Abstract
The character and origin of the Roman naval forces outside Italy in the early Principate is obscure. They are usually referred to as ‘provincial’ fleets: they appear on the military diplomas only rarely. The earliest of these refers to classici who were discharged from a fleet in Egypt in A.D. 86; since the diploma was only issued after a minimum of 26 years' service, the fleet can presumably be dated to 60. Its existence under Nero is confirmed by an inscription recording a sub-prefect of the classis Alexandriae of the time and an edict of a prefect of Egypt in 63 referring to the personnel of the fleet. So far as the northern provinces are concerned, the Classis Flavia Moesica is so named on a diploma of 92. The recipients may have started their 26 years' service in other formations; but it is equally possible that they entered directly into the Moesian fleet in 66, which can then be presumed to have been in existence under Nero.
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