The naumachie , (in Latin naumachia , according to the old Greek ναυμαχία/ naumachía , literally “naval action”) indicates in the Roman world at the same time a spectacle representing a battle of ships and the basin, or more largely the building, in which it was held.
The first naumachies
The known first naumachie is that which Jules César gave to Rome in 46 av. J. - C. at the time of its quadruple Triomphe. After having made dig a basin close to the the Tiber, able to contain true Birème S, Trirème S and Quadrirème S, it put at the catches 2.000 combatants and 4.000 oarsmen, of the prisoners of war. In 2 av. J. - C., for the inauguration of the temple of Mars Ultor, Auguste gave a naumachie which took again truly the model of that of César. As he recalls it itself in LMBO Gestæ (§ 23) he made dig on Right Bank of the the Tiber a basin where 3.000 men clashed, without counting the oarsmen, on 30 ships with spur, and many smaller units.
Claude as for him gave in 52 a. J. - C. a naumachie on a vast natural water level, the lake Fucin, to inaugurate work of drainage on the site. The combatants were condemned to death. One knows in particular by Suétone ( Vies of the twelve Césars , Claude , XXI, 1214) that the naumachiarii before the combat greeted the emperor by a sentence become famous: Morituri salutant you . Although an erroneous tradition seized some to make of it a ritual address of the Gladiateur S with the emperor, it is attested only in this only occasion.
The naumachie was thus a more fatal spectacle still than the gladiature which engaged of less important manpower, and whose combat did not end systematically in the death of overcome. More precisely, the appearance of the naumachies is closely related to that, slightly former, of another spectacle, the “combat by troops” which put at the catches not combatants per pair, but two small armies. There still, the combatants of were more often condemned without specific drive than of true gladiators. César, creator of the naumachie, had simply to transpose in a naval decoration the principle of these true pitched battles.
However, compared to the engagements by troops, the naumachies had the characteristic to develop historical topics or pseudo-histories: each fleet which clashed incarnated people famous for his maritime power in traditional Greece or the East hellenistic: Egyptian and Tyr iens for the naumachie of César, Persian S and Athenian for that of Auguste, Sicilian and Rhodiens for that of Claude. Moreover, they required considerable means, superiors even with those of the largest combat by troops, which made of them spectacles reserved on exceptional occasions, closely related to the celebration of the emperor, his victories and its monuments. The irreducible specificity of the spectacle and its topics borrowed from the history of the Greek world explains why it was quickly indicated by the generic term of naumachia. This term, a phonetic transcription of the Greek word indicating a naval battle (ναυμαχία/ naumakhía ), indicated thereafter the vast artificial basins which were intended to him.
The naumachie: the building
The naumachie of César, whose exact localization in Rome is still today an object of assumptions, was undoubtedly a simple pit dug in the bank of the Tiber.On the other hand, the naumachie of Auguste is better known: in the LMBO Gestæ (23), Auguste himself indicates that the basin measured 1800 feet Roman over 1200 (either approximately 533 X 355 m). One knows by Pline that in the center of this basin, most probably of rectangular form, an island connected to the bank by a bridge was: it is perhaps there that took to seat the privileged spectators.
Taking into account the size of this basin and dimensions of a Trirème (35 X approximately 4,90 m), about thirty ships used hardly had to be able to operate on the water level. Moreover, knowing that the manpower of a Roman trirème was approximately 170 oarsmen and 50 to 60 embarked soldiers, a rapid calculation makes it possible to conclude that to reach a figure of 3.000 men, the ships of the naumachie of Auguste had to carry definitely more combatants than a true fleet. The spectacle thus rested less on the evolutions of the ships that on their presence even in the vast artificial basin and on the combat with the body with body which was held there.
