Introduction | Cleopatra and Caesar | Antony and Octavian
War of words and spectacle | The end of the affair
The consequences | Find out more

The consequences

	Poster for an early film about Cleopatra Vin Mag Archive Enlarge Image

What were the lasting ramifications of this pivotal battle between East and West?

If Antony and Cleopatra had won at Actium, it's undeniable that the Roman empire would have become a very different place. It would have been less centred on Roman culture and notions of Western racial superiority, and more aware of the culture and sensibilities of the East. It might have been more of a federation than an empire (Antony had controlled the East through alliances with local rulers rather than through straightforward annexation). It might have had its heart in Egypt, not in Rome. The moral, legal and social systems that the Western world would eventually have inherited from a Romano-Egyptian empire would have been very different.

But then our view of what constitutes a 'Western' or an 'Eastern' world would be very different too. Before Octavian, some historians believe, there were cultural differences between different regions but no real sense of an East/West divide. That was a creation of Octavian in his battle of words. He brought it into relief as a way of boosting support against Antony and Cleopatra – he stood for Rome's Western virtues while they stood for Eastern vices.

After Actium, the two cultures certainly came to interpret the story differently. To Arab historians, Cleopatra was the 'last of the wise ones', a good politician and a clever ruler. To Western historians, especially those paid by Octavian, she was over-reaching, lustful and got what she deserved.

Octavian used the Egyptian loot to pay his army and bankroll his triumphant return to Rome. He allowed the Senate to bestow on him the new name of 'Augustus', called an end to the republic and became the first Roman emperor in a line that was to stretch more than 400 years.

But in the end, Octavian was beaten by his own propaganda. In his attempts to defeat her, he created such a strong persona for Cleopatra that her reputation lived on long after her death. He obscured the details of her life, but ensured that her story would remain endlessly fascinating.

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