Actia () was a festival of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Actius, celebrated at Nicopolis in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

, with

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, musical contests,

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

, and sea battles. It was reestablished by

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 ...

, in commemoration of his

victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

over

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

off Actium in 31 BC; that it was probably the revival of an ancient festival is suggested by the celebrated temple of Apollo at Actium, which is mentioned by

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

, and

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, and which was enlarged by Augustus. The games instituted by Augustus were celebrated every five years (', ''

ludi ''Ludi'' (Latin:games; plural of "ludus") were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (''populus Romanus''). ''Ludi'' were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festiv ...

quinquennales''); they received the title of a sacred ''

agon () is the Greek personification for a conflict, struggle or contest, describing a concept of the same name. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. i ...

'' and were also called Olympia, and ranked next after the four great games of Greece.A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Actia
/ref> Actia were also celebrated at the same time at Rome by the orders of the senate and were also celebrated in other parts of the Roman empire.

Stadium of Nikopolis

This ancient stadium was located in the so-called 'Proasteion' (

sacred grove Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. These are forest areas that are, for the most ...

) of the Graeco-Roman city of Nikopolis. Together with the nearby gymnasium, theatre and hippodrome it was the location of the famous Actian Games. These games, which featured athletic, equestrian and musical events, were first held in 27 BCE to celebrate the victory of the first Roman emperor Augustus over his adversaries, Marc Antony and his Egyptian wife

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

. They were held every four years up to the mid-3rd century CE. Dating from just after the city's foundation, the ancient stadium of Nikopolis has two semicircular ends (''sphendones''), typical of the amphitheatre type that was in use during the first 200 years of the principate. The stadiums of ancient Laodikeia (near Pamukkale, Turkey) and Aphrodisias (Geyre, Turkey) have a similar architecture. The north side of the stadium, which must have held a capacity of at least 10,000 spectators, was built on the side of a hill, while artificial deposits were used for the other sides. The walls were made of a rubble core faced with several courses of bricks. On the west side of the stadium were three apsidal entrances leading to the gymnasium, the central one larger than the others. The entrances in the ''sphendone'' at the east led to the theatre nearby. On the ''sphendone'' at the south side there were residential rooms and facilities for athletes and spectators (inns, shops, lodgings etc.) Locals call this stadium ''to karavi'', meaning 'the ship', which of course relates to the structure's shape. Archaeological investigations are still regularly undertaken in and around the stadium today.

Notes

References

* {{Cite DGRA, title=Actia, url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0063%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dactia-cn Ancient Roman festivals Roman Epirus Ancient Greek athletic festivals Festivals of Apollo Ancient Roman leisure