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Thenaval forces of theancient Roman state (Latin:classis,lit. 'fleet') were instrumental in the Roman conquest of theMediterranean Basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of theRoman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans remained a primarily land-based people and relied partially on their more nautically inclined subjects, such as theGreeks and theEgyptians, to build their ships. Because of that, the navy was never completely embraced by the Roman state, and deemed somewhat "un-Roman".[1]
In antiquity, navies and trading fleets did not have the logistical autonomy that modern ships and fleets possess, and unlike modern naval forces, the Roman navy even at its height never existed as an autonomous service but operated as an adjunct to theRoman army.
During the course of theFirst Punic War, the Roman navy was massively expanded and played a vital role in the Roman victory and theRoman Republic's eventual ascension to hegemony in theMediterranean Sea. In the course of the first half of the 2nd century BC, Rome went on to destroy Carthage and subdue theHellenistic kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean, achieving complete mastery of the inland sea, which they calledMare Nostrum. The Roman fleets were again prominent in the 1st century BC in the wars against the pirates, and in the civil wars that brought down the Republic, whose campaigns ranged across the Mediterranean. In 31 BC, the great navalBattle of Actium ended thecivil wars culminating in the final victory ofAugustus and the establishment of theRoman Empire.
During the Imperial period, the Mediterranean became largely a peaceful "Roman lake". In the absence of a maritime enemy, the navy was reduced mostly to patrol, anti-piracy and transport duties.[2] By far, the navy's most vital task was to ensureRoman grain imports were shipped and delivered to the capital unimpeded across the Mediterranean. The navy also manned and maintained craft on major frontier rivers such as theRhine and theDanube for supplying the army.
On the fringes of the Empire, in new conquests or, increasingly, in defense againstbarbarian invasions, the Roman fleets were still engaged in open warfare. Thedecline of the Empire in the 3rd century took a heavy toll on the navy, which was reduced to a shadow of its former self, both in size and in combat ability. As successive waves of theVölkerwanderung crashed on the land frontiers of the battered Empire, the navy could only play a secondary role. In the early 5th century, the Roman frontiers were breached, and barbarian kingdoms appeared on the shores of the western Mediterranean. One of them, theVandal Kingdom with its capital atCarthage, raised a navy of its own and raided the shores of the Mediterranean, evensacking Rome, while the diminished Roman fleets were incapable of offering any resistance. The Western Roman Empirecollapsed in the late 5th century. The navy of thesurviving eastern Roman Empire is known as theByzantine navy.
The exact origins of the Roman fleet are obscure. A traditionally agricultural and land-based society, the Romans rarely ventured out to sea, unlike theirEtruscan neighbours.[3] There is evidence of Roman warships in the early 4th century BC, such as mention of a warship that carried an embassy toDelphi in 394 BC, but at any rate, the Roman fleet, if it existed, was negligible.[4] The traditional birth date of the Roman navy is set at ca. 311 BC, when, after the conquest ofCampania, two new officials, theduumviri navales classis ornandae reficiendaeque causa, were tasked with the maintenance of a fleet.[5][6] As a result, the Republic acquired its first fleet, consisting of 20 ships, most likelytriremes, with eachduumvir commanding a squadron of 10 ships.[4][6] However, the Republic continued to rely mostly on her legions for expansion in Italy; the navy was most likely geared towards combating piracy and lacked experience in naval warfare, being easily defeated in 282 BC by theTarentines.[6][7][8]
This situation continued until theFirst Punic War: the main task of the Roman fleet was patrolling along the Italian coast and rivers, protecting seaborne trade from piracy. Whenever larger tasks had to be undertaken, such as the naval blockade of a besieged city, the Romans called on the allied Greek cities of southern Italy, thesocii navales, to provide ships and crews.[9] It is possible that the supervision of these maritime allies was one of the duties of the four newpraetores classici, who were established in 267 BC.[10]
The first Roman expedition outside mainland Italy was against the island ofSicily in 265 BC. This led to the outbreak of hostilities withCarthage, which would last until 241 BC. At the time, thePunic city was the unchallenged master of the western Mediterranean, possessing a long maritime and naval experience and a large fleet. Although Rome had relied on her legions for the conquest of Italy, operations in Sicily had to be supported by a fleet, and the ships available by Rome's allies were insufficient.[10] Thus in 261 BC, the Roman Senate set out to construct a fleet of 100quinqueremes and 20 triremes.[9] According toPolybius, the Romans seized a shipwrecked Carthaginian quinquereme, and used it as a blueprint for their own ships.[11] The new fleets were commanded by the annually elected Romanmagistrates, but naval expertise was provided by the lower officers, who continued to be provided by thesocii, mostly Greeks. This practice was continued until well into the Empire, something also attested by the direct adoption of numerous Greek naval terms.[12][13]
