A consul and an Antony

Abstract The events of Antony’s consulship in the months following Caesar’s assassination are the central focus of this chapter. Topics include: senatorial business after the amnesty of 17 March; Antony’s speech at Caesar’s funeral; Antony’s coinage advertising his relationship with Caesar; Lepidus’ friendship with Antony and his elevation to pontifex maximus; Gaius Amatius Herophilus and the popular movement to divinize Caesar, including aristocratic backlash and harsh reactions by Antony and Dolabella; conventions and legislation regulating the execution of Caesar’s acta and Antony’s dominant role in their promulgation and subsequent implementation; accusations of corruption levelled against Antony and Fulvia; problems associated with settling Caesar’s veterans in Italy, including the role of Antony and his brother Lucius Antonius; Antony’s ambitious legislative programme, especially his controversial lex de provinciis consularibus; the advent of Octavian and the legal reality of his so-called testamentary adoption; Antony’s strained or adversarial relationship with other devotees of Caesar; Antony’s difficult relationship with Octavian; games celebrated by Marcus Brutus and games celebrated by Octavian; the appearance of the sidus Iulium; the deterioration of Antony’s relationship with the Liberators and consequently with Cicero.