Classis Alexandrina
About
The classis Alexandrina was established after Actium to guard Rome's most vital grain route, escorting the Alexandrian corn fleet across the Mediterranean and patrolling the Nile. Its ships moored in the Great Harbor below the royal quarter on the Lochias peninsula, close by the Pharos lighthouse that already marked the port for the ancient world.
What happened here
The fleet is quartered here and the base is built around getting ships out of the water. Slipways and covered sheds keep hulls dry through the winter, because a warship left afloat waterlogs and slows. Crews are provincials serving long terms, not citizens, and they train at the oar constantly in the harbour. Workshops turn out rope, pitch, sailcloth and oars in quantity; timber is stockpiled seasoned. The main fleets patrol against piracy, carry dispatches and move troops, and in practice they spend far more time on transport than on battle. Detachments are posted away for years at a stretch. A large base needs a lighthouse, a mole and a town, and it gets all three.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →