Sicilian revolt The Sicilian revolt was a revolt against the Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic which occurred between 44 BC and 36 BC . The revolt was led by Sextus Pompey , and ended in a Triumvirate victory . Context . Sextus ' father , Pompey , had been an enemy of Julius Caesar for many years , and this enmity finally boiled over in 49 BC with the beginning of Caesar ' s Civil War . Pompey was executed in 48 BC by the Egyptians , but Sextus and his brother , Gnaeus Pompeius , continued fighting until 45 BC , when it was clear that Caesar was the victor . After Munda Sextus ' brother was executed but Sextus himself escaped to Sicily . When Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15 , 44 BC , Sextus ' name was placed on a proscription list formed by Marcus Lepidus , Marcus Antonius , and Octavian , the members of the Second Triumvirate . The list was designed not only to fill Rome ' s treasury , but to help in the Second Triumvirate ' s war on the Cassii and Bruti families , and listed all of Caesar ' s other enemies and their relatives . Early victories . Upon finding his name upon this list , Sextus decided to pick up where his father had left off . He selected Sicily as his base , capturing several cities , including Tyndaris , Mylae , and the provincial capital , Messina . Other cities , such as Syracuse , gave in to Sextus ' revolt and joined his forces . Sextus soon became a serious force in the civil war following Caesar ' s death . He amassed a formidable army and a large fleet of warships . Many slaves and friends of his father joined his cause , hoping to preserve the Roman Republic , which was quickly turning into an empire . The multitudes of slaves joining Sextus often came from the villa s of patricians , and this desertion hurt the Romans so much that the Vestal Virgins prayed for it to stop . With his large fleet of ships manned by Sicilian marines and commanded by capable admirals such as Menas , Menecrates and Demochares , Sextus stopped all shipments ( especially that of grain ) to Rome , and blockade d Italy so as to disable trade with other nations by sea . This blockade was severely crippling to the Roman army as well as to the Italian Peninsula . Finally , as the Roman people were rioting , the members of the Triumvirate decided to recognize Sextus as the ruler of Sardinia , Corsica , and Sicily as long as he agreed to end the blockade and begin sending shipments of grain again . Sextus agreed , and also agreed to stop accepting fugitive slaves to his cause . This treaty was called the Pact of Misenum after Misenum where it was negotiated . Major fighting . In 42 BC , the Triumvirate defeated Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus at the Battle of Philippi . Once the blockade was ended ( after a short and rocky peace ) , the Triumvirate , especially Octavian and his right - hand man Marcus Agrippa , were able to turn their energies to Sextus , and began an aggressive offensive . Octavian tried to invade Sicily in 38 BC , but the ships were forced to go back because of bad weather . Agrippa cut part of Via Ercolana and dug a channel to connect the Lucrine Lake to the sea , in order to change it into an harbour , called Portus Iulius . The new harbour was used to train the ships for naval battles . A new fleet was built , with 20 , 000 oarsmen gathered by freeing slaves . The new ships were built much larger , in order to carry many more naval infantry units , which were being trained at the same time . Furthermore , Antony exchanged 20 , 000 infantry for his Parthian campaign with 120 ships , under the command of Titus Statilius Taurus . In July 36 BC the two fleets sailed from Italy , and another fleet , provided by the third triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , sailed from Africa , to attack Sextus ' stronghold in Sicily . In August , Agrippa was able to finally defeat Sextus in a naval battle near Mylae ( modern Milazzo ) ; the same month Octavian was defeated and seriously wounded in a battle near Taormina . At Naulochus , Agrippa met Sextus ' fleet . Both fleets were composed of 300 ships , all with artillery , but Agrippa commanded heavier units , armed with the arpax and corvus . Agrippa succeeded in blocking the more manoeuvrable ships of Sextus and , after a long and bloody fight , to defeat his enemy . Agrippa lost three ships , while 28 ships of Sextus were sunk , 17 fled , and the others burnt or captured . Some 200 , 000 men were killed and 1 , 000 warship s destroyed in the fighting which followed , with many of the casualties being taken by Sextus and his army and navy . Tyndaris and Messina were particularly hard hit , and the area in between was ravaged . Aftermath . In 36 BC , Sextus fled Sicily ( effectively ending the revolt ) to Miletus where , in 35 BC , he was captured and executed by Marcus Titius , one of Marcus Antonius ' minions , without a trial . This was illegal , as he was a Roman citizen , and therefore entitled to a trial . This malpractice was capitalized upon by Octavian when the relationship between him and Marcus Antonius became heated . An ill - judged political move by Lepidus gave Octavian the excuse he needed and Lepidus was accused of usurping power in Sicily and of attempted rebellion . Lepidus was forced into exile in Circeii and was stripped of all his offices except that of " Pontifex Maximus " . His former provinces were awarded to Octavian . Much of the vast farmland in Sicily was either ruined or left empty , and much of this land was taken and distributed to members of the legions which had fought in Sicily . What this accomplished was twofold : it served to fill Sicily with loyal , grateful inhabitants , and it promised to bring back Sicily ' s former productivity . 30 , 000 slaves were captured and returned to their masters , with another 6000 being impaled upon wooden stakes as an example . Timeline . 48 BC 45 BC 44 BC 39 BC 37 BC 36 BC 35 BC Sources .