The Battle Of Actium

The Battle of Actium After Julius Caesar was assassinated on the ides of March, at that place was an spacious power struggle in the roman print Empire. Two travel force came place on top, and each was to rule half of the empire. Octavian control Rome and the Eastern Empire, objet dart Marc Antony ruled the Western empire which include Egypt. Both men wanted control oer the entire empire, but they in like manner two k new(a) that they couldnt bruskly do action. However, Marc Antony made some sad mistakes that led to open strugglefare. It was rumored that Marc Antony and the Egyptian sprite Cleopatra were having an affair. Months later, Antony divorced his married woman Octavian who just happened to be Octavians sister. This not only spurred the impatience of Octavian but similarly the popish commonwealth. Whether or not by truthful doer or propaganda, Octavian also extracted the will of Marc Antony, which unexpended his son by Cleopatra, Caesarian, heir to h is half of the empire. This put the Roman people in an uproar. Responding to the newly born anger in the Roman people, Octavian tell a justum bellum or just war against the foreign queen Cleopatra and every who side with her, which conveniently included Antony. He also did this to avoid calling it a civilised war, for the Roman people were leery ab forbidden killing their pest citizens. The war was actually calm that year with only a few skirmishes. When sp remainder came, Antony set up his spend canton on the brain of Actium and kept his ships offshore. His navy consisted of about four hundred very boast across-the-boardy ships. Each ship had 8 to 10 banks of oars and was as rangy as a 5 or 6 trading floor building. The ships were also fit with sedate catapults which were used for long footslog attacks. When spring came, Octavian sent his falter to meet Antony at his winter quarters. Octavians fleet consisted of cd microscopical ships each equipped with iron rams . These ships had both or three oar banks a! nd were extremely warm and maneuverable. Agrippa, the most decorated admiral of the time, commanded Octavians fleet while he led his launch troops. On land Octavian put off off Antonys supply lines and communication lines. He locomote his army crossways the Ionian Sea and occupied the Epirate chute which was located northmost of Actium. By doing this he could intercept all supplies and messages to Antony. Finally, on family line 2, 31 B.C.., Octavian gave Agrippa the go-ahead to engage in battle. Agrippa aligned his ships into 3 formations, and Antony seeing this did the same. Cleopatras small fleet was stationed loafer Antonys and was to fill in the gaps in the formation. The two fleets met each early(a) and the battle soon commenced. Octavians small ships rammed into the sides of Antonys larger ships than removeed. They made sure to avoid either melee set upon or enemy archers and catapults. The battle raged and was in general uneventful until noon when the breakin g speck shifted. Both fleets scurried to catch the wind and use it to their advantage, but Octavians smaller ships were able to out maneuver those of Antony. Therefore the wind allowed Octavians ships to attack Antonys on two fronts. though Antony was now being attacked on two sides, the battle was still a stalemate. Upon seeing this, Octavian strong-minded to use bolt in the battle. At first he didnt wish to use it because he wanted to staff of life the ships for money, but now he saw it necessary. The fire was lethally affective and engulfed the large ships quickly. This also led to the deaths of many of Antonys men. They met their end in several ways. They either leapt from the flames into the water, and the weight of their arms drowned them; or their armor was heated up in the flames and their fight melted outside(a); or lastly they died from smoke inhalation. Though this new aid helped Octavian very much, the battle seemed far from over. Next, for an unknown reason, Cleopatra began to retreat. She skint through Octavi! ans front line and sailed away towards Egypt. Antony immediately followed her and abandoned his troops, which meant they were left without a manoeuverer. Soon after this, Antonys center and left divisions surrendered in the traditional mood of breeding their oars. By the end of the battle, 300 of Antonys ships were burned or sunk. After the battle, Octavian built 300 shrines to various gods and goddesses throughout Rome. He also enlarged the temple of Apollo at Actium and held games there every five years t commemorate his victory. He also built a city on stuffy Antonys winter quarters named Nicopolis or The City of Victory. The battle seems incinerate and dry but there was more behind Antonys defeat than just bad tactics. In fact, there were a serious of events that built up into Antonys crowning(prenominal) defeat. forward when the war was just declared, Antonys Roman officers wanted to retreat from Actium and fight a land battle. Cleopatra on the different hand, pushed for a naval battle believing that Antonys big ships could never be beaten. Antony also kept his sails on board. To his Roman officers this meant that he wanted to retreat from the battle. Usually, sails were jettisoned before battle to start out ships lighter. This lead to three squadrons of Antonys to not engage in battle. For these reasons, Antony bemused the battle of Actium. If you want to get a full essay, regularise it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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