Octavius

inheritance and the adoption as to secure his personal safety. As all leaders do

though, he chose to continue on and he headed directly to Brundisium and the

large number of troops.

Octavius made his entrace into politics between April 44 and November 43

B.C. as a virtue of his adoption, as part of Roman custom. Octavius now assumed

the name C. Julius Caesar Octavianus. He then just called himself "Caesar",

which came to represent his first major political reinvention.

Brundisium troops joined Octavius' cause and as he moved toward home his re-

tinue grew in size. In mid-April he was finally nearing Rome. Antony paid no

attention to Octavius, perhaps dismissing the youth's actions as some sort of side

show. Toward the end of April, Octavius finally entered Rome but Antony

continued to ignore him and even kept Octavius waiting during an arranged

meeting in the gardens of Pompey. This exchange did not go well at all. Octavius

moves to have his adoption officially recognized was blocked by Antony. He also

prevented Octavius from standing for public office. As Octavius found favor with

the crowd, the tensions with Antony grew. As matters between these two came

to a head, they finally exploded. They fought each other continuously and in the

end Octavius came out on top. In 43 B.C. Octavius finally had the delayed ratifi-

cation of his adoption, paid out the remainder of the legacy of Caesar, revoked

amnesty for the Liberators and had them tried and convicted en masse and in

absentee on a single day.

Although this was a great feat for Octavius, it was