The
Byzantine navy or the
Eastern Roman navy was the
naval force of the East Roman or
Byzantine Empire. Like the empire it served, it was a direct continuation from its
imperial Roman predecessor, but played a far greater role in the defence and survival of the state than its earlier iteration. While the fleets of the unified Roman Empire faced few great naval threats, operating as a policing force vastly inferior in power and prestige to the
legions, the sea became vital to the very existence of the empire in the east, which several historians have called a "maritime empire".