date_of_death marcus antonius primus
Gaius Julius Caesar ( ___MASK28___ July ___MASK52___ BC  15 March 44 BC ), known as Julius Caesar , was a Roman politician , general , and notable author of Latin prose . He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire . Marcus Antonius ( Latin : ; January ___MASK16___ , August ___MASK42___ , 30 BC ), commonly known in English as Mark or Marc Antony , was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from an oligarchy into the autocratic Roman Empire . Augustus ( ___MASK49___ September 63 BC  ___MASK15___ AD ) was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Emperor , controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD 14 . Marcus Antonius Primus ( ___MASK34___ / 35 -- after 81 AD ) was a general of the Roman Empire . Primus was born at Tolosa ( Toulouse ) in Gaul . During the reign of Nero , he was resident in Rome and a member of the Senate , from which he was expelled for conspiring to forge a will with Valerius Fabianus , and was banished from the city . He was subsequently reinstated by Galba , and placed in command of the Legio VII Galbiana in Pannonia . During the civil war , Primus was one of Vespasian ' s strongest supporters . Advancing into Italy , he gained a decisive victory over the Vitellians at Bedriacum in October ___MASK48___ , and on the same day stormed and set fire to Cremona . He then crossed the Apennines , and made his way to Rome , into which he forced an entrance after considerable opposition . Vitellius was seized and put to death . For a few days , Primus was virtually ruler of Rome , and the Senate bestowed upon him the rank and insignia of a consul , but on the arrival of Licinius Mucianus , he left Rome . Primus must have been alive during the reign of Domitian , since four epigrams of Martial are addressed to him . Tacitus describes him as brave in action , ready of speech , clever at bringing others into odium , powerful in times of civil war and rebellion , greedy , extravagant , in peace a bad citizen , in war an ally not to be despised . The Roman Empire ( Koine and Medieval Greek :    , tr . ) was the post - Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization , characterized by government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe , Africa and Asia . The city of Rome was the largest city in the world BC AD , with Constantinople ( New Rome ) becoming the largest around ___MASK84___ AD , and the Empire ' s populace grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants ( roughly 20 % of the world ' s population at the time ). The ___MASK84___ - year - old republic which preceded it was severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict , during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC . Civil wars and executions continued , culminating in the victory of Octavian , Caesar ' s adopted son , over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt . Octavian ' s power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title " Augustus ", effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic . Cleopatra VII Philopator ( ___MASK48___  August 12 , 30 BC ), known to history simply as Cleopatra , was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt , briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion . After her reign , Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire . The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic , a naval engagement between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on ___MASK40___ September ___MASK56___ BC , on the Ionian Sea near the promontory of Actium , in the Roman province of Epirus Vetus in Greece . Octavian ' s fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa , while Antony ' s fleet was supported by the power of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt . The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome . It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history , being established in the first days of the city ( traditionally founded in ___MASK10___ BC ). It survived the overthrow of the kings in 509 BC , the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC , the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD , the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD , and the barbarian rule of Rome in the 5th , 6th , and 7th centuries . Rome is a city and special " comune " ( named " Roma Capitale ") in Italy . Rome is the capital of Italy and of the Lazio region . With ___MASK40___ , ___MASK66___ , ___MASK63___ residents in , it is also the country ' s largest and most populated " comune " and fourth - most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits . The Metropolitan City of Rome has a population of 4 . 3 million residents . The city is located in the central - western portion of the Italian Peninsula , within Lazio ( Latium ), along the shores of Tiber river . The Vatican City is an independent country geographically located within the city boundaries of Rome , the only existing example of a country within a city : for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states . The Roman Republic was the era of ancient Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom , traditionally dated to ___MASK88___ BC , and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire . It was during this period that Rome ' s control expanded from the city ' s immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world . Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman / Byzantine Empire ( ___MASK12___  ___MASK51___ and 1261  ___MASK71___ ), and also of the brief Latin ( ___MASK51___  1261 ), and the later Ottoman ( ___MASK71___  1923 ) empires . It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great , after whom it was named , and dedicated on 11 May ___MASK12___ AD .