by Ted Sherman

Created on: July 28, 2009   Last Updated: July 29, 2009

This battle was one of many fought by Mark Anthony against the forces of Octavian, who would later become the future Emperor of Rome, renamed Augustus. The battle, which took place off the coast of Greece in 31 B.C., was unique in that it was the first major conflict fought primarily at sea.

Anthony had succeeded Julius Caesar as leader of Rome, but after campaigning with Octavian in Egypt, they had a falling out and formed their individual armies and navies. The Roman Senate, which had at first supported Anthony, turned against him when they considered his first allegiance was to Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.

There was considerable evidence to justify their suspicions, because Anthony took Cleopatra as his own after she had borne a child, Caesarian, to Julius Caesar. After the Emperor was assassinated in the Senate by Brutus and other conspirators, and Anthony assumed the leadership of Rome, he spent much of his time in Alexandria with her. Some historians report that they were married in an Egyptian rite and she bore him three children.

After the Roman Senate outlawed and banished Mark Anthony, he formed a fleet of nearly 100 warships, that included those commanded by Cleopatra and his own Roman forces. They then sailed from Alexandria to meet the fleet led by Octavius. The battle at Actium proved to be a total defeat for Mark Anthony, made more distastrous when Cleopatra fled from the scene with her 60 Egyptian ships

Although Mark Anthony followed Cleopatra to Alexandria in an attempt to regroup and confront Octavian's forces, he failed miserably. Many of his officers and troops had already deserted him and joined Octavian. In great disgrace, Mark Anthony took the soldier's way out by falling on his sword. Some historians believed that he had another reason to end his life. It was in grief because Cleopatra had sent a courier to him stating that the Egyptian queen had already killed herself.

However, the most enduring truth or most colorful legend is that Cleopatra lived for several weeks after Mark Anthony died. Then, with enemy forces closing in on her palace, she committed suicide by being deliberately bitten by a deadly cobra-like snake, called an asp.
The two deaths cleared the way for Octavian to go to the Senate and demand he be made Emperor of Rome and Egypt. He was given the ceremonial title of Augustus (The Exalted) Caesar in 27 B.C., and served for 14 distinguished years.

History relates that, under Augustus, Rome saw many positive developments. With the defeat of the dissidents under Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, Augustus restored peace after almost a century of civil war. An engineering and architectural genius, he expanded the road systems between Rome and its colonies, thus the expression: all roads lead to Rome. Under his supervision, many of Rome's most magnificent buildings were erected, and his sponsorship of the arts was legendary. Literary immortals, including Ovid, Livy, Horace and Virgil, produced some of their most effective writings during the reign of Augustus.

The battle of Actium had a profound effect on the future of Rome. While it ended the highly-romanticized era that included the troubled loves and lives of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, it brought to Rome one of the most effective leaders in the Empire's history.

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