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Roman ships are named in different ways, often in compound expressions with the word Latin: navis, lit. 'ship'.These are found in many ancient Roman texts, and named in different ways, such as by the appearance of the ship: for example, navis tecta (covered ship); or by its function, for example: navis mercatoria (commerce ship), or navis praedatoria (plunder ship).
After the establishment of the military castrum of Mogontiacum (modern Mainz) in 13–12 BC, ships of the Classis Germanica became stationed at its harbor. Mogontiacum soon became the capital of the Roman province of Germania Superior and ships from its harbor could travel up and down the Rhine and east to the Main river. [ 3 ]
The ship also had two masts, a main (histos megas) and a small foremast (histos akateios), with square sails, while steering was provided by two steering oars at the stern (one at the port side, one to starboard). Classical sources indicate that the trireme was capable of sustained speeds of ca. 6 knots at relatively leisurely oaring. [31]
From the earliest times of naval warfare boarding was the only means of deciding a naval engagement, but little to nothing is known about the tactics involved. In the first recorded naval battle in history, the battle of the Delta, the forces of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III won a decisive victory over a force made up of the enigmatic group known as the Sea Peoples.
In 15 AD, a Roman army under the leadership of Germanicus advanced into Germania. The fleet transported four legions on the river Ems, who then marched to the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest to bury the desecrated Roman soldiers that had died in the battle. After sustaining heavy losses fighting the Germanic tribes, they moved back ...
The name bireme comes from "bi-" meaning two and "-reme" meaning oar. It was typically about 80 feet (24 m) long with a maximum beam width of around 10 feet (3 m). It was modified from the penteconter, a ship that had only one set of oars on each side, the bireme having two sets of oars on each side. The bireme was twice the triaconter's length ...
Larger ships replaced triremes during the 5th century BCE. These larger ships utilized the corvus to board and attack enemy ships. There were 40 marines and a 100 legionaries on Roman ships. These soldiers, called classiarii, used overwhelming force to win battles. Many ships would be painted blue for camouflage purposes. [143] [144] [145] [146]
Larger ships also had wooden castles between the masts on either side of the upper decks, which allowed archers to shoot from an elevated firing position. [ 129 ] Later medieval navies continued to use similar tactics, with a line abreast formation as standard, as galleys were intended to be fought from the bow.