The ''Classis Flavia Moesica'' (" Flavian Fleet of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

") was the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles * Fishing fleet *Naval fleet * Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles * Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Be ...

on the lower

Danube river The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

, near the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

History

The ''Classis Moesica'' was established sometime between 20 BC and 10 AD. It was based in Noviodunum and controlled the Lower Danube from the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

to the northwestern

as far as the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. The honorific ''Flavia'', awarded to it and to the ''Classis Pannonica'', may indicate its reorganization by

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

around 75 AD.Webster & Elton (1998), p. 163 After

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

(in 85 AD) it was headquartered in Sexaginta Prista. After

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

's conquest of Dacia, during which the ''Classis Moesica'' provided logistical support, its base was moved back to Noviodunum. The fleet also included several secondary ports, like Carsium,

Novae A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum (, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the village of Gigen. For a ...

and Tomis (modern Constanta). From 41 AD detachments were stationed in

and Tyras. Military diplomas show that the classis Moesica belonged to the army of

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

. The ''Classis Moesica'' lasted until the beginning of the fifth century, being later assimilated within the

Byzantine navy The Byzantine navy was the Navy, naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman navy, Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its ...

Ships and troops

The attested ships used by the Moesian fleet were mainly the ubiquitous '' liburnae'' used by most Roman provincial fleets, of which two names survive: "Armata" & "Sagita". In Scythia Minor, during

late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

there were marines ('' muscularii'')''musculus'' (meaning "small mouse") was a kind of small ship of ''legio'' II ''Herculia'' at "Inplateypegiis" and sailors (''nauclarii'') at Flaviana.''Notitia Dignitatum''
Notitia Dignitatum, ''Pars Orient.'', XXXIX.
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Notes

Bibliography

* Starr, Chester G. (1960 941 ''The Roman Imperial Navy: 31 B.C.-A.D. 324'' (2nd Edition). Cambridge: Heffer. * Webster, Graham; Elton, Hugh. (1998) ''The Roman Imperial Army of the First and Second Centuries A.D.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. {{Authority control Moesia Military units and formations established in the 1st century BC Moesica

History

Ships and troops

See also

Notes

Bibliography