1The Roman people had been robbed of their democratic form of government, but had not become a monarchy in the strict sense of the term; Antony and Caesar still controlled affairs on an equal footing, having divided by lot most of the functions of government between them, and though nominally they considered all the rest as belonging to them in common, in reality they were trying to appropriate it to themselves, according as either of them was able to seize any advantage over the other.