WI Mark Antony defeats Augustus and becomes the main consul of the Roman Republic?

Lets say the POD is in 31 BC where in OTL Augustus defeated Antony at the Battle of Actium

Lets reverse that and say Antony defeated Augustus and Augustus commited suicide afterwards

What happens to the Roman Republic now?

Also, Antony was married to Cleopatra VII. Does this mean we have a line of Roman-Egyption Emperors?
 

Keenir

Banned
Lets say the POD is in 31 BC where in OTL Augustus defeated Antony at the Battle of Actium

Lets reverse that and say Antony defeated Augustus and Augustus commited suicide afterwards

What happens to the Roman Republic now?

Also, Antony was married to Cleopatra VII. Does this mean we have a line of Roman-Egyption Emperors?

nope; he divorces Cleopatra & takes a Roman wife, in part to shore up his political (and military) stability, and in part because he no longer needs Cleopatra.
 
It’s more plausible to have Octavian killed in the battle. Antony still had to be chased down in OTLine and didn’t suicide till a few years later. An Octavian who merely lost the battle would keep trying, not commit suicide.

After the Donations of Alexandria, Antony has burned his bridges and needs Cleopatra as an ally. Rome will probably only be his by conquest.

A lot depends on whether Agrippa survives TTLs Battle of Actium. If Agrippa dies, Antony probably will reach Rome and conquer it. If Agrippa lives, he has a good chance of beating Antony and perhaps even becoming the first Emperor.

Another possibility is Agrippa and Maecenas then throw in their lot with Antony. But I’m not sure the deal would last any longer than the first or second Triumvirates.

There’s also the long-term problem of Caeserion. If he’s got any of his father’s political or military ability, he will want to be in charge instead of Antony.

This won’t bring back the Republic. You can’t resuscitate a corpse.
 
nope; he divorces Cleopatra & takes a Roman wife, in part to shore up his political (and military) stability, and in part because he no longer needs Cleopatra.


He wouldn't need to divorce Cleopatra. Their marriage wasn't valid in Roman law anyway.
 
He wouldn't need to divorce Cleopatra. Their marriage wasn't valid in Roman law anyway.

True, a divorce is only an admission to a marriage in the first place.

If I were Anthony I'd wait until Rome was secure and then have Cleopatra and Cesaerion killed. Troops would already be heading to Egypt by the time of the first revolts. When the dust settled I'd take a wife with the right political connections.
 
He wouldn't need to divorce Cleopatra. Their marriage wasn't valid in Roman law anyway.

True, a divorce is only an admission to a marriage in the first place.

If I were Anthony I'd wait until Rome was secure and then have Cleopatra and Cesaerion killed. Troops would already be heading to Egypt by the time of the first revolts. When the dust settled I'd take a wife with the right political connections.
 
You're a line of coldhearted realpolitikers!!! :p

The ancient sources all agree that Antony authentically loved Cleopatra, actually so consumingly that it rose to the level of a tragic flaw. I like to imagine that there is SOME truth to that!

Would keeping Cleo around get Antony in trouble, domestically or even from her? Probably, yes. Antony's strengths were passion, loyalty, and dogged persistency, but he was never had the makings of the truly great, of a patrus patriae.

I think the Republic may struggle along under him because he doesn't have vision or strength to implement anything really different. When he passes, naturally or otherwise, it's anyone's guess whether someone (Ceasarion, maybe) has the strength and ideal position to refound Rome in his image; or whether the Senate had reasserted itself.

After all, making Ceasarion a "king" or something like it won't be as easy to disguise as making Octavian princeps senatus and imperator. The Romans constitutionally hated monarchy and especially dreaded Eastern despotism; Caesarion will inevitably conjure up images of both.

So no, of course the pre-Marian republic will never come back. But whether Octavian's style of empire is inevitable, I have to emphatically say no. It could be worse, or better, depending on the circumstances.
 
Another thing... Caesar authentically loved and relied on Antony. There were many who considered him Caesar's real heir, which was his strongest card. Even by Actium, a third of the Senate was on Antony's side.
 
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