Warfare and Society in Ancient Greece
Lecture 25
The new identity of the Hellenistic soldier II:
The navy
i. New kinds of warships: Syracuse, Carthage, the Phoenicians
Pliny, Natural History VII.207
According to Thucydides,Aminocles, the Corinthian, first constructed them with three banks of oars; according to Aristotle, the Carthaginians, those with four banks; according to Mnesigiton, the people of Salamis, those with five banks
Diod. XIV.41.3
At once, therefore, he gathered skilled workmen, commandeering them for from the cities under his control and attracting them by high wages from Italy and Greece as well as Carthaginian territory. For his purpose was to make weapons in great numbers and every kind of missile, and also quadriremes and quinqueremes, no ship of the latter size having yet been built at that time.
Diod. XIV.42.2
Consequently the workmen brought unsurpassable devotion to the devising of many missiles and engines of war that were strange and capable of rendering great service. He also began the construction of quadriremes and quinqueremes, being the first to think of the construction of such ships.
Diod. XI.44.6-7
Now that Dionysius had failed of this design, he dispatched his ambassadors for the same purpose to the people of the Locrians. When they voted to approve the marriage connection, Dionysius sued for the hand of Doris, the daughter of Xenetus, who at that time was their most esteemed citizen.Afew days before the marriage he sent to Locri a quinquereme, the first one he had built, embellished with silver and gold furnishings; on this he had the maiden conveyed to Syracuse, where he led her into the acropolis.
ii. Demetrius Poliorcetes’ fleet
Diodorus Siculus, XX.49-50
When Ptolemy heard of the defeat of his men, he sailed from Egypt with considerable land and sea forces. Reaching Cyprus at Paphos, he received ships from the cities and coasted along to Citium, which was distant from Salamis two hundred stades. 2He had in all one hundred and forty ships of war, of which the largest were quinqueremes and the smallest quadriremes; more than two hundred transports followed, which carried at least ten thousand foot-soldiers. 3Ptolemy sent certain men to Menelaüs by land, directing him, if possible, to send him quickly the ships from Salamis, which numbered sixty; for he hoped that, if he received these as reinforcement, he would easily be superior in the naval engagement since he would have two hundred ships in the battle. 4Learning of his intention, Demetrius left a part of his forces for the siege; and, manning all his ships and embarking upon them the best of his soldiers, he equipped them with missiles and ballistae and mounted on the prows a sufficient number of catapults for throwing bolts three spans in length. 5After making the fleet ready in every way for a naval battle, he sailed around the city and, anchoring at the mouth of the harbour just out of range, spent the night, preventing the ships from the city from joining the others, and at the same time watching for the coming of the enemy and occupying a position ready for battle. 6When Ptolemy sailed up toward Salamis, the service vessels following at a distance, his fleet was awe-inspiring to behold because of the multitude of its ships.
50 When Demetrius observed Ptolemy's approach, he left the admiral Antisthenes with ten of the quinqueremes to prevent the ships in the city from going forth for the battle, since the harbour had a narrow exit; and he ordered the cavalry to patrol the shore so that, if any wreck should occur, they might rescue those who should swim across to the land. 2He himself drew up the fleet and moved against the enemy with one hundred and eight ships in all, including those that had been provided with crews from the captured towns. The largest of the ships were sevens and most of them were quinqueremes. 3The left wing was composed of seven Phoenician sevens and thirty Athenian quadriremes, Medius the admiral having the command. Sailing behind these he placed ten sixes and as many quinqueremes, for he had decided to make strong this wing where he himself was going to fight the decisive battle. 4In the middle of the line he stationed the lightest of his ships, which Themison of Samos and Marsyas, who compiled the history of Macedonia, commanded. The right wing was commanded by Hegesippus of Halicarnassus and Pleistias of Cos, who was the chief pilot of the whole fleet.
iii. Philip V’s sixteen-reme
Livy, XXXIII.30.1-5
A few days later the ten commissioners arrived from Rome. On their advice peace was granted to Philip on the following terms: All the Greek communities in Europe and Asia were to be free and independent; Philip was to withdraw his garrisons from those which had been under his rule and after their evacuation hand them over to the Romans before the date fixed for the Isthmian Games. He was also to withdraw his garrisons from the following cities in Asia: Euromus, Pedasae, Bargyliae, Iasos, Myrina, Abydos, Thasos and Perinthus, for it was decided that these too should be free. With regard to the freedom of Cios, Quinctius undertook to communicate the decision of the senate and the commissioners to Prusias, King of Bithynia. The king was also to restore all prisoners and deserters to the Romans, and all his decked ships, save five, were to be surrendered, but he could retain his royal galley, which was all but unmanageable owing to its size and was propelled by sixteen banks of oars.