Despite the massive buildup, the Roman crews remained inferior in naval experience to the Carthaginians, and could not hope to match them innaval tactics, which required great maneuverability and experience. They, therefore, employed a novel weapon that transformed sea warfare to their advantage. They equipped their ships with thecorvus, possibly developed earlier by theSyracusans against theAthenians. This was a long plank with a spike for hooking onto enemy ships. Using it as a boarding bridge, marines were able toboard an enemy ship, transforming sea combat into a version of land combat, where the Roman legionaries had the upper hand. However, it is believed that theCorvus weight made the ships unstable, and could capsize a ship in rough seas.[14]
Although the first sea engagement of the war, theBattle of the Lipari Islands in 260 BC, was a defeat for Rome, the forces involved were relatively small. Through the use of theCorvus, the fledgling Roman navy underGaius Duilius won its first major engagement later that year at theBattle of Mylae. During the course of the war, Rome continued to be victorious at sea: victories atSulci (258 BC) andTyndaris (257 BC) were followed by themassiveBattle of Cape Ecnomus, where the Roman fleet under the consulsMarcus Atilius Regulus andLucius Manlius inflicted a severe defeat on the Carthaginians. This string of successes allowed Rome to push the war further across the sea to Africa and Carthage itself. Continued Roman success also meant that their navy gained significant experience, although it also suffered a number of catastrophic losses due to storms, while conversely, the Carthaginian navy suffered from attrition.[14]
TheBattle of Drepana in 249 BC resulted in the only major Carthaginian sea victory, forcing the Romans to equip a new fleet from donations by private citizens. In the last battle of the war, atAegates Islands in 241 BC, the Romans underGaius Lutatius Catulus displayed superior seamanship to the Carthaginians, notably using their rams rather than the now-abandonedCorvus to achieve victory.[14]
After the Roman victory, the balance of naval power in the Western Mediterranean had shifted from Carthage to Rome.[15] This ensured Carthaginian acquiescence to the conquest of Sardinia and Corsica, and also enabled Rome to deal decisively with the threat posed by theIllyrian pirates in theAdriatic. TheIllyrian Wars marked Rome's first involvement with the affairs of the Balkan peninsula.[16] Initially, in 229 BC, a fleet of 200 warships was sent against QueenTeuta, and swiftly expelled the Illyrian garrisons from the Greek coastal cities of modern-dayAlbania.[15] Ten years later, the Romans sent another expedition in the area againstDemetrius of Pharos, who had rebuilt the Illyrian navy and engaged in piracy up into the Aegean. Demetrius was supported byPhilip V of Macedon, who had grown anxious at the expansion of Roman power in Illyria.[17] The Romans were again quickly victorious and expanded their Illyrian protectorate, but the beginning of theSecond Punic War (218–201 BC) forced them to divert their resources westwards for the next decades.
Due to Rome's command of the seas,Hannibal, Carthage's great general, was forced to eschew a sea-borne invasion, instead choosing to bring the war over land to the Italian peninsula.[18] Unlike the first war, the navy played little role on either side in this war. The only naval encounters occurred in the first years of the war, atLilybaeum (218 BC) and theEbro River (217 BC), both resulting Roman victories. Despite an overall numerical parity, for the remainder of the war the Carthaginians did not seriously challenge Roman supremacy. The Roman fleet was hence engaged primarily with raiding the shores of Africa and guarding Italy, a task which included the interception of Carthaginian convoys of supplies and reinforcements for Hannibal's army, as well as keeping an eye on a potential intervention by Carthage's ally, Philip V.[19] The only major action in which the Roman fleet was involved was thesiege of Syracuse in 214–212 BC with 130 ships underMarcus Claudius Marcellus. The siege is remembered for the ingenious inventions ofArchimedes, such as mirrors that burned ships or the so-called "Claw of Archimedes", which kept the besieging army at bay for two years.[20] A fleet of 160 vessels was assembled to supportScipio Africanus' army in Africa in 202 BC, and, should his expedition fail, evacuate his men. In the event, Scipio achieved a decisive victory atZama, and the subsequent peace stripped Carthage of its fleet.[21]
Rome was now the undisputed master of the Western Mediterranean, and turned her gaze from defeated Carthage to theHellenistic world. Small Roman forces had already been engaged in theFirst Macedonian War, when, in 214 BC, a fleet underMarcus Valerius Laevinus had successfully thwarted Philip V from invading Illyria with his newly built fleet. The rest of the war was carried out mostly by Rome's allies, theAetolian League and later theKingdom of Pergamon, but a combined Roman–Pergamene fleet of ca. 60 ships patrolled the Aegean until the war's end in 205 BC. In this conflict, Rome, still embroiled in the Punic War, was not interested in expanding her possessions, but rather in thwarting the growth of Philip's power in Greece. The war ended in an effective stalemate, and was renewed in 201 BC, when Philip V invadedAsia Minor. Anaval battle offChios ended in a costly victory for the Pergamene–Rhodian alliance, but the Macedonian fleet lost many warships, including its flagship, adeceres.[24] Soon after, Pergamon and Rhodes appealed to Rome for help, and the Republic was drawn into theSecond Macedonian War. In view of the massive Roman naval superiority, the war was fought on land, with the Macedonian fleet, already weakened at Chios, not daring to venture out of its anchorage atDemetrias.[24] After the crushing Roman victory atCynoscephalae, the terms imposed on Macedon were harsh, and included the complete disbandment of her navy.
