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====The Civil War====
Those who were involved in the assassination of Caesar under the command of Cassius and Brutus controlled much of the Easter eastern portion of the Empire. Antony and Octavian sailed with an army to confront their enemies and the two armies confronted each other at Phillipa in modern Macedonia or Northern Greece. Here the two armies clashed and over two battles the followers of Caesar prevailed. The battles had been closely fought and it was the personal bravery of Mark Anthony and the general Agrippa that ensured victory for the Second Triumvirate. The liberators and their ''Optimates'' allies all died in the battle or its aftermath<ref> Suetonius, Lives of the Caesar, vii</ref>. Brutus and Cassius committed suicide in the aftermath of the defeat.
The defeat at Philippi was a decisive one and it effectively ended the Optimates as a military force. While there were to be more civil conflicts the Senatorial elite were no longer active participants. Successive defeats and a series of proscriptions had decimated the old Republican elite and they had most of their power. Those who wanted to preserve the old ideas of the Republic no longer had the means or perhaps the will to prevent the concentration of power in the lands of one or two men<ref> Osgood, p 227</ref>. The assassination of Caesar was motivated by a desire to restore the old Republican system and especially the influence of the Senate. In fact, the civil war that ensued in the aftermath of the death of Caesar was to result in the side-lining of the Senate and those who believed in the ideals of the Republic.
