Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Because of that, the navy was never completely embraced by the Roman state, and deemed somewhat "un-Roman". [ 1 ] In antiquity, navies and trading fleets did not have the logistical autonomy that modern ships and fleets possess, and unlike modern naval forces, the Roman navy even at its height never existed as an autonomous service but operated ...
Roman ships are named in different ways, often in compound expressions with the word Latin: navis, lit. 'ship'.These are found in many ancient Roman texts, and named in different ways, such as by the appearance of the ship: for example, navis tecta (covered ship); or by its function, for example: navis mercatoria (commerce ship), or navis praedatoria (plunder ship).
The Duumviri navales, lit. ' two men dealing with naval matters ', [1] were two naval officers elected by the people of Rome to repair and equip the Roman fleet. [2] Both Duumviri navales were assigned to one Roman consul, and each controlled 20 ships.
In 324 the fleet's ships participated in the campaign of Constantine the Great against Licinius and his decisive naval victory in the Battle of the Hellespont. Afterwards, the bulk of the ships were moved to Constantinople, where emperor Constantine had moved the capital of the Roman Empire.
The traditional naval tactic of ramming wasn't abandoned, but the Roman ships were fitted with a corvus to accommodate their strengths in land combat. This movable boarding bridge enabled the Romans to transform naval combat from ramming and sinking to boarding with marines through capturing and plundering the vessels.
Centurions also served in the Roman navy. They were professional officers, analogous to modern non-commissioned officers in terms of pay-grade, prestige, and responsibilities. In late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the Byzantine army's centurions were known by the name kentarch (Kentarches). [3]
The corvus (Latin for "crow" or "raven") was a Roman ship mounted boarding ramp or drawbridge for naval boarding, first introduced during the First Punic War in sea battles against Carthage. It could swivel from side to side and was equipped with a beak -like iron hook at the far end of the bridge, from which the name is figuratively derived ...
The Roman military had an extensive logistical supply chain. There was no specialised branch of the military devoted to logistics and transportation, although this was to a great extent carried out by the Roman navy due to the ease and low costs of transporting goods via sea and river compared to overland. [22]