The Roman Navy: How a Land Power Dominated the Mediterranean

The Story of Italy: Rome, Renaissance, and the Birth of Modern Europe — Fexingo History · Jun 11, 2026 · 7m · transcript

Rome was not a seafaring nation. In 264 BCE, it had almost no warships, yet within a century it controlled the entire Mediterranean. This episode traces the birth of the Roman navy during the First Punic War, the invention of the corvus boarding bridge, the massive shipbuilding effort that turned farmers into rowers, and the later reliance on provincial fleets at Misenum and Ravenna. We discuss the Battle of Mylae (260 BCE) where consul Gaius Duilius won Rome's first naval triumph, the disaster at Drepana (249 BCE), and the crowning victory at the Aegates Islands (241 BCE) that ended the…