Bronze Ship's Ram Recovered Near Sicily

Archaeology Magazine ^ | August 26, 2024 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Reuters reports that a bronze ram has been recovered from some 260 feet of water off the coast of western Sicily, near the Aegates Islands, by divers from the Society for the Documentation of Underwater Sites. The front of the ram is decorated with a helmet topped with three feathers, but deposits of shells and seaweed currently cover any other possible marks or inscriptions. Such a ram would have been placed on the bow of a warship and used to attack enemy vessels. This ram, and 26 others recovered from the area, have been assigned to the Battle of the Aegates Islands, fought in 241 B.C., and the victory of the Roman Republic over Carthage in the First Punic War.

[SunkenCiv]

Superintendency of the Sea

[SunkenCiv]

• Ancient warship rams discovered at the site of the Battle of the Egadi Islands [09/09/2021]
• Ancient Shipwreck Points to Site of Major Roman Battle [10/19/2010]
• Italian archeologists on trail of ancient warships [08/12/2005]

[Adder]

A rostrum or beak.The Romans quickly adopted its use to claim Mediterranean supremacy.
The Roman rostrum was made from these beaks from enemy ships...and we still use the word today for a speaker’s podium.

https://www.sea.museum/2017/05/29/a-roman-rostrum

[sit-rep]

That’s gonna leave a mark!!

[FroggyTheGremlim]

“GROND! GROND! GROND!”

[butlerweave]

Ramming speed row faster

[SunkenCiv]

There must be a bunch of these on the bottoms of the 7 seas.

[Monkey Face]

Wow! Now there’s a subject to study!

Thanks, SC!

‘Face

;o]

[\/\/ayne]

“If found return to Flavius, Rome.”

[BenLurkin]

DId they cast those in a single piece?

[BenLurkin]

DId they cast those in a single piece?

[central_va]

Row well number XLI.

[Dan in Wichita]

Reminds me of the Ben-Hur rowing scene.

"Ramming speed, hortator!" (or something to that effect)

[BenLurkin]

Answer from Adder’s post...

“The rostrum is made of cast bronze using the lost wax method and was molded directly onto the bow of the finished warship[4].”

[Licensed-To-Carry]

And live.

[gundog]

[katana]

More likely Carthaginian. The Romans put up a display of these as trophies after the war. The Carthaginians built their ships like putting together an IKEA kit. Once the Romans captured and dismantled one, found all the assembly code numbers written on them, they copied the pattern and built a matching fleet of their own. The first Punic War gained them Sicily and ended Carthage domination of the Med.

[null and void]

Vy a duck, vy not a chicken?

[gundog]

Dat’s a Greek trireme. Viaducts is Roman

[null and void]

Wow. Did Carthage but the first kit from Swedish Vikings? j/k