Perusine War

Perusine War
	Part of the Crisis of the Roman Republic
Date	41–40 BC
Location	Rome, Perusia
Result	Victory for Octavian, renewed alliance between Octavian and Antony
Territorial; changes	Octavian briefly loses, then regains, control of Rome
Belligerents
Roman forces of Octavian	Roman forces of Fulvia and Lucius Antonius
Commanders and leaders
Octavian; Agrippa; Salvidienus	Fulvia; Lucius Antonius; Plancus; Ventidius; Asinius
Strength
65,000	43,000 (8 Legions)

The Perusine War (also Perusian or Perusinian War, or the War of Perusia) was a civil war of the Roman Republic, which lasted from 41 to 40 BC. It was fought by Lucius Antonius (the younger brother of Mark Antony), Fulvia (Mark Antony's wife), and the Umbrians of Perusia to support Mark Antony against his political enemy Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus).

Fulvia felt strongly that her husband should be the sole ruler of Rome instead of sharing power with the Second Triumvirate, especially Octavian. Her prominence in the ensuing conflict was unusual for Roman society, where women were excluded from power and their political contributions rarely documented.

Fulvia and Lucius Antonius raised eight legions in Italy.^[1] The army held Rome for a brief time, but was then forced to retreat to the city of Perusia (modern Perugia, Italy). The Umbrians were sympathetic since some of their towns and surrounding land had been confiscated by Octavian for colonisation by his veterans after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 BC.^[2]

During the winter of 41–40 BC, Octavian's army laid siege to the city, finally causing it to surrender due to starvation when the besieged realized reinforcements from Italy or the East were not coming. The lives of Fulvia and Lucius Antonius were spared, and Antonius was sent to govern a Spanish province as a gesture to his brother. Antony exiled Fulvia to Sicyon, where she died of an unknown illness in 40 BC. She was declared posthumously to have been the sole cause of dispute between Antony and Octavian, whose repaired alliance was symbolized by Antony's new marriage to Octavian's sister Octavia. This arrangement collapsed eight years later, and Antony and Octavian resumed their civil war.

References

^ Brice, Lee L. (2014). Brice, Lee L. (ed.). Warfare in the Roman Republic: from the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-61069-298-4.
^ Keppie, Lawrence (September 1984). "Colonisation and Veteran Settlement in Italy in the First Century A.D.". Papers of the British School at Rome. 52: 77–114. doi:10.1017/S0068246200008746. ISSN 0068-2462.

[1] Brice, Lee L. (2014). Brice, Lee L. (ed.). Warfare in the Roman Republic: from the Etruscan Wars to the Battle of Actium. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-61069-298-4.

[2] Keppie, Lawrence (September 1984). "Colonisation and Veteran Settlement in Italy in the First Century A.D.". Papers of the British School at Rome. 52: 77–114. doi:10.1017/S0068246200008746. ISSN 0068-2462.

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v t e Ancient Roman wars
Wars of the Roman Republic	Roman conquest of Italy Roman–Etruscan Wars Roman-Aequian wars Roman–Latin wars Roman–Hernician wars Roman–Volscian wars Roman–Sabine wars Samnite Wars Pyrrhic War Social War Roman–Gallic wars Punic Wars First Second Third Illyro-Roman Wars Macedonian Wars First Second Third Fourth Roman–Seleucid war Galatian War Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula Celtiberian Wars Lusitanian War Numantine War Sertorian War Cantabrian Wars Achaean War Jugurthine War Cimbrian War Servile Wars First Second Third Bellum Octavianum Sulla's civil war Mithridatic Wars First Second Third Gallic Wars Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain Roman–Parthian Wars Caesar's civil war War of Mutina Liberators' civil war Bellum Siculum Perusine War War of Actium
Wars of the Roman Empire	Germanic wars Marcomannic Wars Gothic War Roman conquest of Britain Boudican revolt Armenian War Civil war of 69 Jewish–Roman wars Domitian's Dacian War Trajan's Dacian Wars Roman–Persian Wars Civil wars of the Third Century Wars of the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Military history of ancient Rome