04-10-2022, 12:01 AM
On paper, Antony and Cleopatra seemed assured to win the war, given their combined resources and experience with military strategies and campaigns. Yet Octavian ultimately prevailed. According to Strauss, it was Octavian's reliance on Roman General Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who successfully waged a naval campaign to cut off supply lines to Antony's army, giving Octavian the upper hand. That campaign included the seizure of the city of Methone, a strategically significant port in an obscure corner of southern Greece.
"Actium was a great battle, but it did not stand alone," Strauss writes in his introduction. "It was the climax of a six-month campaign of engagements on land and sea. Nor were all of the operations military. The war between Antony and Octavian involved diplomacy, information warfare—from propaganda to what we now call fake news—economic and financial competition, as well as all of the human emotions: love, hate, and jealousy, not least among them."
Ars spoke with Strauss to learn more.
Ars Technica: You went to great lengths to reconstruct the actual battle. But you also spent considerable effort examining the role of Agrippa, arguing that Octavian gained a strategic advantage by waging war from the sea.
Barry Strauss: Yes. I was particularly interested in this event that took place about six months before the Battle of Actium: the Seizure of Methone. It's pretty clear that was a major turning point because it cut Antony and Cleopatra's supply lifeline. We know that Agrippa took the place from the sea, but we don't really have any details, and we know that it's difficult to take places from the sea. It's not easy in modern times, and it was very difficult in ancient times—especially because he was coming from Southern Italy. He had to cross the Ionian Sea and get to Greece undetected.
So I wondered, "Well, how did he do it?" I interrogated the ancient sources and read as much as I possibly could about war from the sea and naval sieges. Then I talked to Navy SEALs and other modern military people who engage in amphibious warfare.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/04/a...cleopatra/
![[Image: 800px-thumbnail.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Reliefs_Commemorating_the_Battle_of_Actium_%2831_BC%29%2C_a_processional_scene%2C_dating_from_AD_14-37_and_discovered_in_Avellino%2C_Moi%2C_Auguste%2C_Moi%2C_Auguste%2C_Empereur_de_Rome_exhibition%2C_Grand_Palais%2C_Paris_-_14649072174.jpg/800px-thumbnail.jpg)
"Actium was a great battle, but it did not stand alone," Strauss writes in his introduction. "It was the climax of a six-month campaign of engagements on land and sea. Nor were all of the operations military. The war between Antony and Octavian involved diplomacy, information warfare—from propaganda to what we now call fake news—economic and financial competition, as well as all of the human emotions: love, hate, and jealousy, not least among them."
Ars spoke with Strauss to learn more.
Ars Technica: You went to great lengths to reconstruct the actual battle. But you also spent considerable effort examining the role of Agrippa, arguing that Octavian gained a strategic advantage by waging war from the sea.
Barry Strauss: Yes. I was particularly interested in this event that took place about six months before the Battle of Actium: the Seizure of Methone. It's pretty clear that was a major turning point because it cut Antony and Cleopatra's supply lifeline. We know that Agrippa took the place from the sea, but we don't really have any details, and we know that it's difficult to take places from the sea. It's not easy in modern times, and it was very difficult in ancient times—especially because he was coming from Southern Italy. He had to cross the Ionian Sea and get to Greece undetected.
So I wondered, "Well, how did he do it?" I interrogated the ancient sources and read as much as I possibly could about war from the sea and naval sieges. Then I talked to Navy SEALs and other modern military people who engage in amphibious warfare.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/04/a...cleopatra/
