The Late Roman and Byzantine Navies - Emmaf.org

The Late Roman and Byzantine Navies 

A Byzantine warship called a dromon. 

Dr. Kristian Lorenzo

Late Roman and Byzantine Navies: Today’s Topics 

The Late Roman Navy 

The Battle of the Hellespont 

Byzantine Warships 

The Dromon 

The Cheland 

Greek Fire 

Constantinople 

The Harbor of Theodosius

The Battle of the Hellespont, AD 324 

Consisted of two different naval clashes between Licinius’s 

fleet of 350 ships and Constantine’s of 200. 

Licinius’s 

Fleet 

2nd clash 

1st clash 

Constantine’s 

Fleet


Consisted of two different naval clashes between Licinius’s 

fleet of 350 ships and Constantine’s of 200.


Tapestry showing the Battle of the Hellespont between the Fleets 

of Constantine and Licinius. This tapestry dates to AD 1635.


The last great naval battle of antiquity 

An overwhelming victory for Constantine which: 

(a) shattered Licinius’s naval power 

(b) gave Constantine control of the Dardanelles, the 

Hellespont, the Bosphorus and the city of Byzantium 

(b) allowed Constantine to win the final land engagement 

(c) made Constantine sole emperor of the Roman Empire 

(d) allowed Constantine to found Constantinople 

Both sides used ad hoc fleets. The empire no longer had 

standing fleets. They were let waste away or were deemed 

too expensive with military spending focused on several 

large mobile armies.


Zosimus a 5th century AD historian in his New History tells us that: 

Licinius, hearing of the great preparations of Constantine, sent 

messengers to every nation, commanding them to prepare a sufficient 

number of men for the navy, besides horse and foot soldiers. The 

Egyptians therefore sent out eighty galleys, the Phoenicians an equal 

number, the Ionians and Dorians of Asia sixty, the Cyprians thirty, the 

Carians twenty, the Bithynians thirty, and the Africans fifty. 

Constantine I 

Licinius and his son

The Byzantine Navy: Dromon 

The empire developed its own navy. The most important Byzantine 

warship was the dromon, a fast light vessel.


The dromon had 2 or 3 masts with 2 levels of rowers, and a maximum crew 

of 300 which included at least 70 marines.


The dromon had a “wooden castle” or tower around its main mast from 

which marines discharged their spears, arrows, stones and/or pieces of 

metal.


Each dromon had a stern castle and a prow castle (elevated wooden decks 

with rails) upon which were set small ballistas able to fire projectiles. 

Stern 

castle 

Prow 

castle

The Byzantine Navy: Greek Fire 

Anna Komnena (late 11th century AD) in her book The Alexiad says, “The 

emperor ordered the construction on all the ships of bronze and iron heads 

of lions and other wild animals, with open mouths....The liquid fire that was 

to attack the enemy would pass through the mouths of these heads, so that 

it would appear verily that they were vomiting forth flames.” 

Dromon with 

swiveling openmouthed 

animal 

head


Greek fire was most likely distilled petroleum mixed with pine resin and 

perhaps also sulphur which was ignited and propelled by a pump out the 

prow animal’s open mouth. The recipe for Greek fire was one of the 

Empire’s state secrets. 

Dromon with 

swiveling 

openmouthed 

animal head


Callinicus (ca. AD 673) is credited with either discovering Greek fire or 

devising a much more effective variation thereof. A manuscript page 

showing 2 ousiakoi, lighter smaller vessels, adapted for rapid movements, 

and fitted with Greek fire.


On the ousiakos below a hand-held apparatus disgorges Greek fire, while 

on a dromon the apparatus would be larger and built into structure of the 

ship’s prow.

The Byzantine Navy: Not Just Greek Fire 

Texts speak of throwing baskets of live scorpions or snakes at enemies, 

and also projecting pots of powdered quicklime. Such pots formed a dust 

cloud which suffocated and blinded the enemy.


The use of Greek fire during naval battles seems to have stopped around AD 

1200. However, Mehmed II used not only Greek fire but also gunpowder and 

cannons in his successful siege of Constantinople in AD 1453. 

Cannons

Constantinople and Theodosius I, ‘the Great’ 

The Emperor Theodosius I, AD 379-408, built a large enclosed harbor on 

Constantinople’s southwest coast.

Constantinople and Theodosius I 

Theodosius’s harbor operated until the Lycos River completed filling it with 

silt in the 11th century AD.

Istanbul and the Yenikapi Excavations 

Excavations conducted by the Istanbul Archaeological Museum and the 

Marmaray Project for a metro stop in the area of Yenikapı in Istanbul have 

discovered the remains of Theodosius’s harbor. 

In 2007, excavations included 50 archaeologists and 750 workers 

excavating in shifts 24 hours, 7 days a week, in an area the size of 10 city 

blocks.


Excavations have uncovered a stratigraphic sequence for the last 8,500 

years and recovered artifacts from the Ottoman, Byzantine, Roman, Greek 

and Neolithic periods. 

Overhead view 

showing the 

remains of a 13thcentury 

Byzantine 

church


Other architecture uncovered includes a section of a dockside quay. 

Theodosius’s harbor also included a breakwater, a large defensive tower 

and grain warehouses.


To date 36 ship wrecks have been discovered mainly clustered on the 

eastern side of the harbor. Yenikapi ship wreck #1


Yenikapi ship wreck #1 was loaded with pickled fry (a type of small fish) 

and almonds, walnuts, hazel nuts, muskmelon seeds, olives, peaches and 

pine cones. 

Amphorae


Yenikapi ship wreck #1: the inner hull is separated from the outer hull by a 

large number of frame timbers. The frame-first technique is employed with 

bronze nails.


Most of the 36 ship wrecks are of commercial ships. However, 6 warships 

have also been identified.


A total of 190,000 artifacts have been recovered including many ceramic oilburning 

lamps.


A total of 190,000 artifacts have been recovered including tons of pottery both 

fully complete and partially intact vessels.


Other artifacts include a bronze scale and a scale weight in the shape of 

Athena.


Still other artifacts include wooden bath clogs and wooden 

combs.

The Yenikapi Transfer Point and Archaeo-park 

Once excavations are complete Yenikapi will have an archives complex 

with circular display spaces, a metro stop/transfer point and an archaeopark. 

http://vimeo.com/41416166

The Yenikapi Transfer Point and Archaeo-park

Istanbul and the Yenikapi Excavations: Importance 

now know the exact size, position and layout of Theodosius’s 

harbor 

fantastic example of urban rescue archaeology with integration of 

an archaeological site into the fabric of a modern city 

new information about daily life in Constantinople 

new information about dietary habits, commodities shipped, ship 

building techniques, amphora types, geographical extent of trade, 

etc. 

physical evidence for how a Byzantine warship was constructed 

the largest number of Byzantine warships recovered anywhere, 

since such ships are derived from earlier Roman and Greek 

warships they will give a much needed window on the earlier ship 

types.

The Late Roman and Byzantine Navies - Emmaf.org

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