Almost immediately following the defeat ofMacedon, Rome became embroiled in awar with theSeleucid Empire. This war too was decided mainly on land, although the combined Roman–Rhodian navy also achieved victories over the Seleucids atMyonessus andEurymedon. These victories, which were invariably concluded with the imposition of peace treaties that prohibited the maintenance of anything but token naval forces, spelled the disappearance of the Hellenistic royal navies, leaving Rome and her allies unchallenged at sea. Coupled with the finaldestruction of Carthage, and the end ofMacedon's independence, by the latter half of the 2nd century BC, Roman control over all of what was later to be dubbedmare nostrum ("our sea") had been established. Subsequently, the Roman navy was drastically reduced, depending on itsSocii navales.[25]
In the absence of a strong naval presence however,piracy flourished throughout the Mediterranean, especially inCilicia, but also inCrete and other places, further reinforced by money and warships supplied by KingMithridates VI of Pontus, who hoped to enlist their aid in hiswars against Rome.[26] In theFirst Mithridatic War (89–85 BC),Sulla had to requisition ships wherever he could find them to counter Mithridates' fleet. Despite the makeshift nature of the Roman fleet however, in 86 BCLucullus defeated the Pontic navy atTenedos.[27]
Immediately after the end of the war, a permanent force of ca. 100 vessels was established in the Aegean from the contributions of Rome's allied maritime states. Although sufficient to guard against Mithridates, this force was totally inadequate against the pirates, whose power grew rapidly.[27] Over the next decade, the pirates defeated several Roman commanders, and raided unhindered even to the shores of Italy, reaching Rome's harbor,Ostia.[28] According to the account ofPlutarch, "the ships of the pirates numbered more than a thousand, and the cities captured by them four hundred."[29] Their activity posed a growing threat for the Roman economy, and a challenge to Roman power: several prominent Romans, including twopraetors with their retinue and the youngJulius Caesar, were captured and held forransom. Perhaps most important of all, the pirates disrupted Rome's vital lifeline, namely the massiveshipments of grain and other produce from Africa and Egypt that were needed to sustain the city's population.[30]
The resulting grain shortages were a major political issue, and popular discontent threatened to become explosive. In 74 BC, with the outbreak of theThird Mithridatic War,Marcus Antonius (the father ofMark Antony) was appointedpraetor with extraordinaryimperium against the pirate threat, but signally failed in his task: he was defeated off Crete in 72 BC, and died shortly after.[31] Finally, in 67 BC theLex Gabinia was passed in thePlebeian Council, vestingPompey with unprecedented powers and authorizing him to move against them.[32] In amassive and concerted campaign, Pompey cleared the seas of the pirates in only three months.[25][33] Afterwards, the fleet was reduced again to policing duties against intermittent piracy.
In 56 BC, for the first time a Roman fleet engaged in battle outside the Mediterranean. This occurred duringJulius Caesar'sGallic Wars, when the maritime tribe of theVeneti rebelled against Rome. Against the Veneti, the Romans were at a disadvantage, since they did not know the coast, and were inexperienced in fighting in the open sea with its tides and currents.[34] Furthermore, the Veneti ships were superior to the light Roman galleys. They were built ofoak and had no oars, being thus more resistant toramming. In addition, their greater height gave them an advantage in both missile exchanges and boarding actions.[35] In the event, when the two fleets encountered each other inQuiberon Bay, Caesar's navy, under the command of D. Brutus, resorted to the use of hooks on long poles, which cut thehalyards supporting the Veneti sails.[36] Immobile, the Veneti ships were easy prey for the legionaries who boarded them, and fleeing Veneti ships were taken when they became becalmed by a sudden lack of winds.[37] Having thus established his control of theEnglish Channel, in the next years Caesar used this newly built fleet to carry outtwo invasions of Britain.
The last major campaigns of the Roman navy in the Mediterranean until the late 3rd century AD would be in thecivil wars that ended the Republic. In the East, the Republican faction quickly established its control, and Rhodes, the last independent maritime power in the Aegean, was subdued byGaius Cassius Longinus in 43 BC, after its fleet was defeated offKos. In the West, against thetriumvirs stoodSextus Pompeius, who had been given command of the Italian fleet by the Senate in 43 BC. Hetook control of Sicily and made it his base, blockading Italy and stopping the politically crucial supply of grain from Africa to Rome.[38] After suffering a defeat from Sextus in 42 BC, Octavian initiated massive naval armaments, aided by his closest associate,Marcus Agrippa: ships were built at Ravenna and Ostia, the new artificial harbor ofPortus Julius built atCumae, and soldiers and rowers levied, including over 20,000 manumitted slaves.[39] Finally, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Sextus in theBattle of Naulochus in 36 BC, putting an end to all Pompeian resistance.
