The navy of the Eastern Empire may be said to have originated with the foundation of Constantine's New Rome on the site of Byzantium. The threat of attack from the Vandal kingdom of Carthage (from A.D. 428 to 524) compelled the Emperors to attend to their fleet, but with the fall of that kingdom the navy was neg lected until the rise of Mohammedan power at the end of the 7th century produced a new menace. The Byzantine navy reached a high state of efficiency under the sovereigns of the Macedonian dynasty (867-1056). It consisted of an Imperial fleet commanded by the Great Drungarios, the first recorded Lord High Admiral, and of provincial squadrons under their strategoi. The Imperial Fleet was essentially a war organization, while the provincial or thematic squadrons were smaller but more permanent forces main tained for police purposes. It is interesting to note that this navy included a corps corresponding to the gunnery experts of a modern fleet. These were the siphonarioi, who worked the siphons used for discharging the "Greek fire." After the disorganization of the Eastern Empire by Turkish invasions in the i2th century, the Byzantine navy withered. In the middle ages the Italian republics and monarchial states border ing on the Mediterranean possessed appreciable fleets, and their seamen, especially those of Genoa, were regarded as some of the first in the world, so much so that their services were sought by the powers of Western Europe and even by England. Edward III. and the kings of France employed Genoese to assist them in nautical matters.
The Mediterranean navies made their last great appearance in history at the Battle of Lepanto, 1571 (q.v.). From thence on wards the scene of naval activity changed and the ships and fleets took upon themselves a new form, and one to fit them for ocean sailing and fighting. The history of the growth of modern great navies will be found under their respective countries. (E. A.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Ancient and General.—Accounts of the naval or ganizations of the ancient world, and of the sea fighting of the time are to be found in the histories of Greece and Rome: G. Corazzini has written a Storia della marina militare antica (Livorno, 1882). Valu able details of the Imperial Roman navy and of the Byzantine navy will be found in Prof. J. B. Bury's appendices to his edition of Gib bon's Decline and Fall, vol. i. apx. 5, and vol. vi. apx. 5 (1896-190o). See also A. T. Mahan, Influence of Sea Power on History, 166o-1783 (189o).
different times, and in two editions, at Florence 1856, etc. The general maritime history of the Mediterranean in the middle ages is well illus trated in the Memorias sobre la marina comercio y artes de Barcelona (1779-1792) by A. Capmany. The naval enterprises of the Norsemen are dealt with in a scholarly fashion by G. B. Depping, Histoire des expeditions maritimes des Normands (1826) ; and with newer knowl edge by C. F. Keary, The Vikings of Western Christendom (1891).
Great Britain.—The History of the Royal Navy to the French Revolution, by Sir N. Harris Nicolas (1847), is unfortunately incom plete. It ends at the year 1422, but is the work of a most laborious and exact antiquary, who had been a naval officer in his youth. The admin istrative history of the British navy until 1660 is the subject of the History of the Administration of the Navy and of Merchant Shipping in relation to the Navy (1896) by M. Oppenheim—a most valuable collection of materials. The Naval History of England (1735) by T. Lediard, is copious and useful. The Naval Chronology, or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans to the Treaty of Peace 1802, by Captain I. Schomberg (1802), contains a mass of valuable information, lists of ships, dates of con struction, etc., and some administrative details. A good book is The Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain 1727 to 1783 (1804) by R. Beatson, a very careful and well-informed writer who had seen some service as a marine officer. The Naval History of Great Britain, from 1793 to the accession of George IV., by W. James (1827), repub lished with a continuation by Chamier in 1837, is a standard authority. The History of the British Navy from the Earliest Period to the Pres ent Time (1863) by C. D. Yonge, contains some original matter for the naval transactions of the 19th century. The Royal Navy, 7 vols. (1897-1903), edited and partly written by Sir W. L. Clowes, is a com pilation of unequal value. Some of Sir W. L. Clowes's coadjutors, not ably Captain Mahan and Sir C. R. Markham, are of high standing and authority. The Naval Chronicle, 1799-1818, a magazine, contains use ful matter, for the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The Naval Biographical Dictionary; life and services of every living officer (1846), by W. R. O'Bryne, is a solid book of reference. The publications of the Navy Record Society (1894 and subsequent years) contain large and valuable publications of original matter, with some reprints of old authorities, such as Sir W. Monson's Tracts, which were difficult of access. See also A Short History of the Royal Navy, by D. Hannay ; Official History of the War: "Naval Operations" (1920, etc.) ; G. Callender, The Naval Side of British History (1924) ; G. F. S. Bowles, The Strength of England (1926).