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Anaumachia (inLatinnaumachia, from theAncient Greekναυμαχία/naumachía, literally "naval combat") was a mock naval battle staged as mass entertainment by theAncient Romans. The staging would typically occur in a specially-dug basin, also known as a naumachia.
The first knownnaumachia was given byJulius Caesar in Rome in 46 BC on occasion of his quadrupletriumph. After having a basin dug near theTiber, capable of holding actualbiremes,triremes andquinqueremes, he made 2,000 combatants and 4,000 rowers, all prisoners of war, fight. In 2 BC for the inauguration of theTemple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger"), Augustus gave a grandernaumachia based on Caesar's model. This naumachia depicted a battle between the Greeks and the Persians and required a basin that was 400 by 600 yards, which was created straddling the Tiber.[1]Res Gestæ (§ 23) claimed that 3000 men, not counting rowers, fought in 30 vessels with rams and several smaller boats.
In 52 AD,Claudius gave what was possibly the most "epic" of these on a natural body of water,Fucine Lake, to celebrate the completion of drainage work and tunneling on the site. It included one hundred ships and 19,000 combatants,[1] all of whom were prisoners who had been condemned to death. Suetonius' account, written many years after the event, has them salute the emperor with the phrase"morituri te salutant" ("those who are about to die salute you"). There is no evidence that this form of address was used on any occasion other than this singlenaumachia.[2]
Thenaumachia was thus a bloodier show than gladiatorial combat, which consisted of smaller engagements and where the combat did not necessarily end with the death of the losers. More exactly, the appearance ofnaumachia is closely tied and only slightly earlier than that other spectacle, "group combat", which did not pit single combatants against one another, but rather used two small armies. There again, the combatants were frequently those sentenced to death and lacked the specialized training of truegladiators. Caesar, creator of thenaumachia, simply had to transpose the same principle to another environment.
Through the choreography of the combat, thenaumachia had the ability to represent historical or pseudo-historical themes. Each of the fleets participating represented a maritime power ofAncient Greece or theHellenistic east:Egyptians and theTyrians for Caesar'snaumachia,Persians andAthenians for that of Augustus,Sicilians andRhodeans for that of Claudius. It required significantly greater resources than other such entertainments, and as such these spectacles were reserved for exceptional occasions, closely tied to celebrations of the emperor, his victories and his monuments. The specific nature of the spectacle as well as the historical themes borrowed from the Greek world are closely tied to the termnaumachia. This word, a phonetic transcription of the Greek word for a naval battle (ναυμαχία/naumakhía), has since come to also refer to the large artificial basins created for them.
Caesar'snaumachia was probably a simple basin dug into the low-lying ground on the northern or southern banks of the Tiber, and fed by its waters; the exact location is unknown; most likelyTrastevere or theCampus Martius.[3] Thenaumachia of Augustus is better known: in hisRes Gestæ (23) Augustus himself indicates that the basin measured 1800 × 1200 Roman feet (approximately 533 × 355 meters).Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 16, 200), describes an island formed in the center, probably rectangular and connected to the shore by a bridge where the privileged spectators likely sat.
Taking into consideration the size of the basin and the dimensions of a trireme (approximately 35 × 4.90 meters), the thirty vessels used would hardly be able to manoeuvre. Knowing that the crew of a Roman trireme was approximately 170 rowers and 50 to 60 soldiers, a simple calculation allows us to see that to achieve the number of 3000 men the vessels of Augustus' fleet would have to have held more combatants than an actual fleet. The spectacle thus focused less on the movement of the vessels, and more on their actual presence in the artificial basin and the hand-to-hand combat which developed.
It was different for Claudius'naumachia. The two fleets each consisted of 50 vessels, which corresponds to the number of vessels in each of the two military fleets based atMisenum and atRavenna. Lake Fucino was large enough that only part of it was needed, surrounded by pontoons, and there was room enough for the vessels to manoeuvre and ram each other. Thenaumachia of Claudius therefore truly reproduced naval combat.
According toSextus Julius Frontinus inDe aquaeductu (De aquis urbis Romæ, 11, 1–2:opus naumachiæ), the water supply for thenaumachia of Augustus was specially constructed, with the surplus used to water neighbouring gardens in the Trans Tiberim. This was theAqua Alsietinaaqueduct, remains of which have been found on the slopes ofJaniculum (the "8th hill of Rome") below the monastery ofSan Cosimato. There are several theories as to the precise location of the site; the latest of which places it betweenVia Aurelia in the north and the church ofSan Francesco a Ripa in the southeast, in the loop of the Tiber. The republican viaduct discovered in the Via Aurelia nearSan Crisogono may also have served as a conduit for the basin.
