Battle of Actium 31 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 31 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Greece | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Final War of the Roman Republic | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Augustus, Cleopatra, Gaius Sosius, Lucius Arruntius, Marcus Lurius, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Mark Antony | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.9250, 20.7250 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former Roman colony of Actium, Greece, and was the climax of over a decade of rivalry between Octavian and Mark Antony.
In early 31 BC, the year of the battle, Antony and Cleopatra were temporarily stationed in Greece. Mark Antony possessed 500 ships and 70,000 infantry and made his camp at Actium, while Octavian, with 400 ships and 80,000 infantry, arrived from the north and occupied Patrae and Corinth, where, with the help of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, he managed to cut Antony's southward communications with Egypt via the Peloponnese. Octavian had previously gained a preliminary victory in Greece, where his navy successfully ferried troops across the Adriatic Sea under the command of Agrippa. Octavian landed on mainland Greece, opposite the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu), and proceeded south on land.
Trapped on both land and sea, Antony's army saw portions desert and flee to Octavian's side, while Octavian's forces became confident enough to make preparations for battle.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Actium (revision 1378178531), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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