Battle of Actium

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Battle of Actium
Part of: Ptolemaic War
Tactical representation of the Battle of Actium
Tactical representation of the Battle of Actium
date September 2, 31 BC Chr.
place Actium , Greece
output Octavian's victory
Parties to the conflict

Roman supporters of Octavian

Roman supporters of Antony
Egypt

Commander

Octavian ,
Marcus Agrippa ,
Lucius Arruntius ,
Marcus Lurius ,
Titus Statilius Taurus

Marcus Antonius ,
Cleopatra VII. ,
Lucius Gellius Publicola ,
Marcus Octavius,
Marcus Insteius ,
Publius Canidius Crassus ,
Gaius Caelius

Troop strength
80,000 infantry,
12,000 horsemen,
400 light warships 		Approx. 110,000 infantry,
12,000 horsemen,
170 warships,
60 auxiliary ships
losses

unknown

at least 5,000 men

Relief part of a tomb from the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, which was built by a citizen from Praeneste who was probably in Octavian's fleet at Actium 31 BC. Had fought victoriously

The Battle of Actium , which took place on September 2, 31 BC. Took place at the exit of the Ambracian Gulf off the west coast of Greece , sealed the end of the Roman Republic . Octavian, who later became Emperor Augustus , defeated his opponent Marcus Antonius and the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII in this naval battle with the help of Marcus Agrippa , thereby securing sole rule in the Roman Empire .

prehistory

After Gaius Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. His great-nephew and adopted son Octavian and his long-time followers Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed the second triumvirate that usurped control of the republic. Octavian and Antonius defeated in October / November 42 BC. The two leading murderers of Caesar, Marcus Iunius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in the battle of Philippi . After Lepidus 36 BC In the wake of the fighting against Sextus Pompeius in Sicily in the wake of the fighting against Sextus Pompey in Sicily, tensions grew in the following years between Octavian, who ruled the west of the empire, and Antonius, who controlled the east.

Antony left Octavian's sister Octavia , whom he had married to strengthen their alliance, in favor of a relationship with the Ptolemaic Cleopatra, to whom he promised parts of the Roman Empire for her descendants. Octavian took advantage of Antony's turn to the Hellenistic East, where he was celebrated as the new Dionysus , for propaganda purposes , for example by illegally publishing his rival's will. So he stirred up the aversion to Antony among the Senate and the people of Rome. A further extension of the triumvirate by the Senate was therefore no longer an option. The open break occurred in 32 BC. When, after a show of power by Octavian, some of the senators, including the two incumbent consuls , Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sosius , left Rome and went to Antony and Cleopatra in Ephesus .

In Greece there was a decisive conflict between the triumvirs. At the beginning of the year 31 BC Octavian's Admiral Agrippa sailed the Ionian Sea , captured the Methone naval base and drove Antonius' crew from the island of Corfu . He then threatened Antony's armed forces and enabled Octavian to land unhindered on the Greek coast with the main army of 80,000 soldiers and 12,000 horsemen and to reach Toryne in Epirus in a few days . Together Agrippa and Octavian now included the main part of the enemy ships that were assembled in the nearby Ambracian Gulf near the Greek port city of Aktion ( Latinized Actium ). Mark Antony, apparently surprised by the rapid action of his opponent and cut off from supplies, could hardly feed his troops and lost numerous men to hunger and desertions . He repeatedly offered his opponents a land battle in vain.

War council decision for the sea battle

In the heat of the Greek summer, the swampy climate of Actium caused more and more soldiers of Antonius to become ill. Many fell victim to hunger and disease. On the other hand, Octavian's army had taken up a healthy position and could be adequately supplied. But since Antony saw his fleet locked in the Bay of Actium, he could not lead his army to a better region without surrendering his ships. Accordingly, the months-long blockade caused desertions - including those of allied princes - to increase and Antonius had actual or alleged defectors executed. In addition, there were only superficially concealed conflicts between the Romans who wanted to remove Cleopatra from Antony's headquarters and the proponents of the Egyptian queen's further participation in the war. Since all attempts to break through the blockade failed and the position had become untenable, Antonius decided at the end of August 31 BC. To hold a council of war on the further course of action. One last attempt at liberation had to be made with all available strength in order not to perish completely from epidemics and hunger.

