on 2 september 31 bc the naval forces of octavian, led by marcus vipsanius agrippa, met those of antony and cleopatra for a decisive engagement, the battle of actium. on board her flagship the "antonias", cleopatra commanded 60 ships at the mouth of the ambracian gulf, at the rear of the fleet. this was likely a move by antony's officers to marginalize her during the battle. antony had ordered that their ships have sails on board for a better chance to pursue or flee from the enemy. cleopatra, ever-concerned about defending egypt, used them to move swiftly through the area of major combat in a strategic withdrawal to the peloponnese. burstein writes that partisan roman writers would later accuse cleopatra of cowardly deserting antony, but their original intention of keeping their sails on board may have been to break the blockade and salvage as much of their fleet as possible. antony followed her and boarded her ship, identified by its distinctive purple sails, as the two escaped the battle and headed for tainaron. antony reportedly avoided cleopatra during this three-day voyage, until her ladies in waiting at tainaron urged him to speak with her. the battle of actium raged on without cleopatra and antony, until the morning of 3 september, when there were massive defections of both officers, troops, and even allied kings to octavian's side.