Lanista Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Hi - I've been trawling the forum for a bit now, but I can't find the info I'm looking for. Specifically, how fast were Roman ships circa first centruy AD. This is more of a "how long would it take" question, and i'm not even sure how to ask it in google. I'm sure that warships would have been faster than merchant or pleasure vessels, but at the moment, I'd be grateful for any nudges. I've got a bit of sea travel in Gladiatrix II, so I'd apprecaite any pointers. cheers Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 You may want to check out Maty's book: Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day. Although the information pertains to Rome in 200 C.E., I don't think that travel by sea would have changed that much from the time in which you're basing your novel. In the first chapter ("Getting There") Maty provides a nifty chart of "Minimum Times for a Sea Voyage," including various destinations (Africa to Ostia, Alexandria to Messina in Sicily, etc.), the miles involved, and the number of days it would take to get from point A to point B via a merchant ship carrying passengers. Maty also mentions the time of year during which such voyages might take place, as well as the time of year during which "no sane captain" would sail. I presume a warship would have been faster and, while I don't remember a comparison between travel by warship and travel by merchant ship in Maty's book, I think you'll nevertheless get a lot of information out of it for your research. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 wicked, thanks Nephele Cheers Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryaxis Hecatee Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 also one has to take into account the period at which the sea travel is done : at times it is near impossible to travel in some directions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 (edited) No, (I've never heard of the Millenium Aesalon) Edited October 16, 2008 by Kosmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 No,(I've never heard of the Millenium Aesalon) Hahahaha! I think that must've been the name of Hanius Solo's ship in Bellum Stellae. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted October 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2008 No,(I've never heard of the Millenium Aesalon) It's the ship that made the kesselium run in less than 12 parsectae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 It's the fastest hunk of junk in the imperium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 I see... Thank you for enlightening me, but I'm more of a BatlleStar type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted October 18, 2008 Report Share Posted October 18, 2008 You might want to take a look at The Archaeology of the Roman Economy by Kevin Greene, he use quite a lot of pages discussing roman ships (mostly merchant vessels). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted October 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 You might want to take a look at The Archaeology of the Roman Economy by Kevin Greene, he use quite a lot of pages discussing roman ships (mostly merchant vessels). Thanks all - its really just to get a rough idea, and it seems that you could go on average a hundred miles a day - give or take. Cheers Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted October 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2008 Incidently, I came across this page which sort of confirms what I read in "Rome of 5 denarii" http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/travel2.html Cheers Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 So you could expect to travel something like 120 miles a day by sea? Not too bad, though this would have to be an average given the vagaries of the ocean enviroment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanista Posted October 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 So you could expect to travel something like 120 miles a day by sea? Not too bad, though this would have to be an average given the vagaries of the ocean enviroment. I was actually going to punt for a 100 miles a day cos I like round numbers. What I need to do is try to use googlemaps to plot the journey (I'm sure that there must be some tool that can do that for you) - Bodrum to Brundisum...about ten days, I'm feeling. Cheers Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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