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THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM

KEY INFORMATION

• When: 2nd September, 31 B.C.
• Where: Near Actium, Greece
• Context: The civil war between Octavius and Mark Antony
• Belligerents: Octavius and his supporters against Mark Anthony, Egypt and their supporters
• Commanders and leaders:
  • Octavius, Roman politician (63 B.C.-14 A.D.)
  • Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman general and politician (63-12 B.C.)
  • Mark Antony, Roman politician (83-30 B.C.)
  • Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt (c. 69-30 B.C.)
• Outcome: Victory for Octavius
• Victims:
  • Octavius camp: it is impossible to estimate losses
  • Mark Antony and Cleopatras camp: approximately 5,000 deaths

INTRODUCTION

On 2nd September 31 B.C., the fate of the Roman Republic was settled at Actium, off the Greek coast. Two Roman generals clashed at sea, fighting for the supreme power, with Octavius on the one side, son of Julius Caesar and defender of Rome, and Mark Antony on the other, who made Alexandria his capital. The civil war legacy of the conflict between Julius Caesar (Roman statesman, 100/101-44 B.C.) and Pompey (Roman statesman, 106-48 B.C.) reached its culmination.

13 years after the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Battle of Actium brought an end to a long period of internal conflicts within the Republic. The old aristocratic regime, which allowed the Senate to temper the enthusiasm of the ambitious, gradually crumbled during the 1st century B.C., leaving great generals with the means to control Rome. The victory of Octavius, who later took the name of Augustus and became the first Roman emperor, was the culmination of the process of the centralization of power and the lowering of senatorial prerogatives.

But, beyond the fight between two men, Actium also symbolized the clash between two worlds. Taking over from Julius Caesar, Octavius was a defender of the Roman power. Mark Antony, triumvir of rich but eastern territories, joined forces with the Egyptian Cleopatra and appeared as a Hellenistic monarch, breaking away from Romes authority. Faced with the fight between these two men, the ancient commentators believed they were attending the fratricidal struggle between the East and the West. The story is well known: the West emerged victorious, ensuring Roman domination in the Mediterranean for hundreds of years.

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

AN ASSASSINATION WITH HEAVY CONSEQUENCES

In 31 B.C., Rome had fallen prey to civil war for decades. Well before the Battle of Actium, several major politicians had competed to obtain supreme power. In the mid-1st century B.C., Julius Caesar managed to defeat his rivals: Pompey, Cato of Utica (95-46 B.C.) and even Metellus Scipio (who died in 46 B.C.) were all defeated. Although he had become the absolute master of Rome, Julius Caesar, at the Roman Senate, was stabbed to death on 15th March 44 B.C. This assassination plot was led by Gaius Cassius Longinus (who died in 42 B.C.) and Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 B.C.), Caesars adopted heir.

The Death of Caesar , painting by Jean-Lon Grme, 1867.

At that time, Mark Antony was still the faithful lieutenant of the late statesman, while Octavius was his nephew. Neither of them took part in the plot and they mourned the death of the dictator as his true friends. At the funeral, Antony spoke directly to the Roman people and managed to move them into remembering the military glory of the deceased. He also took the opportunity to openly accuse Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Moved by the speech, the crowd reacted violently: revolts broke out all over the city and the houses of the two culprits were burned down.

G OOD TO KNOW

The assassination of Julius Caesar was fomented by a group of aristocrats in response to the great power that the dictator had obtained from the Senate. The conspirators hoped to liberate Rome from a tyrant and obtain the full support of the people in exchange for this service to the homeland. Marcus Junius Brutus, carrying out the fatal blow to his adoptive father, betrayed his own, but remained faithful to the Republic. Seeing his son among the killers, Julius Caesar is reported to have said, according to Suetonius (Latin historian, 69-126): You too, my son.

Unfortunately for him, Mark Antony was quicker to influence public opinion and denounce an infamous plot: the two murderers were forced to leave Rome and take refuge in the East.

At the time, Antony was in Rome while Octavius was in Greece. When he learned of the sad news, he quickly returned: before dying, Julius Caesar had made him the heir of all his property. He thus became the most powerful man in Rome, as he obtained all the riches and the clientele of the deceased. As for Mark Antony, he remained the most popular. The rivalry between the two men was only just beginning.

AN ALLIANCE OF TRIUMVIRATES AGAINST MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS AND GAIUS CASSIUS LONGINUS

In 43 B.C., three men decided to join forces in order to defeat Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, who had reformed an army in Asia. The second triumvirate was born.

G OOD TO KNOW

A triumvirate was a political and military alliance created between three people. In 43 B.C., Mark Antony, Octavius and Lepidus (died c. 13 B.C.), a close friend of Julius Caesar, concluded this alliance. The triumvirs gained important powers for five renewable years: in particular, they were allowed to make a list of opponents whose property would be forfeited to Rome. This alliance was essential for defeating the murderers of Julius Caesar and preventing them from returning to Italy. Mark Antony and Octavius were forced to ally themselves, as they knew they could not defeat them alone since they had found large reinforcements in Asia.

Mark Antony and Octavius then went to fight in Greece after concluding their alliance. The meeting took place in Philippi (Macedonia) in 42 B.C.: Mark Antony managed to defeat Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, who chose to commit suicide rather than surrender, while Octavius was ill during the battle. The honor of victory was therefore almost exclusively Mark Antonys.

Subsequently, the three men renewed their alliance and shared the Roman world between them:

• Africa was given to Lepidus;
• The Western provinces (Italy, Gaul and Spain) were given to Octavius;
• The richer provinces (Greece, Egypt and Minor Asia) were awarded to Mark Antony.

At first, they administered political affairs on equal footing. Yet, each of them was already looking to satisfy their personal ambitions and hold the means to prevail over their rivals. Their apparent unity was reinforced by marriage in 40 B.C., when Mark Antony married Octavia (70-11 B.C.), the sister of Octavius.

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