Four Books on the Naval Warfare of the Ancients, Useful for Greek and Latin History

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Original title: De militia navali veterum libri quatuor. Ad historiam græcam latinamque vtiles A Latin antiquarian treatise in four books on the naval warfare and naval institutions of ancient Greece and Rome, conventionally identified as an Uppsala publication (imprint 'Ubsaliae', Io. Iansonius) with an engraved title page. Book I treats the name and art of navigation, its causes (necessity, utility, pleasure), its inventors, the origin of military navigation in the suppression of piracy, and types and parts of ships. Book II (De apparatu bellico) defines the fleet (classis), discusses oar-systems, crews, rowers, marines, fleet finance, and naval equipment and arms. Book III covers signals, training, embarkation, camps and harbours, battle formations, and the conduct of naval engagements, including ramming and boarding, and Roman standing fleets. Book IV deals with pay, discharge, triumphs and naval crowns, penalties, command, and pilotage, noting the later invention of the compass. The work draws on classical texts, emendation, coins, inscriptions, Roman law, Scripture, and comparisons with contemporary practice, and closes with a Syllabus Autorum, Addenda, Errata, and Latin and Greek indexes. 👉 Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here 📜 View the original source file This text was transcribed and translated as part of the ExLatinis project—an effort by Leo to make English translations of every published text in Latin in early modern Europe (between 1450 and 1750) available to the public for free online.

• Read our introductory primer, full report, and finding guide here
• View the original source file

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