This tapestry, woven by the workshop of Willem van Leefdael (1632–1688) after a design by Justus van Egmont (1601–1674), envisions a scene from the Battle of Actium between the naval forces of Octavian and Antony in the year 31 BCE. That year, the two Roman leaders (and their respective loyal militaries) dragged the Roman Empire into a civil war, and the Battle of Actium was the pivotal event of the opening phase of the war. After having accused Antony of treason due to favoring Egypt and Cleopatra over Rome, Octavian sent his right-hand man and military commander, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, to confront loyalists of Antony in Greece. During that campaign, Antony and Cleopatra camped the bulk of their mobilized regional forces at the port of Actium, near the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. Antony and Cleopatra joined their troops there and were ultimately blockaded by Octavian’s armada.
Knowing he was in a disadvantageous position, Antony sailed out with his ships and engaged Octavian’s fleet, the ultimate goal likely being to break through the blockade and withdraw to Egypt. Regardless of Antony’s intentions, his ships became bogged down in the fray and ended up being caught in a costly battle. On the way in which Octavian’s fleet operated, the historian Cassius Dio (c. 163-235) reported, “Octavian’s fleet, having smaller and faster ships, could advance at speed and ram the enemy, since their armor gave them protection on all sides. If they sank a vessel, they had achieved their objective; if not, they would back water before they could be engaged at close quarters, and either ram the same ship suddenly a second time, or let it go and turn against others” (Cassius Dio, The Roman History, Book 50, chapter 32). It is this phase of the battle, with Octavian’s forces ramming into the sides of Antony’s ships, that the tapestry likely depicts. This style of ramming sea warfare was effective, and the battle began to turn in Octavian’s favor. Yet, his gains were not decisive enough to compel Antony’s fleet to surrender.
Octavian, hoping to speed up the destruction of the opposing fleet and bring the battle to a definitive close, ultimately decided to change up the methodology of his attack. Instead of just ramming the opposing ships, Octavian’s forces now began using torches and flammable materials at projectiles. On this, Cassius Dio wrote, “The battle then changed its character. The attackers would approach their targets from many different points at once, bombarding them with blazing missiles and hurling by hand javelins with torches attached to them; from a longer range they would also catapult jars filled with charcoal or pitch” (The Roman History, Book 50, chapter 34). This wreaked havoc on Antony’s fleet, and even some of Octavian’s own ships and crew were allegedly caught in the blaze.
Meanwhile, Cleopatra’s Egyptian fleet and Mark Antony’s flagship managed to break through Octavian’s blockade and escape the battle. As this was likely the original objective of Antony and Cleopatra, their maneuver was technically a success, but it was a Pyrrhic victory, for the majority of their fleet and land forces were abandoned during the escape. Whatever was left of Antony’s battered and burned fleet surrendered to Octavian, and the warriors who were left behind at Actium also capitulated soon after. Without his ships and manpower, Antony stood little chance of regaining momentum in the civil war, and when Octavian’s forces kept up the pursuit all the way to Alexandria, Egypt, Antony decided to take his own life. After Egypt was subsequently occupied by Octavian’s forces, Cleopatra chose to meet Antony in death.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Roman History by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.
- The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.
- The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus, translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin Classics, 1996.
- https://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/50*.html
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Actium-ancient-Roman-history
- https://www.artic.edu/artworks/147056/the-battle-of-actium-from-the-story-of-caesar-and-cleopatra
