Roman navy
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The naval forces of the
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 the Roman army.
During the course of the
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. for supplying the army.
On the fringes of the Empire, in new conquests or, increasingly, in defense against
History
Early Republic
The exact origins of the Roman fleet are obscure. A traditionally agricultural and land-based society, the Romans rarely ventured out to sea, unlike their
This situation continued until the First 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, the socii 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 new praetores classici, who were established in 267 BC.[10]
First Punic War
The first Roman expedition outside mainland Italy was against the island of
Despite the massive buildup, the Roman crews remained inferior in naval experience to the Carthaginians, and could not hope to match them in
Although the first sea engagement of the war, the
The
Illyria and the Second Punic War
After the Roman victory, the balance of naval power in the Western Mediterranean had shifted from Carthage to Rome.
Due to Rome's command of the seas,
Operations in the East
Rome was now the undisputed master of the Western Mediterranean, and turned her gaze from defeated Carthage to the
Almost immediately following the defeat of
Late Republic
Mithridates and the pirate threat
In the absence of a strong naval presence however,
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.
The resulting grain shortages were a major political issue, and popular discontent threatened to become explosive. In 74 BC, with the outbreak of the
Caesar and the Civil Wars
In 56 BC, for the first time a Roman fleet engaged in battle outside the Mediterranean. This occurred during
The last major campaigns of the Roman navy in the Mediterranean until the late 3rd century AD would be in the
Octavian's power was further enhanced after his victory against the combined fleets of
Principate
Operations under Augustus
Under
At the other end of the Empire, in Germania, the navy played an important role in the supply and transport of the legions. In 15 BC an independent fleet was installed at the Lake Constance. Later, the generals Drusus and Tiberius used the Navy extensively, when they tried to extend the Roman frontier to the Elbe. In 12 BC Drusus ordered the construction of a fleet of 1,000 ships and sailed them along the Rhine into the North Sea.[42] The Frisii and Chauci had nothing to oppose the superior numbers, tactics and technology of the Romans. When these entered the river mouths of Weser and Ems, the local tribes had to surrender.
In 5 BC the Roman knowledge concerning the North and Baltic Sea was fairly extended during a campaign by Tiberius, reaching as far as the Elbe: Plinius describes how Roman naval formations came past Heligoland and set sail to the north-eastern coast of Denmark, and Augustus himself boasts in his Res 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 the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD.
Julio-Claudian dynasty
In the years 15 and 16,
It seems that under
In 68, as his reign became increasingly insecure, Nero raised
Flavian, Antonine and Severan dynasties
During the
In the years 82 to 85, the Romans under
Under the Five Good Emperors the navy operated mainly on the rivers; so it played an important role during Trajan's conquest of Dacia and temporarily an independent fleet for the Euphrates and Tigris rivers was founded. Also during the wars against the Marcomanni confederation under Marcus Aurelius several combats took place on the Danube and the Tisza.
Under the aegis of the Severan dynasty, the only known military operations of the navy were carried out under Septimius Severus, using naval assistance on his campaigns along the Euphrates and Tigris, as well as in Scotland. Thereby Roman ships reached inter alia the Persian Gulf and the top of the British Isles.
3rd century crisis
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 the Saxons raided the North Sea, forcing the Romans to abandon Frisia.[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 of Trebonianus Gallus, when for the first time Germanic tribes built up their own powerful fleet in the Black Sea. Via two surprise attacks (256) on Roman naval bases in the Caucasus and near the Danube, numerous ships fell into the hands of the Germans, whereupon the raids were extended as far as the Aegean 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 of
Barbarian raids also increased along the Rhine frontier and in the
Late antiquity
By the end of the 3rd century, the Roman navy had declined dramatically. Although Emperor
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] The East Roman (Byzantine) navy would remain a formidable force in the Mediterranean until the 11th century.
Organization
Crews
The bulk of a galley's crew was formed by the rowers, the remiges (sing. remex) or eretai (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 on
During the early Principate, a ship's crew, regardless of its size, was organized as a
As in the army, the ship's centuria was headed by a
Each ship was commanded by a
Merchant vessels were commanded by the magister navis. If privately owned, the owner was called exercitor navis.[82] The modern term of "master" to designate a captain of a merchant vessel derives from the magister navis.