In the council of war, different opinions clashed about the tactics to be chosen. According to Cleopatra's proposal, the breakthrough through the enemy lines was to be achieved by means of a sea battle. Publius Canidius Crassus , in command of the land forces, took the view that Cleopatra should be sent home and marched off by land via Thrace or Macedonia . After all, Octavian had gained a lot of experience in this discipline through his years of but ultimately successful sea war against Sextus Pompeius , while Antonius still had a large, excellent land army and just as much routine in war on land. But Cleopatra did not want to know anything about Canidius' suggestion, since she would then have seen Egypt unprotected and would have had to part with Antonius; besides, Antony's entire fleet would have been lost without a fight.

Finally, Antonius accepted Cleopatra's proposal in the council of war and decided to risk a sea battle with some of his ships to break up the blockade and, if successful, sail back to Egypt, while Canidius should try to withdraw overland with his troops. Because of Octavian's military superiority after the course of the war so far, Antonius did not expect a victory from the beginning, but only planned the breakthrough and retreat described by the imperial historian Cassius Dio - the best informant for the battle of Actium - to subside the war later more favorable conditions to continue. In the fact that Cleopatra actually managed to escape with her ships during the battle and her Antonius followed (see below), there was no betrayal by the Egyptian queen or a cowardly flight by Antonius out of love for Cleopatra - as is the case with many researchers in the 19th century based on the representation of Plutarch , Velleius Paterculus and partly also Cassius Dio assumed - but it was about the implementation of the war council decision. Johannes Kromayer in particular showed this in several studies at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century and is widely accepted today.

In order not to discourage his soldiers and allies, Antony made it appear that he was preparing for a victory and not for an escape. Since he had already lost many rowers and therefore could no longer man the entire fleet, he had all but 170 warships burned because no remaining vehicles should fall into the hands of his opponent. Cleopatra was also allowed to keep 60 of her ships with which she had to line up behind the battle line. The Triumvir selected 20,000 selected soldiers and 2,000 archers from its land forces and had them distributed among its warships. In addition, he secretly had the war chest brought on board at night and, contrary to the usual naval battle technique, took the mainsail with him, which made his overloaded ships even more inaccessible and heavier, but were necessary after the blockade had been successfully breached to be able to sail to Egypt. This also shows that Antony was mainly thinking of an escape. Of course, he claimed that he needed the mainsail so that no enemy ship could escape after his victory.

Antonius 'confidante Quintus Dellius , who took part in the council of war and had changed fronts in good time in earlier wars, did so this time too and revealed Octavian Antonius' war plan. The decision that Octavian then wanted to make - to let Antonius escape without a fight in order to make his escape intentions generally evident, then to pursue him and ambush him in the rear - could Agrippa talk him out of the fact that Antonius' ships were difficult to overtake Mainsailing drew attention and advised instead to immediately venture into the sea battle that could only be won. With this opinion Agrippa prevailed.

course

First of all, a strong storm prevented the battle from taking place for four days, which therefore only took place on the fifth day, September 2, 31 BC. After the onset of better weather took place. The left (south) wing of Antonius' fleet was commanded by Gaius Sosius , who faced Octavian and Marcus Lurius , while Antonius (together with Lucius Gellius Publicola ) acted as the commander of the right (north) wing opposite Agrippa. In the center, on the side of the Antonians, Marcus Octavius ​​and Marcus Insteius , and on Octavian's side, Lucius Arruntius .

In terms of numbers, Octavian's armed forces were more than twice as good as those of the enemy, as he still had 400 warships manned with more than eight legions. The types of ships chosen by the triumvirs varied widely: Antonius' ships were much larger and taller; they had up to ten rows of oars, which made them rather cumbersome. But Octavian's much smaller vehicles ( Liburnians ) could be littered with projectiles and large stones from the tower structures . The Liburnians had to approach floating fortresses, but were much more agile. While they were sailing by quickly, they could destroy the rudder and rudder of the enemy colossi so that they could no longer be steered. A fight in shallow water was more advantageous for Antonius, because in this case the Liburnians could not show their agility to the full and could be hit more easily with the projectiles, while the opposite effect would occur in a fight in the open and deep sea. However, the historian Christoph Schäfer believes - partly due to the comment of the Roman historian Florus that Octavian's ships had two to six rows of oars - that Antonius' ships were not as much larger than those of his opponent, as the Octavian-friendly sources claim. Presumably, the Caesar heir has now reused the relatively large watercraft that he had successfully used in the war against Sextus Pompeius ; added to this were the smaller Liburnians, which he captured from the pirate peoples in the Illyrian War (35–33 BC).

