Actium, also known asAktion orAktio (Ancient Greek:Ἄκτιον,Modern Greek:Άκτιο), is a peninsula on the mouth of theAmbracian Gulf inAcarnania,Greece, and the site of an ancient town of the same name. It is most known for theBattle of Actium, in whichOctavian gained his celebrated victory overAntony andCleopatra, on September 2, 31 BC. The peninsula has been connected toPreveza inEpirus since 2002 via theAktio–Preveza Undersea Tunnel.
Actium belonged originally to theCorinthian colonists ofAnactorium, who probably founded the sanctuary ofApollo Actius.[1][2] This temple was of great antiquity. In the 3rd century BC it fell to the Acarnanians, who subsequently held their religious summits there.
There was also an ancient festival namedActia, celebrated here in honour of the god. Augustus after his victory enlarged the temple, and revived the ancient festival, which was henceforth celebrated once in five years (πενταετηρίς, ludi quinquennales), with musical and gymnastic contests, and horse races.[3]
We learn from a Greek inscription found on the site of Actium, and which is probably prior to the time of Augustus, that the chief priest of the temple was called Ἱεραπόλος, and that his name was employed in official documents, like that of the first Archon at Athens, to mark the date.[4]Strabo says that the temple was situated on an eminence, and that below was a plain with a grove of trees, and a dock-yard;[5] and in another passage he describes the harbour as situated outside of the gulf.[6]
On the opposite coast of Epirus, Augustus founded the city ofNicopolis in honour of his victory. After the foundation of Nicopolis, a few buildings sprang up around the temple, and it served as a kind of suburb to Nicopolis.
On October 8, 1980, the Greek Ministry of Transport and Communications reported that shipwrecks from the Battle of Actium had been located at Actium near the entrance to the Ambracan Gulf.[7]
In Summer 2009, archaeologists discovered the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and found two statue heads, one of Apollo, one of Artemis (Diana).
The peninsula is connected via anunderwater tunnel to the city ofPreveza inEpirus, on the opposite side of the mouth of theAmbracian Gulf. The total length of the tunnel is 1,570 metres (5,150 ft), of which 909 metres (2,982 ft) are located underwater. It was completed in 2002.[8]
38°57′11″N20°46′05″E / 38.953°N 20.768°E /38.953; 20.768
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Actium".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911)."Actium" .Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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