| Battle of Actium | |||||||
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| Part of The Final war of the Roman Republic | |||||||
 The battle of Actium, by Lorenzo A. The final war of the Roman Republic, also know as Antony's civil war or the' war between Antony and Octavian', was last of the Roman civil wars of the Castro, 1672. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Octavian's supporters and forces | Ptolemaic Egypt, Mark Antony's supporters | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa | Mark Antony | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 400 warships, mostly small liburnian vessels and Hexeres with 16,000 Legionary Marines and 3,000 archers. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 31 BC was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra Agrippa redirects here For other uses of the name see Agrippa (disambiguation. Marcus Antonius (in Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N ( c January 14 83 BC&ndash August 1, 30 BC known in English as Mark The Liburnians (or Liburni, Greek: Λιβυρνοί were an ancient people inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern | 230 warships, mostly quinqueremes with some larger Deceres, 30/50 Transports and 60 Egyptian warships. A quinquereme (Latin or penteres (Greek is a type of ancient oar-propelled warship that was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later by the Carthaginians 2,000 Archers and 20,000 Legionary Marines. | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Over 5,000 killed; 200 ships sunk/captured | ||||||
The Battle of Actium was the decisive engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic between the forces of Octavian and those of the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The final war of the Roman Republic, also know as Antony's civil war or the' war between Antony and Octavian', was last of the Roman civil wars of the Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was Marcus Antonius (in Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N ( c January 14 83 BC&ndash August 1, 30 BC known in English as Mark It was fought on September 2, 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the Roman colony of Actium in Greece. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 31 BC was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. Actium (modern name Punta was the ancient name of a promontory of western Greece in northwestern Acarnania, at the mouth of the Sinus Ambracius ( Gulf of Arta Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Octavian's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the fleet of his lover, Cleopatra VII, queen of Ptolemaic Egypt. Agrippa redirects here For other uses of the name see Agrippa (disambiguation. Cleopatra VII Philopator (in Greek, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; January 69 BC &ndash 30 BC was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra
The victory of Octavian's fleet enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its domains, leading to his adoption of the title of Princeps ("first citizen") and his accepting the title of Augustus from the Senate. The Latin word Princeps (plural principes) means exactly 'a prime' Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was As Augustus Caesar, he would preserve the trappings of a restored Republic, but many historians view his consolidation of power and the adoption of his honorifics flowing from his victory at Actium as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial
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Prelude
The Second Triumvirate broke up due to the serious threat that Octavian felt from Caesarion, son of Cleopatra and Caesar. See also the Second Triumvirate (Argentina which held power in 1812 Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion (little Caesar Greek: Πτολεμαῖος ΙΕʹ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ Καῖσαρ Cleopatra VII Philopator (in Greek, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; January 69 BC &ndash 30 BC was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt Octavian's base of power was his link with Caesar through adoption, which granted him much-needed popularity and the loyalty of the legions. This political advantage was threatened when Antony declared that Caesarion was the legitimate heir to Julius Caesar, precipitating a propaganda war between the allies. The Second Triumvirate ended on the last day of 33 BC. Year 33 BC was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar.
The Roman Senate deprived Antony of his power and declared war against Cleopatra. The Roman Senate was a political institution in Ancient Rome. A third of the Senate and both consuls joined Antony's side, and in 31 BC the war began when Octavian's forces, headed by Agrippa, captured the Greek city of Methone from Antony's control.
The battle
The two fleets met outside the Gulf of Actium, on the morning of September 2, 31 BC, with Mark Antony leading 230 warships through the straits toward the open sea. The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf (Αμβρακικός Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 31 BC was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. There he met the fleet of Octavian, led by admiral Agrippa. Mark Antony's warships were mostly massive quinqueremes, huge galleys with massive rams that could weigh up to three tons. A warship is a Ship that is built and primarily intended for Combat. A quinquereme (Latin or penteres (Greek is a type of ancient oar-propelled warship that was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later by the Carthaginians The bows of the galleys were armored with bronze plates and square-cut timbers, making it difficult to successfully ram them with similar equipment. Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus Unfortunately for Antony, many of his ships were undermanned due to a severe malaria outbreak that had struck his forces while he was waiting for Octavian's fleet to arrive. Many oarsmen had died even before the battle began, thus rendering them unable to execute the tactic for which they were expressly designed: powerful, head-on ramming. The morale of his troops had also suffered from the cutting of supply lines. Antony had burned the ships he could no longer man, clustering the remainder tightly together.
