WestVirginiaRebel
Banned
WI Octavian had been killed at the First Battle of Phillipi? Would Mark Antony have been able to secure victory on his own and return home to become Emperor? (or maybe it would have been Lucius Antonius?)
Anthony isn't going to declare himself emperor. Too much dislike of monarchy in Rome. He may rule as a king (although I would expect perhaps something more in the Sullan style), but declaring himself imperator is another matter.
On the other hand, this means that Lepidus is the only real check on Anthony's power, and I don't see them falling out, at least not yet. One wonders whether they promote somebody to fill out the triumvirate. Anyways, Rome probably gets divided roughly as OTL; Lepidus in the West, Anthony to the east. One can assume that, without being distracted by Octavian and Sextus Pompeius, Anthony has a free hand to prepare for the campaign against Parthia, and thus gives a better showing.
You have this exactly backwards. Anthony won't call himself 'king' because of too much dislike of monarchy in Rome. He may call himself "imperator", i.e., "commander," which implied something like general or commander-in-chief.
Octavian is out of the way but would Sextus and the other Pompeius and/or republican forces. Possibly Anthony might be more willing to come to some terms with at least some of those factors. [Could Sextus, as a link to the Pompeian/Senate faction be the third partner in a new triumvirate. If he has Africa and the islands, Lepidus the west and Anthony the east say?]
Steve