naumachia
sea batle in a roman theatre
sea batle
Latin literally “navel combat” staged sea-battles performed on water for mass entertainment purposes. Staged “group combat” that could involve thousands of combatants and full-sized ships of war due to scale of the spectacle naumachiae were usually staged in lakes but smaller scaled-down battles could fit into a Roman amphitheatre earliest was staged by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. The term “naumachia” could refer to the spectacle or to the basin or building where it was staged.""