ADALYA 20, 2017 “Becoming a Roman”: Anatolians in the Imperial Roman Navy Julian BENNETT* Introduction Although much has been written concerning the Roman army and its legions and auxiliary reg- iments, far less is available and accessible regarding the nature and role of the Roman navy1. This is especially true with regard to the origins and other associated matters of those men who served in this force, a lacuna this article seeks to redress to some extent by focusing on those members of the Imperial Roman Navy certainly or probably recruited from the Anatolian provinces. However, to place this study into context, Part I provides an overview of the origins and nature of the Imperial Roman Navy, a subject likely to be unfamiliar to most readers of this journal, and so an essential prelude to Part II, which details what is known of those certain or probable natives of the Anatolian provinces who served in this force as provided by the evi- dence of the epigraphic sources available, these being presented in summary form in Part III. Part I: An Overview of the Imperial Roman Navy Genesis The genesis of the Imperial Roman Navy lies with the fleet that won victory for Octavian over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium on 2 September 31 B.C.2, allowing him to assume sole author- ity at Rome. In the winter of 28/27 B.C. he introduced the system of Roman government we * Yrd. Doç. Dr. Julian Bennett, Bilkent Üniversitesi, İnsani Bilimler ve Edebiyat Fakültesi, Arkeoloji Bölümü 06800 Bilkent – Ankara. E-mail:
[email protected] I am most grateful for the help and support towards the writing of this article given freely by my former Bilkent col- league A.