Do we know anything about Mark Antony's plans?

by TheDarkLordOfViacom

The battle of actium is usually presented as a big moment that ended the republic and established the empire, but did Mark Antony have anything different planned. I know he had land givin to his children, but did he have any idea what he would do if he became undisputed ruler of Rome?

cleopatra_philopater

I do not know of any accounts of his long-term plans for Rome, and it would be difficult, and a moot point to entertain conjectures about what his plans might be, or if he could have pulled off anything like the reign of Augustus but there are a few things to clarify.

First, even if Antony had succeeded in defeating Octavian and Agrippa he would still in all likelihood have had more resistance among Roman politicians than Octavian did, because he did not have the support of the Senate in the war, he did not have the same popularity as Octavian did towards the end of the war, and he had a worse reputation and political track record. His relationship to Cleopatra VII and their children would have placed further strain on his alliances and damaged his image with the populace.

Assuming he somehow did manage to accrue power in a similar fashion to Augustus and set himself up as a stable emperor, it is unlikely whether this could have held together or even if it did how similar history would still have progressed, but then again althistory is a somewhat absurd topic due to how many variables it contains.

Another thing is, he had actually been losing the war for a long time before the Battle of Actium, which was likely less important than it is portrayed as being in terms of securing Octavian's victory and some modern military historians theorize that the battle was actually a more a breakaway tactic. In any case, the battle did mark an important shift in the balance of power in the war theatre, it was far from the deciding factor.

Perhaps another can expand upon this or catch something I missed.