Battle of Philippi

In October 42 BC, two battles were fought near Philippi, a city in eastern Macedonia, between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian and the army of Brutus and Cassius, leaders of the conspiracy that had assassinated Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The assassins had gathered a large army in the eastern provinces, and Antony and Octavian, Caesar's political heirs, crossed into Greece to face them. In the first battle, Antony defeated Cassius's forces, while Brutus overran Octavian's camp. Misunderstanding the situation and believing the battle lost, Cassius ordered his servant to kill him. About three weeks later, in the second battle, Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus, who then took his own life. According to Plutarch, Brutus had earlier been visited by a ghostly figure who warned that they would meet again at Philippi. The battles ended the last serious attempt to restore the Roman Republic. Antony and Octavian divided the Roman world between them, setting the stage for their own conflict. Philippi later became the first city in Europe where Paul the Apostle founded a Christian church.