Augustus

Two wars under Augustus involved large fleets. The first was that assigned to the prefect of Egypt, Aelius Gallus, in 24 bc. He had an army of 10,000 (i. e., two legions) and many auxiliaries (of which 1,500 are named) and built warships (“makra ploia”), not less than 80 biremes (“dikrota”), triremes, and other light boats (“phaseloi”), and 130 transports. Strabo (16.4.23.780) criticized him for building a fleet while the Arabs did not have one, and for the time he wasted in so doing. His remit was to invade Arabia across the Red Sea. An intriguing papyrus fragment (P. Oxy. 2820) seems to imply that he (if not an earlier governor) had incorporated ships from Cleopatra’s navy into the fleet.

Drusus the Elder acquired an even larger fleet for his expedition in Germany east of the Rhine. It was also used for exploration (and intimidation): as Augustus said “classis mea,” “my fleet,” sailed as far north as the land of the Cimbrians (that is, Jutland, Res Gestae 26.4). After Drusus’ death Tiberius continued his combined land and naval incursions, as did Germanicus, who built a fleet of 1,000 ships in ad 16 (Tacitus, Ann. 2.6): it is not certain whether the otherwise unknown Anteius, who was placed in charge of the fleet, had the title of “praefectus classis.” Harbors used during these German wars have been recorded by archaeologists, most notably one at Haltern on the Lippe where there is a block of eight wooden ship sheds suitable for boats the size of liburnians.

Such fleets were not standing fleets stationed in the areas concerned on a permanent basis, but were specifically constructed for a particular war. As such they may be labeled “invasion fleets.”