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The Top Benevolent and Malevolent Dictators From History

Khalid Elhassan November 30, 2020 32 min

Augustus - Ancient Rome — 'The Emperor Augustus Rebukes Cornelius Cinna for His Treachery', by Etienne Jean Delecluze, 1814 - Augustus pardoned Cinna and gave him a government job. Van Go Yourself

8. After Removing His Enemies, Octavius Went After His Former Partner

After defeating their enemies, Octavius and Mark Antony swore friendship, and sealed their agreement to share power with Antony wedding Octavius’ sister. They then divided the Roman world, with Antony ruling the east, while Octavius stayed in Rome and ruled the west. However, the duo fell out when Antony fell in love with Cleopatra in Egypt, and married her, abandoning Octavius’ sister.

The future emperor used that family insult as a pretext to attack Antony. He defeated his former partner decisively in 31 BC, and became Rome’s sole ruler and de facto dictator. He then seized Egypt and the eastern provinces, which finally brought the entire Roman world under his control.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.