Octavian's power was further enhanced after his victory against the combined fleets ofMark Antony andCleopatra, Queen ofEgypt, in theBattle of Actium in 31 BC, where Antony had assembled 500 ships against Octavian's 400 ships.[40] This last naval battle of the Roman Republic definitively established Octavian as the sole ruler over Rome and the Mediterranean world. In the aftermath of his victory, he formalized the Fleet's structure, establishing several key harbors in the Mediterranean (see below). The now fully professional navy had its main duties consist of protecting against piracy, escorting troops and patrolling the river frontiers of Europe. It remained however engaged in active warfare in the periphery of the Empire.
UnderAugustus and after the conquest ofEgypt there were increasing demands from the Roman economy to extend the trade lanes to India. The Arabian control of all sea routes to India was an obstacle. One of the first naval operations underprinceps Augustus was therefore the preparation for a campaign on the Arabian Peninsula.Aelius Gallus, the prefect of Egypt ordered the construction of 130 transports and subsequently carried 10,000 soldiers to Arabia.[41] But the following march through the desert towardsYemen failed and the plans for control of theArabian peninsula had to be abandoned.
At the other end of the Empire, inGermania, the navy played an important role in the supply and transport of thelegions. In 15 BC an independent fleet was installed at theLake Constance. Later, the generalsDrusus andTiberius used the Navy extensively, when they tried to extend the Roman frontier to theElbe. In 12 BCDrusus ordered the construction of a fleet of 1,000 ships and sailed them along theRhine into theNorth Sea.[42] TheFrisii andChauci had nothing to oppose the superior numbers, tactics and technology of the Romans. When these entered the river mouths ofWeser andEms, the local tribes had to surrender.
In 5 BC the Roman knowledge concerning the North and Baltic Sea was fairly extended during a campaign byTiberius, reaching as far as theElbe: Plinius describes how Roman naval formations came pastHeligoland and set sail to the north-eastern coast of Denmark, and Augustus himself boasts in hisRes Gestae: "My fleet sailed from the mouth of the Rhine eastward as far as the lands of the Cimbri to which, up to that time, no Roman had ever penetrated either by land or by sea...".[43] The multiple naval operations north of Germania had to be abandoned after thebattle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD.
In the years 15 and 16,Germanicus carried out several fleet operations along the rivers Rhine and Ems, without permanent results due to grim Germanic resistance and a disastrous storm.[44] By 28, the Romans lost further control of the Rhine mouth in a succession of Frisian insurgencies. From 43 to 85, the Roman navy played an important role in theRoman conquest of Britain. Theclassis Germanica rendered outstanding services in multitudinous landing operations. In 46, a naval expedition made a push deep into theBlack Sea region and even travelled on theTanais. In 47 a revolt by theChauci, who took to piratical activities along the Gallic coast, was subdued byGnaeus Domitius Corbulo.[45] By 57 an expeditionary corps reachedChersonesos (seeCharax, Crimea).
It seems that underNero, the navy obtained strategically important positions for trading with India; but there was no known fleet in theRed Sea. Possibly, parts of theAlexandrian fleet were operating as escorts for the Indian trade. In theJewish revolt, from 66 to 70, the Romans were forced to fight Jewish ships, operating from a harbour in the area of modernTel Aviv, onIsrael's Mediterranean coast. In the meantime several flotilla engagements on theSea of Galilee took place.
In 68, as his reign became increasingly insecure, Nero raisedlegio IAdiutrix from sailors of the praetorian fleets. After Nero's overthrow, in 69, the "Year of the four emperors", the praetorian fleets supported EmperorOtho against the usurperVitellius,[46] and after his eventual victory,Vespasian formed another legion,legio IIAdiutrix, from their ranks.[47] Only in thePontus didAnicetus, the commander of theClassis Pontica, support Vitellius. He burned the fleet, and sought refuge with theIberian tribes, engaging in piracy. After a new fleet was built, this revolt was subdued.[48]
During theBatavian rebellion ofGaius Julius Civilis (69–70), the rebels got hold of a squadron of the Rhine fleet by treachery,[49] and the conflict featured frequent use of the Roman Rhine flotilla. In the last phase of the war, the British fleet andlegio XIV were brought in from Britain to attack the Batavian coast, but theCananefates, allies of the Batavians, were able to destroy or capture a large part of the fleet.[50] In the meantime, the new Roman commander,Quintus Petillius Cerialis, advanced north and constructed a new fleet. Civilis attempted only a short encounter with his own fleet, but could not hinder the superior Roman force from landing and ravaging theisland of the Batavians, leading to the negotiation of a peace soon after.[51]
In the years 82 to 85, the Romans underGnaeus Julius Agricola launched a campaign against theCaledonians in modernScotland. In this context the Roman navy significantly escalated activities on the eastern Scottish coast.[52] Simultaneously multiple expeditions and reconnaissance trips were launched. During these the Romans would capture theOrkney Islands (Orcades) for a short period of time and obtained information about theShetland Islands.[53] There is some speculation about a Roman landing in Ireland, based on Tacitus reports about Agricola contemplating the island's conquest,[54] but no conclusive evidence to support this theory has been found.
