The
Imperial Roman Navy
The Romans came to
naval warfare rather late in the day and it was not until the reign
of Augustus (27 BC—14 AD) that they established a standing navy.
The main strength was divided into two fleets, based at Misenum and
Ravenna, with smaller fleets based in Alexandria and other large
ports around the Mediterranean. As well as keeping the peace at
sea, the navy was tasked with patrolling the great rivers of the
Empire such as the Rhine, the Danube and, of course, the
Nile.
Each fleet was
commanded by a prefect. Previous naval
experience was not a requirement and the post was largely
administrative in nature.
Below the rank of
prefect the huge influence of Greek naval practice on the imperial
fleets is evident. The squadron commanders were called navarchs and commanded ten ships. Navarchs, like
the centurions of the legions, were the senior officers on
permanent tenure. If they wished, they could apply for transfer
into the legions at the rank of centurion. The senior navarch in
the fleet was known as the Navarchus
Princeps, who functioned like the senior centurion of a
legion, offering technical advice to the prefect when
required.
The ships were
commanded by trierarchs. Like the
navarchs, they were promoted from the ranks and were responsible
for the running of individual ships. However, their role did not
correspond to that of a modern sea captain. They were in charge of
the sailing of the ship but, in battle, the senior figure was
actually the officer in charge of the ship’s complement of
marines.
As far as the ships
go, the most common class of vessel was the small patrol galley,
usually termed a liburnian. These were propelled by oars or sails
and had a small complement of marines. In the same class was the
bireme, somewhat larger and more capable of holding its own in
battle. The larger warships, the triremes, quadrimes and
quinquiremes, were something of a rarity by the age in which this
book is set, relics of a bygone age of naval warfare.
