I learned today about the Battle at Actium, Greece, and how that affected both the Roman Republic then thrown into war with Egypt and itself, and Cleopatra the Seventh, Pharaoh of Egypt and Queen of Syria, most famous for William Shakespeare’s play, Antony and Cleopatra, which is about the forbidden love between Cleopatra, who was rumored to be an evil sorceress who seduced the competent, charismatic, and smart general Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) into a bumbling drunkard. After the murderers of Julius Caesar were hunted down and either killed or exiled at the Battle of Philippi, Rome’s two most powerful men, Gaius Octavian and Mark Antony, were at each other’s necks. Antony was a powerful general of the Roman Army, while Octavian was Julius Caesar’s great-nephew and adopted son. Both men were part of a Triumvirate, a government with three leaders. They originally partitioned the land with a man named Lepidus, who was very wealthy. Soon, however, Lepidus got kicked out of the Triumvirate, leaving Antony and Octavian, with Antony “governing” Egypt, Greece, Syria, and Turkey and Octavian “governing” Italy, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), North Africa, and Gaul (France). Although Lepidus was originally governor of the provinces of Africa and Mauretania (Morocco, Tunisia, Northern Algeria, Northern Libya, and Northern Mauritania), after he got kicked out, Octavian took over. Octavian then declared war on Egypt and his rivals, Antony and Cleopatra. But, Octavian was smart. He told the Senate that he was going to rescue Antony from this evil sorceress who wanted to destroy Rome through her sorcery. The Senate was good with this, even the staunch supporters of Antony, for it seemed to them like Octavian was finally willing to make peace and help his co-governor. However, that was just a cover to annex Egypt formally into the soon-to-be Roman Empire. Octavian wanted to eliminate Antony and Cleopatra.
There had been a war for many months by now. Antony and Cleopatra were in Actium, Greece, waiting for the oncoming battle with Octavian by partying and embellishing more of the Egyptian navy with silver and gold. It’s not just a show of strength, it’s a show of wealth. The Roman Navy at this time had been sailing towards Actium, while at the same time, the Egyptian Navy was also cruising from Actium to face Octavian. In the center, Cleopatra’s ship stood, decorated with silver and gold, showing her wealth and extravagance. Finally, the two armies clashed. Egyptian archers fire from their ships, while Roman soldiers, trained for sword fighting, try to board the ships. It is unknown what happened next, but suddenly, the Egyptians flee along with Cleopatra towards Egypt. Seeing this, Antony retreats with the last troops, all of which are crushed by onboarding Roman legionnaires. Antony escaped however, and made it safely to Egypt.
The reason why this was such a decisive battle is because at Actium, it was the first time the Egyptian Army under Cleopatra had ever fled in the midst of battle without cause. It was also one of Rome’s few naval victories, the rest of which had been mainly accomplished in the Punic Wars. It would the way for Roman Emperors and their influence across the known world.
Anay Ganesh 