High Command
During the Republic, command of a fleet was given to a serving magistrate or promagistrate, usually of consular or praetorian 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 of praefectus classis ("fleet prefect") first appeared.[84]
Initially subordinate to the magistrate in command, after the fleet's reorganization by Augustus, the praefectus classis became a
Types of ships
The generic Roman term for an oar-driven galley warship was "long ship" (Latin: navis longa, Greek: naus makra), as opposed to the sail-driven navis oneraria (from onus, oneris: burden), a merchant vessel, or the minor craft (navigia minora) like the scapha.[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 Hellenistic
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 of
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 the Classis 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 (
Armament and tactics
In
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 and
During the Civil Wars, a number of technical innovations, which are attributed to Agrippa,[101] took place: the harpax, a catapult-fired grappling 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 old corvus, and the use of collapsible fighting towers placed one apiece bow and stern, which were used to provide the boarders with supporting fire.[102]
Fleets
Principate period
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 (modern
Praetorian fleets
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 Centumcellae and other harbors.[105]
- The Classis Ravennas, established in 27 BC and based at Ravenna. Later Classis praetoria Ravennatis Pia Vindex.
Provincial fleets
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.
- The annona) from North Africa to Italy,[106]after the model of the Classis Alexandrina.
- The Classis Alexandriae, based in Alexandria, it controlled the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded by Augustus around 30 BC, probably from ships that fought at the Battle of Actium and manned mostly by Greeks of the Nile Delta.[107] Having supported emperor Vespasian in the civil war of 69, it was awarded of the cognomen Augusta.[107] The fleet was responsible chiefly for the escort of the grain shipments to Rome (and later Constantinople), and also apparently operated the Potamophylaciae, the Nile river patrol.[108]
- The Rutupiae (Richborough) until 85 AD, when it was transferred to Dubris (Dover). Other bases were Portus Lemanis (Lympne) and Anderitum (Pevensey), while Gesoriacum on the Gallic coast likely remained active.[110] During the 2nd–3rd centuries, the fleet was chiefly employed in transport of supplies and men across the English Channel. The Classis Britannica disappears (at least under that name) from the mid-3rd century, and the sites occupied by it were soon incorporated into the Saxon Shore system.[110]
- The Revolt of Saturninus.[114]
- The Classis nova Libyca, first mentioned in 180, based most likely at Ptolemais on the Cyrenaica.
- The Classis Mauretanica, based at Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell), it controlled the African coasts of the western Mediterranean Sea. Established on a permanent basis after the raids by the Moors in the early 170s.
- The Classis Moesica was established sometime between 20 BC and 10 AD.[111] It was based in Noviodunum and controlled the Lower Danube from the Iron Gates to the northwestern Black Sea as far as the Crimea.[115] The honorific Flavia, awarded to it and to the Classis pannonica, may indicate its reorganization by Vespasian.[116]
- The Classis Pannonica, a fluvial fleet controlling the Upper Danube from Castra Regina in Raetia (modern Regensburg) to Singidunum in Moesia (modern Belgrade). Its exact date of establishment is unknown. Some trace it to Augustus' campaigns in Pannonia in ca. 35 BC, but it was certainly in existence by 45 AD.[114][117] Its main base was probably Taurunum (modern Zemun) at the confluence of the river Sava with the Danube. Under the Flavian dynasty, it received the cognomen Flavia.[117]
- The Probably united with the Classis Pontica at a later stage.
- The Classis Pontica, founded in 64 AD from the Pontic royal fleet,[111][118] and based in Trapezus, although on occasion it was moved to Byzantium (in ca. 70),[119] and in 170, to Cyzicus.[120] This fleet was used to guard the southern and eastern Black Sea, and the entrance of the Bosporus.[85] According to the historian Josephus, in the latter half of the 1st century, it numbered 40 warships and 3,000 men.[121]
- The Aegean sea.
