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On March 18, 44 BC, on the day Caesar was supposed to leave for his campaigns to Dacia and Parthia, the Dictator was given a funeral. Crowds gathered to watch the popular leader be properly set off. At this moment Antony seized the opportunity to rally the citizenry to his side. He had the contents of Caesar's will read out loud, and the oaths taken by each senator to keep Caesar safe. The will included a donative of 75 Denarii, or 300 Sesterces, to each citizen, and that Caesar's gardens would be given to the public. In a final act to whip the crowds into a frenzy, Antony waved around Caesar's toga before them, torn apart by the attacks of the conspirators and covered in the Dictator's blood.

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The crowd began to rampage in the Forum, and Caesar was cremated on an improvised pyre. Antony had cleverly used the fragile mood of the crowd to turn the situation completely into his favor in Rome and force the conspirators to leave lest they risk being lynched. A civil Tribune, Cinna, was actually mistaken as a conspirator in the confusion and killed. The houses of the conspirators and their sympathizers were also attacked. One by one, Caesar's assassins left Rome starting with Brutus and Cassius on April 13. Decimus went to Cisalpine Gaul to assume his governorship, as did Trebonius in Asia and Tilius Cimber to Bithynia. Antony's plan, it seemed, had gone without a hitch.

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However Antony faced two problems. The most immediate issue was his Legionary veterans, expecting their grants of land and pensions upon discharge from service. Roman Legionaries at this time typically served for periods of six years, but could just as well serve much less, even less than a year. They were expected to serve a total of 20 years, though many in this period re-enlisted and became long-term service professionals. Antony spent a month out of Rome overseeing their grants of land and founding colonies for the veterans to settle on. His second issue came from overseas at the town of Apollonia: Octavian, who had been named Caesar's adoptive son and heir to three quarters of his massive estates in the Dictator's will.