Actium
(now La Punta). A promontory in Acarnania at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf, off which
Augustus gained his celebrated naval victory over Antony and Cleopatra , September 2d, B.C.
31. Here was a temple of Apollo Actiacus or Actius, where the festival Actia had been
celebrated. Augustus revived the celebration as a quinquennial feast in honour of his victory,
and built
Nicopolis (q.v.) on the opposite shore.
The battle of Actium is one of the decisive battles of the world's history, since the stake
for which it was fought was nothing less than the lordship of the Roman Empire—that
is, of the occidental world. The chances of battle were all in favour of Antony. His troops,
encamped on one shore of the gulf, were largely superior to his rival's in both numbers and
discipline. He had 100,000 infantry, as against the 80,000 of Octavian (Augustus), an equal
force of cavalry (12,000); while his ships not only numbered 500—double the number
that Octavian's admiral Agrippa commanded, but were much larger, heavier, and better provided
with the engines then in use for discharging missiles. It was, perhaps, this great
preponderance of naval force which led Cleopatra , who accompanied Antony, to urge upon him
the plan of letting the issue of the war rest upon a naval battle. She herself, with her sixty
ships, formed a line behind that of the vessels of Antony.
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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
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For a long time after the battle began, the light galleys of Octavian made little or no
impression upon the massive ships that opposed them; but at last, by a skilful
manœuvre, Agrippa forced Antony to extend his line of battle. This done, Agrippa's
ships succeeded in breaking through it and darting towards the vessels of Cleopatra. Alarmed
at this, the Egyptian queen at once gave the signal for flight, and with her ships put
hurriedly to sea. Antony, forgetful that the crisis of the battle had now arrived, recklessly
sailed in pursuit of her, leaving his fleet to win or lose as best it might in his absence.
Deserted by its commander, it still fought on, but with little heart,
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Coin of Antony and Cleopatra.
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and by nightfall had been completely routed and destroyed. The troops of Antony were
still encamped upon the promontory fronting the forces of Octavian; yet they did not at once
give battle, but waited in the hope that their general would return. Sevendays passed by, and
when he failed to appear, after some hesitation, they surrendered to Octavian and accepted him
as their commander, thus making him at a stroke the master of the world.