Octavian's fleet was comprised largely of smaller, fully-manned Liburnian vessels, armed with better-trained and fresher crews. His ships were also lighter and could protect themselves by outmaneuvering the quinqueremes in Roman naval battle, where one objective was to ram the enemy ship and at the same time kill the above deck crew with a shower of arrows and catapult-launched stones large enough to decapitate a man. Prior to the battle, a general of Mark Antony known as Delius had defected to Octavian and brought with him Mark Antony’s battle plans. Antony had hoped to use his biggest ships to drive back Agrippa's wing on the north end of his line, but Octavian's entire fleet stayed carefully out of range. This is about the direction for other uses see North (disambiguation. Shortly after mid-day, Antony was forced to extend his line out from the protection of the shore, and then finally engage the enemy.
Seeing that the battle was going against Antony, Cleopatra's fleet retreated to open sea without participating. Mark Antony retreated to a smaller vessel with his flag and managed to escape the battle, taking a few ships with him as an escort to help break through Octavian's lines. A flag is a piece of Cloth, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used Symbolically for signaling or identification Those that he left behind, however, were not so fortunate: Octavian's fleet captured or sank all of them.
Another theory about the battle suggests that Antony knew he was surrounded and had nowhere to run. Antony gathered his ships around him in a quasi-horseshoe formation, staying close to the shore for safety. If Octavian's ships tried to approach Antony's, the sea would push them into the shore. Antony may have known that he would not be able to defeat Octavian's forces, so he and Cleopatra stayed in the rear of the formation. Eventually, Antony sent the ships on the northern part of the formation to attack. He had them move out to the north, spreading out Octavian's ships which up until now were tightly arranged. He sent Gaius Sosius down to the south to spread the remaining ships out to the south. Gaius Sosius, was a Roman general and politician Gaius Sosius was elected Quaestor in 66 BC and Praetor in 49 BC. This left a hole in the middle of Octavian's formation. Antony seized the opportunity and with Cleopatra on her ship and him on a different ship, sped through the gap and escaped, abandoning his entire force.
Aftermath
The political consequences of this sea battle were far-reaching. As a result of the loss of his fleet, Mark Antony's army, which had begun as equal to that of Octavian's, deserted in large numbers. An army (from Latin Armata "act of arming" via Old French armée) in the broadest sense is the land-based Armed forces Antony lost some 19 infantry legions and 12,000 cavalry under cover of darkness before he had any chance to engage Octavian on land. The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Despite a victory at Alexandria on July 31, 30 BC, more of Mark Antony's armies eventually deserted him, leaving him without a competent force to fight Octavian. Events 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian 's forces but most of his army subsequently Year 30 BC was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. Mark Antony then tried to flee from the battle. In a communication breakdown, Antony came to believe that Cleopatra had been captured, and so he committed suicide.
Cleopatra heard the news about Mark Antony and, rather than risk being captured by Octavian, committed suicide herself, on August 12, 30 BC. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 30 BC was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. She allowed herself to be bitten by a poisonous asp that was reportedly hidden for her in a basket of figs. Octavian had Caesarion killed later that year, securing his legacy as Julius Caesar's only 'son'.
Thus, Octavian's victory at the Battle of Actium captured sole and uncontested control of the Roman domains of the Mediterranean; he became "first citizen" of Rome. This victory enabled his consolidation of power over every institution of Roman administration, as "Augustus Caesar", marking the transition of Rome from Republic to Empire. The final surrender of Egypt and the death of Cleopatra also marks, for many historians, the final demise of both the Hellenistic Age and the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
To commemorate his victory over Antony, Augustus established the Roman festival Actia. In Ancient Roman religious tradition Actia ( Greek:) was a festival of Apollo, celebrated at Nicopolis in Epirus, with Augustus also erected a monument overlooking the site, which incorporated the bronze rams taken from the defeated ships. The surviving sockets in the stonework evidence the considerable size of these rams. [1]
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- Military Heritage published a feature about the Battle of Actium, involving Mark Antony, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus aka. Military Heritage is a glossy bi-monthly Military History Magazine published by Sovereign Media Octavian (Julius Caesar's 18-year old adopted son and heir), and Cleopatra of Egypt (Joseph M. Horodyski, Military Heritage, August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, pp 58 to 63, and p. 78), ISSN 1524-8666.
- Everitt, Anthony. Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor. New York, Random House. 2006.
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