Western Civilization

Caesar before him, he fell in love. Octavian began a

propaganda campaign, accusing Antony of catering to

Cleopatra and giving away Roman territory to this

“whore of the East.” Finally, at the Battle of Actium in

Greece in 31B.C.E., Octavian’s forces smashed the army

and navy of Antony and Cleopatra. Both fled to Egypt,

where, according to the account of the Roman historian

Florus, they committed suicide a year later:

Antony was the first to commit suicide, by the sword. Cleo-

patra threw herself at Octavian’s feet, and tried her best to

attract his gaze: in vain, for his self-control was impervious

to her beauty. It was not her life she was after, for that had

already been granted, but a portion of her kingdom. When

she realized this was hopeless and that she had been ear-

marked to feature in Octavian’s triumph in Rome, she took

advantage of her guard’s carelessness to get herself into the

mausoleum, as the royal tomb is called. Once there, she

put on the royal robes which she was accustomed to wear,

and lay down in a richly perfumed coffin beside her Antony.

Then she applied poisonous snakes to her veins and slipped

into death as though into a sleep.^5

Octavian, at the age of thirty-two, stood supreme over

the Roman world (see Map 5.3). The civil wars had

ended. And so had the republic.

0 200 400 Miles

0 200 400 600 Kilometers

Taurus Mts.^

ITALY

BITHYNIA AND

PONTUS

ASIA

PARTHIA

JUDAEA

EGYPT

NUMIDIA

SPAIN

GAUL

SYRIA

CYRENE

ACHAEA

CILICIA

MACEDONIA

ILLYRIA

CISALPINE

GAUL

Rome

Actium

31 B.C.E.

Pharsalus

48 B.C.E.

Philippi

42 B.C.E.

Alexandria

Sardinia

Corsica

Sicily

Crete Cyprus

Balearic

Islan

ds^

(^) N
ile
(^) R
.
Rubicon
R.
Po R.
Danube R.
Black Sea
Red
Sea
Atlantic
Ocean
North
Sea
Baltic
Sea
Dead
Sea
Pyrenees
A
lps
Mediterranean Sea
Roman dominions
in the late Republic
Battle sites
MAP 5.3Roman Dominions in the Late Republic, 31B.C.E.Rome expanded its empire not only
in response to military threats on its borders but also for increased access to economic resources
and markets, in addition to the vanity of conquest itself.
Q For comparison, look back at Map 5.2. In what areas did the Romans gain the
greatest amount of territory, and how?
116 Chapter 5The Roman Republic
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