Under theFive Good Emperors the navy operated mainly on the rivers; so it played an important role duringTrajan's conquest ofDacia and temporarily an independent fleet for theEuphrates andTigris rivers was founded. Also during thewars against the Marcomanni confederation underMarcus Aurelius several combats took place on theDanube and theTisza.
Under the aegis of theSeveran dynasty, the only known military operations of the navy were carried out underSeptimius Severus, using naval assistance on his campaigns along theEuphrates andTigris, as well as inScotland. Thereby Roman ships reachedinter alia thePersian Gulf and the top of theBritish Isles.
As the 3rd century dawned, the Roman Empire was at its peak. In the Mediterranean, peace had reigned for over two centuries, as piracy had been wiped out and no outside naval threats occurred. As a result, complacency had set in: naval tactics and technology were neglected, and the Roman naval system had become moribund.[55] After 230 however and for fifty years, the situation changed dramatically. The so-called "Crisis of the Third Century" ushered a period of internal turmoil, and the same period saw a renewed series of seaborne assaults, which the imperial fleets proved unable to stem.[56] In the West,Picts and Irish ships raided Britain, while theSaxons raided the North Sea, forcing the Romans to abandonFrisia.[56] In the East, the Goths and other tribes from modern Ukraine raided in great numbers over the Black Sea.[57] These invasions began during the rule ofTrebonianus Gallus, when for the first timeGermanic tribes built up their own powerful fleet in the Black Sea. Via two surprise attacks (256) on Roman naval bases in theCaucasus and near theDanube, numerous ships fell into the hands of the Germans, whereupon the raids were extended as far as theAegean Sea;Byzantium,Athens,Sparta and other towns were plundered and the responsible provincial fleets were heavily debilitated. It was not until the attackers made a tactical error, that their onrush could be stopped.
In 267–270 another, much fiercer series of attacks took place. A fleet composed ofHeruli and other tribes raided the coasts ofThrace and thePontus. Defeated offByzantium by general Venerianus,[58] the barbarians fled into the Aegean, and ravaged many islands and coastal cities, includingAthens andCorinth. As they retreated northwards over land, they were defeated by EmperorGallienus atNestos.[59] However, this was merely the prelude to an even larger invasion that was launched in 268/269: several tribes banded together (theHistoria Augusta mentions Scythians,Greuthungi,Tervingi,Gepids, Peucini, Celts andHeruli) and allegedly 2,000 ships and 325,000 men strong,[60] raided the Thracian shore, attacked Byzantium and continued raiding the Aegean as far asCrete, while the main force approachedThessalonica. EmperorClaudius II however was able to defeat them at theBattle of Naissus, ending the Gothic threat for the time being.[61]
Barbarian raids also increased along the Rhine frontier and in theNorth Sea.Eutropius mentions that during the 280s, the sea along the coasts of the provinces of Belgica and Armorica was "infested with Franks and Saxons". To counter them,Maximian appointedCarausius as commander of theBritish Fleet.[62] However, Carausius rose up in late 286 andseceded from the Empire with Britannia and parts of the northern Gallic coast.[63] With a single blow Roman control of the channel and the North Sea was lost, and emperorMaximinus was forced to create a completely new Northern Fleet, but in lack of training it was almost immediately destroyed in a storm.[64] Only in 293, underCaesarConstantius Chlorus did Rome regain the Gallic coast. A new fleet was constructed in order to cross the Channel,[65] and in 296, with a concentric attack onLondinium the insurgent province was retaken.[66]
By the end of the 3rd century, the Roman navy had declined dramatically. Although EmperorDiocletian is held to have strengthened the navy, and increased its manpower from 46,000 to 64,000 men,[67] the old standing fleets had all but vanished, and in the civil wars that ended theTetrarchy, the opposing sides had to mobilize the resources and commandeered the ships of the Eastern Mediterranean port cities.[57] These conflicts thus brought about a renewal of naval activity, culminating in theBattle of the Hellespont in 324 between the forces ofConstantine I under CaesarCrispus and the fleet ofLicinius, which was the only major naval confrontation of the 4th century.Vegetius, writing at the end of the 4th century, testifies to the disappearance of the old praetorian fleets in Italy, but comments on the continued activity of the Danube fleet.[68] In the 5th century, only the eastern half of the Empire could field an effective fleet, as it could draw upon the maritime resources of Greece and the Levant. Although theNotitia Dignitatum still mentions several naval units for theWestern Empire, these were apparently too depleted to be able to carry out much more than patrol duties.[69] At any rate, the rise of the naval power of the Vandal Kingdom underGeiseric in North Africa, and its raids in the Western Mediterranean, were practically uncontested.[57] Although there is some evidence of West Roman naval activity in the first half of the 5th century, this is mostly confined to troop transports and minor landing operations.[68] The historianPriscus andSidonius Apollinaris affirm in their writings that by the mid-5th century, the Western Empire essentially lacked a war navy.[70] Matters became even worse after the disastrous failure of the fleets mobilized against the Vandals in 460 and 468, under the emperorsMajorian andAnthemius.
