Dark War of Actium

On the Ionian Seas, just off of the shores of Greece, the navies of the fledgeling empire that Rome was becoming and the kingdom of Egypt met to decide the outcome of a political dispute. That dispute had its seeds planted first during the campaigns in Asia Minor. They were then cultivated with the assassination and began to sprout in Asia Minor. The ultimate prize for the victor at Actium would be dominion of the Roman Empire.

While in Asia Minor, He led an army of the Roman Republic to track down the Roman general. Rome was in the midst of a civil war for power of the Roman legions. After his victories in Europe, The general was forced to flee towards the edges of the Republic. Upon arrival in Egypt, which was in the middle of its own civil war between the brothers, The general was killed by agents of the empress as she sought Roman aid in her battles. Her stratagem almost worked. While he was appreciative of her dispatching the general, it was not until she had seduced him that he committed Roman forces to the Egyptian war and won the crown for her.

She bore a son for him from their affair, named Caesarion. As for Caesar himself, he returned to Rome and entered the city both as a conquering hero and as the new dictator. The Roman Empire was conceived from this action of Caesar, but not yet born. Caesar’s reign was short lived as he was quickly assassinated by members of the Senate. Instead of restoring peace and order to the Republic, their actions spurred Caesar’s nephew Octavian into forming an alliance with Marc Antony and Lepidus. Between Octavian and Antony’s popularity among the army, their alliance was successful in suppressing the alleged revolt of the Senators and their general Brutus, and Rome was divided mainly between Octavian and Antony. Octavian took the western half of what was becoming the Empire while Antony took the east.

Octavian was left with the large task of putting down the rest of the revolts and easing the unrest in Rome and the surrounding areas. Antony was free to travel to the relatively more peaceful eastern region. While among the Greeks, he participated in much of the Greek culture and games. Antony heavily taxed the Greeks and took much of their provisions to raise his armies. In battle in the east, he was hardly very successful however. Though he won a string of victories, he also suffered defeats. The combination of the hardship he placed on the Greeks combined with a less than glorious military record did little to earn him any friends in the east or impress his allies back home.

The greatest effect to come from the Battle of Actium, however, was what it did for Octavian and Rome. With the war and his subsequent actions, Antony was now a traitor to Rome. This meant that all the power that he held became Octavian’s. Octavian’s victory at Actium established himself not only as sole ruler of the Roman dominion, but also realized the efforts of his uncle by finishing the transition of Rome from republic to empire

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