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Ox powered warships

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Gordopolis Optio

Gordopolis

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The 4th century AD military handbook "De Rebus Bellicus" ("On the Things of Wars") describes Roman warships powered not by oar or sail, but by ox-driven paddle wheels. These crafts had an advantage of short bursts of speed (with the disadvantage that vast hay and water supplies had to be carried onboard to keep the oxen going)
ย 
โ€œ. . . .๐‘œ๐‘ฅ๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ , ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘› ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘; ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘—๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ , ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ-๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ฃ๐‘’, ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ง๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘’๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›. . . .โ€

This is quite an incredible concept. Does anyone have any further info on this in a Roman context?

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caldrail Princeps

caldrail

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Firstly the inventor of this concept didn't know much about physics. Rapid bursts of speed? I seriously don't think so.

Secondly none of this stuff was ever taken seriously any more than the much vaunted Leonardo Da Vinci got his machines to fly.

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