Battle of Actium

Battle of Actium, decisive naval engagement that took place off the promontory of Actium, on the southern headland of the Ambracian Gulf (in north-western Greece), on September 2, 31 bc, between the Roman fleet of Octavian, under the command of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and a combined Roman-Egyptian fleet commanded by Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Antony, Octavian, and Marcus Lepidus had been the members of the triumvirate formed to govern Rome after the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 bc. However, Antony and Octavian vied with one another for the sole control of Rome. In 36 bc, Antony allied himself with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and in 32 bc, the year that the triumvirate was dissolved, Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and mobilized forces to assert his intention to control Rome.

The battle had been preceded by a long period of skirmishing between the two armies encamped on opposite shores of the Ambracian Gulf. Allegedly at the behest of Cleopatra, who was seeking an opportunity to withdraw to Egypt, but against the advice of his generals, Antony launched the initial phase of the engagement. His fleet of approximately 400 heavy craft equipped with missile-throwing devices attacked at close range but Octavian's fleet of about 260 light vessels outmanoeuvred them. The outcome of the battle remained in doubt until Cleopatra, apparently alarmed by an enemy manoeuvre, ordered the Egyptian contingent, of about 60 vessels, to withdraw. Antony followed her, but most of his remaining vessels were soon overtaken and destroyed. The Roman-Egyptian army was left to surrender.

Octavian pursued Antony and Cleopatra to Egypt. There, in 30 bc, on hearing a rumour about Cleopatra's death, Antony is said to have stabbed himself. After being taken prisoner, Cleopatra killed herself with an asp bite. Octavian thus gained undisputed supremacy in the Roman world and, as Augustus, founded the Roman Empire in 27 bc.