her son from attempting the great deed and effecting a just requital, but still she did not venture to urge him on, because fortune seemed somewhat obscure.[69] She permitted his use of the name Caesar and in fact was the first to assent. Octavian, having made inquiry as to what all his friends thought about this also, without delay accepted both the name and the adoption, with good fortune and favorable omen.[70] This was the beginning of good both for himself and all mankind, but especially for the state and the entire Roman people. He sent immediately to Asia for the money and means[71] that Caesar had previously despatched for the Parthian War, and when he received it along with a year’s tribute from the people of Asia, contenting himself with the position that had belonged to Caesar[72] he turned the public property over to the state treasury. At that time, too, some of his friends urged him as they had at Apollonia to go to Caesar’s colonies and to levy an army,[73] inducing the men to join an expedition on his behalf by employing the prestige of the great name of Caesar.[74] They declared that the soldiers would gladly follow the leadership of Caesar’s son and would do everything for him; for there persisted among them a wonderful loyalty and good will toward Caesar and a memory of what they had accomplished with him in his lifetime, and they desired under the auspices of Caesar’s name to win the power which they had formerly bestowed upon Caesar. However, the opportunity for this did not seem to be at hand. He therefore turned his attention toward seeking legally, through a senatorial decree, the dignity his father had held;[75] and he was careful not to acquire the reputation of being one who was ambitious and not a law-abiding man. Accordingly, he listened especially to the eldest of his friends and those of the greatest experience, and set out from Brundisium for Rome.[76] 19. From this point my narrative will investigate the manner in which the assassins formed their conspiracy against Caesar and how they worked out the whole affair, and what happened afterward when the whole state was shaken. Accordingly, I shall in the first place rehearse the circumstances of the plot itself, its reasons, and its final momentous outcome. In the next place I shall speak of Octavian on whose account this narrative was undertaken; how he came into power, and how, after he had taken his predecessor’s place, he employed himself in deeds of peace and war.