Editing 31 BC

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=December 2022}}
{{Year nav|-31}}
{{BC year in topic|31}}
[[File:Battle_of_Actium-en.svg|thumb|The Battle of Actium]]
__NOTOC__
Year '''31 BC''' was either a [[common year starting on Tuesday]], [[Common year starting on Wednesday|Wednesday]] or [[Common year starting on Thursday|Thursday]] or a [[leap year starting on Tuesday]] or [[Leap year starting on Wednesday|Wednesday]] of the [[Julian calendar]] (the sources differ, see [[Julian calendar#Leap year error|leap year error]] for further information) and a [[common year starting on Tuesday]] of the [[Proleptic Julian calendar]]. At the time, it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Caesar''' or as '''Caesar and Messalla''' (or, less frequently, '''year 723 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 31 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===

==== Roman Republic ====
* [[Augustus]], then known as Imperator Caesar, becomes [[List of Early Imperial Roman Consuls|Roman Consul]] for the third time. Antony was designated as his colleague but is deposed from office, an action that Antony does not recognise.<ref name="Broughton 1952 p415-20" /> Elected in Antony's place is [[Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus]]; Antony's consulship is not recorded in some sources, as Valerius is marked instead as ''consul ordinarius''.<ref name="Broughton 1952 p415-20">{{cite book |last=Broughton |first=Thomas Robert Shannon |year=1952 |title=The magistrates of the Roman republic |location=New York |publisher=American Philological Association |author-link=Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton |volume=2 |pages=419–420}}</ref>
* Octavian crosses the [[Strait of Otranto]] and lands with an [[army]] (15 [[Roman legions|legions]]) at [[Panormos (Epirus)|Panormus]] in [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]]. He marches to [[Parga|Toryne]] in the south, and establishes a [[bridgehead]] at the [[Gulf of Ambracia]].
* [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]] sails with 300 war [[galley]]s to the western [[Peloponnese]], and occupies strategic positions around the [[Gulf of Corinth]] to cut off Antony's [[line of communication]].
* Antony, alerted by Octavian's presence, sets up camp on the southern [[shore]], at the [[promontory]] of [[Actium]]. He dispatches a force to isolate the [[Castra|camp]] of Octavian in the valley of [[Louros]].
* Agrippa storms [[Lefkada|Leucas]], giving Octavian an [[Anchorage (maritime)|anchorage]] and a second [[Logistics center|depot]] for his land [[Materiel|supplies]]. He seizes the [[garrison]] at [[Patrae]], and takes Antony's [[headquarters]].
* [[Amyntas of Galatia|Amyntas]], king of [[Galatia]], [[Desertion|deserts]] with 2,000 cavalry to Octavian. One-third of Antony's oarsmen are lost to [[malnutrition]], [[disease]] and [[desertion]].
* [[September 2]] &ndash; [[Roman Civil War]]: [[Battle of Actium]]: Off the western coast of [[Greece]], Octavian Caesar defeats naval forces under [[Mark Antony]] and [[Cleopatra VII]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Richard |last2=Evans |first2=Martin Marix |title=A guide to battles: decisive conflicts in history |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-882897-6 |page=33-34 |edition=Reissued in Oxford reference collection}}</ref>
* The Egyptian fleet (60 warships), including Cleopatra's treasure ship, retreats to [[Taenarus]]. Antony transfers his flag to a smaller [[Marine vessel|vessel]] and breaks through Octavian's line.
* Winter &ndash; Octavian (32 years old) takes court at [[Samos]]. After his decisive victory at [[Actium]] he builds [[Nicopolis]]; the city is populated by Greeks from settlements further inland.

==== Roman Palestine ====
* In the [[Judean Desert]] on an isolated rock [[plateau]], fortress [[Masada]] is completed. [[Herod the Great]] builds an [[armory (military)|armory]], [[barracks]], storehouses and a [[palace]].
*[[31 BC Judea earthquake]], earthquake mentioned in catalogues of historical earthquakes. It affected the [[Herodian Kingdom of Judea]] in the [[Holy Land]].<ref name="Karcz">{{cite journal |last=Karcz |first=Iaakov |year=2004 |title=Implications of some early Jewish sources for estimates of earthquake hazard in the Holy Land |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.393.3596&rep=rep1&type=pdf |journal=Annals of Geophysics |volume=47 |accessdate=2020-04-02 |pages= 774–778|citeseerx=10.1.1.393.3596 }}</ref>

=== By topic ===

==== Art ====
* The [[Hellenistic]] period ends (or [[AD 14]] by some scholars).
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[Aristobulus IV]], Jewish prince of [[Judea]] (d. [[7 BC]])
* [[Tiruvalluvar]], Indian poet and [[philosopher]]

== Deaths ==
* [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]], Roman general and politician 
* [[Tarcondimotus I]], Roman client king of [[Cilicia]]

== References ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:31 Bc}}
[[Category:31 BC| ]]