10-21-2012, 11:17 PM
A couple more from Tacitus:
During Agricola's campaign in north Britain, he sent his fleet around the coast "which by its ravages at various points [caused] a vague and wide-spread alarm" (Agricola 29), which suggests naval landings. Earlier T descibes soldiers and sailors making camp together during combined coastal operations.
During the civil war of AD69, Otho sent a fleet to attack the coast of Narbonese Gaul, in support of a land invasion through Liguria. The resulting battle is described in Histories II, 12-15: marines and sailors were landed from the ships, and the ships themselves "moved close to the shore, cleared for action, facing the land" as the battle commenced. It would seem they were mainly used as artillery batteries during the fighting, although at one point the fleet managed to land another force of marines in the enemy rear. The battle eventually went to Otho - interestingly, T calls it a 'naval victory'...
During Agricola's campaign in north Britain, he sent his fleet around the coast "which by its ravages at various points [caused] a vague and wide-spread alarm" (Agricola 29), which suggests naval landings. Earlier T descibes soldiers and sailors making camp together during combined coastal operations.
During the civil war of AD69, Otho sent a fleet to attack the coast of Narbonese Gaul, in support of a land invasion through Liguria. The resulting battle is described in Histories II, 12-15: marines and sailors were landed from the ships, and the ships themselves "moved close to the shore, cleared for action, facing the land" as the battle commenced. It would seem they were mainly used as artillery batteries during the fighting, although at one point the fleet managed to land another force of marines in the enemy rear. The battle eventually went to Otho - interestingly, T calls it a 'naval victory'...
Nathan Ross
