Securing Seas and Shores: Fleets of the Roman empire

Ancient Warfare Podcast

The History Network

Society & Culture, Greece, Warfare, Ancient, Rome, History, Military

4.4 • 631 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2012

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the usual wide ranging discussion Jasper, Michael, Lindsay and special guest Jesse Obert look at the Roman Navy. Questioning the received view of the fleets being used in anti piracy duties, and were the fleets even standing forces or more of an adhoc thing brought together when needs must?

And the fleets what kind of shipping did they comprise of, and how did they make war?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast produced by the History Network. If you have any
0:06.4	comments or ideas, email editor at ancient-warfare.com. And for other discussions, check out the
0:15.4	ancient warfare forum, which you can find a link to at www. www. ancient-warfare.com.
0:24.5	You can also find all the History Network podcasts by going to www.
0:30.3	The History Network.org.
0:32.8	Hello, everyone. We're back with another Ancient Warfare magazine podcast.
0:36.7	This time we're discussing Ancient Warfare Iss issue 5-5, the Roman Imperial Navy.
0:41.9	With me tonight, our special guest, Jesse Obert, who contributed to the issue,
0:46.7	Michael Taylor, and Lindsay Powell.
0:49.9	Michael, I believe you've got an introduction for us again.
0:53.0	The Navy of the Roman Republic oscillated between massive war armadas deployed for wars of conquest.
1:00.6	But when these wars were over, the numerous ships were dry docked, and the Roman Navy was reduced to a tiny fleet of about 20 ships commanded by the Duolieri Nawales. Even as Rome assumed position of
1:13.8	Mediterranean hegemony, the Romans shirked their duties on the high seas, neglecting to fill the
1:19.6	vacuum created by the elimination of the Carthaginian, Macedonian, and Seleucid navies.
1:25.3	The result was rampant piracy that troubled the entire Mediterranean and even began to affect Italy itself.
1:33.8	While Pompey the Great stomped out piratical lading in the 60s BC, it was clear that a full-time naval presence would be necessary to maintain permanent stability in the Mediterranean. As the chaos of
1:46.6	civil wars subsided, a permanent fleet was therefore maintained, the two most important components of which
1:52.6	were two Praetorian fleets, one posted at Ravenna on the Adriatic and one at Mycena on the Bay of Naples,
2:00.2	on either side of Italy.
2:01.6	In addition, there were smaller provincial fleets such as Agricola's Classes-Pertaniai,
2:08.6	the riverine patrols of the Rhine and Danube, and naval detachments at Alexandria and St. Lucia-Pyaria on the eastern Mediterranean. We lack exact figures for
2:20.4	total Roman naval strength, but best estimates are somewhere between 30,000 to 50,000 men
	...

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