Why battle of Actium was fought
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[edit] Introductory Note
The strange battle of Actium ended decades of Roman civil war and resulted in the rise of the first Roman Emperor. Antony's seemingly irrational battle tactics destroyed him, his armies and his famed wife, Cleopatra.
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[edit] Reason
The Battle of Actium was actually a civil war, there was the side that supported Mark Antony and there was the side that supported Octavian, this war was fought during September in the year 31 BC, and it was fought next to a Roman Colony near Greece. Octavian was the adopted son of Caesar, the problem started when Caesar had a baby with Cleopatra named Caesarion, this was pressure enough but then Mark Antony decided that Caesarion was the rightful heir and he declared this in a nice loud voice. This started a lot of fighting in the senate but in the end, they stripped Mark Antony of his power and sent him on his way, at the same time declaring war on Cleopatra…the War had begun.
Mark Antony had lost the war before he ever began fighting; while Antony was waiting for Octavian to arrive at the gulf of Actium, malaria brake out aboard the ships and killed a lot of oarsman, that with the fact that the supply lines had been cut, left Antony with a severely demoralized crew, not to mention that he was now undermanned and the type of ships he had, demanded a big crew to successfully maneuver.
When Octavian arrived he had fresh crews and small light ships that were easier to maneuver compared to the huge ships that Mark Antony had, as the battle progressed, Antony’s general (Delius) decided that he was going to switch side when he saw which way the battle was going, so on he went to Octavian taking Mark Antony’s battle plans with him.
Things only got worse form there; eventually Antony had to leave the protection of the shoreline and go after Octavian because his ships would constantly stay out of range. The battle was being lost however, and when Cleopatra saw this, she decided that she did not want to stick around and see, so she ran. When Mark Antony realized this, he too got on a small ship and managed to escape, following Cleopatra, abandoning his entire fleet to certain death.
Because of the defeat at Actium, over half of Antony’s army later on deserted him, leaving him with almost no one to fight for him, this coupled with the fact that a mix-up in communication left Antony with the belief that Cleopatra had been killed pushed Antony to the point of committing suicide. When Cleopatra got the news, she too committed suicide so as not to be paraded in the streets of Rome as a sign of Octavian’s victory.
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- Following the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, the Second Triumvirate was formed between Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aerulius Lepidus to rule Rome. Moving quickly, the Triumvirate's forces crushed those of the conspirators Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 BC. This done, it was agreed that Octavian, Caesar's legal heir, would rule the western provinces, while Antony would oversee the east. Lepidus, always the junior partner, was given North Africa. Over the next few years, tensions waxed and waned between Octavian and Antony.
- In an effort to heal the rift, Octavian's sister Octavia married Antony in 40 BC. Jealous of Antony's power, Octavian worked tirelessly to assert his position as Caesar’s legal heir and launched a massive propaganda campaign against his rival. In 37 BC, Antony married Caesar's former lover, Cleopatra VII of Egypt, without divorcing Octavia. Doting on his new wife, he provided large land grants for her children and worked to expand his power base in the east. Through 32 BC the situation continued to deteriorate with Antony publically divorcing Octavia.
- In response, Octavian announced he had come into possession of Antony's will which affirmed Cleopatra's eldest son Caesarion as Caesar's true heir, granted large legacies to Cleopatra's children, and stated that Antony's body should be buried in the royal mausoleum in Alexandria next to Cleopatra. The will turned Roman opinion against Antony as they believed he was trying to install Cleopatra as the ruler of Rome. Using this as pretext for war, Octavian began assembling forces to attack Antony. Moving to Patrae, Greece, Antony and Cleopatra paused to await additional troops from his eastern client kings.
- As with most battles from this period, precise casualties are not known. Sources indicate that Octavian lost around 2,500 men, while Antony's fleet suffered 5,000 killed and over 200 ships sunk or captured. The impact of Antony's defeat was far-reaching. At Actium, Publius Canidius, commanding the ground forces, began retreating and the army soon surrendered. Elsewhere, Antony's allies began deserting him in the face of Octavian's growing power. With Octavian's troops closing in on Alexandria, Antony committed suicide. Learning of her lover's death, Cleopatra killed herself as well. With the elimination of his rival, Octavian became the sole ruler of Rome and was able to begin the transition from republic to empire.
[edit] References
1. About battle
