Roman sails: leather, linen, or?

[Michael Kerr]

Sorry I am a little late on this thread, I must have missed it last year and only found it when I was researching another thread on the "Myth of the Silk Road" and searching for threads on Roman ships but I thought the word canvas was derived from cannabis or hemp.

 

 The ancient Egyptians used both papyrus and linen. The Greek philosopher Theoprastus wrote about plants in Egypt and said "from the inner part of the papyrus they weave sails and also rope." and Pliny the Elder wrote  that "Papyrus grows in the swamps of Egypt or in the sluggish water of the Nile, and is plaited to make boats and the inner bark woven into sailcloth and . . . ropes. Linen was used as well because it would have been much finer and stronger. Linen sails were not always of one piece but made up of patches sewn together for added strength. Over time attempts were made to make linen stronger and more durable, these attempts included trying various chemical treatments ranging from soaking in oil that was then heated or burnt to form a polymer impregnated coating or treated with Fuller's Earth and other powders. Mixtures of fibres were used for stronger wind conditions such as linen and hemp.

 

 Cotton was used even on Roman ships for Red Sea and Indian Ocean travel.

 

 Wool for sails was used in Viking times and according to Tacitus who wrote of the Batavian revolt that took place in the estuary of the Rhine. He states that they "sewed their brightly coloured woollen war coats into sails". 

Regards

Michael Kerr