Lecture 6: 31 B.C. Actium—Birth of the Roman Empire

31 B.C. Actium—Birth of the Roman Empire ....................................

Lecture 6

A

s early as the 3rd millennium B.C., naval warfare occurred in the

Mediterranean, and by the 2nd millennium B.C., the Egyptians were

conducting large-scale amphibious warfare, transporting troops

in ships from the Nile region and landing them in Palestine. The Battle of

Actium is representative of the dominant style of naval combat used for most

of history; it marks the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the

Roman Empire, as well as the solidifying of Rome’s domination over the

entire Mediterranean basin.

Ancient Naval Warfare

x During a nearly 4,000-year stretch beginning in the 3rd millennium

B.C., the main warship was the galley, a long, narrow vessel

propelled by dozens or even hundreds of rowers. Such warships

lacked the stability or the storage capacity to travel the open seas

and typically hugged the coasts.

x One battle technique was to equip these vessels with a ram at the

bow, which they would try to crash into the hull of enemy ships.

The Greeks of the 5th century B.C. emphasized seamanship, with the

primary goal to position a ship so as to ram the opponent broadside.

A variant on this tactic was to sweep alongside an enemy vessel and

break off its oars.

x All these maneuvers demanded speed, nimbleness, and a high

degree of skill from the rowers. The ship design that developed

to optimize these qualities was the trireme. A classic trireme was

about 115 feet long and only 20 feet wide, with some 200 rowers

on three levels packed into the narrow hull. A triple-pointed bronze

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a small number of marines, usually no more than 35, stood on the

upper deck armed with bows.