[pnpgm] ships and archers

[John Stowman]

The tonnage of Roman merchant ships In order to satisfy the various
requirements of commerce, ship tonnages were quite variable. According to
written sources, ships with a capacity of 10,000 *modii* of grain (that is,
about 70 metric tonnes) constituted the lower end of vessels whose tonnage
was considered sufficient to be used for Rome�s food supply and thus to
benefit from government concessions. These were the smallest among the
medium-tonnage ships. They must have constituted the majority of vessels
utilised in commerce, with a capacity which could easily exceed 100 tons,
such as the 3,000-amphora (150-tonne) vessels mentioned in written sources,
and as also confirmed by numerous underwater discoveries. However, there
were also ships with higher tonnage capacity. The hull of the Madrague de
Giens shipwreck in France (1st century B.C.) originally measured 40 metres
in length and had a capacity of 400 tonnes. In this case we have
confirmation of ancient written sources which considered the
*muriophorio*-- the �10,000-amphora carriers� (500 tonnes) utilised at
the end of the
Republic or the beginning of the Roman empire -- to have been the largest
ships of their time, and which set the threshold of these vessels at 50,000
*modii* (330 tonnes). We must wait until the sixteenth century before we see
vessels of similar tonnages plying the waters of the Mediterranean again.

 <http://www2.rgzm.de/Navis/Musea/Ostia/Homepage/Coin.htm> And yet there
were even larger ships! During the Hellenistic period Hiero II of Syracuse
had the "*Syracusia*" constructed for the transport of grain. Due to its
enormous dimensions, it could not be admitted at any port except Alexandria
(in Egypt), where it was sent as a gift to Ptolemy III. Not to mention
Caligula�s obelisk-carrier (1,300 tonnes), which was utilised, after having
been sunk, to construct the lighthouse at the port of
Claudius<http://www2.rgzm.de/Navis/Musea/Ostia/Fiumicino_English.htm>,
or even the *"Isis"*, which Lucian writes about, which must have reached
1,200 tonnes. In this last case, the *"Isis"* was not a vessel intended for
any particular purpose, like the two colossal ships found in Nemi Lake
designed as floating palaces and measuring over 70 metres in length; it was
merely one of the numerous granary ships of Alexandria�s regular fleet.


While the Trireme was the norm for warships that dose not mean that there
cant be merchant ships of larger size


On Sat, May 23, 2009 at 8:31 PM, Alex Koponen <akoponen at mosquitonet.com>wrote:

> My understanding of the ships of the Perilous Lands is that they are late
> bronze age/early iron age designs, with the trireme being the latest
> greatest design. Basically these designs are too small to put men up top to
> shoot from bows. Some designs might have protected areas on the bow and
> stern to give some cover for the fighting men. It takes a large ship to need
> masts thick enough to mount a crows nest big enough to be a shooting
> platform. Frankly I don't think the technology of the Perilous Lands is to
> that point.
>
>      Alex
>
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