Duumviri navales
The Duumviri navales, lit. 'two men dealing with naval matters',[1] were two naval officers elected by the people of Rome to repair and equip the Roman fleet.[2] Both Duumviri navales were assigned to one Roman consul, and each controlled 20 ships.[3][4] It has been suggested that they may have been in charge of the ships of the Socii navales rather than those of the Roman fleet.[1] The position was established in 311 BC by the Lex Decia.[5]
History
[edit]Only two operations of the fleet of the Duumviri navales are known, that they set up a colony on Corsica in 311 BC, and that they were destroyed in battle against the Tarentines in 282 BC.[4] Some historians believe that they ceased to exist in 267 BC, and were replaced by four Quaestores classici,[6] However, other historians believe that the Quastores classici acted as auxiliaries to the Duumviri navales, rather than replacing them.[7]
Known Duumviri Navales
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Erickson, Andrew (2012). China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective. Naval Institute Press. p. 67. ISBN 9781612511528.
- ^ Hornblower, Simon (2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780199545568.
- ^ Thiel, Johannes (1954). A History of Roman sea-power before the second Punic war. University of Michigan: North-Holland Publishing Company. p. 25.
- ^ a b Flower, Harriet I., ed. (2004). The Cambridge companion to the Roman Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 76. ISBN 9780521003902.
- ^ Livy 9.30.4
- ^ Erickson, Andrew (2012). China Goes to Sea Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective. Naval Institute Press. p. 67. ISBN 9781612511528.
- ^ Clark, Frederick (1915). The Influence of Sea-power on the History of the Roman Republic. George Banta publishing Company. p. 8.
- ^ Livy, xl. 26, 28.
- ^ Broughton, vol. I, p. 386.