Classical World Sea Battles

• The first recorded Sea Battle in the Ancient World took place in the Eastern Mediterranean between Egypt and the Sea Peoples in c.1190 CE.
• The Sea Battles then continue with the Greco-Persian Wars followed by 600 years of Roman Naval Battles.

Sources

• The sources for ancient naval history are either from Inscriptions, or from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

First recorded Sea Battle (Egypt)

• Battle of the Delta (c.1190 BCE)
  • Ramesses III defeats the ‘Sea Peoples’ and prevents them entering the Nile. This Battle is recorded on the walls of the Mortuary Temple of Rameses III at Medinet Habu.

First recorded use of the Ram (Greece)

• ‘Battle of Alalia’ (535 BCE):
  • Although Rams had been in use since the seventh century BCE, Herodotus gives us the first recorded use of a Ram. The Phocaean Greeks with 60 Penteconters defeated a combined Etruscan-Carthaginian Fleet of 120 Penteconters by using Rams.

Ancient Greece against the Persian Empire

• Naval Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)
  • The Athenian navy defeats the Persian allied fleets recorded by Herodotus. The Persians were then eliminated from Greece at the Battle of Mycale (479 BCE).
• Naval Battle of Cumae (574 BCE)
  • Cumae is in the Bay of Naples. The Etruscans were defeated by an alliance between the Syracusians and the Cumeans. After the Battle the Etruscans lost control of the sea and their influence over Italy declined.
• Naval Battle of the Eurymedon (469 or 466 BCE)
  • The Delian League under Athens defeated the Persian Empire under Xerxes I. The Persians amassed a large army and a fleet of 200 triremes in the estuary of the river Eurymedon, intending to regain control of the Aegean. The Athenians sailed a fleet of 200 triremes across to the Eurymedon and defeated the Persian Fleet.
• Battle of Cnidus (394 BCE)
  • Athens allied with the Persian Empire and successfully defeated Spartan aspirations to become a naval power. The Persian Admiral commanded a Phoenician fleet from the Thracian Chersonese Peninsular. The Persians then continued to control Ionia and a section of the Aegean for the next 60 years, until Alexander the Great invaded and defeated the Persian Empire between 333-331 BCE.

Ancient Rome against Carthage

• • Sea Battles with Carthage

Roman Civil Wars and Battles with Germanic Fleets

• • Roman Naval Battles Timeline

Ancient Greece and Rome