Actium, Battle of

views updated Jun 08 2018

Actium, Battle of (31 bc) Naval battle in which the fleet of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, defeated the fleets of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Mark Antony's army surrendered a week later, and Octavian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

Actium, Battle of

views updated May 29 2018

Actium, Battle of a naval battle which took place in 31 bc off the promontory of Actium in western Greece, in the course of which Octavian defeated Mark Antony. This cleared the way for Octavian to become sole ruler of Rome as the emperor Augustus.

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