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In the fall of 31 BCE, Roman forces allied with Octavian, nephew of the assassinated Julius Caesar, defeated the combined fleets of his great rival Marc Antony and Antony’s consort Cleopatra. It was the end of much more than Antony’s ambitions.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: In the fall of 31 BCE, Roman forces allied with Octavian, nephew of the assassinated Julius Caesar, defeated the combined fleets of his great rival Marc Antony and Antony’s consort Cleopatra. It was the end of much more than Antony’s ambitions.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The events that culminated at the Battle of Actium marked the end of the Roman Republic. Actium was a strategic village on the south side of the entrance to the vast Gulf of Arta, known today as Amvrakikόs Kόlpos in the west central region of Greece. It became the center of the Roman universe that fall because it was the point of clash between rival factions in the leadership of the arthritic Republic, clearly in its last days of life.

By the middle of the first century BCE, the Roman Republic was staggering. Its main institutions were under enormous stress caused by the growth of the Empire and the need to administer a large number of provinces far from the center of political life in Rome. In addition, the Senate, the major feature of Republican life, which had always been an aristocratic bastion anyway, was increasingly unable to either represent the people or restrain the avarice and self-indulgence of its members.

Finally, there were very few leaders committed to the Republican values of representative government, limited as it had been. Since the rise and rule of Julius Caesar, most were increasingly open to much the easier path to military dictatorship and imperial rule.

After his assassination in 44 BCE, Roman affairs were dominated by what was known as the Second Triumvirate. It was composed of Lepidus, Antony, and Octavian, but the real power conflict was between the last two. After 13 years of intrigue and struggle, it was their forces that converged on tiny Actium in Greece for the showdown. Next time: the battle for an empire.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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