In fact, Cicero privately expressed his regret that the murderers of Caesar had not included Antony in their plot, and he bent his efforts to the discrediting of the latter. In exchange for amnesty for the assassins, he arranged for the Senate to agree that it would not proclaim Caesar to be a tyrant, an action that allowed Caesar's supporters, known as the Caesarian faction, to remain a lawful force. Cicero and Antony then became the two leading politicians in Rome, Cicero as spokesman for the Senate and Antony as consul, leader of the Caesarian faction and unofficial executor of Caesar's will.