From Republic to Empire: The Battle of Axin in Rome
The Battle of Cape Axing was a decisive battle between Mark Antony of the Roman Republic and the ancient Egyptian Ptolemaic pharaoh Cleopatra VII and Octavian. The battle took place on September 2, 31 BC, in the Ionian Sea near Cape Axing in northern Akania, Greece. Octavian 's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agripa, while Antony's fleet was supported by his lover Cleopatra VII.
On September 2, 31 BC, during the Roman Civil War between Octavian and Mark Antony, the Battle of Ackon took place. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman general who led Octavian's 400 ships and 19,000 soldiers. Mark Anthony commanded 290 ships and 22,000 soldiers.
Set in 44 BC after the assassination of Julius Caesar, a second triumvirate was formed between Octavian, Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepida to rule Rome. In 42 BC, Triumvirate's army moved quickly to crush the army of the conspirators Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. Upon completion, it was agreed that Octavian, Caesar's rightful heir, would rule the western provinces, while Antony would oversee the eastern provinces. Lepidus, who has been a junior partner, was assigned to North Africa. Over the next few years, tensions between Octavian and Anthony were up and down.
To heal the rift, Octavian's sister Octavia married Antony in 40 BC. Jealous of Antony's power, Octavian worked tirelessly to assert himself as Caesar's rightful heir and launched a massive propaganda campaign against his opponents. In 37 BC, Antony married Caesar's former lover, Cleopatra VII of Egypt, but did not divorce Octavia. He doted on his new wife, provided large land grants for her children, and worked to expand his power base in the east. The situation continued to deteriorate in 32 BC, when Antony publicly divorced Octavia.
In response, Octavian announced that he had taken possession of Antony's will, which confirmed Cleopatra's eldest son, Caesarion, as Caesar's true heir. The will also granted Cleopatra's children a substantial inheritance and stipulated that Antony's body should be buried in a royal mausoleum in Alexandria, adjacent to Cleopatra. The will turned Roman public opinion against Antony because they believed that he was trying to make Cleopatra the ruler of Rome. Using this as a pretext to start a war, Octavian began to gather forces to attack Antony. Moving to Patras, Greece, Antony and Cleopatra stopped to wait for his eastern client, the king's additional army.
Octa was attacked
As an ordinary general, Octavian entrusted his army to his friend Marcus Vipsanius Agripa. As an experienced veteran, Agrippa began to actively attack the Greek coast, while Octavian moved east with his army. Under Lucius Gellius Poplicola and Gaius Sosius, Anthony's fleet was concentrated in the Gulf of Ambrasia near present-day Aqon in northwestern Greece. While the enemy was in port, Agrippa led his fleet south to attack Messenia, disrupting Antony's supply lines. After arriving at Axing, Octavian established a stronghold in the highlands north of the bay. The attack on Camp Antony to the south was easily repulsed.
Octavian's ships were equipped with a new weapon called "pincers" (also called "crow's mouth"), which was a piece of springboard covered with iron, with an iron hook at one end and a rope at the other, and when attacking, the "pincers" were projected with ballistae and the enemy ship was dragged close to the side of the ship with an iron hook. Since the "pincers" were wrapped in iron, the enemy could not cut neither the springboard nor the ropes behind. This weapon could take advantage of the Roman army's strength in land warfare and was an advance in naval weapons.
The two forces watched each other, and the stalemate lasted for hours. After Agrippa defeated Sosius in the naval battle and established a blockade of Axin, Antony's support began to wane. Due to the interruption of supplies, some of Anthony's officers began to defect. With his weakened position and Cleopatra's agitation to return to Egypt, Antony began planning battles. The ancient historian Diocassius notes that Antony was less willing to fight and that, in fact, he was looking for a way to escape with his lover. Either way, Antony's formation departed on September 2, 31 BC.
Water station
Anthony's fleet consisted mainly of large galleys known as quinqueremes. His boats, characterized by thick hulls and bronze armor, were formidable, but slow and difficult to maneuver. Seeing Antony deploy, Octavian instructed Agrippa to lead the fleet against it. Unlike Antony, Agripa's fleet consisted of smaller, more mobile warships built by the Libournians, who lived in what is now Croatia. These smaller galleys lacked the ability to ram and sink five-oared warships, but were fast enough to dodge enemy ramming attacks. Approaching each other, the battle soon began, with three or four Libournian ships attacking each pentagonal.
As the fighting raged on, Agrippa began to expand his left flank, with the goal of turning to Antony's right flank. Lucius Policola, who led Anthony's right, moved outward to meet the threat. In this way, his formation broke away from Anthony's center and opened a gap. Seeing an opportunity, Lucius Arruntius, who commanded the center of Agripa, led his ships to rush in and escalate the battle. Since neither side could collide (the usual means of naval attack), the battle actually turned into a sea and land battle. After several hours of fierce fighting, the two sides attacked and retreated each other, but they failed to gain a decisive advantage.
