Warfare of Classical Antiquity: Republican Fleet Tactics (Roman Navy)

[@FrenchyFilms]

The quality of your documentary-style videos has gotten SO good. This should be on tv or a museum.

[@InvictaHistory]

haha thanks, I actually originally started this series on naval warfare to be submitted to an exhibit at the Ashmoleon Museum in Oxford

[@tiberiu_nicolae]

Coordinating the ships must have been a nightmare in the chaos of a battle considering there was no radio available.

[@klockbence60]

They must have had some kind of signals. Flags or something like that.

[@justinokraski3796]

Messengers in dinghies

[@Cba409]

And the lines could be miles long

[@Setrus]

I suppose most of the orders are given before the battle. "This is what we'll do. This flank try to do that, that this, centre this." "Try not to get in situation X." "If victorious, you may pursue Y far." "If defeated, go to Z to regroup." During battle, while I'm sure you can signal to those nearest to you, command would likely fall to individual captains as the chaos of close quarter battle would make anything more too difficult. Sounds likely, anyway.

[@moriskurth628]

@@Setrus Horn signals might also be used, similar to how they were used in land battles to signal advance or retreat. Shouting and waving flags could also have been used.

[@enlightenedterrestrial]

Brilliant. I'd love to hear more about pre-Age of Sail medieval navy tactics. (Venetians, Ottomans, northern Europeans, etc.) There's so little about that era and naval combat on the internet.

[@andywomack3414]

I think there's a video about Lepanto you should check out.

[@juwebles4352]

well in antiquity and the age of sail you had countries that funded large standing navies vs in the medieval era most fleets were adhoc creations for a specific purpose like raiding a rival powers coast or landing troops for an invasion and as such naval battles, unless in the context of the defender in a war being able quickly to rally a force of merchant and local vassals ships, were rare; there were exceptions to this like the Byzantine empire and Fatimid Caliphate both of which maintained standing navies mainly due to being Mediterranean based powers.

[@enlightenedterrestrial]

@@juwebles4352 but there were battles as well, and thus there must have been tactics. Specific tactics, how to surround enemy fleet, how to move with your flanks, where and when to place artillery, etc. to achieve the best victory

[@juwebles4352]

@@enlightenedterrestrial Yes for instance ships with skilled rowers and captains would attempt to strike Glancing blows, where they would sheer off the oars of an opponents vessel leaving them immobile before a second ship would r board them (ramming had mostly been done away with after antiquity) then using the gap created in the enemy’s line a reserve squadron of ships could flood through the breech and roll up the enemy’s line; however due to the adhoc nature of medieval fleets creations having skilled enough rowers and captains to pull off such a tactic was a rarity

[@juwebles4352]

@@enlightenedterrestrial Specific empires also had specific tactics for formations, the Byzantines had crescent formations where they would place heavier ships on the ‘horns’ of the formation to turn the enemies flanks, a tactic gradually also used by the Arabic navies they were fighting; and for any wondering cannons and small firearms were introduced around the 14th century, but did not have any immediate effect on naval tactics. This was mostly due to the fact that Artillery on early gun galleys were not used for long-ranged broadsides against other gun-armed galleys because The maximum distance at which cannons of the the time were effective was about 1600 ft (or 500 m for our European pals), which could be covered by a galley in about two minutes, much faster than the reload time of any artillery piece. Artillery men would therefore hold their fire until the last possible moment, somewhat similar to infantry tactics in the pre-industrial era of short range firearms.

[@rw54]

I have just finished watching the complete collection on the evolution of the Roman legions Navy. This is without a doubt one of the best illustrated and informative videos I have ever seen in one of my favorite subjects. Congratulations on a job well done.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Quality - 10 out of 10, great depth - please contact CA and show them what they SHOULD have done.

[@Eshirak]

So your saying they should have made history documentaries? okay.....

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Atraras Montras No, historical reality, something that is simple and enjoyable to play & learn, NOT obtuse or total BS, selling to ignorant children.

[@Eshirak]

I...I still don't really know what you mean... please explain further...

[@reilem]

Atraras, I am going to assume you have never played a single naval battle in TWR2. Otherwise I am seriously concerned for your mental health. Remus is obviously talking about how seriosuly lacking naval battles are in game compared to reality, NOT about fucking. historical. documentaries. CA is a video dev company that makes total war games, how can you possibly make the assumption that remus wants them to make documentaries? About 3 minutes in to this video and I was already saying "wow the game is nothing like this", and when someone then says "what CA should have done" i'ts pretty darn obvious what they are talking about.

[@Eshirak]

I skipped naval battles. I heard they were garbage so I did not bother.