After Antony's squadron had rowed out through the strait at Actium, it took up position in a semicircle near the western entrance to the Ambracian Gulf. The ships were so closely spaced that the enemy could not get between them; besides, they were so close to the bank that they could not be outflanked from the side. Behind the center were the 60 ships of Cleopatra with the war chest and with a special escort for the flagship Antonias , on whose board the Queen herself stayed with huge treasures. According to the plan, the fleet should not go straight out, but wait for the opponent's storm until it was so far carried away by gunfire that with the emergence of the wind blowing daily at noon from the north-west, the attempt to blow up the blockade could be attempted, and then with sailing south in this favorable wind.

But Agrippa - the real leader on Octavian's side - did not think of opening the offensive, but instead let his fleet remain in place for the whole morning at a distance of more than a kilometer from the enemy. Eventually, around noon, Sosius got impatient and launched an attack without receiving such an order from Antonius. Octavian's ships initially withdrew further into the open sea without resistance, as deep water came towards them during battle. They achieved their goal that Sosius would pursue them. Therefore, Antonius also had to move up with his ships to prevent the dissolution of his battle order. When Agrippa had lured the enemy far enough away from the coast, he turned and launched his fleet into an encircling attack, which seemed easily possible due to its much larger number of ships. Therefore, Antony had no choice but to extend his battle line on both wings as well. But because he had far fewer ships available, the more agile Liburnians soon succeeded in passing between the enemy colossi, which were now considerably further apart, ramming them and damaging their rudder and rudder systems, rendering them completely unable to maneuver. Only after each of these attacks they had to retreat quickly in order not to be hit by too many stones and arrows, which the Antonians shot down from the high towers of their ships, or even to be boarded by the enemy. Often several Liburnians attacked the great ships of Antonius individually without being able to sink them too quickly, while conversely they seldom suffered great damage even from the Antonians.

Depiction of the Battle of Actium by Lorenzo A. Castro , 1672

The ships of the Egyptian queen stayed behind the battle line and did not take part in the battle. When the battle was still undecided, after a reconstruction, as hoped, a gap arose between the center of the battle line and the right wing of Antony, which Cleopatra's high-speed sailors now pierced at full speed in order to quickly escape south with the northwesterly wind that was now emerging. The maneuver actually succeeded and Cleopatra set a course for Egypt. Then Antonius disembarked his flagship, which was probably involved in a fight, and boarded a five-oarser with a few companions. He too was able to get through the fighting ships and follow Cleopatra until he was taken aboard her ship, where he sat dejected and allegedly did not speak to his lover for three days.

Antonius thus achieved his primary goal of bringing himself, Cleopatra and the war chest to safety, but about three quarters of his ships could no longer break away from the enemy in order to escape sailing. But they continued to offer fierce resistance to the opponents. So Octavian finally had the remaining enemy fleet bombarded with incendiary arrows and glowing coals and pitch pots thrown from machines, an action which he had wanted to avoid in order to be able to seize the expected valuable cargo. Many Antonians, who mostly tried in vain to put out the fires, burned helplessly on their ships or suffocated in the thick smoke; still others committed suicide beforehand or drowned after jumping into the sea. At around 5 p.m. the battle of Actium ended with this conflagration. After the sinking of about 30 to 40 ships of Antonius, the rest of his remaining ships capitulated. At least 5000 of Antony's men had lost their lives in this battle.

The troops stationed on land had only been bystanders of the battle. After the outcome was clear, Canidius Crassus left his camp to the enemy without a fight and set off with his 19 legions on the retreat to Macedonia, but was caught up and fled after seven days, whereupon the leaderless army also surrendered without a fight after negotiating favorable peace conditions. Overall, the battle of Actium ended with a clear defeat of Antony and Cleopatra.

consequences

The Roman civil war was largely decided after the battle of Actium, especially since not only the strong associations of Canidius had surrendered, but also Antonius' client rulers soon switched to Octavian's side. Antony and Cleopatra had to retreat to Alexandria . The following year Octavian moved to Syria via Corinth , was now supported by the Jewish King Herod , and marched into Egypt via the Sinai Peninsula . After Antony had triumphed again in an equestrian battle at the Hippodrome near Alexandria, the Egyptian cavalry and fleet ran over to Octavian at the decisive battle the next day (August 1, 30 BC according to the Julian calendar), who now took Alexandria. On the same day Antony committed suicide, Cleopatra followed a few days later. Octavian won the new province of Aegyptus as personal property and placed it under the administration of a knightly praefectus Aegypti . From 27 BC As Augustus, he held a position of power that, in retrospect, made him appear as the first Roman emperor , whose empire, for which he laid the foundation stone, was to last for over 400 years.

