18 Facts About Roman navy

The Roman navy fleets were again prominent in the 1st century BC in the wars against the pirates, and in the civil wars that brought down the Republic, whose campaigns ranged across the Mediterranean.

The Roman navy manned and maintained craft on major frontier rivers such as the Rhine and the Danube for supplying the army.

The decline of the Empire in the 3rd century took a heavy toll on the Roman navy, which was reduced to a shadow of its former self, both in size and in combat ability.

However, the Republic continued to rely mostly on her legions for expansion in Italy; the Roman navy was most likely geared towards combating piracy and lacked experience in naval warfare, being easily defeated in 282 BC by the Tarentines.

Small Roman navy forces had already been engaged in the First Macedonian War, when, in 214 BC, a fleet under Marcus Valerius Laevinus had successfully thwarted Philip V from invading Illyria with his newly built fleet.

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Subsequently, the Roman navy was drastically reduced, depending on its Socii navales.

Roman navy took control of Sicily and made it his base, blockading Italy and stopping the politically crucial supply of grain from Africa to Rome.

The now fully professional Roman navy had its main duties consist of protecting against piracy, escorting troops and patrolling the river frontiers of Europe.

At the other end of the Empire, in Germania, the Roman navy played an important role in the supply and transport of the legions.

From 43 to 85, the Roman navy played an important role in the Roman conquest of Britain.

Roman navy burned the fleet, and sought refuge with the Iberian tribes, engaging in piracy.

Under the Five Good Emperors the Roman 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.

Under the aegis of the Severan dynasty, the only known military operations of the Roman 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 navy ships reached inter alia the Persian Gulf and the top of the British Isles.

The East Roman navy would remain a formidable force in the Mediterranean until the 11th century.

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.

Roman navy ships were commonly named after gods, mythological heroes, geographical maritime features such as Rhenus or Oceanus, concepts such as Harmony, Peace, Loyalty, Victory or after important events.

Our main source for the structure of the late Roman navy military is the Notitia Dignitatum, which corresponds to the situation of the 390s for the Eastern Empire and the 420s for the Western Empire.