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I have two questions concerning the possible use of paddle wheel boats by the Romans.
1. Who knows to what campaign Smiles refers to? Who is this "Claudius Codex" and on what ancient source did Smiles draw here anyway?
2. Do we have other ancient sources (or perhaps archaeological evidence) indicating the use or knowledge of paddle wheels? After all, the paddle wheel technology does only constitute a 'power reversal' of the water mill technology. Specifically, can someone perhaps contribute the passage in "De Rebus Bellicis" about ox-driven paddle wheel boats?
Quote:The attempt to propel ships by other means than sails and oars went on from century to century, and did not succeed until almost within our own time. It is said that the Roman army under Claudius Codex was transported into Sicily in boats propelled by wheels moved by oxen. Galleys, propelled by wheels in paddles, were afterwards attempted.
Smiles, Samuel (1884). Men of Invention and Industry:
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/ ... chap2.html
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Just found out that a certain Claudius Caudex must be meant by Smiles.
See first passage: http://www.freewebs.com/graham7760/steaminboats.htm
Are there really any Roman bas relief showing paddle wheel boats?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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For more on Appius Claudius Caudex ("Codex" is a later Latin spelling -- anyway, his cognomen means something like "Stump" or "Blockhead"), see the article on Livius.org. His crossing from Rhegium to Messina was the opening of the First Punic War in 264 BC.
An article from Scientific American Volume 14, Issue 11, Nov 20, 1858 (Online here - this is the relevant section, but you might want to read the rest) has this to say:
Quote:Pancirollus, who wrote in 1587, says he
saw an old bas-relief representing an Illyrian
galley propelled by three wheels on each side
turned by oxen. The same author, and sev-
eral others, refer to Vitruvius for a notice of
the paddle-wheel, but I find, in five editions
of Vitruvius, the drawings represent merely a
wheel turned by the water, and used as a log
to measure the speed.
Again, Claudius Codex is said to have em-
ployed paddle-wheels in the invasion of Sicily
in the third century before Christ, and some
MSS. in the King of France's library (which
I have not been able as yet to inspect), are
referred to for this statement, but after dili-
gent inquiry, I can find no confirmation of it
in any accredited authority.
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More on Guido Pancirollus (Panciroli, Guido. The history of many memorable things in use among the ancients, but now lost. And an account of many excellent discoveries made by and now in use among the moderns, ... Translated from the original of Guido Pancirollus, ... Vol. 1. London, 1727. 2 vols.).
The relevant section of the 1727 English translation:
Quote:I saw also the Pictures of some Ships, called Liburnae, which had three Wheels on both Sides without, touching the Water, each consisting of eight Spokes, jetting out from the Wheel about an Hand's breadth, and six Oxen within, which by turning an Engine stirr'd the Wheels, whose Fellys driving the Water backward, mov'd the Liburnians with such a Force, that no three-oar'd Gally was able to resist them.
According to Johann Jacob Hofmann's Lexicon Universale (see here) of 1698, Guido Pancirollus was born in Lombardy in 1516 and died in 1591 (though on this Hofmann appears to be mistaken, his actual dates spanning 1523–99), and held a seat in Jurisprudence at Padua, and wrote, besides various works on law, a host of of works on antiquary topics. Apparently among them was an edition of the Notitia Dignitatum with commentary, printed in 1593.
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Quote:Specifically, can someone perhaps contribute the passage in "De Rebus Bellicis" about ox-driven paddle wheel boats?
Sure. 
Quote: chapter XVII: Description of the Warship
Animal power, directed by the resources on ingenuity, drives with ease and swiftness, wherever utility summons it, a warship suitable for naval combats, which, because of its enormous size, human frailty as it were prevented from being operated by the hands of men. In its hull, or hollow interior, oxen, yoked in pairs to capstans, turns wheels attached to the sides of the ship; paddles, projecting above the circumference or curved surface of the wheels, beating the water with their strokes like oar-blades as the wheels revolve, work with an amazing and ingeniuos effect, their action producing rapid motion. This warship, moreover, because of its own bulk and because of the machinery working inside it, joins battle with such pounding force that it easily wrecks and destroys all enemy warships coming at close quarters.
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Danno Ulpius, Vortigern Studies,
good research, thanks a lot. Unfortunately, a use of paddle wheel boats by the Romans has not materialized, but I have not given up hope completely.
Vortigern Studies,
is this the entire relevant section? Could you perhaps give the exact reference, because I would like to add the quote at Wikipedia.
Do you know by chance, whether De Rebus Bellicis was still known and copied in the Middle Ages? Perhaps with illustrations? The first medieval reference to paddle wheel boats I can find is in Guido da Vigevano's famous sketchbook (1335 AD).
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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Quote:is this the entire relevant section? Could you perhaps give the exact reference, because I would like to add the quote at Wikipedia.
Do you know by chance, whether De Rebus Bellicis was still known and copied in the Middle Ages? Perhaps with illustrations? The first medieval reference to paddle wheel boats I can find is in Guido da Vigevano's famous sketchbook (1335 AD).
Quote - yes, it's the entire section.
Reference - you mean the modern publication in the BAR series? I'll look it up.
Middle Ages - oh sure, there's a load of later editions with the corresponding drawings.
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Stefan, 'De Rebus Bellicis' survived (only) on the Otonian Xth century Speyer copy (only a couple of pages survive today, no illustrations among them). Today, the oldest surviving copy is the XVth century Oxonensis, at the Bodleian Library.
Aitor
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Rolf Steiner
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What do we know about the date of writing of DRB?
Aunt Wiki is pretty vague on that, dating it somewhere between 337 and 476 AD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Rebus_Bellicis
PS: No other references to paddle wheels in antiquity?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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About DRB's date, scholars are always debating between Valentinian/Valens and Theodosius. Probably the first one is the best choice. (The Barbarians were yet 'barking around' and not inside the Empire, like in Theodosius' time... :? )
Aitor
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.
Rolf Steiner
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Quote:is this the entire relevant section? Could you perhaps give the exact reference, because I would like to add the quote at Wikipedia.
Description of the Warship: De Rebus Bellicis (anon.), chapter xvii, text edited by Robert Ireland, in: BAR International Series 63, part 2, p. 34.
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Thx Robert. I made a small amendment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle_ste ... velopments
Perhaps any other reference to paddle wheel boats in antiquity?
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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