Abstract:
The paper sketches what is known of the classis Pontica from its establishment in 64 with the annexation of Pontus until its disappearance in the 3rd century, when a Roman naval presence in the eastern Euxine vanishes. Trajan probably transferred the fleet's base from Trapezus to Sinope in conjunction with preparations for his Parthian war (114-17). The classis Pontica became the only praetorian fleet stationed in the Euxine. Its title Severiana may reflect distinguished service against Pescennius Niger in 193-194. As Josephus (BJ 2.366- 67) erroneously transferred Euxine piracy of the Augustan era into a late Neronian context, changes in the defensive arrangements for eastern Anatolia, not piracy, motivated the fleet's creation. Josephus' 3000 hoplites pacifying the Euxine are a misinterpretation of a legionary vexillation that suppressed Anicetus' revolt in 69.