Ancient Rome - Ships

List of ships available during Ancient Rome event in 2017 (May 2nd - Jun 13th).

## Polykrates

Named after the Greek tyrant from the Island Samos. Polycrates was the first to build ships of the type Samaina, named after his home island. Samaina had two banks of oars and was slender at the bow, but broad at the beam. She could serve to transport goods or as a warship.

## Unireme

Unireme was the first type of galley. It had a single bank of oars and has been undecked or only partially decked.

## Corbita

Corbita was a type of Roman cargo ship with square sails steered by two oars. It could be of various sizes. The stern of the ship was often decorated with a swan or goose.

## Actuaria

Actuaria was a type of Roman transport ship. It had up to 30 oars and a sail. It had two rudders fore and aft and could ran aground on a beach to unload cargo without damage.

## Caesar Romana

Caesar Romana was an ancient Roman merchant ship. She had no rudder and was steered by two oars dragging at the back of the ship.

## Navis Lusoria

Navis Lusoria was a type of small military ship used for troop transport in the late Roman Empire. The ship was powered by 30 rowers and a sail. Navis Lusoria were used on northern rivers such as Rhine and Danube. Wooden remains of Navis Lusoria were found in Mainz, Germany in 1981.

## Tabellariae Navae

Tabellariae Navae were herald ships which sailed ahead of the whole fleet announcing the fleet's arrival.

## Bireme

Bireme is an ancient galley with two banks of oars. She was probably invented by the Phoenicians. Bireme was ca. 24m long and could employ 120 rowers. She was mostly used as a warship and was favored by the Romans, notably by Julius Caesar during his invasion of Britain.

## Olympias

Olympias is a reconstruction of an ancient Athenian trireme. It was built at Piraeus, Greece from 1985-1987.

## Trireme

Trireme was an ancient type of galley with three rows of oars manned each by one rower. Its predecessors were the penteconter and bireme. It was ca. 40m long and usually constructed from fir, pine or cedar wood. Triremes were used mainly during the 7th to 4th centuries BC, in the Persian Wars and the Peloponnese War.

## Liburna

Liburna was a small ancient galley used for patrols and raids. Originally it had one bank of oars on each side and one mast with one sail. In the late Roman Republic it was usually built with two banks of oars. Liburnas became very common in the Roman Navy. They played a major role in the Battle of Actium between the forces of Augustus and forces of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra.

## Comacchio

Comacchio is a wreck of an ancient Roman ship from 1st century BC. It was discovered near the river mouth in Comacchio, Italy in 1980. Various items including amphorae and lead ingots were recovered from the 21m long wreck.

## Quinquereme

Quinquereme was the heaviest type of the ancient warship favored by the Romans and Carthaginians. It was invented by the tyrant of the Syracuse Dionysius in 399 BC. It was often used as a flagship of a fleet of lesser warships. Quinqueremes were ca. 45m long and 5m wide at the water level.

## Liburna Nave

Liburna was a small ancient galley used for patrols and raids. Originally it had one bank of oars on each side and one mast with one sail. In the late Roman Republic it was usually built with two banks of oars. Liburnas became very common in the Roman Navy. They played a major role in the Battle of Actium between the forces of Augustus and forces of Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra.

## Prima Nave

Prima Nave was the smaller of the two Nemi ships built by the Roman emperor Caligula at the lake Nemi in the 1st century AD. Prima Nave was 70m long and was constructed with much luxury including heating, marble floors and baths. The ships were recovered in 1929 but were destroyed during the World War II in 1944.

## Hepteres

Hepteres or Septireme was an ancient warship much larger in size than its predecessors. She was probably first constructed on the order of Alexander the Great. She could employ up to 350 rowers while more than 3 rowers could man one oar. This increased the power while decreasing the number of oars and banks.

## Periplous

Periplous is a ship named after the naval tactic used in ancient Greece. It consisted of the warship or fleet of warships sailing around the enemy line and attacking them from the flank or rear.

## Deceres

Deceres was a type of hellenistic-era warship invented by Alexander the Great. Deceres was powered by two banks of oars with five men to each oar. It was used from ca. 320 BC until 31 BC when Augustus used them as his heaviest warships in the Battle of Actium.

## Ivlia

Ivlia is a modern reconstruction of an ancient Greek bireme (rowing war galley with oars at two levels). She was constructed at Sochi Naval Shipyard, Russia in 1989. Ivlia undertook six expeditions along the routes of the ancient seafarers in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Atlantic.

## Carthaginian

Carthaginian is a representative of the Punic (Carthaginian and Phoenician) ship design which was later copied by the Romans. It was distinctive from the Greek ship building style.

## Quadrireme

Quadrireme was an ancient war galley with four banks of oars. She was most probably invented by the Carthaginians in the 4th century BC. Her first use during battle is recorded during the Siege of Tyra by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. She was the prefered type of vessel in the Rhodian Navy and was also common in the Imperial Roman Navy.

## Dacicus

Dacicus was an ancient Roman ship named after Trajan's Dacian Wars in 101-102 and 105-106.

## Salamina

Salamina was an ancient warship named after the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. It was a naval battle between the alliance of Greek city-states and the Persians.

## Seconda Nave

Seconda Nave was the larger of the two Nemi ships built by the Roman emperor Caligula at the lake Nemi in the 1st century AD. Seconda Nave was 73 metres long. The ships were recovered in 1929 but were destroyed during the World War II in 1944.