A good argument could be made that the Battle of Actium was the most significant military engagement in Roman history. On a bright September day, the naval forces of Octavian clashed with those of Antony and Cleopatra off the coast of western Greece. The victory Octavian enjoyed that day set the state for forty-four years of what would come to be known as the Augustan Peace, and was in no small way the dawn of the Roman Empire.

Yet, despite its significance, what exactly happened at Actium has been a mystery, despite significant labours and effort on the part of many classicists and military historians both amateur and professional. Professor Lee Fratantuono re-examines the ancient evidence and presents a compelling and solidly documented account of what took place in the waters off the promontory of Leucas in late August and early September of 31 B.C.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Maps
• Introduction: Octavian and the Winning of a World
• Part One: Greek Historical Sources
  • Chapter 1: The Evidence of Plutarch
  • Chapter 2: The Lost Appian
  • Chapter 3: The Evidence of Dio Cassius
  • Chapter 4: Strabo’s Geography
  • Chapter 5: The Evidence of Josephus
• Part Two: Roman Historical Sources
  • Chapter 6: Velleius Paterculus
  • Chapter 7: Lost Roman Sources
  • Chapter 8: Octavian Himself
  • Chapter 9: Florus’ and Eutropius’ Detached Accounts
  • Chapter 10: The Evidence of Orosius
• Part Three: Actium in Verse
  • Chapter 11: The Shield of Aeneas
  • Chapter 12: Horace’s Epodes – The Earliest Evidence?
  • Chapter 13: Horace’s Cleopatra Ode
  • Chapter 14: The Evidence of Elegy: Propertius
  • Chapter 15: An Allegorized Actium?
  • Chapter 16: The Lost Carmen de Bello Aegyptiaco/Actiaco
• Part Four: Analyzing the Evidence
  • Chapter 17: So What Really Happened?
  • Chapter 18: The Birth of a Romantic Legend
  • Part Five: The Aftermath
  • Chapter 19: ‘Death Comes as the End’
• Afterword: Actium and Roman Naval Practice
• Endnotes
• Bibliography and Further Reading