The basin did not last very long. During the reign of Augustus it was partly replaced (Suetonius,Augustus, 43, 1) by thenemus Cæsarum (sacred forest of the Caesars), later renamed "forest of Gaius and Lucius" for the grandsons of Augustus (Dion Cassius, 66, 25, 3). This vast area was probably built upon by the end of the 1st century.
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A new development occurred during the reign ofNero: anaumachia in anamphitheatre. Suetonius (Nero, XII, 1) andDio Cassius (Roman History, LXI, 9, 5) speak of such a spectacle in 57 AD in a wooden amphitheatre inaugurated by the last of theJulio-Claudian dynasty. Nothing is known of the site other than that it was built on theCampus Martius. Nero presented anothernaumachia in 64 AD. This was preceded by hunts and followed by gladiatorial combat and a great banquet (Dio Cassius, LXII, 15, 1). It is unknown what form these games took. It was probably the same wooden amphitheatre, given that there is no mention of its destruction before theGreat Fire of Rome which happened shortly afterwards.
For the inauguration of theColosseum in 80 AD,Titus gave twonaumachiae, one in the Augustinian basin, again using several thousand men, and the other in the new amphitheatre (Dio Cassius, LXVI, 25, 1–4). According to Suetonius (Domitian, IV, 6–7),Domitian organised anaumachia inside the Colosseum, undoubtedly circa 85 AD, and another one in the year 89 AD in a new basin dug beyond the Tiber; with the stone removed serving to repair theCircus Maximus, which had burnt on two sides. It was probably in the time between these twonaumachia that Domitian completed the network of rooms underneath the Colosseum that are visible today, at the same time precluding such spectacles in the arena.
The arena at the Colosseum only measured 79.35 × 47.20 meters, far removed from the dimensions of theAugustinian basin. Anaumachia in the Colosseum could therefore not have been as grand as the previous ones. One can imagine a confrontation between the crews of several reproductions of warships, potentially life-size or reasonably close to it, but actual maneuvers or even floating seems doubtful. It is known that stage-props were used to represent ships, sometimes with mechanisms to simulate shipwrecks, both on stage and in the arena (Tacitus,Annales, XIV, 6, 1; Dio Cassius LXI, 12,2).
The use of enough water to float vessels in amphitheatres raises technical questions. Amphitheatres were not exclusively used fornaumachiae; they would have been filled and drained rapidly enough for use in gladiatorial combats and other spectacles. The rapid transition between water shows and earth-based shows seems to have been one of the great attractions. Dio Cassius underscores this as it relates to Nero'snaumachia (LXI, 9, 5);Martial does as well speaking of Titus'naumachia in the Colosseum (Book of Spectacles, XXIV). The only surviving written sources offer no descriptions of the mechanisms or engineering involved. Archaeology provides no clues: the basement of the Colosseum has since been modified. Only two provincial amphitheatres, those atVerona andMérida, Spain, provide any technical evidence.
The central pit of the Verona amphitheatre was deeper than the rooms normally found underneath the arena, and served as a basin. It was connected to two axial conduits. One, circulating under the West gallery of the arena, was not connected to the drainage system and had to be connected to anaqueduct in order to fill the basin. The East conduit was deeper and designed to drain water into theAdige River. The basin at the Mérida amphitheatre, at only 1.5 meters, was shallower than that at Verona. Because it is so shallow—less than the height of a standing man—it cannot be confused with an underground service room. This basin was equipped with access stairs and covered with material similar to that used for swimming pools andRoman baths. It was also served by two conduits, the western one of which connected to the nearby San Lazaro aqueduct.
The dimensions of these basins rule out any but the most basic ofnaumachiae: the one at Mérida measures a mere 18.5 × 3.7 meters. Only the most modest of water spectacles could have taken place here. This leads one to conclude that, even assuming that the Colosseum had a similar basin before construction of thehypogeum (underground complex),naumachiae would have been performed on only a shallow layer of water covering the surface of the arena, the minimum required to float the ships.
