Search

[German version] In recent decades, underwater archaeology has enabled the discovery and investigation of well over 1,200 shipwrecks in littoral areas of the Mediterranean and the Roman provinces, dating from 1500 BC to AD 1200. The number of shipwreck find sites continues to grow considerably thanks to the exploration, which began around 1990, of deeper waters of the Mediterranean using special submersible craft. Only shipwrecks discovered in inshore waters at depths of up to 40 m have hitherto b…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Due to the lack of original finds from most regions of the ancient Orient, little can be said about shipbuilding, except for Egypt. The fact that many Syrians were employed in Egyptian shipyards and that a ship (from around 1300 BC) found at Ulu Burun, Turkey was built in the same technique as Egyptian ships indicates that a uniform shipbuilding technique was used throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Here, wooden planks were placed in the desired position w…

[German version] (πεντηκόντερος sc. ναῦς/ pentēkónteros sc. naûs). Pentekonteroi were ships with 50 oars. Vessels of this kind seem to have existed by the Mycenaean period; in Homer they are often mentioned as troop transports (Hom. Il. 2,718-720; 16,168-170; Hom. Od. 8,34-36; 8,48; 13,20-22). They were evidently slender vessels well over 30 m in length with a lowerable square sail and one row of oarsmen on either side. They were probably not designed for ramming tactics; in the subsequent period this c…

[German version] Towards the end of the Roman Republic the liburna was the pirate ship of the Illyrian people of the Liburnians ( Liburni, Liburnia; cf. App. B Civ. 2,39; App. Ill. 3; cf. Veg. Mil. 4,33,4). Pompey [I 3] appears to have been the first who, in the course of his battles against the pirates, mobilized these vessels in 67 BC in the interests of Rome; Appianus characterized them as light and fast sailing long-boats. The liburna already played an important part in the Civil War against Caesar (Caes. B Civ. 3,5,3; 3,9,1; Plut. Pompey 64,1; Plut. Cato Minor 54,5)…

[German version] The Latin word saccarius describes both the sack-makers and traders in sacks as well as the dockworkers who were responsible for the loading and unloading of cargo ships in the ports (Dig. 18,1,40,3); besides saccarii, the terms baiuli and geruli are also commonly found in the literary tradition (in Greek σακκοφόροι/ sakkophóroi and φορτηγοί/ phortēgoí ('porter')). In various towns the saccarii set up collegia ( C ollegium [1]) or corpora (ILS 7292); the phalangarii or falancarii, who had specialised in transporting amphorae and barrels, were probably cl…