30
BEFORE 1000 CE
1
CONTEMPORARY WARSHIP
This frieze from the 1st century CE
may depict a large Egyptian warship (the crocodile was a symbol of
the Nile), even though its gures bear arms characteristic of Roman
soldiers. The tower at the front of the vessel would have been used
as a platform for hurling missiles at enemy ships.
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31
ACTIUM
◼
31 BCE
The assassination of Julius Caesar in
44
BCE unleashed a violent struggle between
the Republican partisans of his killers, Brutus
and Cassius, and the defenders of Caesar’s
legacy, notably Octavian (his adopted son)
and Mark Antony. Relations between Antony
and Octavian deteriorated. Accusations that
Antony had promised his mistress Cleopatra VII of Egypt the cession
of several Roman provinces led to a nal rupture with the Roman
Senate, which declared war on Antony and Cleopatra in 33
BCE.
Octavian gathered an army and sailed for Greece to gain control
over Antony. By September 31
BCE, he and his deputy Agrippa had
seized key garrisons loyal to Antony and positioned themselves with
a eet of 230 ships north of the Gulf of Ambracia, where Antony’s
smaller eet of 170 vessels was moored. Antony resolved to break
out to save what he could and, on September 2, sailed out to open
water. His vessels engaged Octavian’s squadrons, allowing Cleopatra
to get away with their treasure. Antony then broke o with a small
otilla, leaving the rest of his navy to ght an increasingly desperate
struggle. Surrounded by Octavian’s marines, Antony’s heavy
ships were rammed, boarded, or set alight. His land force rapidly
surrendered, and by the summer of 30
BCE, when Octavian arrived
in Egypt, Antony had virtually no forces left. Faced with certain
defeat, he and Cleopatra committed suicide, leaving Octavian
the unchallenged master of Rome.
Actium
31 BCE
◼
WESTERN GREECE
◼
OCTAVIAN VS. MARK ANTONY AND EGYPT
REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR
Octavian’s victory at Actium enabled him to reshape
the Roman world. In 27
BCE, he induced the Senate to
grant him unprecedented powers: personal control over
key provinces, successive consulships, and the title
Augustus (meaning “venerable”). These changes marked the
shift of Rome from a Republic to an Empire, and Augustus’s
reorganization of the army (he dismissed legions previously
loyal to his competitors) rendered it answerable to him alone.
During his reign, his troops pushed the Roman border beyond
the Rhine in Germany and to the Danube in the Balkans. His
political authority, augmented by the right to propose and
veto legislation, enabled him to bequeath his position to
his stepson Tiberius, the second emperor, in 14
CE.
THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS
4 Augustus Caesar, founder of the Roman Empire.
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32
BEFORE 1000 CE
1
ACTIUM, 31
BCE
Although Antony was safe in the Ambracian Gulf, his
eet was trapped there. As battle commenced, he put pressure on the
wings of Octavian and Agrippa’s eet, which tried to outank him and
opened up a gap in the center through which Cleopatra’s squadron was
able to escape, together with a small number of Antony’s ships.
3
RAMMING AND BOARDING
This late-15th-century painting by Italian
artist Neroccio de’ Landi shows the masses of troops aboard opposing
eets at Actium. Roman warships typically carried dozens of marines;
the main tactic was to immobilize vessels by ramming or grappling,
after which marines boarded and fought hand to hand to take control.
In detail
On September 1, Octavian approached the Gulf of
Ambracia, but did not pass through its shallow entrance.
Intent on escape, Antony had burned his spare ships, leaving
him with mostly heavy sixes and nines (ships with six and
nine banks of oars respectively) to face Octavian’s lighter but
more numerous eet. Antony left the bay westward with his
squadron on the right, Marcus Octavius in the center, and Gaius
Sosius on the left, while Cleopatra brought up the rear. Agrippa,
Octavian’s deputy, at rst refused to engage, and a stalemate
ensued until midday. Then Antony’s left wing advanced, hoping
to draw out Octavian’s eet, and gave Cleopatra room to escape.
Amid a hail of catapult bolts, and volleys of arrows and
slingshots, the eets moved to close quarters, Agrippa doubling
his line to stop Antony’s heavy ships from breaking through.
Agrippa extended his line to the left to outank Octavian, pulling
Antony’s right wing northward, where it became detached from
the rest, opening a gap through which Cleopatra’s squadron sped
into open water. Seeing this, Antony shifted to a smaller vessel
(a ve) and about three hours after the battle began, he ed
with a few ships to join Cleopatra.
The rest of Antony’s eet fought on until nightfall, but they
were eventually sunk, burned, or captured. Although a few swift
liburnians (small galleys) pursued Antony, he drove them o and
escaped with 60—70 ships, eventually returning to Egypt.
Nicopolis
Anactorium
Actium
0 km
50 miles
5 10
10
15
15
20
20
N
Octavian’s
camp
Antony’s
camp
Octavian’s forces
Antony’s forces
Antony’s coastal
fortification
GREECE
Isle of Leukas
Ionian Sea
Amracian
Gulf
¢
Gap opens in
center, allowing
Cleopatra through
#
Agrippa tries
to outflank,
pulling his line
northward
¡
Cleopatra’s
squadron prepares
to flee
€
Antony draws up
his ships, with
Cleopatra’s squadron
behind them
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33
ACTIUM
◼
31 BCE
1
SOLDIER’S PAY
One of
thousands minted by Mark
Antony to pay his troops during
the Actium campaign, this coin
shows a Roman trireme with its
characteristically curved prow.
The legend beneath it refers to
Antony as a triumvir—one of the
three men (along with Octavian
and Marcus Lepidus) who had
shared power at Rome before
the Civil War broke out.
1
GODDESS OF WAR
This bronze prow-
tting depicting Athena, the Greek goddess
of war, is thought to have belonged to a
ship that was sunk at the battle of Actium.
The Romans saw Athena as the Greek
equivalent of Minerva, their own goddess
of war, trade, and wisdom.
3
FLOATING BATTLEFIELD
The Romans’ close-combat tactics
in sea battles were adapted from their particular style of land
warfare. This 1st-century
CE depiction shows the melee caused
by the combatants boarding each others’ ships at Actium.
About ve thousand men were slain in the action...
and Caesar took three hundred ships.
PLUTARCH, BATTLE OF ACTIUM
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