Late Roman Navy?

[Mrld]

What was the 5th century Roman navy like? I know the east had a preetty powerful navy, but what about the west?

[Northern Neil]

What was the 5th century Roman navy like? I know the east had a preetty powerful navy, but what about the west?

I have no details as to the kind of ships used, or water - borne artillery, but I remember reading somewhere that in Constantius' time (c.300 ) ships employed on the Saxon Shore were painted grey, sea-green and cream to camouflage them from incoming raiders. The clothes and faces of the marines on board were similarly coloured. Given that the navy at that time achieved considerable success against the incoming pirates, perhaps this is the first direct reference to camouflage being used succesfully as a military tactic against an aggressor.

 

As to what the 5th century navy was like, perhaps East Roman/Byzantine sources will further illuminate.

Edited April 28, 2007 by Northern Neil

[caldrail]

By the late empire the need for a huge navy had long past. Rome was master of the mediterranean and they didn't need those massive triremes, quadremes, quinq... you get the picture. Sure there always problems with pirates but these were better handled with smaller faster vessels which remain in use to the end of the empire. Remains of warships found in various places show vessels much reduced in size and better suited to coastal waters than the dreadnought galleys of old.

[DecimusCaesar]

Late Roman navies would be scattered through many areas of the Empire, although in some other areas they would have fallen out of use, considering that the Germanic barbarians were not typically sea-faring nations (It was illegal to give barbarians ship building technology - especially the Huns). In Britain, the navy played an important part in fighting against the Saxon pirates - although most of the fighting would be done with boats on rivers, rather than the large 'Liburna' type battleships. These boats - called picati, meaning painted - would be some 25 metres in length with 40 oarsmen - 20 on each side.

 

 

When the Liburna were used their main tactic was to lure enemy ships into a trap by drawing them into shallows and rivers, or to cut them off from a retreat if they landed on the shore. The main purpose of the Classis Britannica (the Roman navy of Britain) was to provide intelligence by patrolling for sea raiders. In many ways, these Liburna did not differ much from the ships of the late Republic (like those used at Actium). They were noted for their speed, had a bronze ram tipped on the front and were well protected from missile attack.

 

Both the large battlsehips and the smaller boats would have heavily armed marines on deck.

 

We have an example of a late Roman battlsehip after the remains of one was found on the middle Rhine. There is a reconstruction of this ship to be found in Mainz, at the Museum of Fur Antike Seefahrt. This ship seems to have been a light warship with a wide flat bottom, best designed to sail the rivers rather than the sea.

[Nikephoros Phokas]

At the start of the 5th Century, the Western and Eastern Roman Empires controlled all of the Mediterranean Sea such that it was known as Mare Nostrum (Our Sea). The imperial navy was primarily charged with the protection of shipping and deterring piracy. There were two large fleets, the Classis Praetoria Misenensis (based in Misenum) and Classis Praetoria Ravennatis (based in Ravenna) in the Mediterranean. The Classis Augusta Alexandrina (based in Alexandria) guarded Egypt with a detachment at Caesarea (Classis Syriaca). The Black Sea was divided between the Classis Pontica, responsible for the southern and eastern parts of the Black Sea, while the mouth of the Danube and the coastline to the north as far as the Crimea was the responsibility of the Classis Moesica. The Classis Pannonia patrolled the Danube River.

 

The main type of ship of the 5th Century was the liburnia (pl liburnicae), so called because it was developed from the ships used by the Illyrian pirates of Liburnia (in modern-day Croatia). It had two banks of oars, and the Romans came to prefer it because of its greater speed and maneuverability. The crew of a liburnia consisted of about 50-80 oar-men (remiges) and a unit of about 30-50 marines (classiarii), depending on the size of the ship. There were usually 50 oars per ship (25 per side). Liburnicae were used everywhere in the Roman Empire, for example on the Nile, Rhine and Danube Rivers. Compared to the fighting value of the earliest warships with only one row of oars-men, the liburnia was a more powerful ship especially when ramming an enemy ship. With a closed deck it could take more marines as any other ship this size for the purpose of hand-to-hand combat helping insure a victory when fighting at close quarters with a ship of the same size.

 

Later Roman scout ship had 20 rowers in one bank, one mast and painted blue (venetus) according to Vegetius.

 

For more information, I recommend the following:

 

Pryor, J.H.