Based on the gods highlighted by Octavian and Antonius, the battle, the decisive significance of which probably only became clear later, was portrayed as Apollo's victory over Dionysus , based on the propagandistic portrayal of their conflict as a war between Rome and the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra as the triumph of Italy over Egypt or the victory of the West over the decadent East. These subsequent excesses are likely on September 2, 31 BC. The British ancient historian Ronald Syme speaks of a "shabby affair" in connection with the battle itself, even more polemically. Its aftermath in the form of the Roman imperial era , however, let its less glorious course fade into the background.

literature

  • Joachim Brambach: Cleopatra . Diederichs, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-424-01239-4 , pp. 299-311 .
  • John Mackenzie Carter: The Battle of Aktium. Rise and triumph of the emperor Augustus . Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1972, ISBN 3-7653-0245-7 .
  • Manfred Clauss : Cleopatra . Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-39009-9 , pp. 90-98 .
  • Michael Grant : Cleopatra. A biography . Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1998, ISBN 3-404-61416-X , p. 287–297 (German first 1977).
  • Johannes Kromayer: The campaign of Actium and the so-called betrayal of Cleopatra (Small researches on the history of the Second Triumvirate. Part VII) . In: Hermes . tape 34 , 1899, pp. 1-54 .
  • Johannes Kromayer: Ancient battlefields . tape 4 . Weidmann, Berlin 1931, p. 662-671 .
  • Johannes Kromayer: Actium: An epilogue . In: Hermes . tape 68 , 1933, pp. 361-383 .
  • Dewid Laspe: Actium. The anatomy of a battle . In: Gymnasium . tape 114 , 2007, pp. 509-522 .
  • Christoph Schäfer : Cleopatra . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-534-15418-5 , pp. 222-230 .

Web links

Commons : Battle at Actium  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The figures given for the infantry and cavalry of the two armies relate to the beginning of the war at the beginning of 31 BC. Chr.
  2. ↑ Plutarch , Antonius 68.
  3. ^ Cassius Dio , Römische Geschichte 50, 13 f .; Plutarch, Antonius 62 f .; Velleius , Historia Romana 2, 84 et al
  4. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 63, 6f.
  5. ^ Plutarch, Antonius 63, 7f .; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 15, 1–3.
  6. ^ But so Plutarch, Antonius 63, 8; 66, 7f. among others
  7. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 64, 1; 64, 4; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 15, 4; Orosius , Historiae adversum Paganos 6, 19, 5; 6, 19, 9 and others
  8. ↑ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 50, 23, 3; 50, 31, 1f .; see. Plutarch, Antonius 59, 7f.
  9. ^ Plutarch, Antonius 65, 1f .; Velleius, Historia Romana 2, 85, 2 and others; The main sources of the battle are Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 31–35 and Plutarch, Antonius 65–68.
  10. ↑ Florus , Epitoma de Tito Livio bellorum omnium annorum DCC libri duo 2, 21, 5; Orosius, Historiae adversum Paganos 6, 19, 8.
  11. ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 50, 23, 2f .; 50, 33, 4; Plutarch, Antonius 66, 1. 3; M. Clauss: Cleopatra. Munich 2000, p. 95; C. Schäfer: Cleopatra. Darmstadt 2006, p. 225.
  12. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 65, 4; 65.6; 66, 5; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 31, 4; 50, 33, 1 et al
  13. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 65, 6-66, 4; Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 50, 31, 5-32, 8 et al
  14. ↑ So Plutarch, Antonius 66, 5 and Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 50, 33, 1; the assessment of M. Clauss: Cleopatra is different . Munich 2000, p. 97, who at this point already considers the battle to be lost for Antonius.
  15. ↑ D. Laspe: Actium. The anatomy of a battle. In: Gymnasium. Volume 114, 2007.
  16. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 66, 5-67, 6; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 33, 1-3; Velleius, Historia Romana 2, 85, 3 et al
  17. ^ Cassius Dio, Römische Geschichte 50, 34 f .; Plutarch, Antonius 68, 1; Velleius, Historia Romana 2, 85, 4f .; among others
  18. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 68, 1.
  19. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 65, 3; 68, 3-5; Cassius Dio, Roman History 50, 32, 1; 51, 1, 4f .; Velleius, Historia Romana 2, 85, 2; 2, 85, 5f.
  20. ↑ Ronald Syme, Christoph Selzer: The Roman Revolution. Power struggles in ancient Rome. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-608-94029-4 , p. 307.

Coordinates: 38 ° 56 ′ 4 ″  N , 20 ° 44 ′ 19 ″  E