naumachy

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naumachia, naumachy

1. a mock sea fight, as in ancient Rome.
2. the flooded arena where such fights were conducted.

See also: Ships

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Noun

naumachy - a naval spectacle; a mock sea battle put on by the ancient Romans

naumachia

spectacle - an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale

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References in periodicals archive ?

It was mainly a naumachy, a naval display or battle, set on the river Arno, where an artificial island, complete with a temple of Mars, fire-breathing bulls, and a dragon, was built between the Ponte Santa Trinita and the Ponte della Carraia.

Philip IV's Fiesta de Aranjuez, Part I: the marriage of Cosimo II de Medici to Maria Magdalena de Austria and Leonor Pimentel

But we contemplate the geometric naumachy with total impartiality, and we will place the laurel wreath of truth on the head of the victor with equal joy, whether he is Euclidean or non-Euclidean.

The metaphor of the naumachy evidently implies that the levee of the undecidable, anachronic opposition between Euclidean and non-Euclidean also depends solely on an admiral, who cannot be but the transcendent subject of geometry.