Roman navy
Naval battle from fresco Temple of Isis in Pompeii
The club has model triremes to demonstrate Roman naval warfare. Trireme ("three-oars" as "remus" is Latin for oar) war-galleys could fit three banks of oars because an outrigger-construction widened the top of the hull. Galleys had a mast and sail, but the fickle wind meant relying on manual oar-power, and the rowers practiced to perfect many maneuvers. They carried anchors, and were steered by twin rudders each side of the stern. The weight of the rowers provided much of a galley’s ballast, making it unwise for any great number of them to leave their seats at the same time.
The various warships could increase greatly in size up to a maximum of eight rowers per oar, so for example a quinquereme ("fiver") had five rowers to the three oars (ratio, top: 2, middle: 2, bottom: 1). The quinquereme was the main warship of the Roman navy, with a deck about 50 m long by 8 m wide, sitting 3 m above the waterline. There were up to 300 rowers and 40 marines, as well as sailors and officers, in all, nearly 400 men. They could also carry about 100 soldiers.
The crew comprised the equivalent of captain, first lieutenant, rowing officer and bow officer; of the ratings there were two helmsmen, two stroke oarsmen, and up to ten sailors. There was a medicus, faber (ship’s carpenter), scriba (ship’s clerk), symphoniacus (musician), a navy diver called a urinator (from the verb then meaning to dive), signaller, and perhaps dolabrius (ship's engineer). The pausarius (time-keeper) beat the oar timing with a mallet, portisculus. The topmost level of rowers were the senior hands who controlled the two levels below them, as they could see out to direct the synchronisation of their collective oar-stroke. The hardworking rowing crew required cooling ventilation provided by open hatches and canvas wind-scoops. There was very little space available to carry provisions. Each man needed 3 litres of water a day, so the 250 rowers of a quinquereme would consume over a half a ton of water per day that was carried in skins or barrels. They snacked on ship's biscuit, which was bread baked twice ("bis-coctus") that removed moisture to preserve it. Sanitary arrangements were undertaken from a stern platform projecting beyond the rear of the ship hull, overhanging the wake.
In battle, the ships fired range-weapons, such as arrows, spears and even flaming catapults. They tried to ram the enemy with their bronze beaks, or shear off their oars (by raising your own oars as you smashed through theirs), or else grapple an enemy ship to board it. Many ships had towers that could hold up to six archers, slingers, or javelinmen to shoot down on to an enemy. A long pole with a sickle was used to try and snag or cut the enemy ship's rigging. Fire-buckets extended before the bow on a long pole could tip burning bitumen onto the enemy ship. Fire-ships, where a burning wreck was sent among the enemy hoping to burn their fleet were also employed.
The standard battle tactics to avoid being rammed comprised presenting your prow at the enemy, so that warring fleets formed up in lines opposing each other head to head. The larger force would try to outflank using their extra ships, and so the smaller fleet needed a defensive position, such as the Greeks took to defeat the far larger Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis by fighting in the narrow straits. The other tactic was to sacrifice a ship breaking through the enemy centre like a flying-wedge cavalry charge to let others through to again outflank the enemy from behind. This was countered by keeping some ships behind ready to destroy any enemy that broke through the line.
The various warships could increase greatly in size up to a maximum of eight rowers per oar, so for example a quinquereme ("fiver") had five rowers to the three oars (ratio, top: 2, middle: 2, bottom: 1). The quinquereme was the main warship of the Roman navy, with a deck about 50 m long by 8 m wide, sitting 3 m above the waterline. There were up to 300 rowers and 40 marines, as well as sailors and officers, in all, nearly 400 men. They could also carry about 100 soldiers.
The crew comprised the equivalent of captain, first lieutenant, rowing officer and bow officer; of the ratings there were two helmsmen, two stroke oarsmen, and up to ten sailors. There was a medicus, faber (ship’s carpenter), scriba (ship’s clerk), symphoniacus (musician), a navy diver called a urinator (from the verb then meaning to dive), signaller, and perhaps dolabrius (ship's engineer). The pausarius (time-keeper) beat the oar timing with a mallet, portisculus. The topmost level of rowers were the senior hands who controlled the two levels below them, as they could see out to direct the synchronisation of their collective oar-stroke. The hardworking rowing crew required cooling ventilation provided by open hatches and canvas wind-scoops. There was very little space available to carry provisions. Each man needed 3 litres of water a day, so the 250 rowers of a quinquereme would consume over a half a ton of water per day that was carried in skins or barrels. They snacked on ship's biscuit, which was bread baked twice ("bis-coctus") that removed moisture to preserve it. Sanitary arrangements were undertaken from a stern platform projecting beyond the rear of the ship hull, overhanging the wake.
In battle, the ships fired range-weapons, such as arrows, spears and even flaming catapults. They tried to ram the enemy with their bronze beaks, or shear off their oars (by raising your own oars as you smashed through theirs), or else grapple an enemy ship to board it. Many ships had towers that could hold up to six archers, slingers, or javelinmen to shoot down on to an enemy. A long pole with a sickle was used to try and snag or cut the enemy ship's rigging. Fire-buckets extended before the bow on a long pole could tip burning bitumen onto the enemy ship. Fire-ships, where a burning wreck was sent among the enemy hoping to burn their fleet were also employed.
