Classis Britannica
The Classis Britannica (British fleet) was a department of the Roman fleet stationed in Gesoriacum ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ) , which was primarily intended to control traffic on the English Channel and the navigable part of the Thames ( Tamesis ). The name classis Britannica often appears on contemporary inscriptions. Most of them come from Gesoriacum . It is attested from the Flavian period to the middle of the 3rd century. Along with the Rhine fleet ( Classis Germanica ), it was one of the largest naval associations in the Roman Empire , ranked above all other provincial fleets and - in different organizational forms - probably existed until the 4th century AD.
Fleet operations
1st to 2nd century
The forerunner of the Classis Britannica was that of Caesar 56 BC. BC in the war against the Venetians established fleet in Gaul. Their units were in the years 55 to 54 BC. BC also used for his two landings in Britain .
After Cunobelinus , King of the Catuvellauns , occupied southeastern Britain from 37 to 41 and thus provoked the Romans, Emperor Claudius 43 struck out a decisive blow against the British. The general Aulus Plautius landed four legions with his fleet in Kent and then pushed them further north. As the increasing piracy in the Canal later severely disrupted the movement of goods between Britain and the rest of the empire, Emperor Claudius was forced to set up a separate naval force for this region. The Classis Britannica still played an important role until the final conquest of a large part of the island, as it effectively supported the land army through its amphibious operations .
As a result of treason, 24 units of the Rhine fleet fell into the hands of the rebellious Batavians under Civilis in 69 . From these and some replicated ships, the Batavians put together their own fleet, the task of which was to intercept the Gaulish grain transports for the army in Germania at the Meuse , Rhine and Scheldt estuaries. British units also had to be brought in to combat them. Neither the British nor the Rhine fleet managed to achieve decisive success in fighting the uprising.
In 78 the governor Gnaeus Iulius Agricola began his campaign against the Caledonians in northern Scotland. In the summer of 82 a cohort of Usipeters mutinied , seized several boats and wanted to escape to their homeland on them. The fugitives sailed around Britain, but were shipwrecked and fell into the hands of the Suebi and Frisians , some of whom they sold as slaves. Between 82 and 84, the fleet also made numerous advances as far as the east coast of Scotland as part of this campaign . In 84 Agricola circumnavigated the Promunturium Calidonia (the northern tip of Scotland, today Duncansby Head ) during a flank protection operation . The Roman historian Tacitus reports in his biography of Agricola that the latter also circumnavigated the British Isles with the Roman fleet and finally proved the island shape of Britain. During the trip, among other things, the orcades ( Orkney Islands) were discovered and claimed for the empire. The Classis Britannica also provided supplies to the legions advancing along the east coast of Scotland. At the same time, Agricola used its ships on the west and north coast for reconnaissance . In addition to the Orkneys, the Hebrides and part of the Hibernian (Irish) coast were also explored.
On the occasion of his visit to the island in 122, Emperor Hadrian continued to secure the conquests of his predecessors and had the fortifications renewed or new facilities built throughout the province. Members of the fleet also took part in the largest of these projects, Hadrian's Wall .
3rd to 4th century
In the years 208 to 210, Emperor Septimius Severus led an extremely costly campaign against the Caledonians in northern Scotland. The Classis Britannica supported the land army by securing its flanks from the sea and organizing the transport of supplies. The ships of the Classis Britannica penetrated again to the northernmost point of the British Isles, but sea battles did not take place. The successors of Severus then no longer pursued an open expansion policy, so that the Classis Britannica was now used again as a coast guard, the fight against pirates and for grain and supply transports.
From 275 onwards, the Classis Britannica mainly fought against Saxon pirates. With their agile and fast rowing boats, they plundered the canal and east coast of Britain more and more often. In 286, the Menapier M. Aurelius Musaeus Carausius was commissioned to combat the increasingly rampant piracy in the Channel and on the North Sea. For this task numerous former Franconian pirates were accepted into the Classis Britannica. In the course of disputes over alleged embezzlement of spoils of war , however, it came to a conflict with the Emperor of the West Maximian . As a result, Carausius had his mostly loyal troops and Franks allied with him proclaim himself Emperor of Britain. Since he also had the largest naval association in the north-west of the empire, he was able to bring not only the whole of Britain, but also a larger part of the Gallic Channel coast under his control. To crush this last great usurpation of the 3rd century, a new and more powerful fleet was necessary.
