New naval ram from Phanagoria

[Nathan Ross]

presumably inhabitants of the Bosporan kingdom replicated Roman river vessels, ( unless the Hellenistics also such designs )

I would think it was a common Greco-Roman type - the Mainz ships were late Roman, but probably used the same basic galley pattern as all the various civilisations of the Mediterranean had been using for centuries. Mithridates was king of Pontus, and his ships would be very similar to Hellenistic and Roman designs. No doubt a shallow draught vessel like this would be very useful in the waters of the Euxine and Maeotic Lake, however, not to mention the rivers in the area.

I would guess that this craft is assumed to be one of the 'row boats' that Mithridates sent to rescue his daughter Cleopatra from the burning citadel, as described in the Appian passage that Ildar linked.

If anyone has access to the original Greek, perhaps they could check which word or term Appian uses for 'row boats', and we may perhaps have a name for this wreck.