Taurunum
About
Taurunum stood at the meeting of the Sava and Danube rivers and served as the main base of the classis Flavia Pannonica, the fleet that patrolled the upper and middle Danube from Regensburg down to Belgrade. Flotillas based here ferried troops and supplies to the string of forts along the river frontier.
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
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