From the dust jacket- Following Caesar’s assassination and Mark Antony’s defeat of the conspirators who killed Caesar, two powerful men remained in Rome—Antony and Caesar’s chosen heir, young Octavian, the future Augustus. When Antony fell in love with the most powerful woman in the world, Egypt’s ruler Cleopatra, and thwarted Octavian’s ambition to rule the empire, another civil war broke out. In 31 BC one of the largest naval battles in the ancient world took place—more than 600 ships, almost 200,000 men, and one woman—the Battle of Actium. Octavian prevailed over Antony and Cleopatra, who subsequently killed themselves.
The Battle of Actium had great consequences for the empire. Had Antony and Cleopatra won, the empire’s capital might have moved from Rome to Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, and Latin might have become the empire’s second language after Greek, which was spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt.
Review- This is a very well written, in-depth examination of 15 year war after the assassination of Julius Caesar. The book starts with some basic information about Caesar and the people around him. Background information is given about Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian as the book moves forward so as to not overwhelm the reader with all the details at one time. The writing is very good and engaging, the notes are good resources, and the pace of the book is good. The pacing is very steady and helps the reader stay engaged with the narrative. I would recommend this book, I enjoyed it very much.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.
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