Naumachia
（
ναυμαχία). A name given by the Romans to a contest between
ships, represented
 |
|
Naumachia. (From a Medal of Domitian.)
|
for the amusement of the people, and commemorating naval engagements famous in history.
The first representation of this kind was given by Caesar in B.C. 46 in a basin dug out for
this purpose on the Campus Martius, on which occasion a Tyrian and an Egyptian fleet fought
against each other, each with 2000 oarsmen and 1000 marines on board. In B.C. 2 Augustus, at
the dedication of the Temple of Mars Ultor, had a seafight between Athenians and Persians,
represented with thirty ships. The greatest of all naumachiae was that of Claudius in A.D. 52;
it took place on the Lacus Fucinus, and 19,000 men in the dress of Rhodians and Sicilians
fought in 100 fully armed men-of-war. For similar contests the arena of the amphitheatre was
sometimes filled with water. The crews of the ships consisted of gladiators, prisoners, and
criminals who had been condemned to death. See Friedländer,
Sittengeschichte, ii. 367 foll.; Marquardt,
Privatleben, iii.
558 foll.; and the article
Amphitheatrum, p.
73.
