[Prev Page][Contents][Next Page]

The Roman Revolution

audio gifActium

Octavian sought the help of the Senate, only to be met with obstructionism and outright treachery. Furious, he drove both consuls and the Senate from Rome. The remarkable thing about this act is that few in Rome really objected. The Republic was truly dead, and the real question was whether Octavian or Antony would rule.

The Senate fled to Antony, who was in command of forces in Greece. As at Pharsalus and Philippi, the climactic battle for the control of Rome would be found on Greek soil. The name of the town was Actium. The year was 31.

Antony was overmatched. Octavian had more men and a better army. But Cleopatra had assured him that her navy would win the sea battle and give Antony the upper hand.

Map of Battle of Actium

The battle itself was not at all inspired. The Egyptians bungled and allowed themselves to get trapped in the harbor at Actium. Once that happened, all was lost. Antony and Cleopatra fled, leaving both army and navy, which were crushed piecemeal.

Octavian immediately set out in pursuit. There followed a dramatic chase, with Octavian's forces sometimes only hours behind. When Antony and Cleopatra realized that the Egyptian army would not be able to stop Octavian, and that no help would arrive from elsewhere, they separately committed suicide.

Octavian arrived to find his enemies all but eliminated. He closed the books by hunting down Cleopatra's children and having them killed. With that act, the last pharoahs of Egypt disappeared, after 4,000 years of rule.

The only ruler of Egypt now was Octavian. He took personal possession of the country, not turning it over to the Senate as had been done with past conquests. Octavian literally owned Egypt. Its wealth flowed into his private treasury, and the wealth of the Ptolemies was legendary.

In a single year, 31 BC, Octavian had made himself the most powerful man in Rome by far. He had 60 legions at his command and entire nations for his pocketbook. No one even remotely approached his position. Most of the senators were dead. The consuls were dead. The Republic was dead.