1
Navies, Byzantine
DENIS F. SULLIVAN
Fleets played a not insignificant role in the early
East Roman Empire. Constantine the Great’s
200 “liburnians” defeated Licinius’ 350 “tri-
remes” in the Dardanelles in 324 CE; BELISARIUS
in 533 transported his army to North Africa
with 500 cargo ships escorted by 92 warships
(dromons). Yet it was not until CONSTANS II, ca.
660, that a Byzantine navy in the sense of a
distinct entity separate from the land forces
and under its own permanent commanders
was established, presumably in response to the
creation and successes of an Arab navy.
Constans created the fleet of the Karabisianoi
(“boatmen”), with its own commander titled
strategos, the first instance of a high naval
officer. The command, headquartered at
Samos, was responsible for the south coast of
Asia Minor, the Aegean islands, and areas
of southern Greece.
Subsequently, as part of the thematic
restructuring of Byzantine administration in
the late seventh and early eighth centuries, the
Karabisianoi were replaced by the maritime
themes (regional military/civil units), specifi-
cally the themes of the Kibyrrhaiotai (for
southern Asia Minor), then later of the
Aegean, and finally of Samos. Each was led
by a droungarios, sometimes a strategos,
aided by a topoteretes (“vice-admiral”) and a
chartularios (an administrative officer). Ship
squadrons were led by a komes (“count”); ship
captains were titled kentarchos or nauarchos;
and there were at least two protokaraboi
(helmsmen). There was an imperial fleet at
Constantinople that served as the core of the
navy as well as for protection of the capital;
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 4703–4704.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah03179
it was commanded by the droungarios tou
ploimou (“admiral of the fleet”). Nautical sec-
tions in military handbooks emphasize careful
analysis of enemy strength, protection of the
fleet, and commitment to battle only with
decided numerical or tactical advantage.
Maintenance of formation during initial mis-
sile exchange, grappling, and boarding by
marines were standard tactics.
Arab–Byzantine confrontations were the
major naval events of the seventh through the
tenth centuries. From 674–78 the Arabs
besieged and blockaded Constantinople, and
the Byzantines first used “Greek fire” discharged
from dromons to destroy the Arab fleet. Greek
fire was again used successfully in defeating the
Arab siege of 717. While there were also many
Byzantine naval defeats, including two failed
expeditions to recapture Crete, finally in 960
Nikephoros II Phokas set sail with a fleet of
100 dromons, 200 cheandia, and more than 300
transports, including horse transports, on what
would prove to be a celebrated Byzantine victory.
SEE ALSO: Constantine I; Ships, shipping,
Byzantine; Strategikon of Maurice.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Ahrweiler, H. (1966) Byzance et la mer: la marine
de guerre, la politique et les institutions
maritimes de Byzance aux VIIe-XVe siècles. Paris.
Cosentino, S. (2007) “Constans II and the
Byzantine navy.” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 100:
577–603.
Pryor, J. and Jeffreys, E. (2006) The age of the
DPOMON: the Byzantine navy ca 500–1204.
Leiden.
Zuckerman, C. (2005) “Learning from the
enemy and more: studies in ‘dark centuries’
Byzantium.” Millenium 2: 79–135.