Battle of Actium - Aftermath

Aftermath

The political consequences of this battle were far-reaching. Under cover of darkness some 19 legions and 12,000 cavalry fled before Antony was able to engage Octavian in a land battle. After Mark Antony lost his fleet, his army, which had been equal to that of Octavian, deserted in large numbers. Antony, though he had not laid down his imperium, was a fugitive and a rebel, without that shadow of a legal position which the presence of the consuls and senators had given him in the previous year. Some of the victorious fleet went in pursuit of him; but Octavian himself visited Greece and Asia, and spent the winter at Samos; though he was obliged to go for a short time to Brundisium to settle a mutiny and arrange for assignations of land.

At Samos, Octavian received a message from Cleopatra with the present of a gold crown and throne, offering to abdicate in favour of her sons. The queen was allowed to believe that she would be well treated, for Octavian was anxious to secure her for his triumph. Antony, who had found himself generally deserted, after vainly attempting to secure the army stationed near Paraetonium under Pinarius, and sending his eldest son Antyllus with money to Octavian and an offer to live at Athens as a private citizen, found himself in the spring attacked on two sides. C. Cornelius Gallus was advancing from Paraetonium; and Octavian himself landed at Pelusium, with the connivance it was believed of Cleopatra. Antony was defeated by Gallus, and returning to Egypt, advanced on Pelusium.

Despite a victory at Alexandria on 31 July 30 BC, more of Mark Antony's men deserted, leaving him with insufficient forces to fight Octavian. A slight success over Octavian's tired soldiers encouraged him to make a general attack, in which he was decisively beaten. Mark Antony then tried to flee from the battle, and as a result of a communication breakdown, came to believe that Cleopatra had been captured, and hence committed suicide. Failing to escape on board a ship, he stabbed himself; and, as he did not die at once, insisted on being taken to the mausoleum in which Cleopatra was shut up, and there died in her arms. The queen was shortly afterwards brought from this place to the palace and vainly attempted to move Octavian to pity.

After Mark Antony's death, Cleopatra eluded the vigilance of her guard Epaphroditus and committed suicide, on 12 August 30 BC. In one account, she put an end to her life, as it was believed, by the bite of a snake (an asp) conveyed to her in a basket of figs. Octavian had Caesarion killed later that year, finally securing his legacy as Julius Caesar's only 'son'.

Thus, Octavian's victory at the Battle of Actium gave him sole and uncontested control of "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea i.e. the Roman Mediterannean) and he became "Augustus Caesar" and the "first citizen" of Rome. This victory, consolidating his power over every Roman institution, marked the transition of Rome from Republic to Empire. Egypt's final surrender following Cleopatra's death also marks the final demise of both the Hellenistic Period and the Ptolemaic Kingdom.