History of Europe

The biggest naval battle in BC! About the Battle of Actium

The Battle of Actium, which determined Roman hegemony, was the largest civil war in the Roman Republic and the largest in the naval battles that took place in BC.

This battle destroyed the republican Rome and gave birth to the First Roman Empire.

This is the record.

ostensibly Rome VS Egypt, in reality Caesar's successor battle

Actium is a region near Greece, near Preveza, where the largest naval battle in the Mediterranean Sea will take place 1500 years later.

The Battle of Pharsalus, the largest battle during the Roman Caesar's Civilization, was also held in Greece, and it is interesting that the battle for supremacy between the Romans was also held in Greece.

I think history textbooks are interesting. There is no textbook in Japan that describes the Battle of Pharsalus, the biggest battle in Roman history, but there is also no textbook that does not include the Battle of Actium, which will be less important.

Caesar said, "Human beings see what they want to see," but the Japanese may want to see the Battle of Actium.

Now, what is important when talking about the Battle of Actium is where and where it fought.

I think that there are many people who are good at world history but do not understand this, but unlike Farsalas, the Battle of Actium is not a Roman civil war . It is.

The Battle of Actium is a battle between the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Egypt over the hegemony of the Mediterranean Sea.

Do you understand? What is this ingenuity of Octavian?

Octavian is in this condition.

The Japanese consider Octavian to be the first emperor.

What is an emperor?

It would be a mistranslation of the century to apply the title of Qin Shi Huang to Octavian.

Octavian has never called himself an "emperor".

He just inherited Caesar's name from Caesar. And it was succeeded by his son-in-law, Tiberius, then by Caligula, then by Claudius, Nero, and many others.

Octavian has never called himself an "emperor". However, their inherited name was later called the "emperor."

It is unavoidable that we Japanese in the future cannot understand. After all, Octavian also deceived Roman citizens of the same era and Senators of the same era.

Caesar became a lifelong dictator and was killed. Octavian simply called himself "Punkeps", meaning the first citizen of Rome.

Yes, this ingenuity is Octavian.

And the ingenuity of the Battle of Actium appeared in Moro.

In the composition of the battle between Octavian and Antonius, it is nothing more than a civil war within Rome.

What happened to Caesar as a result of winning the civil war?

The answer is assassination.

But what about the Egyptian battle?

The battle with Cleopatra is a picture of the battle between Rome and Egypt, not a civil war, but a battle to protect the Roman Republic from the tyranny of Olinet.

Octavian was too big an opponent for Antonius and Cleopatra to fight. No other person in the history of the world has demonstrated such a clever governing ability.

Cleopatra, who is considered wise, was only rolled in the palm of Octavian after all.

Roman soldiers leaving

The Octavian confrontational composition had a dramatic effect.

Even in Japan, during the Boshin War, a tactician named Saigo Takamori raised the nishiki no mihata and made the Tokugawa army a thief, but the composition is the same.

The soldiers who followed Antonius were frightened that they had become Roman enemies.

Still, it would have been nice if Antonius had a charisma like Sulla.

However, Antonius was fascinated by Cleopatra and was completely out of control. He handed over Syria and Asia Minor, which are supposed to be Roman territories, to Cleopatra as they were, and even went on a rampage to hold a triumphal ceremony in Alexandria, Egypt instead of Rome.

* The territory painted in green is the territory that Antonius ceded to Cleopatra. It's out of the ordinary.

The soldiers used their amiability to visit Octavian one after another.

Egypt has only wealth.

After all, it has a history of 3000 years.

The money hired a large number of mercenaries. And I made a lot of warships.

But after all, there were only numbers.

Which is stronger, a soldier who fights for pride and honor to protect the country, or a soldier who fights only for money?

Battle of Actium

Still, the soldiers who remained in Antonius's permission had proposed a land war to Antonius. It is a route that attacks Rome from land.

Octavian's political power is overwhelmingly number one in world history, but the battle was Doheta. All the military was left to a general named Agrippa, but objectively, the powers of Agrippa and Antonius were about the same, and if it was a land battle, it would have been a win.

But Cleopatra somehow insisted on a naval battle. Antonius, who became Cleopatra's YES man, adopted a policy of settling in naval battles instead of land battles. Not surprisingly, this also left many talented soldiers to Antonius.

I don't know why Cleopatra insisted on a maritime war. Perhaps there wasn't much reason. Cleopatra's actions were random at all times.

Still, in terms of pure force, Cleopatra was still more.

It is said that the number of soldiers on the Roman side did not exceed 20000, the number on the Egyptian side was about 23000, and the number of warships was about 400 in Rome and 230 in Egypt, but there were still many huge warships on the Egyptian side.

This composition was also seen in the Armada naval battle over the hegemony of the world's seas 1600 years later, and small ships have a smaller turn, just as Britain, which has many small ships, defeated Spain, which has many huge ships.

Without such an element, Rome would have won anyway.

As soon as the battle began, the Egyptian disadvantage was visible. It was as if I hadn't become a partner.

Cleopatra escaped from the battlefield, perhaps seeing that. Antonius also saw it and left the front.

The surviving soldiers surrendered to Octavian.

It was a very poor battle.

Following the results of the battle, the princes of the Orient were on the Roman side.

Perhaps he thought Cleopatra was obsolete, he gave Antonius a false alarm that he had died. Whether he realized everything or couldn't live without Cleopatra, Antonius immediately committed suicide.

Cleopatra then tried to fascinate Octavian, but it had no effect on his wife, Octavian, who was the only man in Revere.

Cleopatra was despaired and bit herself into a poisonous snake and set out of the world.

The supremacy of the Mediterranean regained Roman sovereignty, and Octavian held a triumphal ceremony as the hero who saved Rome.

Egypt is gone.

And the republican Rome will soon be destroyed.

The birth of the Roman Empire.