Any history that tells a story spanning 300 years faces serious challenges for both author and reader. Compounding the challenge for the author is the distance in time from the events described, the difficulties in translating ancient Greek and Latin source material, the scourge of missing sources, and the lack of context for days long past. Author John Grainger accepted these challenges to put together this very readable account of the golden age of galley warfare.

A 2011 release from Pen and Sword in Great Britain, "Hellenistic and Roman Naval Warfare 336 BC - 31 BC" takes the story of naval combat in the Mediterranean Sea from the time of Alexander the Great to the onset of Octavian Caesar's Roman Empire. At 394 pages in my Kindle edition, the book contains 16 chapters arranged chronologically. There is a section of maps, most handy given the number of places named in the text, as well as a small selection of images. The author includes endnotes and a bibliography.

The book's theme, neatly summarized in a small conclusion section, speaks to how different ancient regimes, states, and cities viewed sea power. Major entities--Alexander's Macedonians, the Romans, and, to a lesser extent the Carthaginians, saw sea power as transitory--investing only in ships, personnel, and infrastructure on when absolutely necessary. The opposing school of thought, that professional navies were permanent necessities of state, was accepted by relatively few powers--most notabl the Ptolemy dynasty of Egypt (and then only for a century) and the island state of Rhodes. Even then Grainger relates how Rhodes was really the only true practitioner of sea power throughout the period defined by this book.

The history as portrayed in "Hellenistic and Roman Naval Warfare 336 BC - 31 BC" is one that probably turns off most potential students of ancient history. Warfare between states and regimes are seemingly constant over the 300-year span--it is very difficult to differentiate among the various wars and battles. Armies and navies disappear without a trace, only to reappear in another conflict 5 or 10 years later. The Romans, in fact, seem to deliberately court naval disaster in failing to maintain a permanent navy. In the course of the three Punic Wars with Carthage, the Romans lost hundreds of galleys and tens of thousands of men to bad weather, operational losses imposed b the inexperience of the personnel and their commanders in newly raised naval squadrons. Keeping track of who was fighting whom is particularly difficult in the later Hellenistic and late Roman Republic eras.

I again applaud historians who are willing to work with the few sources available for this ancient topic. This challenge is particularly difficult when so much remains unknown--how these galley navies fought is still up for debate, and the details of the craft that constituted the navies are sketchy at best. Grainger's account is very readable despite the repetitious nature of the subject. The reader need only be patient to reach the author's aim in writing this book. ( )

A narrative history whose scope is made admirably clear by its title.

I was given a copy in return for a review, which was published in issue 337 of Slingshot magazine.