Antony with Octavian aureus.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[Aureus]] bearing the portraits of [[Mark Antony]] (left) and Octavian (right), issued in 41&nbsp;BC to celebrate the establishment of the [[Second Triumvirate]]. Both sides bear the inscription "{{Smallcaps|{{abbr|III vir rpc|Triumvir Reipublicae Constituendae}}}}", meaning "One of Three Men for the regulation of the Republic". Caption: {{Smallcaps|{{abbr|m ant|Marcus Antonius}} {{abbr|imp|Imperator}} {{abbr|aug|Augur}}{{efn|"{{Smallcaps|aug}}" here refers to the religious office of [[augur]], not the title "augustus" created in 27 BC.<ref name="Sear"/>}} IIIvir rpc {{abbr|m barbat|Marcus Barbatius}} {{abbr|q p|Quaestor Praetor}}{{efn|[[List of Roman moneyers during the Republic|Marcus Barbatius]] was a moneyer.<ref name="Sear">{{Cite web |last=Sear |first=David R |title=Common Legend Abbreviations On Roman Coins |url=http://www.davidrsear.com/academy/roman_legends.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070730185143/http://www.davidrsear.com/academy/roman_legends.html |archive-date=30 July 2007 |access-date=24 August 2007}}</ref>}} / caesar {{abbr|imp|Imperator}} {{abbr|pont|Pontifex}} IIIvir rpc}}.]]

In a meeting near [[Bologna|Bononia]] in October 43&nbsp;BC, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the [[Second Triumvirate]]. Their powers were made official by the Senate on 27 November.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=16}} This explicit arrogation of special powers lasting five years was then legalised by law passed by the [[Plebeians|plebs]], unlike the unofficial [[First Triumvirate]] formed by [[Pompey]], Julius Caesar, and [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]].{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=15}}{{Sfn|Scullard|1982|page=163}} The triumvirs then set in motion [[proscription]]s, in which between 130 and 300 senators{{Efn|[[Appian]] estimates that 300 senators were proscribed, while his earlier contemporary [[Livy]] asserted that only 130 senators had been proscribed.{{Sfn|Southern|1998|pages=52-53}}}} and 2,000 ''equites'' were branded as outlaws and deprived of their property and, for those who failed to escape, their lives.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=16}} This decree issued by the triumvirate was motivated in part by a need to raise money to pay the salaries of their troops for the upcoming conflict against Caesar's assassins, [[Marcus Junius Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus]].{{Sfn|Scullard|1982|page=164}} Rewards for their arrest gave incentive for Romans to capture those proscribed, while the assets and properties of those arrested were seized by the triumvirs.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=16}}

Contemporary Roman historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir was most responsible for the proscriptions and killing. However, the sources agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|pages=19–20}} Marcus Velleius Paterculus asserted that Octavian tried to avoid proscribing officials whereas Lepidus and Antony were to blame for initiating them. [[Cassius Dio]] defended Octavian as trying to spare as many as possible, whereas Antony and Lepidus, being older and involved in politics longer, had many more enemies to deal with.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=19}} This claim was rejected by Appian, who maintained that Octavian shared an equal interest with Lepidus and Antony in eradicating his enemies.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=20}} Suetonius said that Octavian was reluctant to proscribe officials but did pursue his enemies with more vigor than the other triumvirs.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|pages=19–20}} [[Plutarch]] described the proscriptions as a ruthless and cutthroat swapping of friends and family among Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian. For example, Octavian allowed the proscription of his ally Cicero, Antony the proscription of his maternal uncle [[Lucius Julius Caesar (consul 64 BC)|Lucius Julius Caesar]] (the consul of 64 BC), and Lepidus his brother [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 50 BC)|Paullus]].{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=19}}