Reconstruction of Roman merchant ship

[Natuspardo]

I dont know if someone already mentioned it ...
Last friday a reconstruction of a Roman merchant ship on the Mosella was christianized Stella Noviomagi. It is based on
grave monuments of Neumagen (3rd century) and ship finds from Mainz (4th century), measuring 18metres and 4 metres wide with 42 oars.

Stella Noviomagi

[FAVENTIANVS]

OMG!!!!

[M. Demetrius]

Amazing! And people pay to get on board and row! What's not to like about that??

[Carlton Bach]

Unfortunately, the German bureaucracy struck again requiring them to have not just modern caulking and life vests, but two auxiliary diesel engines and presumably a modern screw and rudder :roll:

[MARCVS PETRONIVS MAIVS]

Unfortunately, the German bureaucracy struck again requiring them to have not just modern caulking and life vests, but two auxiliary diesel engines and presumably a modern screw and rudder :roll:

Does anybody else think ''Health and Safety'' has been a pain in the ass lately? I dont know how it is in mainland Europe, but here in the UK one cannot climb a tree without having a police officer tell you down due to the falling hazard. You'd expect the people here to be made of porcelaine...

[M. Demetrius]

That's the sort of thing we have to do here in the US, also. Only the main adversary is the trial lawyers. Someone will do something totally stupid, then sue someone and collect tons of money (vis a vis the woman who spilled hot coffee in her lap and was awarded 100M USD because they didn't tell her the coffee was hot...what kind of moron puts a fresh cup of coffee between her legs then takes the top off the styrofoam cup while driving? A soon-to-be-rich one, if it's in the US)

Across the globe, people need to be forced (if necessary) to take personal responsibility for their own actions. If you stick your head in the lion's mouth, don't sue the lion's owner if you get bitten, says I.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Hmmmm, health and safety eh! How about common sense.......
I work as a safety advisor! :wink:

[Wes]

Unfortunately, you cant teach common sense!! Half the people I pull over claim ignorance. We had a complaint about cars running a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. I pulled a lady over for running it, she actually looked me in the face and said, "I am not the one you want, I was the one that called in the complaint"

Cant fix stupid!

[C. Apollonius Priscus]

Unfortunately, you cant teach common sense!! Half the people I pull over claim ignorance. We had a complaint about cars running a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. I pulled a lady over for running it, she actually looked me in the face and said, "I am not the one you want, I was the one that called in the complaint"

Cant fix stupid!

That is hilarious! "I am not the droid that you are looking for" (I guess that the Jedi mind trick didn't work on you...) if you catch my drift. My personal theory is that stupidity is the one thing that crosses all national borders and unites the human race.

[Robert Vermaat]

OK, OK, back to topic! The safety thing here is due to the commercial side of the operation..
You can rent this one for two hours I belive for 380 euros. Not too pricy if you consider that 30 to 40 people are needed to row it, or can rest on the benches while the two diesel engines do the work. :wink:

Check here for a news report in German.

Here is a website with the history of the whole project.

Here is a website with a bit of information about the Late Romans who can be seen aboard. Although the ship is meant to be 3rd c., the group is clearly looking like the 4th c. They are not really a re/enactmnet group I believe, but I´ve seen worse, much worse!

I think this will be a welcome addition to any future event in Trier.

[M. Demetrius]

Diesel up stream, row down stream.

[C. Apollonius Priscus]

Here is a slightly different photo:

http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1189361590008.shtml

She appears rather blunt in the bows and overly broad to be effective as a ram but I think she may have one judging by that last photo. Not anything like the Navis Lusoria in the Museum für Antike Schifffahrt or the University of Regenburg's "Regina". She appears to be be a combination of merchant and warship?

[Aetius Helvius Merula]

Across the globe, people need to be forced (if necessary) to take personal responsibility for their own actions. If you stick your head in the lion's mouth, don't sue the lion's owner if you get bitten, says I.

Sue the lion for not biting hard enough :lol:

That is a very cool thing! I wish we had more things like that in the western US. Well, we do, but it focuses more on post 19th century. A working Roman ship, I'd be all over it!

[tlclark]

Roman merchants are completely different than Roman warships. In fact, roman merchant ships vary greatly by region. Roman vessels in the Red Sea and Indian sea are very different from Mediterranean vessels.

They were also monsters, over 200m according to some records, massive displacements. And yes that's 200 METERS. They were vast and bargelike, with flat bottoms and massive beams, pulled out to sea by smaller oared vessels. The Nemi lake barge was probably very similar and it had bronze beam terminals that measured in some instances 70cm squore or more.

Let's put it this way, they were so big, they collapsed the local pottery industry in EASTERN india and Tabropane (Sri Lanka).

If you can ship that much terra sigillata across thousands of kilometers and STILL sell it for cheaper than the locals can make their own, you must have some huge freaking ships. (That's also a fun comparison to modern economies and retail chains, Walmart is forever it seems. :wink: )

Can't wait til someone finds one of these in the black sea where there's a slim chance they might have survived.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Possibly for transporting detachments of troops on campaigns?
I recall someone mentioning the sight of the troopships with their beast like prows terrorizing the inhabitants on the far banks....but cannot recall if it was a source I read or a modern persons blurb..... :roll: