naumachia

Imitation sea fight staged in a Roman amphitheatre, which was flooded for the occasion, or in an artificial basin (also called a naumachia). The combatants were prisoners of war or convicts, who fought until one side was defeated.

The first naumachia on record presented a battle between the Tyrian and Egyptian fleets, and was given by Julius Caesar in 46 BC on a lake which he constructed in the Campus Martius, Rome. In 2 BC Augustus staged a naumachia between Athenians and Persians in a basin newly constructed on the right bank of the Tiber in Rome. Water pageants, including mock sea battles, were held during the Renaissance, especially in Italy.