Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
agrippa & the corvus
#1
Hi

In his new book about Marcus Agrippa, Lindsay Powell describes that Agrippa re-used the corvus against Sextus Pompey.

I thought the corvus was scrapped after the first punic war never to be used again. This was because it made the vessel unstable in bad weather.

Does anybody now more about this?
Yves Goris
****
Quintus Aurelius Lepidus
Legio XI Claudia Pia Fidelis
Reburrus
Cohors VII Raetorum Equitata (subunit of Legio XI CPF)
vzw Legia
Flanders
Reply
#2
The wiki article seems to think it was based off instability:

"Some other historians believe that its weight on the prow compromised the ship's navigability and the Romans lost almost two entire fleets to storms in 255 and in 249 BC, largely due to the instability caused by the device. These losses were probably the main reason for the abandonment of the boarding-bridge in ship design by the end of the war."

Corvus Boarding Device

Also, I thought that Agrippa used the harpax, not the traditional style large corvus.
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Corvus Jona Lendering 6 1,862 08-06-2006, 11:57 AM
Last Post: Titus Martius

Forum Jump: