Actium
Actium ( ancient Greek Ἄκτιον action ) was the name of a flat peninsula opposite today's Preveza , on the right hand side of the entrance to the Ambracian Gulf . In the Middle Ages the peninsula was called Punta . Today Aktio Airport is located there .
Here it was around 600 BC. Sanctuary of Apollon Aktios founded by Corinthian settlers Anaktorions . 425 BC It was conquered by the Acarnans and became a covenant shrine . Since the 5th century BC The goddess Aktia appears on the coins of Anaktorion . The annual festival, the Aktia ( Ἄκτια ), was dedicated to her. From 216 BC. The sanctuary was under the supervision of the Akarnan Koinon . After the games from 27 B.C. Were relocated from Augustus to Nicopolis , the importance of the sanctuary declined.
The ports of Actium were often used as an anchorage for war fleets or as a travel station. A notable settlement has not emerged; one village is however attested. Actium was the station of the cursus publicus during the imperial era .
Actium was in the year 31 BC. The scene of the famous naval battle between the fleet of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus ) on one side and the fleets of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on the other. Octavian's victory brought the final decision in the civil war and led to absolute sole rule ( principality ). As a result, Augustus made Actium a symbol of his victory and rule. He enlarged or renewed the sanctuary and put a monumental consecration inscription. In addition, Augustus had denarii minted with various depictions on the reverse side that refer to the victory at Actium. These include the Apollo of Actium with kithara in hand and the letters ACT in the section and the Actium arch on the Roman Forum.
literature
- T. Blawatsky: About Actium's Slave Market. In: Klio 56, pp. 497-500
- Gustav Hirschfeld : Action . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 1214 f. (to the place).
- Emil Reisch : Aktia . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 1213 f. (to the festival).
- WM Murray: The coastal sites of Western Akarnania. 1982, pp. 266-272
- Daniel Strauch: Action. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , Sp. 415-417.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Strabon , Geographika 10,2,7 (451).
- ↑ Thucydides 4.49
- ↑ Polybios 4.63.4.
- ↑ Thucydides 1,29,3; Polybios 4.63.4; Livy 44,1,3; Plutarch Pompey 24.
- ↑ Cicero epistulae ad Atticum 5,9,1; epistulae ad familiares 16,6,2; Gaius Iulius Hyginus fr. 3.
- ↑ Strabon 10,2,7 (451).
- ↑ Tabula Peutingeriana 7.4
- ↑ Suetonius Augustus 18.2; Cassius Dio 51,1,2.
- ^ William M. Murray, Photios M. Petsas: Octavian's Campsite Memorial for the Action War (= Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. New Series, Volume 79, No. 4). American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia 1989 ( PDF ).
- ↑ Ursula Kampmann, The Coins of the Roman Empire, Regenstauf 2004, Augustus 2.25 and 2. 59
Coordinates: 38 ° 57 ' N , 20 ° 46' E