Byzantine Sea Power from Late Antiquity to the High Middle Ages

Following the defeat of the Cilician pirates by Pompey “the Great” in 66 BCE, Rome faced no serious threat to its maritime supremacy in the Mediterranean; at least not until the Vandals mastered seafaring and built an effective fleet in the fifth century CE. The Roman navy had so little to do that teams of sailors were detailed to manage the rigging of the enormous awnings that shielded the crowd in the Colosseum from the Italian sun.

But the Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox successor to the Roman empire (which we call “Byzantine”) faced a variety of seaborne threats throughout its long history. Unfortunately, so few documentary sources, and so little material evidence has survived from the Byzantine navy that historians face a massive challenge in trying to reconstruct its story. This has not deterred Augustine Kobayashi from attempting the feat.

This book consists of a Prologue, an Introduction, and six chapters organized chronologically:

1. The Reconquest of the West
2. Rome vs. Persia: Sea Power vs. Land Power
3. Greek Fire and a Naval ‘Revival’
4. The Pirates of the Mediterranean
5. The Komnenian Naval Revival
6. Manuel’s Grand Fleet

In all of Byzantine history, no question is as problematic as the composition of “Greek Fire,” the secret incendiary weapon that helped to defend Constantinople against seaborne attacks for centuries. It probably contained petroleum (possibly a volatile crude distillate similar to kerosene,) pine resin and sulfur. It could be projected under pressure from a bronze siphon mounted at the bow of a warship, or packed in ceramic grenades and thrown or catapulted. A terrifying psychological weapon, it was difficult to extinguish. First recorded in use against the Arab fleet in 674-678 CE the secret was eventually lost, perhaps because the empire lost access to the raw materials.

A serious loss for the empire came between 824 and 829 when Arabs invaded and occupied Crete. Repeated attempts to reconquer the strategic island were costly failures until 961 when the brilliant commander, Nikeforos Fokas, led a successful amphibious attack. He later became emperor at Constantinople, ruling from 963 until his murder in 969.

In 1081, an aristocrat named Alexios Komnenos seized the Byzantine throne. His “Komnenian” dynasty ruled until 1185 (and in the breakaway empire of Trebizond until 1461.) With diminished resources, Alexios had to improvise a fleet, imposing unpopular heavy taxes to pay for it. “Byzantine naval supremacy in the Aegean, if not the entire Eastern Mediterranean was re-established…A great Byzantine naval revival was in progress under the auspices of the House of Komnenoi.” (page 106)

During the course of the twelfth century, the rising power of Italian maritime republics, notably Genoa and Venice, forced Constantinople to concede trading rights, sources of revenue, and territory. The Byzantine navy shrank to a few largely ceremonial Imperial barges. The decisive blow came in 1204, when the Venetians diverted the Fourth Crusade to storm and sack Constantinople, establishing a shaky “Latin Kingdom” that endured for two generations. Although Byzantines regained control of the city in 1261, the restored Empire was a pale, diminished shadow of its former glory, and finally fell to a renewed Turkish assault in 1453.

In 2006, John Pryor and Elizabeth Jeffreys published, The Age of the Dromon: The Byzantine Navy, c. 500-1204 , a massive, highly technical 758-page academic study, with a profusion of Greek text, priced well beyond the reach of most readers without access to a major university library. Naval Warfare under the Byzantine Empire should be far more accessible to non-specialists with an interest in this era. It reflects a solid understanding of the dynamics of Byzantine history, but naval history enthusiasts may be disappointed by the book’s lack of technical details and battle descriptions, which are simply not recoverable from our surviving sources.

Augustine H. Kobayashi studied history at Leeds and London, obtaining an M.Phil. in International Studies and an M.A. in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies. He has written three books on naval history that were translated into Greek.

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Our Reviewer: Mike Markowitz is an historian and wargame designer. He writes a monthly column for CoinWeek and is a member of the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors). His previous reviews include The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Archaic Greece, Amazons: The History Behind the Legend, The Byzantine World, Classical Controversies, Reassessing the Peloponnesian War, War and Masculinity in Roman and Medieval Culture, Nemesis: Medieval England's Greatest Enemy, The Wars of the Roses: A Medieval Civil War, The Emperor and the Elephant, Tiberius, The Roman Empire and World History, Leadership in the Ancient World: Concepts, Models, Theories, A History of the Greek World from 479 to 323 B.C., Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire, Love, War and Diplomacy: The Discovery of the Amarna Letters and the Bronze Age World They Revealed, Nikephoros II Phokas (912-969): The White Death of the Saracens, and 1453: The Conquest and Tragedy of Constantinople.

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Note: Naval Warfare under the Byzantine Empire: From Justinian I to the Fourth Crusade is also available in e-editions.

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