Do Now! Actively read the article below How the Battle of Actium Changed the World The Battle of Actium in 31 BCE was an huge showdown that with Mark Antony and Cleopatra allied against their former friend Octavian. When Octavian finally won the battle, it meant the end of the Roman Republic for good and the beginning of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire still influences the world today. Antony's total defeat also led to his and Cleopatra's double-suicide, seeming like something out of a movie. Roman soap opera had been a republic for more than 450 years when things started to end. Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BCE, starting a bloody civil war. After he died, there was a major civil war between two power-hungry politicians - Mark Antony and Octavian, Caesar's adopted son. At first, Antony and Octavian shared power, but they both disliked each other. Each wanted to control everything. Cleopatra, an Egyptian queen who already had a son by Julius Caesar, was the Pharaoh of Egypt. When Mark Antony passed through Egypt after a battle in the Near East, he met and married Cleopatra. The teams were now clear: Antony and Cleopatra vs. Octavian. Mr. Woodward, History
It's hard to imagine a more movie-worthy showdown than the one between Antony and Cleopatra on one side with a fleet totaling 500 warships, and Octavian on the other with almost 1,000, for control of all the lands of Roman Republic. The Battle of Actium was fought in the waters off Greece - a Roman territory, at the time - and ended in the complete obliteration of Antony and Cleopatra's forces. When it was over, the waters were choked with the naval wreckage, historians at the time noted, as well as the bodies of 5,000 sailors. Antony and Cleopatra did not go down with their navy. Knowing that they were going to lose, the lovers fled in their separate ships and were chased down by Octavian. They both committed suicide instead of being captured. To finish his victory, Octavian went to Egypt and executed Cleopatra s children by Antony as well as Julius Caesar s one and only son. Worldwide consequences William Shakespeare turned the story of Antony and Cleopatra into a famous play, but historically, the Battle of Actium had even more important consequences. Octavian, for his part, remained standing as the sole ruler of in a time when the Republic was hanging on by a thread. Just a few years later, he was renamed Augustus and declared divine head of the new Roman Empire, a system that would last a further 400 years and control much of Europe, as well as parts of the Middle East and Africa under its rule. 's influence over the language, religion and architecture of the 2.2 million square miles it once controlled lasts until this day. Octavian ended a 4,000-year tradition in Egypt by killing the pharaoh Cleopatra. There would not be another true pharaoh in that country, which was put under control of.
1. What was the relationship between Julius Caesar and Octavian? 2. Which two sides fought against each other after Julius Caesar died? 3. What was Cleopatra the ruler of? 4. What happened at the Battle of Actium? Where was Actium? 5. What happened to Cleopatra and Antony? 6. How did the Battle of Actium change the world? -Cleopatra and Antony lost power -Octavian defeated two people, which made him very powerful -Egypt had no more pharaohs and became part of the Roman Empire -Octavian changed his name to Augustus -Octavian ended the Roman Republic, started the Roman Empire
-started and empire that lasted for about half a millennium Octavian s Rise to Power 1. Who were Octavian s main rivals? 2. Why did Antony go against Julius Caesar s successor? 3. Why did Cleopatra side with Antony? 4. Do you think that Antony was being sincere in his speech about Caesar s death, just using it to gain power, or both?