The vessels of the ancients made their way by means of sails and oars. The rows of oars were proportioned to the different sizes, from what was called unus-ramus, which was the smallest, and had only one row; to the quinque-rami, which had five rows.
The particular method in which these ships were constructed, as well as of the arrangements that were made within, in order that a sufficient number of rowers might be commodiously placed to work them, is not perfectly known to the moderns; nor have the ancients left us documents sufficiently clear and accurate on that head.
With respect to naval tactics, or the art of fighting at sea, it is confessedly less ancient than tactics on shore, or what is generally called land service. Mankind were accustomed to contend for the possession of territory long before they determined on, or even dreamed of, making the sea a theatre of war and bloodshed.
Setting aside the many fabulous accounts which are extant concerning naval tactics, we shall remain satisfied with what has been transmitted to us by the Roman writers of the Vth and VIth centuries of that republic. We shall there find specific details of the different manœuvres which were practised at sea during the Punic war. In those times naval armaments began to be regularly fitted out; ships of different forms and sizes were constructed, and certain offensive and defensive machines, that served as a species of artillery, were placed upon them. They had already been drawn out according to system; being divided into certain proportions which were then called divisions, but are now named squadrons; and the persons who commanded them, exerted all their skill and genius to gain advantages over their enemies, by opportunely getting to windward, by seizing the favorable occurrence of the tide, or by mooring in advantageous situations.
At the battle of Actium, Augustus finding himself inferior to Mark Antony in the number of his ships, had the sagacity to draw up his line of battle along the entrance of the gulph of Ambracia, and thereby to make up for his deficiency. This naval manœuvre, as well as that of getting to windward of the enemy, in order to bear down upon him with more certainty and effect, exists to the present day.
We act precisely upon the same principles in both cases, by which the ancients were governed, with the additional advantage, in fighting to windward, of covering the enemy’s line with smoke from the discharge of ordnance and fire-arms. The French call this being in possession of the closest line—Occuper la ligne du plus prés.
In those times, ships were boarded much sooner than they are at present. Most engagements at sea are now determined by cannon shot. Among the ancients, when two ships endeavored to board each other, the rowers drew in their oars, to prevent them from being broken in the shock.
The manœuvre which was practised on this occasion, was for the ship that got to windward of its adversary, to run upon its side, with the prow, which being armed with a long sharp piece of iron, made so deep an impression in it, that the ship thus attacked, generally sunk. The voyages which were afterwards made on the ocean, rendered it necessary to construct ships that carried more sail, and were double decked; and since the invention of gunpowder, tiers of guns have been substituted in the room of rows of oars.
On the decline and fall of the Roman empire, the Saracens got the ascendancy in naval tactics. They took advantage of this superiority, and extended their conquests on all sides. The whole extent of coast belonging to the Mediterranean, together with the adjacent islands, fell under their dominion. Mankind are indebted to them for considerable improvements in naval tactics.
It was only under Charlemagne that the Europeans may be said to have first paid any great attention to their navy. That monarch kept up a regular intercourse with the caliphs of the East; and having just grounds to apprehend an invasion from the Normans, he constructed vessels for the defence of his coasts.