The newly appointed Caesar of the West, Constantius Chlorus , was able to capture Gesoriacum from land in 293 and use it as a base for his naval armor. For this reason, Carausius was soon murdered by his quaestor Allectus .
In the spring of 296 the Roman fleet was finally clear to sea in Gaul and was able to set out to fight the British renegades. At the mouth of the Seine, an expeditionary force was embarked for Britain under the command of the Praetorian prefect Asclepiodotus. Completely undisturbed (the weather was cloudy and the British squadron was lying in wait at the Vectis Insula ( Isle of Wight )) his units were able to slip through between the guard ships of the Classis Britannica and go ashore. In the subsequent decisive battle between Asclepiodotus and Allectus, the former won this one. Without further incident, Constantius Chlorus entered Londinium and was celebrated as the liberator of Britain.
The Classis Britannica was not only used for fighting, but also as a means of demonstrating power. Since the Gaulish and Germanic provinces had suffered economically from the Germanic invasions and there were also large contingents of troops to be maintained there, the Caesar responsible for the West , Julianus , had a transport fleet of 400 ships laid down and increased within ten months in 359 thus the capacity of the Classis Britannica suddenly increased by 200 percent. Now British grain could again be brought to the Rhine border on a large scale. The transports were usually without problems, as the fleet once again succeeded in seizing control of the sea in the canal.
Constans , emperor in the west, used Bononia (the old Gesoriacum ) from 343 onwards as a base for a campaign in Britain.
In 360 the army master Lupicinus shipped auxiliary troops from Bononia to Rutupiae ( Richborough ) in order to throw back invaded Scots and Picts . From 364 onwards, the British fleet also had to deal with them constantly, as they began to attack from the sea.
These raids reached their preliminary climax in 367. Since rapid help from the rest of the empire was not to be expected, the most endangered stretches of coast and estuaries of Britain were additionally fortified with forts or existing ones were rebuilt. According to Notitia Dignitatum (Occ. XXVIII), this Limes (also: “ Saxon Coast ”) was a separate military district under the command of the Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam (Count of the Saxon Coast in Britain) which, in addition to infantry and cavalry divisions, was probably also the units of the Classis Britannica under his command. Carausius had already set up the first signal stations, forts and fortified ports in 286. Also Vegetius , a chronicler of his works at the end of the 4th century wrote, mentioned that at that time existed the provincial fleet to the full extent. He describes camouflaged rowing ships ( Lusoria ) that were used, among other things, for reconnaissance and thus should prevent invasion and infiltration of hostile tribes.
In order to permanently defuse the Pict and Scots problem ( barbarico conspiratio ), Emperor Valentinian I decided to use the Canal Fleet 367 from Bononia to transfer an intervention army under the command of Magister militum Theodosius to Rutupiae . His warships then successfully fought the Saxons. Due to a lack of written sources, nothing is known about the further fate of the Classis Britannica.
Function and tactics
Since Britain is an island, the stationing of its own provincial fleet for the time of the occupation and subsequent security tasks was inevitable. However, it did not operate independently, but was largely under the control of the army.
The main task of the Roman fleet in British waters was to protect the sea routes from Gaul to Britain and to supply the land army in Britain, but not to defend the British Isles in the event of an invasion. For this reason, their headquarters were also in Portus Itius / Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer). Furthermore, it was initially intended to support the Roman legions in their advance into Britain and later to secure the coasts against Frisian, Frankish and Saxon pirates. These naval forces were also responsible for escorting the grain transporters departing from Britain to the forts on the Rhine border. The Classis Britannica was set up and equipped in Gesoriacum , and the new ships were probably initially manned by members of the Mediterranean fleet. Gesoriacum was particularly suitable as a port of embarkation for Britain, as it was at the end of an important Roman road that stretched from the Rhine border to the Atlantic.
