Mark Antony sibling Gaius Antonius
According to the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, Antony's father was incompetent and corrupt, and was only given power because he was incapable of using or abusing it effectively. In 74 BC he was given the military command to defeat the pirates of the Mediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any significant progress. The elder Antony's death left Antony and his brothers, Lucius and Gaius, in the care of their mother, Julia, who later married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, an eminent member of the old Patrician nobility. Lentulus, despite exploiting his political success for financial gain, was constantly in debt due to his extravagance. He was a major figure in the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy and was summarily executed on the orders of the consul Cicero in 63 BC for his involvement.According to the historian Plutarch, Antony spent his teenage years wandering through Rome with his brothers and friends gambling, drinking, and becoming involved in scandalous love affairs. Antony's contemporary and enemy, Cicero, charged that he had a homosexual relationship with Gaius Scribonius Curio. This form of slander was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents. There is little reliable information on his political activity as a young man, although it is known that he was an associate of Publius Clodius Pulcher and his street gang. He may also have been involved in the Lupercal cult as he was referred to as a priest of this order later in life. By age twenty, Antony had amassed an enormous debt. Hoping to escape his creditors, Antony fled to Greece in 58 BC, where he studied philosophy and rhetoric at Athens.Civil War
The feud between Caesar and Pompey erupted into open confrontation by early 49 BC. The consuls for the year, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior and Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, were firm Optimates opposed to Caesar. Pompey, though remaining in Rome, was then serving as the governor of Spain and commanded several legions. Upon assuming office in January, Antony immediately summoned a meeting of the senate to resolve the conflict: he proposed both Caesar and Pompey lay down their commands and return to the status of mere private citizens. His proposal was well received by most of the senators but the consuls and Cato vehemently opposed it. Antony then made a new proposal: Caesar would retain only two of his eight legions, and the governorship of Illyrium if he was allowed to stand for the consulship in absentia. This arrangement ensured his immunity from suit would continue: he had needed the consulship to protect himself from prosecution by Pompey. Though Pompey found the concession satisfactory, Cato and Lentulus refused to back down, with Lentulus even expelling Antony from the senate meeting by force. Antony fled Rome, fearing for his life, and returned to Caesar's camp on the banks of the Rubicon, the southern limit of Caesar's lawful command.
Within days of Antony's expulsion, on 7 January 49 BC, the senate reconvened. Under the leadership of Cato and with the tacit support of Pompey, the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum, a decree stripping Caesar of his command and ordering him to return to Rome and stand trial for war crimes. The senate further declared Caesar a traitor and a public enemy if he did not immediately disband his army. With all hopes of finding a peaceful solution gone after Antony's expulsion, Caesar used Antony as a pretext for marching on Rome. As tribune, Antony's person was sacrosanct, so it was unlawful to harm him or to refuse to recognize his veto. Three days later, on 10 January, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, initiating the Civil War.  During the southern march, Caesar placed Antony as his second in command.
Caesar's rapid advance surprised Pompey, who, along with the other chief members of the Optimates, fled Italy for Greece. After entering Rome, instead of pursuing Pompey, Caesar marched to Spain to defeat the Pompeian loyalists there. Meanwhile, Antony, with the rank of propraetor—despite never having served as praetor—was installed as governor of Italy and commander of the army, stationed there while Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, one of Caesar's staff officers, ran the provisional administration of Rome itself. Though Antony was well liked by his soldiers, most other citizens despised him for his lack of interest in the hardships they faced from the civil war.By the end of the year 49 BC, Caesar, already the ruler of Gaul, had captured Italy, Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia from Optimates control. In early 48 BC, he prepared to sail with seven legions to Greece to face Pompey. Caesar had entrusted the defense of Illyricum to Gaius Antonius, Antony's younger brother, and Publius Cornelius Dolabella. Pompey's forces, however, defeated them and assumed control of the Adriatic Sea along with it. Additionally, the two legions they commanded defected to Pompey. Without their fleet, Caesar lacked the necessary transport ships to cross into Greece with his seven legions. Instead, he sailed with only two and placed Antony in command of the remaining five at Brundisium with instructions to join him as soon as he was able. In early 48 BC, Lucius Scribonius Libo was given command of Pompey's fleet, comprising some fifty galleys. Moving off to Brundisium, he blockaded Antony. Antony, however, managed to trick Libo into pursuing some decoy ships, causing Libo's squadron to be trapped and attacked. Most of Libo's fleet managed to escape, but several of his ships were trapped and captured. With Libo gone, Antony joined Caesar in Greece by March 48 BC.
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