Toryne (), also known as Torone (Τορώνη), was a city of

ancient Thesprotia Thesprotis (Greek: Θεσπρωτίς, ''Thesprōtís''), or Thesprotia (Θεσπρωτία, ''Thesprōtia''), was an ancient region in Epirus in northwestern Greece. It encompassed the west-central part of Epirus, and it roughly included the territ ...

in ancient Epirus. The fleet of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

was moored off Toryne a short time before the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

, and seems from the order of the names in Ptolemy to have stood in one of the bays between the mouth of the river

Thyamis The Thyamis (), also known as Glykys (Γλυκύς) or Kalamas (Καλαμάς), is a river in the Epirus region of Greece. The long, river flows into the Ionian Sea while on its course it drains an area of about , over 99% of which on Greek ter ...

and Sybota. It was located on the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

coast, and its site is tentatively placed near present

Parga Parga (, , ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza in Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on ...

. In Shakespeare's ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

'' Toryne is personally taken over by Caesar shortly after his being in Rome, showing an almost mystical speed. "Toryne" meant "ladle" in Ancient Greek, and in Plutarch's ''Life of Antony'', Cleopatra puns upon this. In

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

's novel of the 1832 June Rebellion, ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', a character says: "Cleopatra’s pun preceded the

battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

, and that had it not been for it, no one would have remembered the city of Toryne".

References

See also