Managing Warships and Fleets in Ancient Greece

June-September 2023

* Times: GMT-4 (New York), GMT+1 (London), GMT+2 (Madrid), GMT+3 (Tel Aviv)

Access to the sessions will be opened 15 minutes before the start

 

Session 1 - Ships and Shipbuilding

14 June - *10:00/15:00/16:00/17:00h.

16:00h. Introduction and presentation

16:15h. Mills McArthur (Southern Adventist University): “Military campaigns and the location of shipbuilding in Antiquity”

16:45h. Pascal Olejniczak (independent researcher) and Emmanuel Nantet (University of Haifa): “Auxiliary ships in Greek and Roman fleets”

17:15h. Chiara Maria Mauro (Universidad Complutense de Madrid): “Greek fleets in transition: Changes in shipbuilding between the 8th and the 5th centuries BC”

17:45h. Discussion

 

Session 2 - Institutions and Financing

26 June - *10:00/15:00/16:00/17:00h.

16:00h. Introductory remarks

16:15h. Fernando Echeverría (Universidad Complutense de Madrid): “Managing warships and fleets in the Homeric world”

16:45h. Dorothea Rohde (Universität Bielefeld): “The trierarchy in Athens in the 4th century BC: What motivated the Athenian liturgists to spend large sums on the fleet?”

17:15h. Vincent Gabrielsen (SAXO Institute, Copenhagen University): “Crewing ancient Greek fleets: Manpower demand and institutional innovation”

17:45h. Discussion

 

Session 3 - Ports and Installations

28 June - *10:00/15:00/16:00/17:00h.

https://meet.google.com/qab-tksx-tvo

16:00h. Introductory remarks

16:15h. David Blackman (University of Oxford): “Some questions on military harbours”

16:45h. Anna Salzano (Università di Salerno): “Harbour terminology in the ancient Greek world. An archaeological approach”

17:15h. Ioannis Nakas (Center for Hellenic Studies): “Construction technologies, shipbuilding and the use of the Hellenistic harbours of the Mediterranean”

17:45h. Discussion

 

Session 4 - Navigation and Mobility

5 September - *10:00/15:00/16:00/17:00h.

https://meet.google.com/aps-grfu-ozg

16:00h. Introductory remarks

16:15h. Pascal Arnaud (Université Lyon): "The ship moving through the space of a naval port: Entering the port, laying up, entering the shipsheds and vice-versa. A couple of questions"

16:45h. Stefano Medas (Università di Bologna): “Navigation and logistics of ancient war fleets. Remarks from the Punic Wars case”

17:15h. Adolfo Domínguez Monedero (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): “‘Rule the waves’. Greek fleets as an element of intimidation, influence and domination”

17:45h. Discussion

 

Session 5 - Political and Military Power

8 September - *10:00/15:00/16:00/17:00h.

https://meet.google.com/kbx-wwsw-npj

16:00h. Introductory remarks

16:15h. Hans van Wees (University College London): “The Corinthian navy and its uses, 600-425 BC”

Thucydides’ Archaeology presents the Corinthians as pioneers in naval warfare: the first Greeks to build triremes and the first to organise a ‘modern’ fleet. Yet in the account of the Peloponnesian War that follows, ‘Peloponnesian’ fleets – which in practice meant largely Corinthian fleets – are portrayed as almost laughably inferior to Athens’ naval power. The reader is encouraged to infer that after a pioneering phase Corinth had fallen far behind the latest developments. This paper will suggest that Thucydides’ hostile perspective obscures Corinth’s remarkable naval history. The discussion focuses on three notable aspects: (1) the creation of a trireme navy c. 600 BC, under Periander, by far the first in the Greek world; (2) the uses of this archaic navy in establishing archaic Corinth as a major international power; and (3) Corinth’s dominant role on a par with Sparta in the Peloponnesian league, from the sixth century right down to the destruction of the ‘Peloponnesian’ fleet in 425.

16:45h. Philip De Souza (University College Dublin): “Human resources: The key to managing warships and fleets in ancient Greece”

The principal function of ancient warships was the transportation of fighting men, the majority of whom were light-armed troops. They rowed the vessels when required, whether in transit or in combat with other warships, but, contrary to popular belief, they were not exclusively oarsmen. Typically, naval expeditions aimed at deploying soldiers rapidly by sea, to assault specific targets, raid coastal areas, or invade enemy territory. Therefore, the composition, organisation and deployment of these human resources was a central concern for those in command of ancient fleets. They raised complex issues regarding military discipline, political accountability, socio-economic status and moral responsibility. This contribution will discuss some of the ways in which those issues were tackled, both in practice and in theory, drawing on the works of ancient orators, historians, political philosophers and dramatists.

17:15h. Louis Rawlings (Cardiff University): “The sails of two cities: The naval conflicts of Carthage and Syracuse”

Before the huge naval engagements of the First Punic War, Carthage had contended with another power along the coasts of Sicily, Syracuse. While we are ill-informed about other naval activities of Carthage in the Western Mediterranean, historical narratives provide a window on their operations in Sicily, and upon those of their strategic rival, Syracuse. These cities waged a series of wars in which substantial fleets were often deployed. This discussion considers the evidence for the nature of the operations and their strategic and military contribution of naval contingents. It considers the reasons for the common patterns of activity that can be identified, and their role in the projection of power and furtherance of the military and strategic objectives of both states in Sicily.

17:45h. William Murray (University of South Florida): “Ships as weapons: The complexities behind successful ramming warfare”

Beginning in the mid-6th century, and certainly by the beginning of the 5th, success in naval warfare involved the repeated, purposeful use of waterline rams mounted at the bows of oared warships. Despite the obvious importance of ramming tactics and the numerous accounts of their use in battle, we remain uninformed about many details behind the effective use of these weapons during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Most ancient authors simply felt it unnecessary to describe in detail what was generally understood by their readers. The recent recovery of 26 warship rams from the Battle of the Aegates (Egadi) Islands (10 March 341 BC) may help to ameliorate our ignorance somewhat by focusing our attention on the rams’ physical properties and limitations. For example, this collection now allows us to judge the size and weight of 3rd century penteric rams which, in turn, allows for a refined assessment of the warship classes associated with the larger Athlit ram and rams on the Nikopolis Victory Monument.
Beyond this, damage on the Egadi weapons can be used to calculate the ramming forces generated by Roman and Carthaginian quinqueremes, while intact attachment spikes in many rams suggest that some warships, or at least their bow sections, sank when holed. This collection of rams also begs other questions, such as how exactly the ramming maneuver was carried out, the desirable speed for a fatal blow, and the physical results that followed. This, in turn, might allow for the calculation of forces affecting the oar crews during impact. While these questions and others have previously been voiced without much hope of solution, our new cache of rams will hopefully guide the research required to provide some answers.

18:15h. Discussion

18:45h. Concluding remarks and closure