Fleets and naval forces of the late Roman Mediterranean (3rd-6th centuries)

Abstract

Scholarship has traditionally conceived the fleets and naval forces employed by the Roman Empire through the lens of modern military organisation. This understanding has led to the widespread belief that, during the early imperial period, Roman classes were organised into a ‘Roman navy’ that guarded the waterways of the Mediterranean and the northern frontier. No longer facing major competition at sea, this navy was gradually allowed to decay over the 1st and 2nd centuries until being largely swept away during the major barbarian invasions of the 3rd. As a result, this once powerful entity was almost non-existent during the later Empire until being reconstituted as a ‘Byzantine navy’ in either the 6th or 7th centuries. However, more recent scholarship has seriously challenged this conventional view, noting that Roman naval forces of the Principate were never actually perceived or organised like that of a modern navy. For this reason, this thesis aims to reassess the role and development of fleets and naval forces of the late Roman Mediterranean (3rd-6th centuries), directly challenging the concept of a ‘Roman navy’ and associated narratives of an institutional decline. This will be accomplished through an investigation into the fate of the early imperial classes as well as the creation and development of new classes only attested from the later Empire. Beyond these obvious naval forces, this thesis will also examine the possibility of ships being maintained by other ‘non-naval’ military units and the creation of ad hoc fleets for significant campaigns. Finally, this thesis will analyse the evolution in design and employment of military galleys over the same period. These findings will then be synthesised, allowing for a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of the role and transformation of the fleets and ships used by the late Roman military.