Battle of Aegates artifacts

[druxey]

This from BBC:

 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220426-battle-of-the-aegates-the-shipwrecks-rewriting-roman-history

 

It's quite a story of the discovery of the site of this battle and recovered artifacts.

[mtaylor]

Thanks for posting that Druxey.  I started reading and got immersed in it.   Time to kick back with beverage and maybe popcorn for some serious reading time.

[Louie da fly]

See also  https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29685-ancient-galley-rams-discovered-photos/#comment-847542 

[allanyed]

Thanks for the post David.  Reading this gave me goosebumps.   I can only imagine my own mind set if I was able to see and touch these artifacts.

Allan

[Louie da fly]

I'm going to have to chase up on the anchors, which were also found in considerable numbers according to the report - I hope the info is available.

 

Steven

[liteflight]

I noticed that the article mentioned a large number of anchors all aligned in the same direction, suggesting this might have been the Roman fleet cutting their cables to close the ambush.

 

I am also so old that I remember much debate about “rams” ( rostra) when Olympias was built.  If I remember aright there was one found in shallow water somewhere near Tyre at about that time, and I think it may

have been the only one identified.  And here is at least one, potentially several more.  I imagine that a bronze casting of this size would

a) last forever underwater*

b) be a significant part of the total cost of a warship

*before metal detectors and greedy scavengers 

 

andrew

[Louie da fly]

I saw a ram in Piraeus (the port of Athens) in 2000, and while looking for it online I stumbled upon this list of extant rams - https://shiplib.org/index.php/rams-2/

 

Steven

[liteflight]

Thanks, Steven

 

it was the Atlit ram that I remember being found and discussed

 

The list is interesting and the thumbnail pictures take you to high-quality illustrations

 

When people addressed the crowds in the forum of Rome, they did so from the “rostra”.  I was always taught that these were the bows of warships captured by the Romans ( presumably complete with ram).
And I assumed that they were the whole bow of the ship, with enough deck to orate from.

Does anyone know of any illustrations of a rostrum in the forum?
My main source is the film “ Carry on, Cleo” and I would hardly claim it to be authoritative  ( although it did ascribe to the dying Julius Caesar the memorable line “ Imfamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it infamy”)

 

sorry

andrew

Edited May 3, 2022 by liteflight
Spelling

[Louie da fly]

21 hours ago, liteflight said:

although it did ascribe to the dying Julies Caesar the memorable line “ Imfamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it infamy”

One of my favourite quotes of all time - brilliantly done by Kenneth Williams in his campest voice.

 

Steven

[bruce d]

11 minutes ago, Louie da fly said:

One of my favourite quotes of all time - brilliantly done by Kenneth Williams in his campest voice.

 

 

[liteflight]

My Admiral used to refer to this as his “ row of pink tents” voice

 

And we digress!

 

I am sure none of us has ever done that before

On 5/2/2022 at 10:51 AM, Louie da fly said:

saw a ram in Piraeus (the port of Athens) in 2000, and while looking for it online I stumbled upon this list of extant rams - https://shiplib.org/index.php/rams-2/

Having looked at the resource on rams, I went on to check out the rest of the site - interesting stuff and a great resource

 

andrew

 

[liteflight]

I went hunting for Illustrations of the rostra

And this is what I have so far

 

[henrythestaffy]

I used the Egadi 1 as a guide to create the following rostra to see whether it could be done. Doesnt look too bad apart from the print lines on the close ups. The latin text comes up ok too.

Edited May 6, 2022 by henrythestaffy
Doubled up photo

[druxey]

Well, I wouldn't like to see one coming at me from the angle in your last photo! Joking aside, casting that quantity of bronze must have been quite the operation back then.

[Louie da fly]

A fascinating discussion on not only the Battle and the rams, but on the development from "threes" (triremes) to "forties" and many other things, with a side journey to the SIZE of the rams from the Battle of Actium, where Augustus defeated Mark Antony.

 

 

Steven