[Commander of a ship who fought at the Battle of Actium]

Title

[Commander of a ship who fought at the Battle of Actium]

Period

1800-1850;

Description

One of the men who appeared before Gulliver was the commander of a ship who fought at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE when Octavian (later Augustus) defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra. The commander was quite successful at the battle, however, he was overlooked by Augustus when it came time to appoint a commander of a greater ship. This position went to a young man who waited on one of the Emperor’s mistresses, showing the corruption of Augustus’ court, like many other courts throughout history. The commander was charged with neglect of duty after he asked to be promoted, and he retired to a poor farm outside Rome. His ship was then given to a favourite page of the Vice-Admiral. The commander’s son who was killed at the battle appears with the commander. Intrigued by the story of this commander, Gulliver called upon Agrippa, a friend of Octavian and the admiral at the Battle of Actium, who confirmed this story. Agrippa’s version of the story paints Octavian in a much more favourable light, however. The same image appears in the 1843 Krabbe edition.

Image Creator

Sears (Illustrator)

Type

StillImage

Book Illustrations

Identifier

mta:21073

Language

ger

Source Name

Gulliver's Reisen in unbekannte Länder

Parent Collection

1839 Stuttgart Grandville vol. 2

1839 Stuttgart Grandville vol. 2

Image

mta_21073_OBJ.png

Collection

Gulliver's Travels

Subject

Actium, Battle of, 31 B.C

Rome

History

Augustus, 30 B.C.-14 A.D

Magic

ghosts

fictional works

imaginary places

Fictitious characters

imaginary creatures