6/8: The end of the 44 BC Caesar assassination conspiracy: 6/8: The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2023
⏱️ 9 minutes
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6/8: The end of the 44 BC Caesar assassination conspiracy: 6/8: The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium by Barry Strauss
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.
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batshire Bearstrasse, Professor Bearstrasse of Cornell University. |
| 0:06.9 | His new book is The War that made the Roman Empire. |
| 0:09.4 | It is now the summer of 31 BCE. |
| 0:12.9 | The whole world is listening for what's about to happen next. |
| 0:16.8 | The battle fleets, the vast Tala mech battle fleet purchased by a Cleopatra's money, |
| 0:23.5 | is at harbor hundreds of ships at harbor with merchant ships back and forth feeding the |
| 0:28.5 | army, whereas the smaller Roman fleet is a north of Actium on the coastline without easy |
| 0:36.2 | access. |
| 0:37.2 | But Octavian and Agrippa have fought sea battles before. |
| 0:40.6 | Professor, what is a five? |
| 0:42.0 | What is a six? |
| 0:43.0 | What kind of ships are those? |
| 0:44.5 | So these are galleys. |
| 0:46.4 | They are ord ships. |
| 0:49.6 | And a five would, there's some doubt as to how they were made up. |
| 0:55.6 | But I think according to the most likely reconstruction, in a five you'd have five |
| 0:59.8 | men to a room. |
| 1:01.8 | Imagine two or two levels of ores. |
| 1:05.2 | There are three men rowing on the top level and two men rowing on the bottom level. |
| 1:12.1 | So that would be, that would be how a five would go. |
| 1:15.5 | Six might have three and three. |
| 1:19.0 | A four and a five are about the most efficient, the most efficient kinds of warships to use |
... |
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