Steinby, Christa
(Suomen tiedeseura, 2007)
The present dissertation discusses the development of the Roman navy, how it functioned strategically and tactically, and the role it played in the
expansion of Rome’s Mediterraenan dominion.
In previous studies, scholars (especially J.H. Thiel, 1946 and 1954) have seen the Romans as a nation of ‘land-lubbers’ in the wars that they
fought against Carthage, Macedon and Syria. The idea stems from the historian Polybius, who represents the Romans as beginners at sea in the
First Punic War and states that they won by using boarding-bridges which enabled them to turn a battle at sea into a battle on land. Thus, the
Romans have been represented as a nation avoiding seafaring and in terms of the discussion of warfare at sea, historians have disregarded other wars in which the Roman navy played an important role, concentrating on the First Punic War alone.
The Roman navy was active and absolutely necessary at all stages of the expansion of Rome’s Mediterranean dominion. In the centuries before the First Punic War, commerce with the Greeks and the Phoenicians made Rome a prosperous city. The Romans were involved in commerce, warfare and piracy like any other nation in the Tyrrhenian area. The navy was used in the process of the conquest of the Italian peninsula, not only as an aid to the army, but it also functioned independently in a manner appropriate to a sea
power. In the First Punic War (264-241), the Romans challenged the Carthaginians for thalassocracy over the western Mediterranean. The
competition continued in the Second Punic War 218-201, in which the fleets played an equally crucial role. It was really at sea that the Carthaginians lost the Second Punic War. In the eastern Mediterranean, the Romans challenged and defeated the Macedonian and Seleucid fleets and became the masters of the eastern Mediterranean. The Macedonian and Seleucid fleets were no match for the Roman fleet and so, if anyone could have stopped the Roman navy, it should have been the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War.
We need to broaden our perspective concerning what is important in ancient warfare at sea. Practical matters in seafaring had implications for naval
strategy. There was no room for water or food in ancient warships. Crews needed access to a coast to get water, food and rest after each voyage; thus control of safe landing places and ports was essential. The Romans were well aware of this. Therefore, when evaluatinging the role of the Roman navy, the number of sea battles is not the most important thing. The navy had other vital functions. It worked in cooperation with the army, and the organisation of supply routes, depots and landing places enabled the Romans to wage war overseas. In addition, the Roman navy operated at sea independently, participating in the contest for thalassocracy in the western and eastern Mediterranean by challenging and defeating the Punic, Macedonian and Seleucid fleets.