[@MrBellsBlues]

I absolutely love these! My favourite was the Battle of Cannae (I think thats it) in which the Roman troops were enveloped by Hannibal and he just gave the order to slaughter them and take no prisoners. The way you make the audience see it from the soldiers perspective is really awesome. Amazing work man, if you made like an hour documentary i'd buy it! x

[@Snarfindorf]

These videos are fucking awesome

[@InvictaHistory]

glad you enjoyed!

[@Frozenmenss1]

same for me.

[@vlandianbutter9960]

+Frozenmenss1 you're fucking awesome?

[@Frozenmenss1]

Normal Owl how I am ?

[@TheAUTcheker]

Love these videos. Keep it up!

[@InvictaHistory]

I definitely plan to! I think I'll do one more naval video (Battle of Ecnomus) and then move on to other themes. In the future though I have diabolical plans for expanding the scope of these videos... mwahahaha

[@TheAUTcheker]

THFE Productions "In the future though I have diabolical plans for expanding the scope of these videos... mwahahaha" thats exactly what i wanna hear :D

[@ultimusborussiarum9333]

Will there be more videos of "Evolution of the Roman Legions"?

[@seth2428]

+THFE Productions Napoleonic and medieval would be sweet

[@geraldorford8836]

There must have been a tremendous loss of life during these battles due to drowning.

[@gerardjagroo]

I had an idea for a huge flagship once. It is built without a center keel, but is instead stabilized by six massive movable iron spikes in a water-proof housing positioned at the sides of the ship, 2 in the bow, 2 in the middle and 2 in the stern. In battle, huge grappling hooks with ropes attached would be launched from ballistae and grap into enemy ships. The target ship would then be winched in at speed onto the deployed spikes.

[@viettrungtran4500]

Never know that ancient time naval was this fun. Thank very much.

[@sethr.c1065]

These are so great. I've watched and rewatched almost all of your documentaries. The naval videos are likely my favorites.

[@InvictaHistory]

I really like them too since they are a breath of fresh air next to all the land warfare

[@badmacdonald]

thank you you are the first history buff to mention Carthage and their naval battle tactics being used as a template for Hannibal

[@RevanTrajan]

Excellent video! Love the insight into the Roman Navy. Thanks for the quality documentary!

[@cherylsmith4826]

How cumbersome these ships are- the battles must have made for a long day! Bless all warriors tenacity.

[@BoldMistreal]

Love these videos! So happy that there are more :D!!!!!!

[@BoldMistreal]

Hope you make another series!!!

[@johngalt969]

You mean they didn't just spam double click and bump into each other lots?

[@maffgibson7476]

Great work, thank you for this! Really nice production!

[@weslinmedia]

This is brilliant. Please continue to make these!

[@SNP-1999]

The footage taken from "Rome 2" is fantastic (although the game itself disappointed me for certain reasons), and the narrative well researched and explained. An excellent documentary on a regrettably often overlooked aspect of Ancient Roman warfare. 😋

[@georgekaradimas4287]

These kind of videos are so awesome.Love the work and effort you put on em.Keep making documentary videos.But dont forget to bring us some battles too :P

[@philly83]

I just came across your channel and I'm glad to see your videos on the Roman navy.

[@HermesSonofZeus]

Great video. I'm doing a doctorate in maritime archaeology, and although this is not my period, this appears to be well researched and is clearly well done. The same could be said for the others in the Classical Antiquity (Documentaries) series. I will share this and other videos with colleagues.

[@InvictaHistory]

wow thats awesome, glad you enjoyed : )

[@HermesSonofZeus]

Well deserved. I'll let you know if I hear anything, such as if someone gives the link to students in a syllabus, etc. Credit where credit is due. ;-)

[@CODmaster3171]

Love these videos! Huge history buff and these vids are great!

[@gabrielfernandes8401]

Great video! Logistics for these navies could be a good topic for a video if that's something you're interested in.

[@gard86]

I love that you are doing documentaries again! :D

[@nsierra2297]

Amazing stuff! really appreciate the work you put into these dude!

[@martinvasilvski7089]

Beautiful and very informative video GOOD JOB mate !!!!

[@Fightbreak]

great video, i Love these kind of video's. Keep on doing this man!

[@dehavillandvampire]

Can you do a series on Byzantine Rmies and/or Navies please?

[@ghostinquisitor7743]

Nice video! And thank you for the history lesson...

[@thomasschouwerwou4339]

Oakley, you nailed it! Again!!

[@777LGF]

RAMMING SPEED!!!

[@lloydm.parker364]

Absolutely fantastic! Serious accolades and thanks!

[@anti-Russia-sigma]

Thanks for the good show.