For the West, there would be no recovery, as the last Western Emperor,Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476. In the East however, the classical naval tradition survived, and in the 6th century, a standing navy was reformed.[57] TheEast Roman (Byzantine) navy would remain a formidable force in the Mediterranean until the 11th century.
The bulk of a galley's crew was formed by the rowers, theremiges (sing.remex) oreretai (sing.eretēs) in Greek. Despite popular perceptions, the Roman fleet, and ancient fleets in general, relied throughout their existence on rowers of free status, and not ongalley slaves. Slaves were employed only in times of pressing manpower demands or extreme emergency, and even then, they were freed first.[71] In Imperial times, non-citizen freeborn provincials (peregrini), chiefly from nations with a maritime background such as Greeks, Phoenicians, Syrians and Egyptians, formed the bulk of the fleets' crews.[71][72]
During the early Principate, a ship's crew, regardless of its size, was organized as acenturia. Crewmen could sign on asmarines, rowers/seamen, craftsmen and various other jobs, though all personnel serving in the imperial fleet were classed asmilites ("soldiers"), regardless of their function; only when differentiation with the army was required were the adjectivesclassiarius orclassicus added. Along with several other instances of prevalence of army terminology, this testifies to the lower social status of naval personnel, considered inferior to theauxiliaries and the legionaries.[71] EmperorClaudius first gave legal privileges to the navy's crewmen, enabling them to receiveRoman citizenship after their period of service.[73] This period was initially set at a minimum of 26 years (one year more than the legions), and was later expanded to 28. Upon honorable discharge (honesta missio), the sailors received a sizable cash payment as well.[74]
As in the army, the ship'scenturia was headed by acenturion with anoptio as his deputy, while abeneficiarius supervised a small administrative staff.[13] Among the crew were also a number ofprincipales (junior officers) andimmunes (specialists exempt from certain duties). Some of these positions, mostly administrative, were identical to those of the army auxiliaries, while some (mostly of Greek provenance) were peculiar to the fleet. An inscription from the island ofCos, dated to theFirst Mithridatic War, provides us with a list of a ship's officers, thenautae: thegubernator (kybernētēs in Greek) was the helmsman or pilot, theceleusta (keleustēs in Greek) supervised the rowers, aproreta (prōreus in Greek) was the look-out stationed at the bow, apentacontarchos was apparently a junior officer, and aniatros (Lat.medicus), the ship's doctor.[75]
Each ship was commanded by atrierarchus, whose exact relationship with the ship's centurion is unclear. Squadrons, most likely of ten ships each, were put under anauarchus, who often appears to have risen from the ranks of thetrierarchi.[71][76][77] The post ofnauarchus archigubernes ornauarchus princeps appeared later in the Imperial period, and functioned either as a commander of several squadrons or as an executive officer under a civilian admiral, equivalent to the legionaryprimus pilus.[78][79] All these were professional officers, usuallyperegrini, who had a status equal to an auxiliary centurion (and were thus increasingly calledcenturiones [classiarii] after ca. 70 AD).[80] Until the reign ofAntoninus Pius, their careers were restricted to the fleet.[13] Only in the 3rd century were these officers equated to the legionary centurions in status and pay, and could henceforth be transferred to a similar position in the legions.[81]
Merchant vessels were commanded by themagister navis. If privately owned, the owner was calledexercitor navis.[82] The modern term of "master" to designate a captain of a merchant vessel derives from themagister navis.