It was not thus for the naumachie of Claude. The two fleets put in presence counted each one 50 ships, which corresponds to the number of units included/understood by each of the two military fleets based with Misène and Ravenne, under the High-Empire. Moreover, thanks to the vast surface of the lake Fucin, of which a part only, circumscribed by bridge, was used for the occasion, the ships could be devoted to various operations of approach and éperonnage. The naumachie of Claude thus reproduced in any point a true naval action.
According to Frontin, the water supply of the naumachie of Auguste and gardens close to the district Trans Tiberim were the main reason of the construction of the Aqua Alsietina: a broad control discovered on the slopes of the Janicule above the monastery S. Cosimato thus constitutes principal archaeological testimony on the localization of the naumachie, of the aqueduct as well as wood of Césars. Several concurrent assumptions exist on the exact localization of the monument: the last goes back to it locates it between Via Aurelia at north and the church S. Francesco has Ripa in south-east, in the loop of the Tiber. The republican viaduct put at the day in Via Aurelia close to S. Crisogono could then have been used as outfall channel for the basin.
The lifespan of the basin augustéen was relatively short: it was surrounded and perhaps partly replaced as of the reign of Auguste by the nemus Cæsarum (crowned Wood of Césars), later renamed “Wood of Gaius and Lucius”. This vast zone was probably invaded constructions as of the end of the 1st century.
Naumachies of amphitheater
Under Néron appeared an innovation: the naumachie of Amphitheater. Suétone ( Néron , XII, 2-6) and Dion Cassius ( Roman History , LXI, 9,5) indeed attest the presentation of a spectacle of naval action in 57 after J. - C., in the wood amphitheater thus inaugurated by the last of Julio-Claudiens. Monument itself, we are unaware of all, apart from the fact that it was built on the Champ de Mars. Néron gave another naumachie in 64. It was preceded by huntings and was followed of a combat of gladiators, then of a large banquet (Dion Cassius, LXII, 15,1). One does not know which was the framework of these plays. It is probably about the same wood amphitheater, insofar as no text mentions its destruction before the large fire of Rome which occurred shortly after.
There for the inauguration of the Colisée, in 80 after J. - C., Titus gave two naumachies, one in the basin of Auguste, opposing still several thousands of men, and the other in the new amphitheater (Dion Cassius, LXVI, 25,1-4). Lastly, according to Suétone ( Domitien , IV, 6-7), Domitien organized a naumachie in Colisée, undoubtedly towards 85, and another in 89 in a new basin dug beyond the Tiber whose stones were used then for repairs of the large circus, set fire to on its two with dimensions. It is thus most probably between the first and the second naumachie of Domitien which was carried out the complex underground grid of parts of service that one observes still today in Colisée and which made impossible very put out of water of the arena.
The arena of Colisée measured only 79,35 X approximately 47,20 m, which is very far from dimensions of the basin of Auguste. The naumachies of amphitheater could not thus have the width of the former spectacles. One can consider that they took the form of a confrontation between the crews of two reproductions of warship, of a real size or almost, but which had neither to operate, nor to even float really. It is known indeed that decorations of ships, sometimes equipped with mechanisms intended to give the illusion of a shipwreck, were used as well with the amphitheater as with the theater (Tacite, Annales , XIV, 6,1; Dion Cassius LXI, 12,2).
The setting in water of the amphitheaters
But the setting in water of the arena, especially, raises many interrogations. Indeed, this one was not intended specifically for the watery spectacles and was to remain available for huntings and the combat of gladiators. Fast alternation between terrestrial spectacles and watery spectacles seems to have been the principal attraction of this innovation. Dion Cassius underlines it in connection with the naumachies given by Néron (LXI, 9,5) as Martial that of Titus to Colisée ( Livre of the Spectacles , XXIV). The study of the only written sources does not bring any information to us on the practical methods of this performance.
Archeology runs up against the transformation of the basements of Colisée. Only two provincial buildings, those of Vérone and Mérida, are likely to bring some data elements of character technical.