[@wongnigel1158]

you are getting very good at these oakley

[@rexbarron4873]

Suddenly the sinking of the Mary Rose 1545 makes sense. French rowing galleys (with a sail) and siege gun in front makes sense.

[@MrCushcam]

Another great video! Would you ever consider doing one on the pyrrhic wars?

[@thomasprent2179]

yay another video of the roman navy :D

[@Z3rGz]

Great video! I look forward to going through your other stuff!

[@ZNI492]

I just want to say that I love your channel :)

[@CuthbertCream]

Awesome video! Will have to try some of these formations on Rome II!

[@Justarandomguy96]

this channel is the best !!

[@MeowMeowDeathRay]

For what i understand the rostrum was loosely attached to the ship so when it ram the metal part would get stuck in the enemy ship, break away and free the attacking ship.

[@aewers7]

i absolutely love these videos amazing work looking forward to the next one.

[@Tribune_of_Italia]

baguette simulator 9000

[@Tribune_of_Italia]

8:20

[@shrekzebee4435]

Boi im wheezing from this

[@matte172]

This is what mad your channel great. This is why people sub'd

[@dfghj241]

This is so fucking awesome man, make more ship warfare videos please! don't stop at the roman times!

[@Hamispeople]

Great video keep them coming!

[@Klibanophoros]

Spectacular once again! :)

[@TheAleatoriorandom]

Great video! Very interesting and well made.

[@Killloius]

I'm a new fan but I really like your stuff

[@alexudell7964]

fantastic stuff man. very entertaining :)

[@spektakelkd]

Great stuff ! Most entertaining !

[@TheRisingofPhex]

Love your videos man! MAybe include some primary sources for reference too, if you can get a hold of them

[@SteaksOnSpear]

I love your history vids!

[@muffinman7932]

Love this stuff keep it the good work 😍😍😍 these are my favorite types of ships

[@Memento_Kuzeh]

still waiting for next episode of evolution of the roman legions

[@InvictaHistory]

its still my plan to get around to it eventually

[@Memento_Kuzeh]

Thanks man you make great videos

[@marcoselmo3417]

So goddamn useful! Thank you and keep it up!

[@InvictaHistory]

+Marco Selmo glad you enjoyed this series on Roman Naval Warfare

[@petersmythe6462]

It's interesting I would almost compare the ramming warfare to something like an aerial dogfight of the world wars.

[@spacekettle2478]

This makes me curious about how medieval naval warfare was conducted, just before gunpowder & cannons.

[@juwebles4352]

well in antiquity and the age of sail you had countries that funded large standing navies vs in the medieval era most fleets were adhoc creations for a specific purpose like raiding a rival powers coast or landing troops for an invasion and as such naval battles, unless in the context of the defender in a war being able quickly to rally a force of merchant and local vassals ships, were rare; there were exceptions to this like the Byzantine empire and Fatimid Caliphate both of which maintained standing navies mainly due to being Mediterranean based powers. Most battles in the time period were similar to roman naval warfare, aka using ranged weapons on deck, ramming, and chiefly boarding where the naval fight was essentially turned to a land battle.

[@TheAchilles26]

Medieval naval combat was exclusively boarding action based, due to innovations in ship design that made ramming far less effective at sinking ships.

[@dwaynegreen1786]

Great video documentary, in college I took a Military History class and I did a report on the Battle of Actium, are you planing to publish such a video documentary. Thank you for sharing.

[@martinlyons3028]

I really really enjoy this video very interesting

[@davesaslaw7410]

Great Presentation, Invicta. I wonder how the combined Roman Fleets that fought at Actium would fare against Nelson's Trafalgar Fleet...... I've asked that question on Drachinifel's site and I hope he'll seriously consider and analyze that question. Opinions? Thanks.

[@jesspayne5548]

David Saslaw they would turn and run at the sight of 100 guns firing and demolishing the first ships

[@TheAchilles26]

They would "cross their own T" thinking that it was to their advantage and get absolutely slaughtered by cannon fire.

[@wisenber]

Imagine what a swarm of more agile proas could have done with a simple lateen or crab claw sail. Those galley ships would do well to hit 6 knots compared to ancient proas that could manage double or triple the speed with far more agility.

[@MadManchou]

Would be nice if you could add to these videos one about Caesar versus the Venetes (of Nantes). Great job though :D Keep it up !!

[@kirschakos]

Awesome once again!! :)

[@neutralino1905]

Since the corvus was unwieldy and the harpax could be countered by a long scythe, was there ever the "best" boarding tool developed?

[@TaipeiTripper]

This was great - thanks!

[@InvictaHistory]

glad to hear you enjoyed : )

[@frwydrkraine9898]

Awesome vid!

[@consul5531]

This will help me in total war

[@ravenkamali]

I love your channel.