During the Republic, command of a fleet was given to a servingmagistrate orpromagistrate, usually ofconsular orpraetorian rank.[83] In the Punic Wars for instance, one consul would usually command the fleet, and another the army. In the subsequent wars in the Eastern Mediterranean, praetors would assume the command of the fleet. However, since these men were political appointees, the actual handling of the fleets and of separate squadrons was entrusted to their more experienced legates and subordinates. It was therefore during the Punic Wars that the separate position ofpraefectus classis ("fleet prefect") first appeared.[84]
Initially subordinate to the magistrate in command, after the fleet's reorganization by Augustus, thepraefectus classis became aprocuratorial position in charge of each of the permanent fleets. These posts were initially filled either from among theequestrian class, or, especially underClaudius, from the Emperor'sfreedmen, thus securing imperial control over the fleets.[85] From the period of theFlavian emperors, the status of thepraefectura was raised, and only equestrians with military experience who had gone through themilitia equestri were appointed.[78][85] Nevertheless, the prefects remained largely political appointees, and despite their military experience, usually in command of army auxiliary units, their knowledge of naval matters was minimal, forcing them to rely on their professional subordinates.[74] The difference in importance of the fleets they commanded was also reflected by the rank and the corresponding pay of the commanders. The prefects of the two praetorian fleets were rankedprocuratores ducenarii, meaning they earned 200,000sesterces annually, the prefects of theClassis Germanica, theClassis Britannica and later theClassis Pontica werecentenarii (i.e. earning 100,000 sesterces), while the other fleet prefects weresexagenarii (i.e. they received 60,000 sesterces).[86]
The generic Roman term for an oar-driven galley warship was "long ship" (Latin:navis longa, Greek:naus makra), as opposed to the sail-drivennavis oneraria (fromonus, oneris: burden), a merchant vessel, or the minor craft (navigia minora) like thescapha.[87]
The navy consisted of a wide variety of different classes of warships, from heavy polyremes to light raiding and scouting vessels. Unlike the rich HellenisticSuccessor kingdoms in the East however, the Romans did not rely on heavy warships, withquinqueremes (Gk.pentērēs), and to a lesser extentquadriremes (Gk.tetrērēs) andtriremes (Gk.triērēs) providing the mainstay of the Roman fleets from the Punic Wars to the end of the Civil Wars.[88] The heaviest vessel mentioned in Roman fleets during this period was thehexareme, of which a few were used as flagships.[89] Lighter vessels such as theliburnians and thehemiolia, both swift types invented by pirates, were also adopted as scouts and light transport vessels.
During the final confrontation between Octavian and Mark Antony, Octavian's fleet was composed of quinqueremes, together with some "sixes" and many triremes and liburnians, while Antony, who had the resources ofPtolemaic Egypt to draw upon,[88] fielded a fleet also mostly composed of quinqueremes, but with a sizeable complement of heavier warships, ranging from "sixes" to "tens" (Gk.dekērēs).[90][91] Later historical tradition made much of the prevalence of lighter and swifter vessels in Octavian's fleet,[92] withVegetius even explicitly ascribing Octavian's victory to the liburnians.[93]
This prominence of lighter craft in the historical narrative is perhaps best explained in light of subsequent developments. After Actium, the operational landscape had changed: for the remainder of the Principate, no opponent existed to challenge Roman naval hegemony, and no massed naval confrontation was likely. The tasks at hand for the Roman navy were now the policing of the Mediterranean waterways and the border rivers, suppression of piracy, and escort duties for the grain shipments to Rome and for imperial army expeditions. Lighter ships were far better suited to these tasks, and after the reorganization of the fleet following Actium, the largest ship kept in service was a hexareme, the flagship of theClassis Misenensis. The bulk of the fleets was composed of the lighter triremes and liburnians (Latin:liburna, Greek:libyrnis), with the latter apparently providing the majority of the provincial fleets.[94] In time, the term "liburnian" came to mean "warship" in a generic sense.[25]
Roman ships were commonly named after gods (Mars,Iuppiter,Minerva,Isis), mythological heroes (Hercules), geographical maritime features such asRhenus orOceanus, concepts such as Harmony, Peace, Loyalty, Victory (Concordia,Pax,Fides,Victoria) or after important events (Dacicus for theTrajan's Dacian Wars orSalamina for theBattle of Salamis).[95][96] They were distinguished by theirfigurehead (insigne orparasemum),[97] and, during the Civil Wars at least, by the paint schemes on their turrets, which varied according to each fleet.[98]
Inclassical antiquity, a ship's main weapon was theram (rostra, hence the namenavis rostrata for a warship), which was used to sink or immobilize an enemy ship by holing its hull. Its use, however, required a skilled and experienced crew and a fast and agile ship like a trireme or quinquereme. In the Hellenistic period, the larger navies came instead to rely on greater vessels. This had several advantages: the heavier and sturdier construction lessened the effects of ramming, and the greater space and stability of the vessels allowed the transport not only of more marines, but also the placement of deck-mountedballistae andcatapults.[99]
Although the ram continued to be a standard feature of all warships and ramming the standard mode of attack, these developments transformed the role of a warship: from the old "manned missile", designed to sink enemy ships, they became mobile artillery platforms, which engaged in missile exchange andboarding actions. The Romans in particular, being initially inexperienced at sea combat, relied upon boarding actions through the use of theCorvus. Although it brought them some decisive victories, it was discontinued because it tended to unbalance the quinqueremes in high seas; two Roman fleets are recorded to have been lost during storms in theFirst Punic War.[100]
During the Civil Wars, a number of technical innovations, which are attributed to Agrippa,[101] took place: theharpax, a catapult-firedgrappling hook, which was used to clamp onto an enemy ship, reel it in and board it, in a much more efficient way than with the oldcorvus, and the use of collapsible fighting towers placed one apiece bow and stern, which were used to provide the boarders with supporting fire.[102]
After the end of the civil wars, Augustus reduced and reorganized the Roman armed forces, including the navy. A large part of the fleet of Mark Antony was burned, and the rest was withdrawn to a new base at Forum Iulii (modernFréjus),[103] which remained operative until the reign of Claudius.[104] However, the bulk of the fleet was soon subdivided into two praetorian fleets atMisenum andRavenna, supplemented by a growing number of minor ones in the provinces, which were often created on anad hoc basis for specific campaigns. This organizational structure was maintained almost unchanged until the 4th century.
