Roman victory stories often credit a new consul with correcting religious observance and rebuilding a supposedly ineffective force. Rome already had naval capability, shipbuilding experience, and merchant shipping before its wartime expansion. Grain imports and other trade depended on that maritime activity. Rome and Carthage had also cooperated for centuries, with an informal buffer helping to keep them apart. The rapid construction of quinqueremes suggests experience with smaller warships, although that is an inference about Roman capabilities. The familiar account of copying captured Carthaginian ships should be read alongside that existing maritime experience.
Notable Point · 21:27-23:39
Rome's navy before its wartime expansion
Rome's existing trade and shipbuilding complicate the familiar story of an inexperienced land power building a navy by copying captured Carthaginian ships.