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Written by: Stan Kitchner |
My particular interest is in establishing what role the Roman fleets played in the year of civil war. At that time the strength of the navy was between 60,000 and 70,000 men empire wide. It was split between two home Italian fleets and eight provincial fleets. It is evident that the units in Britain, Germany, the Upper Danube and Libyan Africa did not get involved at all and carried on with their normal duties. The main actions of the year involved the fleets in the north, south and east of the Mediterranean – the operational area of the two home fleets based at Ravenna and Misenum, together with the Syrian, Lower Danube, Black Sea and Alexandrian squadrons. Of these, the first fleet to be actively engaged was the Classis Misenensis. |