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

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Erickson, Andrew (2012). China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective. Naval Institute Press. p. 67. ISBN 9781612511528.
  2. Hornblower, Simon (2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. OUP Oxford. ISBN 9780199545568.
  3. Thiel, Johannes (1954). A History of Roman sea-power before the second Punic war. University of Michigan: North-Holland Publishing Company. p. 25.
  4. 1 2 Flower, Harriet I., ed. (2004). The Cambridge companion to the Roman Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 76. ISBN 9780521003902.
  5. Livy 9.30.4
  6. Erickson, Andrew (2012). China Goes to Sea Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective. Naval Institute Press. p. 67. ISBN 9781612511528.
  7. Clark, Frederick (1915). The Influence of Sea-power on the History of the Roman Republic. George Banta publishing Company. p. 8.
  8. Livy, xl. 26, 28.
  9. Broughton, vol. I, p. 386.
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