Most of the Classis Britannica ships were stationed in the south and east of the island. Constant patrols kept an eye out for potential robbery ships on the Oceanus Britannicus ( North Sea and English Channel ). Investigative enemy reconnaissance also enabled the Romans to counter these threats effectively. The tactic for this was always the same, intercept and destroy enemy ships when they approached the coast or later to cut off the retreat of looters and invaders if they had already landed on the coast.
In addition to these maritime tasks, the Classis Britannica also deployed its staff in the construction and maintenance of military installations and infrastructure in Britain. They are known to be used in the construction of roads and port facilities, and three inscription stones also prove their participation in the construction of Hadrian's Wall . There is also evidence that naval soldiers were used to smelt iron and extract timber for shipbuilding in Kent .
Ship types
The fleet consisted of warships (rowing ships) and transporters (sailors). The warships were mostly Birem or Liburnian (double-breasted), with a trireme (three-rowers) as the flagship. There was no need for a larger number of triremes (three rowers) as there were no enemy ships of this size in these waters. They would also have been useless against the smaller, fast and agile rowboats of the local pirates . The birem was equipped with two covered row benches, with one man per oar. The deck was designed primarily to protect the rowers from the weather and swell rather than the enemy. The ships were about 30.5 m long and 5.5 m wide. The crew consisted of about 100 rowers and a division of marines. It was also armed with a ram. From late antiquity a smaller combat ship was introduced for coastal defense, the Navis Lusoria .
The names of the ships are known:
- Ammillia Augusta Felix (?)
- Pacatrix Augusta (?)
- Radians (Trireme)
Fleet command, officers and men
The commander-in-chief of the fleet was a legate ( legatus pro praetore ) determined by the Senate who could hand over his command in whole or in part to a prefect . The praefectus classis was subordinate to the governor of the respective province. Most of the prefects had previously held the office of procurator . A naval prefect was supported by a sub-prefect ( subpraefectus ) as chief of staff and deputy . Among these was the praepositus classis , and each fleet usually had two of these officers. Sometimes he also took on independent commands. The officers named above had their own staff with their adjutants.
If necessary, a nauarchus princeps or nauarchus archigybernes was used as the flotilla chief. He roughly corresponds to the rank of today's rear admiral . In the 3rd century the rank of the naval tribune was introduced ( tribunus classis ). He took over the duties of the first nauarch. Later it was also called tribunus liburnarum (= tribune of warships).
Commander:
- Marcus Maenius Agrippa, after 130,
- Lucius Aufidius Pantera, around 140,
- Sextus Flavius Quietus, around 150,
- Quintus Baienus Blassianus , around the middle of the 2nd century,
- Titus Varius Priscus, dating uncertain,
- Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius , 286 to 293,
- Allectus , 293 to 296
The crew ( classiari / classici ) was divided into two groups, the nautical personnel and the marine infantry . A ship's crew consisted of the officers ( trierarchus ), the rowers ( remiges ) and a centurion of marines ( manipulares / milites liburnarii ). Their service time was 26 years ( legionnaires 20 to 25 years), from the 3rd century 28 years, occasionally one knows of even longer service periods. After their honorable discharge ( honesta missio ) they were compensated with money or land. As a rule, they were also granted citizenship if they had joined the fleet as peregrini (= foreigners). They were only allowed to marry after they had finished their active service.
bases
The most important base on the British side was probably Portus Dubris / Dobrae ( Dover ). Most of the bricks of the former Roman fortress found there also bear the initials CL [assis] BR [itannica]. Although most of their bases were in Britain, the naval headquarters ( navalia ) was in Gaul, in the port city of Portus Itius (formerly Gesoriacum , the lower town, and Bononia , the upper town, now Boulogne-sur-Mer , France). The marines were barracked there in their own 12.45 hectare fort (built in the 2nd century), which offered space for up to 4,000 men. It was the main base until 296 (under Carausius the naval command was temporarily housed in Portus Adurni ) and was then finally relocated to Rutupiae (also Portus Ritupis ; Richborough, England).
