On This Day: the Battle of Actium

September 2nd, 31 BC: At midday General Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa [1], commander of the Roman fleet, stood aboard his flagship gazing towards the promontory of Actium in Greece. From that direction some 60 enemy warships were heading across the Ionian Sea towards the some 400 vessels commanded by Agrippa and Gaius Octavius [2].

Earlier that year an army of 70,000 infantry led by Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) [3] had made camp on the southern side of a strait leading from the Ionian Sea into the Ambracian Gulf. Octavian, a former ally of Antony but now his mortal rival, had arrived from the north with 400 ships and 80,000 infantry to occupying Patrae and Corinth. By doing so Octavian cut Antony’s southward communications with Egypt via the Peloponnese.

Battle is joined

Desertions by some of his allies and a lack of provisions soon forced Antony into action. Either hoping to win at sea because he was outmanoeuvred on land or else simply trying to break the blockade, Antony followed Queen Cleopatra’s [4] advice to employ their combined fleet. He drew up his ships outside the bay, facing west, with Queen of Egypt’s squadron behind. The sixty warships Agrippa watched approaching were therefore part of a larger fleet of some 500 ships jointly commanded by Antony and Cleopatra. The ensuing naval battle was hotly contested, with each side’s squadrons trying to outflank the other. As they entered the fight, Cleopatra’s ships sailed into the middle of the battle line and it seemed as if the tide would turn in the queen’s favour. Yet that is not what happened next. Rather Cleopatra’s ships broke through the Roman line and sailed into open water. Alarmed by his lover’s escape, Antony abandoned his flagship and followed the queen with several smaller vessels, abandoning their remaining ships to face battle alone. Disheartened the Ptolemaic fleet surrendered to Octavian, and Antony’s land forces surrendered one week later. Defeat at Actium saw Antony and Cleopatra flee back to Egypt. Octavian pursued them and defeated their forces in Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC. With Octavian’s forces in Alexandria, Cleopatra withdrew to her tomb with her closest attendants and had a message sent to Antony that she had committed suicide. In despair, Antony stabbed himself through the stomach with a sword, inflicting a fatal wound. Cleopatra was allowed to embalm Antony's body before she was forcefully escorted to the palace to meet with Octavian. Suggesting that her life would be spared, Octavian did not offer her any specific details about his plans for Egypt or her royal family. After being informed that Octavian intended to parade the queen through Rome as a prisoner in his triumph, Cleopatra avoided this humiliation by taking her own life.

The last pharaoh

There are no surviving records indicating an exact date of Cleopatra’s death. In the mid-20th-century Theodore Cressy Skeat, an academic and librarian at the British Museum, deduced she died on 12th August 30 BC based on contemporary records of known events and his cross examination of historical sources. An alternative date of 10th August 30 BC has since been proposed (in the first quarter of the 21st-century). The Greco-Roman philosopher and historian Plutarch describes how Cleopatra approached her suicide in an almost ritual process involving bathing and then a fine meal including figs brought to her in a basket. Several contemporary ancient historians record the queen’s death [5], but none categorically state how she died. Cleopatra’s personal physician Olympos, cited by Plutarch, mentioned neither a cause of death nor an asp bite [6]. The latter, however, gained some traction since nearly all the ancient sources repeat the tale of a venomous snakebite. Some ancient authors suggest an alternative whereby Cleopatra reputedly used a hollow implement, perhaps a hairpin, to scratch open her skin and introduce a toxin. Supporting this hypothesis, Cassius Dio mentions small puncture wounds were found on Cleopatra’s arm, but he echoes Plutarch’s claim that nobody knew the true cause of her death.

While venomous snakebite is largely ruled out today as Cleopatra’s cause of death, poisoning is not. One of the earliest medical documents, the Ebers Papyrus written around 1550 BC, records several Egyptian poison recipes in hieroglyphics. From this record it is believed the Egyptians had knowledge about toxic elements such as Antimony, Copper, crude Arsenic, Lead, Opium, and Mandrake among others. The first known Egyptian pharaoh, Menes, is thought to have studied the properties of poisonous plants and venoms. This knowledge of deadly toxins makes plausible the argument that Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, the last pharaoh of Egypt, committed suicide by poison.

Aftermath

With both Antony and Cleopatra dead, Octavian consolidated his power over Rome and its dominions. He adopted the title of Princeps (“first citizen”), and in 27 BC was awarded the title of Augustus (“revered”) by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he and later emperors were known in later times. While retaining the outward trappings of a restored Republican leader, historians generally view Augustus’ consolidation of power and the adoption of these honorifics as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. Bon appétit!

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Reference:

Venner, J., (February 2026), “What was the most important year in history - and why?”, Ask the Experts, History Extra Magazine, London: Immediate Media, p. 39.

Endnotes:

1. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c. 63 BC to 12 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. He was also a close friend, son-in-law and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Agrippa is notable for his important military victories, notably the Battle of Actium in 31 BC against the forces of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra. He was also responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildings of his era, including the original Pantheon. ▲

2. Gaius Octavius (23 September 63 BC to 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (Latin: Octavianus), founded the Roman Empire and was its first emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. Octavian’s great-uncle, Gaius Julius Caesar, named him as his primary heir in his will, and after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC Octavian inherited his estate and assumed his name. He is better known as Augustus (“the revered”) a title granted him by the Roman Senate along with the powers of the tribunate and censorship and two other titles namely princeps (“first citizen”) and pater patriae (lit. ”father of the country”). The month of August after him. It was originally named Sextilis in Latin because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar when March was the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 46 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, the month was renamed in honour of Emperor Augustus. ▲

3. Marcus Antonius (14 January 83 BC – 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire. Antony was a relative and supporter of Julius Caesar, and he served as one of his generals during the conquest of Gaul and Caesar’s civil war. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Antony joined forces with Lepidus, another of Caesar’s generals, and Octavian, Caesar’s great-nephew and adopted son, forming a three-man oligarchy known to historians as the Second Triumvirate. As Triumvirs they divided the government of the Republic among themselves. Antony was assigned Rome's eastern provinces, including the client kingdom of Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra VII. Relations among the triumvirs were strained as the various members sought greater political power. In 33 BC disagreements between Antony and Octavian caused a split between the remaining Triumvirs. Their ongoing hostility erupted into civil war in 31 BC, when Octavian induced the republic to declare war on Cleopatra and proclaim Antony a traitor. The Battle of Actium ensued. ▲

4. Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koine Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ, meaning “Cleopatra father-loving goddess”) was born in 70/69 BC the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes. He named her his heir before his death in 51 BC thus she was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from her father’s death until 30 BC. Cleopatra was the last active Hellenistic pharaoh, a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty descended from its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. Her first language was Koine Greek, and she is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language, among several others. After her death on 10 or 12 August 30 BC, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the Hellenistic period in the Mediterranean that had begun during the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC). ▲

5. Historians such as Plutarch, Strabo, Cassius Dio, Florus, Velleius Paterculus all supported the asp bite version. Roman physician Galen mentioned the asp story, but he also proposes a version where Cleopatra bit her own arm and introduced venom brought in a container. The Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus related the asp story but expressed doubt about its validity. ▲

6. From the Greek word “aspis” meaning “viper”, in antiquity asp referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region. Today it is generally held that aspis referred to what is now known as the Egyptian cobra. ▲