Roman Navy

  • The Roman Navy first saw action in 264 BCE under the Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) during the First Punic War (264-241 BCE). It was based at Ostia.
  • Later, a Standing Navy was created under the Roman Empire (27 BCE-476 CE), in 27 BCE with two large permanent bases in Italy at Misenum and Ravenna, and with other smaller bases in the Provinces.

Roman Navy Fleet List

  • Augustus set up regional Fleets, each varying from 10 to 60 vessels across the Roman Empire. Their Role and the number of vessels varied according to where they were located, and whether they were a river Fleet or a Sea Fleet.

The Roman Galley

  • War Galleys were in use throughout the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. During the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE) the Romans copied the designs of the Carthaginians.
  • During the Empire, the Roman Galley was based on Fleets of Triremes, Biremes and smaller 30 oared galleys for river patrols along the Danube and Rhine.
  • The Trireme was the main War Galley of the Ancient World for over 1,000 years between 752 BCE to 324 CE.

Roman Naval Strategy and Tactics

  • Roman Galley Tactics originally consisted of either Ramming or Boarding and the Blockade.
  • Ramming gave way to the use of naval artillery designed to disable the opponents’ crews by firepower from a distance.

Roman Naval Artillery

  • Artillery in the form of Catapults and Ballistae started to replace Ramming at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.
  • The strategy was to disable the opponents crews from a distance, rather than make contact. The technique was to sweep past within 1,600 ft (500 m) and rake his sides, without giving the opponent a chance to Ram or Board.

Limits to the Range of a Galley

  • The Range of a vessel was limited by the water supply a Roman Galley could carry. Each oarsman required about 8 litres per day.
  • Consequently, Galleys had to frequently stop to pick up fresh water, limiting their non-stop range, to between one to three days, depending how much time was spent under sail or rowing.

Roman Navy under the Roman Republic (311-31 BCE)

  • Civil War (44-31 BCE):
    • Naval Fleets were created during the Roman Civil War to attack or defend Italy.
    • In 36 BCE The Battle of Naulochus was a major Sea Battle between two Fleets of 300 vessels. The battle is notable for the introduction of the Harpax, a grapnel launched by Catapult, which allowed the enemy vessel to be hauled in for boarding.

Roman Navy under the Roman Empire (31 BCE -324 CE)

The Two Praetorian Fleets in Italy

  • ‘Classis’ meant ‘Fleet’. The two main Naval Fleets of Italy were based at Misenum on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the West, and Ravenna on the Adriatic in the East. A third Fleet base was created at Frejus in Gaul of which little is known apart from the Monuments that remain.
  1. Classis Misenensis
  2. Classis Ravennas
    • Based at Classe in Ravenna, it was also set up by Augustus.
    • The Harbour could accommodate 250 ships, according to Jordanes (writing in the 6th century CE, who was quoting Dio Cassius.
    • Its Role was to prevent the return of Piracy along the coast of Dalmatia, and maintain links with Greece and the East.
  3. Ostia and Portus
    • The city of Rome had minor Naval detachments at its ports of Ostia and Portus. Ostia had been the Naval Base for the Roman Republic.
  4. Centumcellae
    • In 106 CE, Trajan completed the large commercial and naval harbour of Centumcellae which became Rome’s main harbour.
  5. The Colosseum in Rome
    • Sailors from both bases operated the ‘Velarium’ in the Colosseum. This was a weather screen that consisted of sails that extended outwards along poles pulled by ropes through a block and tackle.
  6. Castra Misenatium
    • Located near the Colosseum, between the Thermae Traianae and the Via Labicana.
    • It housed the detachment of sailors from the Classis Misenensis, whose base was at Misenum..
    • These sailors operated the canvas awnings of the Colosseum, that kept the sun off the spectators.
    • They also performed mock naval battles called Naumachiae.
  7. Castra Ravennatium
    • This housed a detachment of sailors from the Classis Ravennas, whose base was at Ravenna. The garrison was on the opposite side of the Tiber.
    • They were buried on the Via Aurelia.

Roman Imperial Navy Squadrons

  • The records show Roman Naval Bases held squadrons of various sizes from 40, 60, 220 to 250 vessels.

Officers of the Roman Navy

  • Praefecti Classis:
  • SubPraefecti Classis:
    • Equestrians were also appointed Deputy Commanders of these Fleets.

Equestrian Naval Pay

  1. Procuratores Ducenarii:
  2. Procuratores Centenarii:
  3. Procuratores Sexagenarii:

The Sailors of the Imperial Roman Navy

The Roman Navy’s areas of Operation

  • Its role was deterrence, communications and transporting officials.
  1. The Mediterranean:
    • Between the Battle of Actium against the Egyptian Navy in 31 BCE, and the appearance of the first of the Gothic Fleets in 255 CE, the Roman Navy remained unchallenged in the Mediterranean Sea for 286 years.
    • Deterrence: Despite the Mediterranean Sea having been cleared of Enemy and Pirate Fleets, the Roman Emperors felt the need for a standing Navy, to prevent the resurgence of Piracy.
  2. The Black Sea
  3. The Rhine and Danube Rivers:
    • Naval Bases were established along the length of the Rhine and Danube:
    • Anti-Invasion: Frequent River patrols kept a vigilant watch on the Frontier to prevent the Germanic Invasions.
  4. Gaul and Britannia:
    • Anti-Piracy: Both Gaul and Britannia were subject to periodic raids by pirates from Germany and the Baltic.

