and Cleopatra were proclaimed "kings of kings"; the elder as king of
Armenia, Media and the Parthians, the younger as king of Syria, Phoenicia
and Cilicia. To their daughter, Cleopatra, was assigned Cyrene. These
arrangements aroused great mistrust and hostility towards Antony among the
Romans, who resented the partition of Rome's eastern provinces in the
interest of oriental potentates. Relying upon this sentiment, Octavian in
33 B. C. refused Antony's demands for troops and joint authority in Italy.
Antony at once postponed the resumption of the Parthian war and prepared
to march against his rival.

*The outbreak of hostilities, 32 B. C.* The final break came early in 32
B. C. The triumvirate legally terminated with the close of 33 B. C. and
two consuls of Antony's faction came into office for the following year.
To win support in Rome, Antony wrote to the Senate offering to surrender
his powers as triumvir and restore the old constitution. His friends
introduced a proposal that Octavian should surrender his _imperium_ at
once, but this was vetoed by a tribune. Octavian then took charge of
affairs in Rome, and the consuls, not daring to oppose him, fled to
Antony, accompanied by many senators of his party. Thereupon Octavian
caused the Assembly to abrogate the former's _imperium_ and also his
appointment to the consulship for 31 B. C. To justify his actions and
convince the Italians of the danger which threatened them from the
alliance of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian seized and published Antony's
will which had been deposited in the temple of Vesta. The will confirmed
the disposition which he had made of the eastern provinces in the interest
of the house of Cleopatra. Octavian was now able to bring about a
declaration of war against the Egyptian queen and to exact an oath of
loyalty to himself from the senators in Rome and from the municipalities
of Italy and the western provinces. It was this oath of allegiance which
was the main basis of his authority for the next few years. In reply to
these measures, Antony formally divorced Octavia and refused to recognize
the validity of the laws which deprived him of his powers.

*Actium, 31 B. C.* In the fall of 33 B. C. Antony and Cleopatra began
assembling their forces in Greece with the intention of invading Italy. By
the next year they had brought together an army of about 100,000 men,
supported by a fleet of 500 ships of war. However, no favorable occasion
for attemptin