Medieval and Manuscripts

Byzantine navy

The Byzantine navy was the naval force of the Byzantine Empire. Like the state it served, it was a direct continuation from its Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its earlier iteration. While the fleets of the Roman Empire faced few great naval threats, operating as a policing force vastly inferior in power and prestige to the army, command of the sea became vital to the very existence of the Byzantine state, which several historians have called a "maritime empire". The first threat to Roman hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea was posed by the Vandals in the 5th century. The re-establishment of a permanently maintained fleet and the introduction of the dromon galley in the same period also marks the point when the Byzantine navy began developing its own characteristic identity, a process furthered with the onset of the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. Following the loss of the Levant and later Africa, the Mediterranean was transformed from a "Roman lake" into a battleground between the Byzantines and a series of Muslim states. The Byzantine fleets proved critical, not only for the defence of the Empire's possessions around the Mediterranean basin, but also for repelling attacks against the capital, Constantinople. Through the use of the newly invented "Greek fire", the navy's famous weapon, Constantinople was saved from several sieges and numerous naval engagements resulted in Byzantine victories. Initially, the defence of the Byzantine coasts was borne by the great fleet of the Karabisianoi. Progressively however it was split up into several regional fleets, while a central Imperial Fleet was maintained at Constantinople to guard the city and form the core of naval expeditions. By the late 8th century, the Byzantine navy was again the dominant maritime power in the Mediterranean. Conflicts with navies of the Muslim world continued with varying success, but in the 10th century, the Byzantines were able to regain supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean. During the 11th century, the navy, like the Empire itself, began to decline. The Byzantines were increasingly forced to rely on the navies of Italian city-states such as Venice and Genoa, with disastrous effects on the Empire's economy and sovereignty.

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See also

• ▸Church of the Holy Rude
• ▸Eremosis
• ▸Ent

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