The Roman Navy’s Anti-Piracy Role

There was a need for a permanent standing Navy of 15,000 men even after the Mediterranean Sea had been conquered. Between 146-67 BCE the Romans had no standing Navy and Piracy in the Mediterranean Sea was endemic.

  • Pirates of Cilicia
  • Pirates of Liburnia
  • Pirates of the Black Sea
    • The Pirates of the Black Sea were active between 17 BCE and 46 CE. They were the Tribes of the Caucasus, the Heniochi, the Achaie and the Zygi, who used small double prowed vessels called ‘Camarae’, a type of early catamaran.
    • Strabo called them the rulers of the sea, and Ovid, exiled in Tomis between 8-17 CE, records them attacking the Danube Delta. After their attacks they retreated to their Fortresses into which they hid their boats.
  • The Gothic Fleets

The Roman Navy’s Communications and Escort Duties in the Mediterranean

  • Transporting Roman Officials
    • Their Duties were to maintain communications and transport Roman Officials between Rome and the Provinces of the Roman Empire.
  • Transporting the Legions
    • When the Legions needed to cross a Sea, they Navy would escort them.
    • The Naval Base at Ravenna is known to have been used as the setting off point for three military expeditions: Trajan‘s Dacian Wars, Trajan’s Parthian War and Lucius Verus’ Parthian War.
  • Grain Fleet Escorts

The Roman Navy’s Duties on the Frontiers

  • Anti-Piracy
    • Shipping in the North Sea and the English Channel was vulnerable to Pirates.
    • The Role of the Roman Navy in northern Gaul and southeastern Britannia was anti-Piracy.
    • Also to maintain the sea link between Gaul and Britain.
  • Frontier River Patrols
    • The Role of the Roman Navy on the Rhine was to reinforce the Limes Germanicus as a physical barrier preventing invasion by Germanic Armies across the river.by continuous patrols.
    • The Role of the Roman Navy on the Danube, was to reinforce Danube Limes and prevent the Germanic Invasions also through continuous patrols.

The Establishment of Naval Bases in the Mediterranean

  • Piracy in the Mediterranean was suppressed by Pompey in 67 BCE, when he created a fleet that drove the Pirates of Cilicia out of the Mediterranean Sea.
  • During this campaign he established Naval Bases, which later became the Bases of the various Provincial Fleets.
    1. The Navy was organised on very similar lines to the Auxilia.
    2. The Cohort as the ship with the Ship’s Crew.
    3. The Ship as a Century.

The size of the Roman Imperial Navy Squadrons

  • The two Praetorian Fleets in Italy, the Classis Misenensis and the Classis Ravennas appear to have had 250 vessels each.
  • Small Squadrons in the Provinces seem to have consisted of between 10, 20, 40, and 60 vessels.
  • 40 vessels:
  • 60 Vessels:
    • ‘Sexaginta Prista’: ‘The City of 60 Ships’. This was the Roman Fortress of ‘Sexaginta Prista’ in Ruse, Bulgaria. The name meant the city of 60 Liburnians with rams.
    • 60 Warships was the size of the Fleet in which Pompey set sail to eliminate the Pirates of Cilicia.
    • 60 Warships was the size of Cleopatra’s Squadron when she escaped from the Battle of Actium.
  • 220 vessels:
    • 220 vessels seems to be a recurring number in the Navies of Grand Fleets:
    • 220 Triremes is the figure Appian gives as the capacity of the ‘Cothon’, the naval harbour of the Carthaginian Navy in Carthage.
    • A Fleet of 220 Liburnians belonged to the Pirates of Liburnia. They controlled the Adriatic from their many islands off the coast of Croatia, and had invented the Liburnian warship with its two banks of oars. They usually hired out their Fleet to the Kings of Macedon.
  • 250 vessels:

Roman Imperial Navy Uniforms and Armour

  • The most likely armour for the sailors on board a vessel was chainmail known as Lorica Hamata.
  • The Roman Auxilia wore Lorica Hamata, and the Roman Navy was manned by Auxilia.
  • This Roman Chainmail could be stored as a roll, then unrolled and put on quickly. On board a confined ship, this would have been the ideal armour.

The Language of the Roman Navy

  • Although the sailors were predominantly from Greek speaking Egypt, Thracia and Asia, Latin was the language of the Roman Navy.
  • Sailors adopted Roman Names on entering the Service, although they may have spoken Greek amongst themselves.
  • However, some of the titles of the Officers were in Greek, such as the Captain, known as the ‘Trierarch’.

Roman Naval Battles

  1. Roman Naval Battles Timeline
  2. Sea Battles with Carthage
  3. Pirates of Cilicia
  4. Battle of Actium (31 BCE)
  5. Battle of the Hellespont (324 CE)
  6. Gothic Fleets and the Crisis of the Third Century
  7. Classical World Sea Battles
  8. Sea Battles of the Late Roman Empire

Dolphin Symbol

  • The Dolphin was considered to be a symbol of Divine protection by Ancient Greek and Roman sailors.
  • This was because they often rode the bow wave of vessels at sea, as they still do today.

Roman Shipwrecks

  • A number of shipwrecks from the Roman Period and Classical Antiquity have been discovered and preserved in various museums in Europe.

Roman Ship Museums

Roman Navigation

  • In the Mediterranean, the Romans mainly navigated along the coastlines by day and by night. They used Lighthouses to guide them into the harbours.

Roman Sea Law

  • Roman Sea Law defined the Use of the Sea and how commerce and shipping should be conducted.
  • It was based on the much older Rhodian Sea Law.

Other Navies in the Ancient World

Sources

 

Miseno, near Naples

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