The standard battle tactics to avoid being rammed comprised presenting your prow at the enemy, so that warring fleets formed up in lines opposing each other head to head. The larger force would try to outflank using their extra ships, and so the smaller fleet needed a defensive position, such as the Greeks took to defeat the far larger Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis by fighting in the narrow straits. The other tactic was to sacrifice a ship breaking through the enemy centre like a flying-wedge cavalry charge to let others through to again outflank the enemy from behind. This was countered by keeping some ships behind ready to destroy any enemy that broke through the line.
In 260 BC the First Punic War was fought against the Carthaginians for control of the island of Sicily. The Romans developed the corvus ("crow") mobile gang-plank with a spike that could be dropped to hook the enemy ship, since the Romans were much better at fighting than sailing. The prows (rostra) of the captured ships were set up around the Speaker’s platform in the Roman forum, earning its name the Rostra. Eventually the skilled Carthaginians learnt to row away just as the corvus was being dropped, so that it would miss and over-balance the Roman ship. It was also unwieldy in storms, and was soon replaced by a lighter manual gangplank.
Triremes preferred to hug the coast to not lose sight of land, and overnight ashore for provisions. Huge numbers of ships were sunk in storms. During he First Punic War the Romans lost some 700 ships, with well over half to storms. In 255 BC, the main Roman fleet, laden with booty and almost as many captured Carthaginian ships, with prisoners and prize crews aboard, was caught by a violent storm and from a total of nearly 400 ships, only 80 survived. It was the greatest known loss of human life in a single incident of shipwreck in history, as many as 100,000 men being lost beneath the waves.
In 30 BC, Octavian's innovative admiral Agrippa defeated the pirate Sextus Pompey off Sicily by using a harpax-ballista to fire harpoons into the enemy ships that were then winched in. Agrippa replaced the permanent top-heavy ship-towers with collapsible flat-deck constructions only erected for battle and covered in canvas. These were painted in a distinguishing colour to identify ships, or to resemble masonry. He defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium by using his smaller faster ships to circle discharging fire-arrows. It was joked that "those afraid of drowning were burnt, and those afraid of burning were drowned!"
With his victory, the emperor Augustus no longer needed such a large naval force, as there were no enemies, so it gradually reverted back to mainly comprising of lighter, faster, open undecked ships, as depicted on Trajan’s Column. The exposed rowers were shaded by awnings, and protected from enemies without artillery by light screens, augmented by a prominent fighting platform in the bows. The trireme continued in widespread use until AD 323, when the fleet of the Eastern emperor Licinius’ with as many as 200 triremes, was soundly defeated by the fleet of Constantine composed of a new type, called the triaconter. Thereafter the classical trireme disappears from history.
The river frontiers of the Empire, the Rhine and Danube, were patrolled by liburnians; lighter monoreme ships around 15 m long by 2.7 m beam, powered by 20 oars, one man per oar, all of whom were combatants. They carried a light sailing rig which could be lowered and were shallow hulled, drawing little more than a foot (300 mm) and as such, ideal for working up smaller rivers and tributaries. Numerous transport-ships of about 15 m long by 5 m wide were rowed by oars across the bulwark, or even towed, and could be rafted together as pontoons for bridging. Sometimes scouting ships were painted blue as camouflage.
Triremes preferred to hug the coast to not lose sight of land, and overnight ashore for provisions. Huge numbers of ships were sunk in storms. During he First Punic War the Romans lost some 700 ships, with well over half to storms. In 255 BC, the main Roman fleet, laden with booty and almost as many captured Carthaginian ships, with prisoners and prize crews aboard, was caught by a violent storm and from a total of nearly 400 ships, only 80 survived. It was the greatest known loss of human life in a single incident of shipwreck in history, as many as 100,000 men being lost beneath the waves.
In 30 BC, Octavian's innovative admiral Agrippa defeated the pirate Sextus Pompey off Sicily by using a harpax-ballista to fire harpoons into the enemy ships that were then winched in. Agrippa replaced the permanent top-heavy ship-towers with collapsible flat-deck constructions only erected for battle and covered in canvas. These were painted in a distinguishing colour to identify ships, or to resemble masonry. He defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium by using his smaller faster ships to circle discharging fire-arrows. It was joked that "those afraid of drowning were burnt, and those afraid of burning were drowned!"
With his victory, the emperor Augustus no longer needed such a large naval force, as there were no enemies, so it gradually reverted back to mainly comprising of lighter, faster, open undecked ships, as depicted on Trajan’s Column. The exposed rowers were shaded by awnings, and protected from enemies without artillery by light screens, augmented by a prominent fighting platform in the bows. The trireme continued in widespread use until AD 323, when the fleet of the Eastern emperor Licinius’ with as many as 200 triremes, was soundly defeated by the fleet of Constantine composed of a new type, called the triaconter. Thereafter the classical trireme disappears from history.
The river frontiers of the Empire, the Rhine and Danube, were patrolled by liburnians; lighter monoreme ships around 15 m long by 2.7 m beam, powered by 20 oars, one man per oar, all of whom were combatants. They carried a light sailing rig which could be lowered and were shallow hulled, drawing little more than a foot (300 mm) and as such, ideal for working up smaller rivers and tributaries. Numerous transport-ships of about 15 m long by 5 m wide were rowed by oars across the bulwark, or even towed, and could be rafted together as pontoons for bridging. Sometimes scouting ships were painted blue as camouflage.
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The Roman Navy
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