The Battle of Philippi occurred from 3 to 23 October 42 BC in what is now the Macedonia region of northern Greece during the Liberators' Civil War. The forces of the triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian defeated the Liberatores Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus after two engagements fought at Philippi, and the Second Triumvirate ruled the Roman Republic until 33 BC, when Octavian deposed Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (followed by Antony's defeat at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and Octavian's creation of the Roman Empire in 27 BC).
Background[]
After the murder of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, the chief conspirators Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus fled Italy and took over all the eastern provinces from Greece to Syria and all of the allied eastern kingdoms. In the west, Caesar's former right-hand man Mark Antony, Caesar's nephew and adopted heir Octavian, and the cavalry general Marcus Aemilius Lepidus crushed the opposition of the Roman Senate and established the Second Triumvirate, bringing the armies of the west under their command. Antony and Octavian left Lepidus in Italy as they moved on to Greece with 28 legions (including Legio III Gallica, Legio VI Ferrata, Legio VII Claudia, Legio VIII Augusta, Legio X Equestris, Legio XII Fulminata, Legio XXVI, Legio XXVIII, Legio XXIX, and Legio XXX), and the Triumvirs met in battle with the Liberatores (whose ranks included Legio XXVII, Legio XXXVI, Legio XXXVII, Legio XXXI, Legio XXXII, and Legio XXXIII) at Philippi in Macedonia in October 42 BC.
Battle[]
On 3 October, the two sides met in battle for the first time, with Brutus' army facing Octavian's, and Antony's forces fighting against Cassius' forces. At first, Brutus pushed back Octavian and entered his camp, but, to the south, Antony defeated Cassius' forces. Cassius committed suicide after hearing a false report that Brutus had been defeated and that his ally Titinius had been slain; Titinius himself committed suicide upon hearing of Cassius' death. Brutus rallied Cassius' remaining forces, and both sides retreated to their camps with their spoils. On 23 October, Antony and Octavian's forces flanked and finished off Brutus' army after a hard-fought battle, and Brutus went on to commit suicide as well. Brutus' death left the triumvirate in control of the Roman Republic, but the triumvirate would later collapse, and Octavian would defeat Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and become the first Roman emperor in 27 BC.