Augustas, therefore, as well as most of
the succeeding emperors of Rome, scarcely built any other ships but those
according to the Liburnian model.
One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had obtained the empire, was
to secure the command of the sea: he made use of the ships which he had
captured from Anthony to keep the people of Gaul in subjection; and he
cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates which infested it and obstructed
commerce. He formed two fleets, one at Ravenna, and the other at Misenum;
the former to command the eastern, the latter the western division of the
Mediterranean: each of these had its own proper commanders, and to each was
attached a body of several thousand mariners. Ravenna, situated on the
Adriatic, about ten or twelve miles from the most southern of the seven
mouths of the Po, was not a place of much consequence till the age of
Augustus: that emperor, observing its advantages, formed at the distance of
about three miles from the old town and nearer the sea, a capacious
harbour, capable of containing 250 ships of war. The establishment was on a
large and complete scale, consisting of arsenals, magazines, barracks, and
houses for the ship-carpenters, &c.: the principal canal, which was also
formed by Augustus, and took its name from him, carried the waters of the
river through the middle of Ravenna to the entrance of the harbour.
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