Handbook of the Roman Imperial Navy: Organisation of the Roman Imperial Navy

By John Richardson

This rich history of the Roman Imperial Navy and the sailors who manned their fleets deserve to be fully acknowledged. Most know that the legions of Rome fought and defended the Roman Empire but without their Imperial Navy this empire may never have been able to expand its frontier's This book well researched covers the organisation of the Imper

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Richardson
• Release date: Jun 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9781805415503

Book preview

Introduction

The Imperial Roman Navy was in the beginning constructed mainly of large galleys in the first days of the Roman Empire, which was towards the end of the then Roman Republic. These types of vessels were developed from the ships used by both the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The ancient Romans knew that to control their plans for expansion they must control the seas. In the beginning the Romans were to suffer defeats as their foes were at this time skilled in the arts of war at sea and were skilled sailors. The Romans knew they must copy these foes if they were to control the Mediterranean.

Roman warships were constructed to carry large numbers of men, who were trained to fight not only as soldiers but also as sailors who became marines. These sailor/marines became quickly skilled in the art of capturing enemy ships, firstly by developing the technology of how to board and then how to fight on decks to take control over these enemy ships.

It also became apparent to the Senators in Rome that using large vessels alone could also lead to heavy losses of sailors and marines during close combat battles on the decks of such large vessels. The Senate decided what was required was a major rethink and design of the Roman fleets, so they issued orders for the construction of smaller faster ships which could also be used by the fleets as lookouts and assist in the protection of merchant shipping as they brought their goods to the ports of the empire.

This change to the Roman Navy was adopted by many professional navies as they followed the proven Roman ways in the gathering at sea and land of intelligence, which these lighter faster ships now gave the Romans the edge as speed was important in many situations to getting the information to where it was most needed swiftly.

Augustus Republic to Empire

When Augustus was the Emperor of the Roman State we can deduce that he was at the beginning of the Roman Imperial Navy. Before this the Romans had what we know as the Fleets of the Republican period which takes us to the first Mithridatic War fought between 88 & 84 BC. During the Republic there were numerous squadrons which provided fleets but these were never formed into one navy, these various fleets operated mainly due to the skills of the Etruscans and Greeks who were skilled in seafaring.

It was from these cities mainly of the east that most of the ships came to be in the sea around Italy. At this period of the Republic there were Civil wars plus piracy and the wars with Mithridate. When Julius Caesar came to power, he knew that the then fleets were of much importance but also realised they had limits When Caesar came up against Pompey and the hostilities, he did not underestimate just how important the role of the navy was. Caesar moved quickly to deny Pompey and his navy from using the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.

Following the murder and death of Caesar the battle for Rome and control of the sea fell to the son of Pompey, Sextus. He now had access to the ships of Caesar and to both Sardinia and Sicily. The triumvirs formed then were the adopted son of Caesar, Octavian, and Antony and Lepidus. But peace between them was not to last. Then Octavian was fortunate to have a skilled knight Marcus Agrippa on his side, this also coincided with seafarers who had been displaced during the civil wars being recruited to his cause. We must remember that at this period the duty of the navy was to make fighting sea battles impossible. By the year 31 BC Octavian had gained power as being chosen by Rome which led to the battle of Actium, this victory showed Octavian the importance of ruling the seas and to the beginning of the Roman Imperial Navy. The same ships that had seen the victory over Antony were also used in the defeat of Sextus Pompey. We know from records that Octavian did not destroy the ships of Antony but choose to absorb them into his fleets. This pointed clearly to the need of Italy to have a permanent navy, to ensure her safety and give Rome and her Empire control and mastery of the seas.

War Carthage and Rome

For over a century from BC 264 to BC 146 there was a succession of three wars spanning the conflicts between those two super powers of the seas in the Mediterranean, these were known as the Punic Wars. When the first conflict occurred, the Roman State had become the leading force with its military land armies dominating Italy.

In North Africa Carthage had also established itself as a powerful maritime navy in that part of the world seaways. The Phoenicians history tells us came from modern day Lebanon (Tyre) they sailed along the African coast where they eventually landed and founded their city of Carthage which is close to present day Tunis. We know from historians that the Romans used the Latin word Punic for the Phoenician

Carthage became by BC 265 to be one of the most formidable and wealthy cities in this part of the Mediterranean and was the most powerful navy. Due to treaties with Rome, there was peace with Rome but Carthage had battles with Greece.

The first Punic War concerned Sicily which was then a