In addition, there is significant archaeological evidence for naval activity by certain legions, which in all likelihood operated their own squadrons: legio XXII Primigenia in the Upper Rhine and Main rivers, legio X Fretensis in the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, and several legionary squadrons in the Danube frontier.[123]
Dominate period
Our main source for the structure of the late Roman military is the Notitia Dignitatum, which corresponds to the situation of the 390s for the Eastern Empire and the 420s for the Western Empire. Notable in the Notitia is the large number of smaller squadrons that have been created, most of these fluvial and of a local operational role.
Fleets of the Danube frontier
The Classis Pannonica and the Classis Moesica were broken up into several smaller squadrons, collectively termed Classis Histrica, authority of the frontier commanders ( The naval units were complemented by port garrisons and marine units, drawn from the army. In the Danube frontier these were:
- In Pannonia I and Noricum ripensis, naval detachments (milites liburnarii) of the legio XIV Gemina and the legio X Gemina at Carnuntum and Arrabonae, and of the legio II Italica at Ioviacum.[127]
- In Pannonia II, the I Flavia Augusta (at Sirmium) and the II Flavia are listed under their prefects.[125]
- In Moesia II, two units of sailors (milites nauclarii) at Appiaria and Altinum.[130]
- In Scythia Minor, marines (muscularii)[131] of legio II Herculia at Inplateypegiis and sailors (nauclarii) at Flaviana.[132]
Fleets in Western Europe
In the West, and in particular in
- The Oiserivers.
- The Classis Ararica, based at Caballodunum (Chalon-sur-Saône) and operating in the Saône River.
- A Classis barcariorum, composed of small vessels, at Eburodunum (modern Yverdon-les-Bains) at Lake Neuchâtel.
- The Classis Comensis at Lake Como.
- The old praetorian fleets, the
- The Marseilles.
- The Somme River and the Channel. It came under the command of the dux Beligae Secundae.[135]
- The Classis Venetum, based at Aquileia and operating in the northern Adriatic Sea. This fleet may have been established to ensure communications with the imperial capitals in the Po Valley (Ravenna and Milan) and with Dalmatia.[136]
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. The Classis Britannica vanishes under that name after the mid-3rd century;[137] its remnants were later subsumed in the Saxon Shore system.
By the time of the Notitia Dignitatum, the Classis Germanica has ceased to exist (it is last mentioned under
Fleets in the Eastern Mediterranean
As far as the East is concerned, we know from legal sources that the Classis Alexandrina[139] and the Classis Seleucena[140] continued to operate, and that in ca. 400 a Classis Carpathia was detached from the Syrian fleet and based at the Aegean island of Karpathos.[141] A fleet is known to have been stationed at Constantinople itself, but no further details are known about it.[57]
Ports
Major Roman ports were:
- Misenum
- Classis, near Ravenna
- Alexandria
- Leptis Magna
- Ostia
- Portus
- Port of Mainz (Mogontiacum, river navy on the Rhine)
Tactics
See also
Notes
- ^ Potter 2004, p. 77–78.
- ^ "Map of the Roman Fleet".[dead link]
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 147–148.
- ^ a b Meijer 1986, p. 149.
- AUCIX.30; XL.18,26; XLI.1
- ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2000, p. 96.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 150.
- ^ Potter 2004, p. 76.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2003, p. 34.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2000, p. 97.
- ^ Polybius, The Histories, I.20–21
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 201.
- ^ a b c Webster & Elton 1998, p. 166.
- ^ a b c Goldsworthy 2003, p. 38.
- ^ a b Meijer 1986, p. 167.
- ^ Gruen 1984, p. 359..
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 167–168.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 168.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 170.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 170–171.
- ^ Meijer 1986, p. 173.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-2153-8. Plate 12.2 on p. 204.
- ^ Coarelli, Filippo (1987), I Santuari del Lazio in età repubblicana. NIS, Rome, pp. 35–84.
- ^ a b Meijer 1986, p. 175.
- ^ a b c Connolly 1998, p. 273.
- ^ Appian, The Mithridatic Wars, § 92
- ^ a b Starr 1989, p. 62.
- ^ Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, XXXVI.22
- ^ Plutarch, Life of Pompey, § 24
- ^ Appian, The Mithridatic Wars, § 93
- ^ Goldsworthy 2007, p. 186.
