Antony's Civil War was the last phase of the Roman civil wars of 49-30 BC, with Julius Caesar's nephew Octavian uniting the Roman Republic under his rule after defeating his rival claimant Mark Antony and Antony's lover, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, at the Battle of Actium and at Alexandria. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide rather than be captured, and Octavian was able to seize power, end the Roman Republic, and proclaim the Roman Empire.
War[]
By 35 BC the Second Triumvirate was at an end. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus had been ousted by Octavian, who then mounted a propaganda campaign against Mark Antony and his allegedly scandalous behavior in the east. In 32 BC the Roman Senate was persuaded to declare war on Antony and his lover, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Antony planned an amphibious invasion of Italy, exploiting the strength of the Egyptian fleet, but only made it as far as Actium on Greece’s Ionian coast.
The fleet that Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa had created was even stronger and allowed Octavian both to ferry an army across to Greece and to subject Antony and Cleopatra to a naval blockade. Octavian installed himself in a fortified position and refused to give battle, waiting while his opponents’ forces withered through malnutrition and disease. In desperation Antony led a naval breakout in September 31 BC, but most of his fleet was trapped and destroyed.
Antony and Cleopatra escaped back to Egypt, where they were pursued by Octavian. Deserted by a large part of his army as the Romans approached Alexandria, Antony took his own life, an example soon followed by Cleopatra. Octavian was left in sole command of the Roman empire.
Aftermath[]
The defeat and death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE brought Ptolemaic rule in Egypt to an end. Octavian ordered her heir, Julius Caesar’s son Caesarion, to be strangled, and Egypt became a province of the Roman empire. In 27 BCE the Roman Senate authorized Octavian’s extensive powers over the empire and gave him the title Augustus, by which he is generally known. In practice, his power depended not on the Senate, but on the support of the full-time professional soldiers of the Roman army. He stabilized this force, establishing fixed terms of service and turning the legions into permanent formations, each with its own traditions and identity. Augustus died in 14 AD. He selected his own heir, his stepson, Tiberius. The lack of a formal system of succession, whether hereditary or elective, left plentiful scope for future power struggles. Nonetheless, the empire was to prove remarkably durable.