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The John Batchelor Show

5/8: Octavian the supremely successful and sly despot: 5/8: The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

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4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

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5/8: Octavian the supremely successful and sly despot: 5/8: The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss

https://www.amazon.com/War-That-Made-Roman-Empire/dp/1982116676

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.

Transcript

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0:34.2

This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Bachelor.

0:40.0

The war that made the Roman Empire and to make clear Patrick Octavian at actium.

0:45.6

Professor Barry Strauss is the author. He's the Beaumard chair of humanistic studies at Cornell University.

0:51.2

The distinguished class of several books in this period for those of us who do not have the Latin

0:57.3

or the Greek. It's a great treat to speak with Barry about a battle that I did not know

1:02.8

to solve before this book. Actium. It's understood as a naval battle. Well, sort of.

1:09.8

It's also a battle of maneuver and it teaches the lesson again and again. We get in the 20th

1:15.5

and the 21st century tactics are for amateurs logistics are for professionals.

1:21.7

And what you're about to hear is Barry Strauss's explication of how Octavian defeated Antony

1:29.1

because he had a logistical genius named Marcus Agrippa. Barry, thank you very much.

1:35.3

We need to do a little geography. Why did the vast telemetric fleet built by

1:42.5

Cleopatra's treasury, Cleopatra and Antony leading. They went from Ephesus to

1:49.5

Patre to the Western coast of Greece. Why? What did that mean for their logistics?

1:57.5

Well, it was the jumping off point for invading Italy. It also effectively closed off Italy

...

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