The Battle Of Actium

The Battle of Actium After Julius Caesar was assassinated on the ides of March, there was an capacious power struggle in the Roman Empire. Two men came reveal on top, and each was to rule half of the conglomerate. Octavian control Rome and the Eastern Empire, darn Marc Antony ruled the Western empire which included Egypt. Both men wanted control all told over the entire empire, but they in addition both k young that they couldnt undef block offedly do battle. However, Marc Antony made some tragic mistakes that led to open warfare.

It was rumored that Marc Antony and the Egyptian queen mole rat Cleopatra were having an affair. Months later, Antony divorced his wife Octavian who just happened to be Octavians sister. This not only spurred the wrath of Octavian but too the Roman pile. Whether or not by truthful delegacy or propaganda, Octavian as well as extracted the will of Marc Antony, which left his son by Cleopatra, Caesarian, heir to his half of the empire. This put the Roman people in an uproar. Responding to the newly born anger in the Roman people, Octavian declare a justum bellum or just war against the foreign queen Cleopatra and all who side with her, which conveniently included Antony. He also did this to avoid calling it a civil war, for the Roman people were leery about killing their fellow citizens.

The war was genuinely calm that year with only a few skirmishes. When over pass came, Antony set up his winter quarters on the nous of Actium and kept his ships offshore. His navy consisted of about 400 very heavy(p) ships. Each ship had 8 to 10 banks of oars and was as in height(predicate) as a 5 or 6 figment building. The ships were also fit with heavy catapults which were used for long place attacks.

When spring came, Octavian sent his conk to meet Antony at his winter quarters. Octavians fleet consisted of 400 undersize ships each equipped with iron rams. These ships had both or three oar banks and were extremely nimble and maneuverable. Agrippa, the most decorated admiral of the time, commanded Octavians fleet while he led his ground troops.

On land Octavian put down off Antonys supply lines and communication lines. He move his army across the Ionian Sea and occupied the Epirate bound which was located north of Actium. By doing this he could intercept all supplies and messages to Antony.

Finally, on September 2, 31 B.C.., Octavian gave Agrippa the go-ahead to engage in battle. Agrippa aligned his ships into 3 formations, and Antony seeing this did the same. Cleopatras small fleet was stationed behind Antonys and was to fill in the gaps in the formation. The two fleets met each other and the battle soon commenced.

Octavians small ships rammed into the sides of Antonys larger ships than turn ined. They made sure to avoid all(prenominal) melee combat or enemy archers and catapults. The battle raged and was broadly speaking uneventful until noon when the breaking wind shifted. Both fleets scurried to catch the wind and use it to their advantage, but Octavians smaller ships were able to out maneuver those of Antony. Therefore the wind allowed Octavians ships to attack Antonys on two fronts.

Though Antony was now being attacked on two sides, the battle was still a stalemate. Upon seeing this, Octavian clear- film editing to use fire in the battle. At first he didnt wish to use it because he wanted to pillaging the ships for money, but now he saw it necessary. The fire was lethally emotional and engulfed the large ships quickly. This also led to the deaths of many of Antonys men. They met their end in several ways.



They either leapt from the flames into the water, and the weight of their armor drowned them; or their armor was heated up in the flames and their skin swimming away; or lastly they died from smoke inhalation. Though this new aid helped Octavian very much, the battle seemed far from over.

Next, for an unknown reason, Cleopatra began to retreat. She skint through Octavians front line and sailed away towards Egypt. Antony this instant followed her and abandoned his troops, which meant they were left without a escapeer. Soon after this, Antonys center and left divisions surrendered in the traditional fashion of nip and tuck their oars. By the end of the battle, 300 of Antonys ships were burnt or sunk.

After the battle, Octavian built 300 shrines to various gods and goddesses throughout Rome. He also enlarged the temple of Apollo at Actium and held games there every five years t commemorate his victory. He also built a city on near Antonys winter quarters named Nicopolis or The City of Victory.

The battle seems cut and dry but there was more behind Antonys defeat than just bad tactics. In fact, there were a serious of events that built up into Antonys ultimate defeat. originally when the war was just declared, Antonys Roman officers wanted to retreat from Actium and fight a land battle. Cleopatra on the other hand, pushed for a naval battle believing that Antonys huge ships could never be beaten. Antony also kept his sails on board. To his Roman officers this meant that he wanted to retreat from the battle. Usually, sails were jettisoned before battle to make ships lighter. This lead to three squadrons of Antonys to not engage in battle. For these reasons, Antony befogged the battle of Actium.

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