- ^ Appian, The Mithridatic Wars, § 94
- ^ Appian, The Mithridatic Wars, § 95–§ 96
- ^ Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, III.9
- ^ Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, III.13
- ^ Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, III.14
- ^ Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, III.15
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 205–206.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 206.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 207.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 208.
- ^ Tacitus, The Annals II.6
- ^ Res Gestae, 26.4
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, pp. 160–161.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, p. 161.
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, II.12
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, II.67
- ^ a b Webster & Elton 1998, p. 164.
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, IV.16
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, IV.79
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, V.23–25
- ^ Tacitus, Agricola, 25; 29
- ^ Tacitus, Agricola, 10
- ^ Tacitus, Agricola, 24
- ^ Lewis & Runyan 1985, p. 3.
- ^ a b Lewis & Runyan (1985), p. 4
- ^ a b c d e Casson 1991, p. 213.
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vita Gallienii, 13.6–7
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vita Gallienii, 13.8–9
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vita Divi Claudii, 6.2–4; 8.1
- ^ Zosimus, Historia Nova, I.42–45
- ^ Eutropius, Breviarium, IX.21
- ^ Panegyrici Latini, 8.6
- ^ Panegyrici Latini, 8.12
- ^ Panegyrici Latini, 6.5; 8.6–8
- ^ Eutropius, Breviarium 9.22; Aurelius Victor, Book of Caesars 39.42
- ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 145.
- ^ a b MacGeorge 2002, pp. 306–307.
- ^ Lewis & Runyan 1985, pp. 4–8.
- ^ MacGeorge 2002, pp. 307.
- ^ a b c d Casson 1991, p. 188.
- ^ Starr 1960, p. 75 Table 1.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 212.
- ^ a b Rankov 1995, p. 80.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 201–202.
- ^ Starr 1960, p. 39.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, pp. 165–166.
- ^ a b Saddington 2007, p. 210.
- ^ Starr 1960, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 210–211.
- ^ Wesch-Klein 1998, p. 25.
- S2CID 159601227.
- ^ Rodgers 1967, p. 60.
- AUCXXVI.48; XXXVI.42
- ^ a b c Webster & Elton 1998, p. 165.
- ^ Pflaum, H.G. (1950). Les procurateurs équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain, pp. 50–53
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 202–203.
- ^ a b Potter 2004, p. 77.
- ^ Morrison 1995, p. 70.
- ^ Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, L.23.2
- ^ Morrison 1995, p. 70, 77.
- ^ Plutarch, Antony, 62
- De Re Militari, IV.33
- ^ Casson 1995, p. 141.
- ^ Casson 1995, pp. 357–358.
- ^ Casson 1991, pp. 190–191.
- ^ Saddington 2007, p. 203.
- ^ Warry 2004, p. 183.
- ^ Warry 2004, p. 98.
- ^ Warry 2004, p. 118.
- ^ Appian, The Civil Wars, V.106 & V.118
- ^ Warry 2004, pp. 182–183.
- ^ Tacitus, The Annals, IV.5; Strabo, Geography, IV.1.9
- ^ Rankov 1995, p. 78.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, p. 158.
- ^ Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Vita Commodi, 17.7
- ^ a b c Webster & Elton 1998, p. 159.
- ^ a b Saddington 2007, p. 215.
- ^ Cleere 1977, pp. 16, 18–19.
- ^ a b Cleere 1977, p. 19.
- ^ a b c Cleere 1977, p. 16.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, p. 160.
- ^ Köln-Alteburg at livius.org
- ^ a b Webster & Elton 1998, p. 162.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, p. 162–165.
- ^ Webster & Elton 1998, p. 163.
- ^ a b Saddington 2007, p. 214.
- ^ Starr 1989, p. 76.
- ^ Tacitus, The Histories, II.83; III.47
- ^ Starr 1989, p. 77.
- ^ Josephus, The Jewish War, II.16.4
- ^ Codex Theodosianus, X.23.1
- ^ "The Fleets and Roman Border Policy". www2.rgzm.de.