The central pit of the amphitheater of Vérone was indeed a depth definitely lower than that of the parts of service usually arranged under the arena. It is thus perhaps about a basin. Two axial conduits joined it. One, circulating directly under the Western gallery of the arena, and without communication with the gutters of evacuation of rain water, was to be connected to an aqueduct to supply the basin. The conduit Is, which circulated more deeply, was to be intended to evacuate water towards the Adige. In the same way, the arena of the Amphithéâtre of Mérida revealed a pit even less deep than that of Vérone: 1,50 Mr. It is completely excluded here to think of an underground part of service, since its depth is lower than that of a man upright. This basin moreover was provided with staircases and was covered with a watertight facing similar to that with the swimming pools with the thermal baths. It was him also served by two axial conduits. The Western conduit was to be connected to an aqueduct which passed not far from the monument (aqueduct San Lazaro).
Dimensions of the two basins exclude however that naumachies, even simplified, were given there: that of Mérida does not measure as 18,55 X 3,70 Mr. Seuls of the more modest watery spectacles could find place there. Consequently, even by supposing that Colisée had a similar basin before the realization of hypogean, it should be admitted that to present the naumachies, one slightly made it overflow in order to give the illusion of a sheet of water covering all the surface of the arena around the two ships.
End of the naumachies?
At all events, in Rome even, the appearance of these novel methods involved the multiplication of the naumachies initially. The dates show it very clearly. Between the naumachie of César and that of Auguste, between the latter and that of Claude, one each time raises a one half-century interval approximately. On the other hand, the six naumachies following, whose majority took place in amphitheater, were given in the 30 years space. Less expensive on the material plan and human, they could be more often presented. Less imposing, they tended to becoming one strong moment, but unexceptional plays. The iconography also testifies to this vogue of the naumachies. Among the score of representations of naval battles in Roman painting, almost all belong to IVe style pompéien, of time néronienne and flavienne.
Beyond the time flavienne however, the naumachies disappear almost completely from the texts. Apart from a mention in the History Auguste, late and not very reliable source, only the calendar of the Records of Ostie teaches us that Trajan inaugurated in 109 a naumachie, therefore a basin intended for the naval actions. This building was found at the 18th century in the plain of the the Vatican, behind the Castle Saint-Angel. Later excavations made it possible to supplement the plan of it. It was provided with steps and its surface, if one admits a reasonable proportion between his width and his length, was to represent approximately 1/6e that of the naumachie of Auguste. In the absence of texts, one could believe that it was used only under Trajan.
However, if one believes of them certain sources of the Lower Empire and persistence in the Middle Ages, in the zone of the monument, the Toponyme naumachie or dalmachia, this naumachie was still upright at the 5th century. In addition, the presence of steps on its circumference supposes the presentation of regular spectacles. Insofar as according to the Records of Ostie, the spectacle which marked the inauguration of the building put at the even catches l27 gladiators, one can think that as to the amphitheater, the more reduced character of space available on the basin of Trajan brought to simplify the naval decoration while insisting on the quality of the singular combat, delivered from now on by truths gladiators and not by a mass of prisoners without drive. In this form, and having from now on a specific site, the naumachie could remain several centuries without our sources on the spectacles, moreover fewer as from the time antonine, considering them worthy of mention: they had lost their exceptional character and impressive.
In the provinces, the influence of the Roman naumachies is primarily perceptible through some local water tournaments, perfectly inoffensive. A competition of the name of naumaciva appears thus as from the time flavienne in the contests disputed by the beautiful young man S Athenians for the Panathénées. It replaced the regattas which the same contests provided before. If one believes of it Ausone (the Moselle, 200-2,29), a “naumachie” was also disputed on the course of the Moselle by the youth of the surroundings.
Naumachies modern
The fall of the Roman Empire did not sign therefore the end of the naumachies. Indeed, others took place during the following centuries, in particular in 1550 with Rouen for the king Henri {{Rom|II|2}} or in 1807 with Milan for the emperor Napoleon {{Romanian|I|1}} {{er}}.
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