[@blackbaron6310]

The music makes these videos more epic though on some instances can get louder than you.

[@scrapzy458]

this is so good

[@damuvang1915]

Ahhhh I’m finally back after a few years because I recently bought Rome 2! Using tactics of the past lmao!

[@jamesmaddison4546]

The design of Roman ships was stolen directly from Carthage, Carthage was the naval superpower that had no equivalent, and their home base was a genius circular design protected on all sides and allowed for rapid mobilization and resupply. I cant remember which battle it was, but the Roman's finally managed to capture on the ships and reverse engineered it plus made it much larger. Once the Romans had that all figured out, that was the end of Carthage

[@Foofieeclipse]

A brilliant and informative video! I was wondering, what is that tent like structure often found at the back of the ships? Does anyone know what it was used for? Thank you.

[@lostmarble540]

wow I had no idea so much strategy was involved in ramming

[@DiscothecaImperialis]

10:19 so Cartaginians bet that Roman Corvus will break on a missed drop?

[@asimolok]

awesome informative vid man :) i always wondered why Carthage newer build up their navy after this unsuccesfull naval battle can you make video of it plz

[@InvictaHistory]

they rebuilt their navy several times during the First Punic War but after they mustered everything they could at the battle of Aegates Islands and lost they were too drained of resources to keep going. This battle signalled the end of the war and essentially ceded control of the mediterranean to the Romans

[@saber2802]

I kind of want to see some stuff on Japanese formations or naval engagments.

[@annatar6453]

better than my Roman history class

[@tetolove2822]

waiting for more videos

[@Kneorlan]

Is it true that Romans didn't respect naval commanders nearly as much as they did normal legion commanders? For instance giving Bibulus (who wasn't quite popular around that time) a job to keep Caesar from getting across the Adriatic see to Pompei's army in 49 BCE?

[@InvictaHistory]

I'm not sure about this point. During the early republic there wouldn't really have been dedicated sea commanders so its hard to comment whether or not this disrespect you mention is more than just anecdotal.

[@acuerdox]

I was always curious about this. I read both Punic wars by polibius but he never went into enough detail. I can get my head around infantry warfare. but I don't get naval warfare.

[@InvictaHistory]

same, I never really understood how these battles were fought so I'm glad we both learned something

[@acuerdox]

+THFE Productions when rome2 came out i was hoping to figure it out but no one seems to like naval battles. dont blame them.

[@acuerdox]

THFE Productions though there is something that is not so clear in my mind. you did mention a sort of "dance" trying to hit the flank of the enemy. but if there is a big line of ships, and you try and hit the flank of an enemy you show your flank to the enemy ship right besides it. so if all ships try to do this, the battle could turn into a mass suicide. I guess that the waves would play a role here.

[@istvansipos9940]

good stuff, big like and a question: do you have anything about the navy combat of the dark ages? post Roman but pre gunpowder. It is a huge period and I have never heard about its fleets thanx

[@orangedude8013]

First time ever being early for a video...sweet

[@Normacly]

Oakly, for some reason KZbin will not play ad for your videos. I disable my adblocker and I can see the yellow line but the ads do not trigger at all.

[@InvictaHistory]

hmmm thats odd, I'll have to check in on that. Thanks for the heads up

[@LiteralmenteFadul]

Awesome video man! its sad to see that total war dosent take advantage of these amazing tactics at all on their games. naval battles are so crappy im rome2

[@tavigoga9164]

could you do a documentary about about Alexander the Great or about the roman civil war? if you do for Alexander check Valerio massimo manfredi's trilology about Alexander

[@chanachon56]

Love these educational vids! One question though: how do the individual ships communicate and coordinate with each other during battle? Thanks.

[@gerardjagroo]

Nam Chanachon The legions used trumpets to communicate during battle, I supposed they the could be used at sea? That and drums!

[@AzureDragon100]

These vids are awesome. And btw how did you make the scene with the Harpax?

[@InvictaHistory]

There is actually a mod I found that introduces a unit with the harpax. Amazed that it actually worked

[@sjoormen1]

Not much use of replacement oars, when rowers are dead.6:50

[@malayafreespirit1905]

why ram become obsolete because ship became larger but 19th century larger stronger ironclad ship can return to ramming tactic?

[@TotalTryFails]

Fantastu!!

[@jarogniewtheconqueror2804]

I had a friend who didn't believe me when I said the Romans had a navy, but thought every other nations had ships.

[@bbaker4117]

Fuck yeah, Roman Marines! GET SOME!

[@kalamaroni]

Seems so much for interesting than the naval combat in rome2.

[@nickdalzell7610]

this was fucking awesome

[@shrekzebee4435]

I really wished that they would just use catapults as the main ship killing weapon.