The Battle That Ended the Ancient World | Cleopatra

[00:00:00]On September 2nd, 31 BCE, the fleets met at Actium.

[00:00:08]The sea was calm. The fate of the ancient world hung in the silence before the first oar moved.

[00:00:16]Octavian's admiral, Agrippa, had spent months preparing. His ships were lighter, faster. His crews drilled to perfection.

[00:00:27]He understood warfare the way Antony understood pleasure.

[00:00:32]Antony's warships were trapped and surrounded.

[00:00:36]Fire spread between hulls. The screams of the dying rose above the crash of bronze on wood. Then, Cleopatra's 60 ships broke formation and sailed south through the fighting.

[00:00:50]Whether she was fleeing or following orders, history has never decided.

[00:00:57]When Antony saw her purple sails disappearing, he abandoned his flagship and followed, leaving his fleet and his army behind to die without him.