The two major fleets were stationed in Italy and acted as a central naval reserve, directly available to the Emperor (hence the designation "praetorian"). In the absence of any naval threat, their duties mostly involved patrolling and transport duties. These were not confined to the waters around Italy, but throughout the Mediterranean. There is epigraphic evidence for the presence of sailors of the two praetorian fleets at Piraeus and Syria. These two fleets were:
The various provincial fleets were smaller than the praetorian fleets and composed mostly of lighter vessels. Nevertheless, it was these fleets that saw action, in full campaigns or raids on the periphery of the Empire.
In addition, there is significant archaeological evidence for naval activity by certain legions, which in all likelihood operated their own squadrons:legio XXIIPrimigenia in the UpperRhine andMain rivers,legio XFretensis in theJordan River and theSea of Galilee, and several legionary squadrons in the Danube frontier.[123]
Our main source for the structure of thelate Roman military is theNotitia Dignitatum, which corresponds to the situation of the 390s for the Eastern Empire and the 420s for the Western Empire. Notable in theNotitia is the large number of smaller squadrons that have been created, most of these fluvial and of a local operational role.
TheClassis Pannonica and theClassis Moesica (at the beginning of the 5th century[124]) were broken up into several smaller squadrons, collectively termedClassis Histrica, authority of the frontier commanders (duces).[125] with bases atMursa inPannonia II,[126] Florentia inPannonia Valeria,[127] Arruntum inPannonia I,[128]Viminacium inMoesia I[129] and Aegetae inDacia ripensis.[130] Smaller fleets are also attested on the tributaries of the Danube: theClassis Arlapensis et Maginensis (based atArelape andComagena) and theClassis Lauriacensis (based atLauriacum) in Pannonia I,[128] theClassis Stradensis et Germensis, based at Margo in Moesia I,[129] and theClassis Ratianensis, in Dacia ripensis.[130] The naval units were complemented by port garrisons and marine units, drawn from the army. In the Danube frontier these were:
In the West, and in particular inGaul, several fluvial fleets had been established. These came under the command of themagister peditum of the West, and were:[134]
It is notable that, with the exception of the praetorian fleets (whose retention in the list does not necessarily signify an active status), the old fleets of the Principate are missing. TheClassis Britannica vanishes under that name after the mid-3rd century;[138] its remnants were later subsumed in theSaxon Shore system.
By the time of theNotitia Dignitatum, theClassis Germanica has ceased to exist (it is last mentioned underJulian in 359),[139] most probably due to the collapse of theRhine frontier after theCrossing of the Rhine by the barbarians in winter 405–406, and the Mauretanian and African fleets had been disbanded or taken over by theVandals.
As far as the East is concerned, we know from legal sources that theClassis Alexandrina[140] and theClassis Seleucena[141] continued to operate, and that in ca. 400 aClassis Carpathia was detached from the Syrian fleet and based at the Aegean island ofKarpathos.[142] A fleet is known to have been stationed at Constantinople itself, but no further details are known about it.[57]
Major Roman ports were:
Naval tactics were undeveloped during the early history ofnaval warfare.Battles primarily consisted of attempting to board the enemy's ship and then to engage inmelee combat. To ensure that the ships were capable of maneuvering around the enemy ships they were deployed with space between them. During a battle sailors would try to disable the enemy ship by sweeping close to the other ship, thus breaking off itsoars. Following this the sailors on both ships would fire arrows at each other. Two known ancient Greco-Roman naval strategies were thePeriplous andDikeplous.Periplous consisted of forming a line of ships while using reserves to attack the flanks of the enemy.Dikeplous consisted of forcing a gap in the enemy line, while attacking any remaining enemy ships. Larger ships replaced triremes during the 5th century BCE. These larger ships utilized thecorvus to board and attack enemy ships. There were 40marines and a 100legionaries on Roman ships. These soldiers, calledclassiarii, used overwhelming force to win battles. Many ships would be painted blue forcamouflage purposes.[143][144][145][146]
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