Augustus
Augustus' reign laid the foundations of a regime that lasted, in one form or another, for nearly fifteen hundred years through the ultimate decline of the Western Roman Empire and until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Both his adoptive surname, Caesar, and his title "Augustus" became the permanent titles of the rulers of the Roman Empire for fourteen centuries after his death, in use both at Old Rome and at New Rome. In many languages, "Caesar" became the word for "Emperor", as in the German "Kaiser" and in the Bulgarian and subsequently Russian "Tsar" (sometimes Csar or Czar). The cult of "Divus Augustus" continued until the state religion of the Empire was changed to Christianity in 391 by Theodosius I. Consequently, there are many excellent statues and busts of the first emperor. He had composed an account of his achievements, the "Res Gestae Divi Augusti", to be inscribed in bronze in front of his mausoleum. Copies of the text were inscribed throughout the Empire upon his death. The inscriptions in Latin featured translations in Greek beside it, and were inscribed on many public edifices, such as the temple in Ankara dubbed the "Monumentum Ancyranum", called the "queen of inscriptions" by historian Theodor Mommsen.
Mark Antony
While Antony was serving Gabinius in the East, the domestic political situation had changed in Rome. In 60 BC, a secret agreement (known as the "First Triumvirate") was entered into between three men to control the Republic: Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, and Gaius Julius Caesar. Crassus, Rome's wealthiest man, had defeated the slave rebellion of Spartacus in 70 BC; Pompey conquered much of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 60's BC; Caesar was Rome's Pontifex Maximus and a former general in Spain. In 59 BC, Caesar, with funding from Crassus, was elected Consul to pursue legislation favorable to Crassus and Pompey's interests. In return, Caesar was assigned the governorship of Illyricum, Cisalpine Gaul, and Transalpine Gaul for five years beginning in 58 BC. Caesar used his governorship as a launching point for his conquest of free Gaul. In 55 BC, Crassus and Pompey served as Consuls while Caesar's command was extended for another five years. Rome was effectively under the absolute power of these three men. The Triumvirate used the demagogue Publius Clodius Pulcher, Antony's patron, to exile their political rivals, notably Cicero and Cato the Younger.