Cæsar was now master of Sicily. He had called on Lepidus to give him aid from Africa; but the latter, who was discontented with the smallness of his share, and insolent on the strength of the power which belonged to him, had delayed, and had only come over at last with a considerable army, when matters had already become very much entangled. He then began to quarrel with Cæsar for the possession of Sicily; and he seems to have been quite in the right, if in such a division of robbers there can be any question at all of right. But Lepidus had neither the respect nor the love of any one, not even of his own soldiers; and therefore Cæsar, who was his superior in determination and address, betook himself into his camp,—the boldest feat of his life!—and called upon the soldiers to declare for him. The thing succeeded: the daring recklessness of the step, perhaps also the feeling in favour of Cæsar’s adopted son, but more especially the hope of a great donation, such as Lepidus was not able to give, had its effect. Lepidus was forsaken by all the world. Octavian assigned him Circeii for his abode; and thus the whole of the west was united under him. In that dreary place near the Pontine marshes, which is only beautiful from the sea-side, Lepidus passed the rest of his life, having the title, but not the power of a _pontifex maximus_. The immediate cause of the war which ended with the fight at Actium, was the divorce of Antony and Octavia. The latter had brought to him very rich presents, military stores, and troops which she had raised for him, and had gone with them to meet him to Athens; yet he would not see her, but ordered her to hand over the presents to his officers, and then to go back to Rome. There, however, she was not to dwell in his house, although she had even the children of Fulvia with her; and when moreover she still went on living as his wife, he sent her a letter of divorcement, and married his paramour, which was a great outrage in the eyes of the Romans. The war now began under circumstances which left no doubt whatever as to what its end would be. Antony indeed had formerly been a much superior general to Octavian; but the best commanders were now on the side of the latter, who could also recruit his legions, which his rival had not the means of doing, as he ruled over quite different races of men, and could get nothing better than deserters to fill up the ranks of his army with. Where Antony seemed to have the advantage, was in his fleet; for the Phœnician and Greek nations were at all times far more seafaring than those of the west: had these resources been for ten years in the hands of an able man, they might have given him power; but owing to the carelessness with which Antony had wasted his means, they were useless. The fleet of Octavian consisted of the remnants of Pompey’s, and also of the ships which Agrippa had lately built: these last were small sailing vessels, whereas Antony had immense rowing