From Actium to Rome; The Tropaeum at Nicopolis and the Visual Construction of Augustan Victory

Konstantinos Zachos
Emeritus Curator of Antiquities, Greek Ministry of Culture

From Actium to Rome: The Tropaeum at Nicopolis and the Visual Construction of Augustan Victory
The Victory Monument of Augustus at Nicopolis is a monumental and permanent tropaeum erected on the hill where Octavian established his headquarters before the naval battle of Actium in 31 BC. The results of a long-term interdisciplinary research project, recently completed with the publication of its third volume, have brought together archaeological, architectural, epigraphic, and art-historical evidence to reconstruct the monument and explore its role in the formation of Augustan political ideology.

Particular attention will be devoted to the monumental altar on the upper terrace and to its sculpted friezes, especially the upper frieze depicting the triumph celebrated by Augustus in Rome in 29 BC following his victory at Actium. The lecture will examine the monument’s architecture, dedicatory inscription, sculptural decoration, and the thirty-five sockets that once held the rams of captured ships, exploring how a military victory was transformed into a carefully constructed visual and monumental statement of power.

The monument at Nicopolis offers a unique perspective on the relationship between victory, ritual, and representation at the beginning of the Roman Empire. By examining the visual language of the Actian triumph and its monumental evocation at Nicopolis, the lecture will consider how Augustus transformed the memory of a decisive military victory into an enduring statement of legitimacy, authority, and imperial power.