(Image from Wikipedia and is in the public domain.)

Hey Otterites!

Was rambling through some Wikipedia “this day in history” stuff and came across that late August is the anniversary of Octavian’s conquest of Egypt following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

I love this ancient Rome history stuff. For those not in the know, Octavius, Mark Antony and Lepidus chased the assassins of Julius Caesar out of Rome, eventually defeating them in Greece at Philippi. Octavius, Antony and Lepidus were called the Second Triumvirate when they ruled the Roman Republic. The First Triumvirate was Caesar, Crassus and Pompey, and was all in the background, Crassus bankrolling the other 2 who proposed legislation in the Senate. The Second Triumvirate however was ensconced in Roman law by the Senate, putting the Republic basically into a military dictatorship run by the pals of Caesar.

Should have been a sweet arrangement, but once these guys got a taste of power, they had to have more. Antony ran off to Egypt and started living it up with Caesar’s old squeeze Cleopatra, eventually have 3 children with her. Egypt was an important client ally of Rome, and a huge grain supplier. Antony was definitely angling for the big time. Meanwhile, Octavian traded on being the adopted son of Caesar to gain the loyalty of the legions. After sidelining Lepidus, Octavius started telling the Senate that Antony was being very “un-Roman” with this Cleopatra thing.

So the Triumvirate falls apart. After the defeat, Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, abandoning their children, along with Cleopatra’s child with Caesar, called Caesarion, to their fates. Octavian invades Egypt, declares it conquered and essentially annexed to Rome. An advisor convinces Octavian that 2 Caesars is 1 Caesar too many, and so much for Caesarion. Sorry bro.

Octavian goes on to convince the Senate to make him Princips, or First Citizen, eventually to be called Augustus and this marks the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. And as Empires go, Rome is the big one. Of course Francis, Robert and I covered all this in our Rome series back in the day. Give it a listen Otterites. Good stuff.