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The ''classis Misenensis'' ("Fleet of Misenum"), later awarded the honorifics ''praetoria'' and ''Pia Vindex'', was the senior fleet of the imperial Roman navy. == History == The ''classis Misenensis'' was founded by Caesar Augustus in 27 BC, when the fleet of Italy, until then based mostly at Ostia, was moved to the new harbour of Portus Julius at Misenum in the Bay of Naples.〔''A Companion to the Roman Army'', p. 209〕 It was commanded by a ''praefectus classis'', drawn from the highest levels of the equestrian class, those earning more than 200,000 sesterces a year. Its mission was to control the western part of the Mediterranean Sea, and, as the honorific ''praetoria'', awarded by Vespasian for its support during the civil war of AD 69,〔''Age of the Galley'', p. 80〕 suggests, the ''classis Misenensis'', together with the ''classis Ravennatis'', formed the naval counterpart of the Praetorian Guard, a permanent naval force at the emperor's direct disposal. The ''classis Misenensis'' recruited its crews mostly from the East, especially from Egypt.〔 Since Rome did not face any naval threat in the Mediterranean, the bulk of the fleet's crews were idle. Some of the sailors were based in Rome itself, initially housed in the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, but later given their own barracks, the ''Castra Misenatium'' near the Colosseum.〔 There they were used to stage mock naval battles (''naumachiae''), and operated the mechanism that deployed the canvas canopy of the Colosseum.〔''Historia Augusta'', Commodus XV.6〕 Among the sailors of this fleet, Nero levied the legio I ''Classis'', and used some of its leading officers in the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger.〔 In 192, the Misenum fleet supported Didius Julianus, and then participated in the campaign of Septimius Severus against Pescennius Niger, transporting his legions to the East.〔''Age of the Galley'', p. 83〕 The fleet remained active in the East for the next few decades, where the emergence of the Persian Sassanid Empire posed a new threat. In 258–260, the ''classis Misenensis'' was employed in the suppression of a rebellion in North Africa.〔''Age of the Galley'', p. 84〕 In 324 the fleet's ships participated in the campaign of Constantine the Great against Licinius and his decisive naval victory in the Battle of the Hellespont. Afterwards, the bulk of the ships were moved to Constantinople, Constantine's new capital. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Classis Misenensis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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