- Pauly-Wissowa, XXII.1300–1301
- ^ a b Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ., XXXII.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ., XXXIII.
- ^ a b c Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ., XXXIV.
- ^ a b Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Orient., XLI.
- ^ a b Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Orient., XLII.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Orient., XL.
- ^ musculus (meaning "small mouse") was a kind of small ship
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Orient., XXXIX.
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ., XLII.
- Pauly-Wissowa, III.2639 & XXII.1300
- ^ Notitia Dignitatum, Pars Occ., XXXVIII.
- ^ Lewis & Runyan (1985), p. 6
- ^ Classis Britannica at RomanBritain.org
- Pauly-Wissowa, III.2645–2646 & XXII.1300
- Codex Justinianus, XI.2.4
- Codex Justinianus, XI.13.1
- ^ Codex Theodosianus, XIII.5.32
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1090-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7391-8921-4.
- ISBN 978-18-43836-10-0
- ISBN 978-1-4738-1775-3.
References
- Casson, Lionel (1991), The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-01477-7
- Casson, Lionel (1995), Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-5130-0
- Cleere, Henry (1977), "The Classis Britannica" (PDF), CBA Research Report (18): 16–19, retrieved 2008-10-11
- Connolly, Peter (1998), Greece and Rome at War, Greenhill
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2000), The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265–146 BC, Cassell, ISBN 0-304-36642-0
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2003), The Complete Roman Army, Thames & Hudson Ltd., ISBN 0-500-05124-0
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2007), "A Roman Alexander: Pompey the Great", In the name of Rome: The men who won the Roman Empire, Phoenix, ISBN 978-0-7538-1789-6
- Gruen, Erich S. (1984), The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome: Volume II, ISBN 0-520-04569-6
- Lewis, Archibald Ross; Runyan, Timothy J. (1985), European Naval and Maritime History, 300–1500, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-20573-5
- MacGeorge, Penny (2002), "Appendix: Naval Power in the Fifth Century", Late Roman Warlords, ISBN 978-0-19-925244-2
- Meijer, Fik (1986), A History of Seafaring in the Classical World, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-7099-3565-0
- ISBN 0-85177-554-3.
- Potter, David (2004), "The Roman Army and Navy", in Flower, Harriet I. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic, Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–88, ISBN 978-0-521-00390-2
- Rankov, Boris (1995). "Fleets of the Early Roman Empire, 31 BC–AD 324". In ISBN 0-85177-554-3.
- Rodgers, William L. (1967), Naval Warfare Under Oars, 4th to 16th Centuries: A Study of Strategy, Tactics and Ship Design, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-0-87021-487-5
- Saddington, D.B. (2007), "Classes. The Evolution of the Roman Imperial Fleets", in Erdkamp, Paul (ed.), A Companion to the Roman Army, ISBN 978-1-4051-2153-8
- Starr, Chester G. (1960), The Roman Imperial Navy: 31 B.C.–A.D. 324 (2nd ed.), Cornell University Press
- Starr, Chester G. (1989), The Influence of Sea Power on Ancient History, Oxford University Press US, ISBN 978-0-19-505667-9
- ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
- Warry, John (2004), Warfare in the Classical World, Salamander Books Ltd., ISBN 0-8061-2794-5
- Webster, Graham; Elton, Hugh (1998), The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries A.D., University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 0-8061-3000-8
- Wesch-Klein, Gabriele (1998), Soziale Aspekte des römischen Heerwesens in der Kaiserzeit (in German), Franz Steiner Verlag, ISBN 3-515-07300-0
Further reading
- Rost, Georg Alexander (1968), Vom Seewesen und Seehandel in der Antike (in German), John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 90-6032-361-0
External links
- (in Italian) The Imperial fleet of Misenum
- The Classis Britannica
- The Roman Fleet, Roman-Empire.net
- The Roman Navy: Masters of the Mediterranean, HistoryNet.com
- Galleria Navale on Navigare Necesse Est
- Port of Claudius, the museum of Roman merchant ships found in Fiumicino (Rome)
- Diana Nemorensis, Caligula's ships in the lake of Nemi.
- Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz: The Fleets and Roman Border Policy
- Forum Navis Romana