Today we turn back to 42 BCE, to the plains of Macedonia, where the fate of Rome was decided. The Battle of Philippi was not just another clash of legions. It was the final act in the long death of the Roman Republic. On one side stood Brutus and Cassius, men who believed they had saved freedom by killing a tyrant. On the other were Mark Antony and Octavian, men who believed they were avenging Caesar. Their struggle was more than a fight for power. It was a fight over the very idea of Rome itself.
What happened there would shape the next five hundred years of Roman history and leave lessons that still haunt every republic that forgets its purpose.
