Battle of Actium

[Josef]

How was this battle fought ? i found some sources where it says that they had rock throwing catapults mounted on the ships and fought from distance other sources dont mention anything about that , plus Mark Antony had a larger force combined with Cleopatra and more experience but still lost , maybe naval battles was hes weakness who knows

[Jona Lendering]

I think the account by Cassius Dio will answer most questions.

[Josef]

thank you Jona

[Alexandr K]

Hi,
perhaps some literature will be helpful. This battle has been hotly debated and there are opposing views. See:

Kromayer, J.|.A. (1899). Kleine Forschungen zur Geschichte des zweiten Triumvirats VII. Der Feldzug von Actium und der sogenannte Verrath der Cleopatra. Hermes, 34, 1-54.

Tarn, W.W. (1931). The Battle of Actium. Journal of Roman Studies, 21, 173-199.

Kromayer, J.|.A. (1933). Actium. Ein Epilog. Hermes, 68, 361-383.

Richardson, G.W. (1937). Actium. Journal of Roman Studies, 27, 153-164.

Tarn, W.W. (1938). Actium: A Note. Journal of Roman Studies, 28, 165-168.

And an article for general reader:

Porter, B. (1997). Actium. Rome's Fate in the Balance. Military History, 14(3), 26-34.

Greetings
Alexandr

[Praefectusclassis]

It's true that the battle has been hotly debated, but the argument of Tarn and Richardson mostly revolves around a very literal interpretation of a poem by Horace which - even with a lot of imagination - is not really suitable for such an interpretation. Kromayer's article is still one of the best though there is newer literature which confirms his - and Dio's views of the battle - from archaeology:
D.Harrington, ‘The battle of Actium – A study in historiography’, Ancient World 9 (1984)
W.M.Murray, ‘The Spoils of Actium’, Archaeology 41 (1988), 28-35;
A.Loupiac, ‘La trilogie d’Actium et l’epode IX d’Horace: document historique ou Carmen symposiacum’, Revue des etudes latines 75 (1997), 129-140;
W.M.Murray, ‘Reconsidering the battle of Actium’, in: V.Gorman & E.Robinson, Oikestes. Studies in Constitutions, Colonies and Military Power in the Ancient World offered in honor of A.J.Graham. Mnemosyne suppl.231 (Leiden 2002), 339-359.