ANCIENT

ROMAN SHIPS
By: Kailey McSteen
ROMAN SHIPS IN
BATTLE
 Roman ships were crucial in times of battle.
The ships were typically made of wood, and
the ships were water-proofed using pitch and
paint.
The ships had sails and oars used to push the
vessels through the water. There were ships that
had specific names based on the structure of the
boat.
The trireme was a ship that had multiple levels
of rowers. The trireme was typically used in
battle to ram into enemy ships.
 The largest type of ships were quinqueremes.
This ship contained three banks of rowers. There
were around 300 oars in total.
OTHER USES OF
ROMAN SHIPS
The ships were used for trade across the sea. The city’s
growing need for food supplies and necessary items
was the reason for this trade.

The increasing use of ships meant that the Romans

produced ships of the best quality.

The Romans ran into pirates when they traveled on

trade routes, so the Romans had to start protecting
these trade routes.

Roman conquests began to shift more towards lands in

the south around the third century. These lands had
wealth that was based on sea trade and naval strength.

 The Romans had to keep up with these wealthy cities

by developing their own naval fleet. The Romans used
the Etruscan, Greek, and Carthaginian ships as an
example when they were building their own ships.
 BUILDING A
ROMAN SHIP
The process of building a Roman ship was time consuming
and taxing.
The early ship builders built the outer hall first, and then
they continued with making the frame. After the frame was
constructed, the rest of ship was built. The planks that were
on the outside of the ship had to be sewn together.
Starting in the sixth century B.C., the sewing method to join
the planks together was replaced by the locked mortise and
tenon method.
A couple centuries later, the majority of Mediterranean
ship builders shifted to another building method.
The new method included building the frame of the ship
first, and then, the hull and the rest of the ship would be
built. This allowed the Romans to construct ships on an
industrial scale.
 The Romans had a love of games and festivals. The
Colosseum was used for their festivities and games.
The ships were brought into the Colosseum, and
naval battles were enacted in front of a crowd of
people. These reenactments of naval battles were
known as naumachia.
Condemned criminals were the sailors in these
reenactments.
 The first naumachia was given by Julius Caesar in
46 B.C. The reason for this naumachia was to
celebrate the victories that he had achieved in
Egypt.
The second naumachia was a reenactment of the
Battle of Salamis. This real battle included the
Persian army attacking a weak Greek contingent off
ROMAN FESTIVITIES the island of Salamis.
MERCHANT SHIPS
Merchant ships transported cargo full of
agricultural goods. Some examples of the things
they transported were wine and grain from
Egypt and olive oil from Greece.
The merchant ships were able to transport
goods over long distances at a reasonable cost.
The merchant ships differed from the ships used
in war because the merchant ships did not have
to be light weight or fast.
This meant that the structure of merchant ships
consisted of a V-shaped hull and a ballast which
rendered them more stable. This structure was
different from the structure of the war ships.
 WORKS CITED

https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Naval_Warfare/
https://earlychurchhistory.org/entertainment/naval-battles-in-the-colosseum/
http://mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/ancient_roman_ships.htm
http://www.romae-vitam.com/roman-ships.html