11/21/2023 0 Comments Naumachia space warfare downloadThe naumachia of Augustus is better known: in his Res Gestæ (23) Augustus himself indicates that the basin measured 1800 × 1200 Roman feet (approximately 533 × 355 meters). This word, a phonetic transcription of the Greek word for a naval battle ( ναυμαχία/ naumakhía), has since come to also refer to the large artificial basins created for them.Ĭaesar's naumachia was probably a simple basin dug into the low-lying ground on the northern or southern banks of the Tiber, and fed by its waters the exact location is unknown most likely Trastevere or the Campus Martius. The specific nature of the spectacle as well as the historical themes borrowed from the Greek world are closely tied to the term naumachia. It required significantly greater resources than other such entertainments, and as such these spectacles were reserved for exceptional occasions, closely tied to celebrations of the emperor, his victories and his monuments. Each of the fleets participating represented a maritime power of Ancient Greece or the Hellenistic east: Egyptians and the Tyrians for Caesar's naumachia, Persians and Athenians for that of Augustus, Sicilians and Rhodeans for that of Claudius. Through the choreography of the combat, the naumachia had the ability to represent historical or pseudo-historical themes. Caesar, creator of the naumachia, simply had to transpose the same principle to another environment. There again, the combatants were frequently those sentenced to death and lacked the specialized training of true gladiators. More exactly, the appearance of naumachia is closely tied and only slightly earlier than that other spectacle, "group combat", which did not pit single combatants against one another, but rather used two small armies. The naumachia was thus a bloodier show than gladiatorial combat, which consisted of smaller engagements and where the combat did not necessarily end with the death of the losers. There is no evidence that this form of address was used on any occasion other than this single naumachia. Suetonius' account, written many years after the event, has them salute the emperor with the phrase " morituri te salutant" ("those who are about to die salute you"). It included one hundred ships and 19,000 combatants, all of whom were prisoners who had been condemned to death. In 52 AD Claudius gave what was possibly the most "epic" of these on a natural body of water, Fucine Lake, to celebrate the completion of drainage work and tunneling on the site. Res Gestæ (§ 23) claimed that 3000 men, not counting rowers, fought in 30 vessels with rams and several smaller boats. This naumachia depicted a battle between the Greeks and the Persians and required a basin that was 400 by 600 yards, which was created straddling the Tiber. In 2 BC for the inauguration of the Temple of Mars Ultor (" Mars the Avenger"), Augustus gave a grander naumachia based on Caesar's model. After having a basin dug near the Tiber, capable of holding actual biremes, triremes and quinqueremes, he made 2000 combatants and 4000 rowers, all prisoners of war, fight. The first known naumachia was given by Julius Caesar in Rome in 46 BC on occasion of his quadruple triumph. The naumachia (in Latin naumachia, from the Ancient Greek ναυμαχία/ naumachía, literally "naval combat") in the Ancient Roman world referred to both the staging of naval battles as mass entertainment, and the basin or building in which this took place. Naumachia (detail): an imaginative recreation by Ulpiano Checa, first exhibited in 1894. ( October 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations.
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