The introduction of new technologies initially led to an increased number ofnaumachiae. The first threenaumachiae were spaced about 50 years apart; the following six, most of which took place in amphitheatres, occurred in a space of 30 years. Less costly in material and human terms, they could afford to be staged more frequently. Less grandiose, they became a feature of the games, but could not be considered exceptional. Theiconography bears witness to this. Of some twenty representations of anaumachia inRoman art, nearly all are of theFourth Style, of the time ofNero and theFlavian dynasty.
After the Flavian period,naumachiae disappear from the texts almost completely. Apart from a mention in theAugustan History, a late source of limited reliability, only the town records (fastia) ofOstia tells us that in 109Trajan inaugurated anaumachia basin. This site was discovered in the 18th century on the grounds of theVatican City, northwest of theCastel Sant'Angelos. It is now referred to as theNaumachia Vaticana, with some sources erroneously calling it the Circus of Hadrian due to the similarities of its shape to that of other excavated circuses, along with the site's proximity to the Mausoleum of Hadrian. Subsequent digs have revealed the complete site plan. It hadbleachers (tiered stands for spectators) and the surface was about one sixth the size of the Augustannaumachia. In the absence of any texts, it has to be assumed that it was only used at the time of Trajan.
Nevertheless, if late Roman Empire sources and persistence into theMiddle Ages in terms of thetoponymy ofnaumachia anddalmachia at the site are taken into consideration, it still existed into the 5th century. Moreover, the presence of bleachers on its perimeter is a strong indicator of regular shows. According to the Ostia municipal records, the inauguration involved 127 pairs of gladiators; leading one to believe that as in the amphitheatre, the restrictive space at Trajan's basin was not conducive to large combats involving many untrained prisoners, or would have required over-simplification of naval combats, leading to a preference for single combat. In this form, and with a dedicated site,naumachiae could easily have continued (though likely at a reducing frequency) for several centuries without mention in sources, as they would not have been particularly worthy of mention: they simply lost their grandeur and impressive character.
In the provinces, the influence of Romannaumachiae is easily discernible, but limited and reduced to local and innocuous naval games and re-enactments. A competition which went under the name ofnaumaciva was part of thePanathenaic Games between theAthenianEphebos from the Flavian period onward. It replaced theregattas which had taken place at these games earlier. IfAusonius is to be believed, (Moselle, 200–2,29), anaumachia was held on theMoselle River between local youth.
Anaumachia was performed forHenry II of France inRouen in 1550.
Anaumachia was part of the festivities of Wedding of Grand DukeFerdinando I de' Medici andChristina of Lorraine held in the courtyard of thePalazzo Pitti inFlorence in 1589. There is an etching of the event that was part of an album created byOrazio Scarabelli to document the wedding festivities.[4]
Anaumachia was held inValencia between the Bridges of theTuria river, on the occasion of the centenary of the canonization ofSaint Vincent Ferrer in 1755. Another was held inMilan forNapoleon in 1807.
Parc Monceau inParis features anaumachia water feature, surrounded by a colonnade. In 18th and 19th century England, several parks featured mock naval battles with model ships, which were also referred to asnaumachia.Peasholm Park inScarborough, England, still stages such an event. Smaller, theatre-basedaqua dramas were also popular.
New York artistDuke Riley staged anaumachia in 2009 at theQueens Museum of Art.[5]
In Scotlandnaumachiae were staged on a loch in Holyrood park in 1562 for the wedding ofLord Fleming and on theWater of Leith in 1581 for the wedding ofJames Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray andElizabeth Stewart.[6]
ANaumachia was staged on theThames at thewedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate in February 1613.[7] In June 1613Anne of Denmark visitedBristol. A seat was built for her atCanon's Marsh near theBristol Cathedral, where on 7 June she watched a staged battle at the confluence of theAvon andFrome rivers, fought between an English ship and two Turkish galleys.[8] After the victory, some Turkish captives (played by actors) were presented to her and she laughed at this, saying both the actors' costumes and their "countenances" were like the Turks. The entertainment at Bristol was described in verse by Robert Naile, who mentions the Turks were played by sailors, "worthy brutes, who oft have seen their habit, form and guise". They were made to kneel before Anne of Denmark and beg for mercy as the final act of the pageant.[9]
InGeorgian-era Britain,Naumachia were staged in private parks and gardens, consciously recreating them based on the Roman pattern, though on a smaller scale.Francis Dashwood, 11th Baron le Despencer constructed anartificial lake atWest Wycombe in the shape of a swan, and staged severalNaumachia on the lake with small ships; he also ordered a construction of a fort on the lake's edge to participate in the mock battles himself.[1]
