Roman Naval Logistics

The aim of this project will be to expound how Roman seafaring contributed to Roman imperial expansion, as well as how their control of the seas facilitated trade and transport of goods to maintain campaigns in provincial regions, like Britannia. There is an interest in the day-to-day operation of ships: routines, crew specializations, training, management of provisions, and so on. The sources for this project are Roman records as they concern seafaring, as well as physical, archaeological evidence found aboard shipwrecks in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Particular focus has been placed on inventories, shipyards, records of crews and their accomplishments, and service histories of notable vessels. Naval actions pertaining to Rome’s early wars in the Mediterranean as well as provincial anti-piracy will be touched upon, with the focus being the wrecks related to these engagements. However, the primary topic is the broader usage of seafaring as a tool of logistics, and how the “Mare Nostrum” enabled Rome to control and supply their campaigns across the world as it was known to them.