Ancient Galley
QUINQUEREMES AND HEAVIER WARÂ GALLEYS
The word trireme (Greek trieres) is usually taken to mean a war galley with three banks of oars, superimposed one above another. Representations of galleys with two and three banks of oars have survived; in the fifth century, Athenian rowers were divided into thranitai, zygitai, and thalamitai, according to the tier in which they rowed. The thranitai, who pulled at…
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DIONYSIUS THE ELDER (C. 430–367 B.C.E.)
Coin of Dionysius I of Syracuse Greek ruler who briefly conquered most of Sicily. Born c. 430 B.C.E. into a wealthy family of Syracuse (Siracusa, Italy), Dionysius had a career that combined ruthless political opportunism and autocracy with brilliant, innovative soldiery. He entered public life through both intrigue and military…
Late Roman – Patrician Roman Warships 400-550
This is from HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SHIP – LECTURE NOTES, Undergraduate Teaching Materials originally compiled by John Illsley, former Lecturer in Medieval History, School of History and Welsh History University of Wales, Bangor “The Roman trireme, together with the Liburnian, dominated the Mediterranean until the last stages of…
The Evolution of the Roman Imperial Fleets
 D. B. Saddington Introduction Like the ancient Israelis, who felt concern for those “who went down to the sea in ships” (Ps 107.23), the Romans, especially by comparison with the Greeks, have often been regarded as reluctant seafarers. Before the Battle of Actium Plutarch (Ant. 64) has a centurion…
The Peregrinations of the Queen: Technology Transfer in the Hellenistic World
 The “ISIS” Trireme from the Nymphaion fresco assumed to be 60 m long (width and height: around 15 m). The Isis Ship of Ptolemy II Philadephus. In the wars of the Diadochi (322 – 281 BC), the successors to the empire of Alexander the Great built increasingly bigger and…
The Sea Peoples
Invasions by the mysterious Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC not only devastated the Hittite Empire but also forced the Egyptians back to their traditional Nile kingdom. In Ramses III eighth regnal year, the Sea Peoples attacked. This event, comprising two separate attacks by land and sea, was a…
Agrippa and the Roman Navy Redux
One secrets of Octavian’s success was his ability to delegate authority, and he had an outstandingly efficient officer in the person of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who had been his comrade as a young man, while training in Illyricum. Agrippa, who had rendered distinguished service in Gaul and contributed to the…