Cras Ingens Iterabimus Aequor

[David Amicus]

Horace Odes 1:7

When I read this my first thought was of Columbus


https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070109142223AANzYEH

[Ed Cryer]

My favourite "aequor" usage is by Vergil;
Aequora verrunt; they sweep the levels. That seems appropriate for an
old vessel with many oars; especially looked down upon from a headland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWlgxhUH3JQ

Ed

[Ed Cryer]

This video is a real get-you-onboard masterpiece.
You can see just what Aristophanes meant when he referred to the smell
on the bottom tier of a trireme's rowers.
You can also see just what those triremes were for. They were designed
and built for ramming. That was their purpose. The rowers were there to
get it up to ramming speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Dd5v_NHCs

Ed

[David Amicus]

Thanks for the videos! Are there any examples of female rowers from ancient times?

[Ed Cryer]

David Amicus wrote:
> Thanks for the videos! Are there any examples of female rowers from ancient times?
>

Certainly not for the triremes in the Athenian navy of the 5th c BC. (No
Amazons allowed!)
As for Roman times, well, they've recently proven women gladiators. So,
hhmmm! Still to be shown, I suppose.

Ed

[Ed Cryer]

This imagery is also captured in Mercury flying down to earth from Olympus.
He flies "per aera magnum" (through the great air) "remigio alarum"
(with the oarage of his wings).

Ed

[David Amicus]

I think Caligula had a chariot pulled by women.

[Will Parsons]

I doubt it. I think the idea of females fighting is (and has been)
sexually titillating (for males), so I can see why there could be a
demand for female gladiators. On the other hand, rowing a trireme was
not a spectator sport, so the fact that males are generally superior
to females in physical strength (more muscle mass) would mean that
there could be little incentive for choosing females over males for
the demanding physical activity in rowing.

--
Will

[Ed Cryer]

They used to beach triremes, so they must have been flat-bottomed,
without a keel.
Vergil describes Aeneas' fleet landing;
obvertunt pelago proras; tum dente tenaci
ancora fundabat navis et litora curvae
praetexunt puppes.
(They turn the prows seaward; then the anchor fastened the ships with
its holding tooth and the curved poops fringe the shores)

They couldn't beach them ram-forward. They had the poops curved to
facilitate that manoeuvre. And the anchors appear to have been sunk in
the beach.

Ed

[Ed Cryer]

The Vikings could beach their longboats too, prow-first (they had no
"rostrum"); and get them up rivers like the Seine.
They had, however, a greater breadth/length ratio. And that made them
more suitable for ocean voyages than a trireme, which would probably
have been sunk pretty quickly in an Atlantic crossing.

Ed

[Ed Cryer]

This is a relevant passage from Aeneid X. Aeneas comes sailing in to
find his new camp in Italy under siege, so they decide to head for the
beach as fast as they can.


socii consurgere tonsis
spumantisque rates arvis inferre Latinis, 300
donec rostra tenent siccum et sedere carinae
omnes innocuae. sed non puppis tua, Tarchon:
namque inflicta vadis, dorso dum pendet iniquo
anceps sustentata diu fluctusque fatigat,
solvitur atque viros mediis exponit in undis,
(Aeneid X)

The men rose on the oars and drove the foamy ships into the Latin
fields, until the the peaks were on dry land and the keels settled, all
safely; except for your ship, Tarchon: for it dashed against the
shallows until it hung on an unlevel ridge, where it stayed wavering for
some time, vexing the waves, and then broke up and dropped the men in
the waters.

Ed