Battle of Actium
Battle
It is estimated that Antony had around 230 ships,(plus 30-50 armed transports)as opposed to the 300 ships of Octavian's fleet. What Antony lacked in quantity was made up for in quality (of vessel), as his ships were mainly the standard Roman warship, quinqueremes with smaller quadriremes, heavier and wider than Octavian's, making them ideal weapon platforms. Antony's personal flag ship, like those of his admirals, was a "ten". An "eight" war galley had around 200 heavy marines, archers and at least six ballista catapults. Being larger than Octavian's ships, Antony's war galleys were very difficult to board in close combat and his troops were able to rain down missiles onto their smaller and lower opponent's ships. The bows of the galleys were armoured with bronze plates and square-cut timbers, making a successful ramming attack with similar equipment difficult. The only way to disable such a ship was to smash its oars, rendering it immobile and, hopefully, isolated from the rest of its fleet. The main weakness of Antony's ships was their lack of invulnerability; such a ship, once isolated from support of its fleet, could be swamped with boarding attacks. However, many of his ships were undermanned with rowing crews; there had been a severe malaria outbreak while they were waiting for Octavian's fleet to arrive.
Battle of Actium-14