| Ancient name | Closest place |
| Difference | Pevensey near Eastbourne, Saxony Coast , England |
| Portus Adurni | Portsmouth, Saxony Coast, England |
| Arbeia | South Shields, Supply Depot / Harbor fd Hadrian's Wall , England |
| Alauna | Cumbria Coastal Defense , Maryport, England |
| Branodunum | Brancester, Saxony Coast, England |
| Castra Exploratorum | Netherby, Hadrian's Wall, naval depot without port facility |
| Glannoventa | Ravenglass, Cumbria Coast Defense, England |
| Clausism | Bitterne near Southampton, Saxony Coast, England |
| Cramond | near Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth, England |
| Deva | Chester Legionary Camp, England |
| Dubrae also Portus Dubris | Dover, Saxony Coast, England |
| Gariannonum | Burgh Castle at Great Yarmouth, Saxony Coast, England |
| unknown |
Caister-on-Sea Castle near Great Yarmouth, Saxony Coast, England |
| Glevum | Gloucester, England |
| Isca Silurum | Legion camp, Caerleon near Newport, England |
| Lemanae , also Portus Lemanis | Lympne, Saxony Coast, England |
| Londinium | London, England |
| Petuaria , also Pretorio | Brough-on-Humber, England; probably the port of Eboracum (York) |
| Pons Aelius | Newcastle, England; Hadrian's Wall Castle on the Tyne |
| Portus Magnus | Portsmouth, England |
| Regulbium | Reculver, Saxony Coast, England |
| Segontium | Caernarvon, Wales |
| Gesoriacum (navalis/headquarters) | Boulogne-sur-Mer, France |
| Condivincum , later as Portus Namnetum known | Nantes, France |
| Portus ulterior | Ambieteuse, France |
| Venetae , later as Dariorigum known | Vannes, Saxony Coast, France |
See also
literature
- Georg Alexander Rost: From the sea being and sea trade in antiquity. A study from a maritime-military perspective. With a preface by Hellmut Flashar . Gruner, Amsterdam 1968.
- H. Cleere: The Classis Britannica. In: Paul Bennett: The Saxon shore. A handbook. University of Exeter, Exeter 1989, pp. 18-22.
- Sheppard Frere: Tile stamps of the Classis Britannica; imperial, procuratorial and civic tile-stamps; stamps of private tilers; inscriptions on relief-patterned tiles and graffiti on tiles (RIB 2481-2491). (= The Roman inscriptions of Britain. 2, 5). Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-7509-0319-8 .
- Hans DL Viereck: The Roman fleet. Classis Romana. Köhlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-930656-33-7 .
- Gustav Milne: A Roman provincial fleet: the Classis Britannica reconsidered. In: The Sea in Antiquity. Hedges, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84171-160-8 , pp. 127-131.
- Nic Fields: Rome's Saxon Shore. Coastal Defenses of Roman Britain AD 250-500. (= Fortress. 56). Osprey, Oxford et al. 2006, ISBN 1-84603-094-3 .
- David Mason: Roman Britain and the Roman Navy, Tempus 2003. ISBN 9780752425412
- Jorit Wintjes: The Roman Army on the Oceanus. On the Roman history of naval warfare in northwestern Europe. Supplements, History and Archeology of Classical Antiquity, Volume: 433, 2019.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ Tacitus, Agricola 28; Cassius Dio 66, 20, 1f.
- ^ Tacitus: Agricola 10, 4.
- ↑ Vegetius: Epitoma 4, 37.
- ↑ Fields 2006, p. 51.
- ↑ Ammianus 20: 1, 3; 27, 8, 6-7.
- ↑ RIB 1340 , RIB 1944 , RIB 1945 , a section of the wall near Birdoswald ( Banna ) and granary in Benwell ( Condercum ).
- ↑ inscription of a ordination altar from Lyphne , RIB 66