Livy, XLV.35
The captive monarchs Perseus and Gentius, with their children, were the first to be brought to Rome as prisoners; a host of prisoners followed them. These were succeeded by the Macedonians and the leading men of Greece who had received orders to go to Rome. In the case of these latter the summons embraced not only those at home, but also any who were reported to be with Antiochus or Ptolemy. A few days later Paulus himself sailed up the Tiber to the City in the king's ship, a vessel of enormous size propelled by sixteen banks of oars and adorned with the spoils of Macedonia in the shape of glittering armour and embroidered fabrics which belonged to the king. The river banks were crowded with multitudes who had streamed out to greet his arrival. Anicius and Octavius, with their fleet, arrived shortly afterwards.
iv. Ships as platforms to attack cities
Diodorus Siculus, XX.85.1
Demetrius, who had an ample supply of everything required for setting up his engines of war, began to prepare two penthouses, one for the ballistae, the other for the catapults, each of them firmly mounted on two cargo vessels fastened together, and two towers of four storeys, exceeding in height the towers of the harbour, each of them mounted upon two ships of the same size and fastened there in such a way that as the towers advanced the support on each side upheld an equal weight.
v. Shipbuilding and timber supply
Plutarch, Life of Demetrius XLIII-XLIV
But while Demetrius lay most dangerously sick at Pella, he almost lost Macedonia; for Pyrrhus swiftly overran it and advanced as far as Edessa. As soon, however, as Demetrius had somewhat recovered his strength he easily drove Pyrrhus out of the country, and then came to a kind of agreement with him, being unwilling that continual collisions and local conflicts with this opponent should defeat his set purpose. And his purpose was nothing less than the recovery of all the realm that had been subject to his father. Moreover, his preparations were fully commensurate with his hopes and undertakings. He had already gathered an army which numbered ninety-eight thousand foot, and besides, nearly twelve thousand horsemen. 3At the same time, moreover, he had laid the keels for a fleet of five hundred ships, some of which were in Piraeus, some at Corinth, some at Chalcis, and some at Pella. And he would visit all these places in person, showing what was to be done and aiding in the plans, while all men wondered, not only at the multitude, but also at the magnitude of the works. 4Up to this time no man had seen a ship of fifteen or sixteen banks of oars. At a later time, it is true, Ptolemy Philopator built one of forty banks of oars, which had a length of two hundred and eighty cubits, and a height, to the top of her stern, of forty-eight; she was manned by four hundred sailors, who did no rowing, and by four thousand rowers, and besides these she had room, on her gangways and decks, for nearly three thousand men-atarms. But this ship was merely for show; and since she differed little from a stationary edifice on land, being meant for exhibition and not for use, she was moved only with difficulty and danger. 5However, in the ships of Demetrius their beauty did not mar their fighting qualities, nor did the magnificence of their equipment rob them of their usefulness, but they had a speed and effectiveness which was more remarkable than their great size.
44 Accordingly, while this great force, the like of which no man had possessed since Alexander, was getting under way against Asia, the three kings, Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, formed a league against Demetrius.
Polybius, V.1-2
King Philip, being in want of cornand money for his army, summoned the Achaeans through their magistrates to a General Assembly. 7When this met at Aegium according to the law of the League, noticing that Aratus was little disposed to help him owing to the intrigues of Apelles against him at the late election, and that Eperatus was by nature no man of action and was held in contempt by all, 8he became convinced by these facts of the error that Apelles and Leontius had committed, and decided to take the part of Aratus. 9He therefore persuaded the magistrates to transfer the Assembly to Sicyon and there meeting the elder and younger Aratus in private and laying all the blame for what had happened on Apelles, he begged them not to desert their original policy. 10Upon their readily consenting, he entered the assembly and with the support of these statesmen managed to obtain all he wanted for his purpose. 11For the Achaeans passed a vote to pay him at once fifty talents for his first campaign, to provide three months' pay for his troops and ten thousand medimni of corn, 12and for the future as long as he remained in the Peloponnese fighting in alliance with them he was to receive seventeen talents per month from the League.
2 After passing this decree the Achaeans dispersed to their several cities. When the troops had mustered from their winter quarters, the king at a council of his friends decided to prosecute the war by sea. 2This, he was convinced, was the only way by which he could himself fall suddenly on his enemies from every side, while at the same time his adversaries would be deprived of the power of rendering assistance to each other, 3separated as they were geographically and each in alarm for their own safety owing to the rapidity and secrecy with which the enemy could descend on them by sea. For it was against the Aetolians, Lacedaemonians, and Eleans that he was fighting. 4Having resolved on this he collected at the Lechaeum the Achaean ships and his own, and by constant practice trained the soldiers of the phalanx to row. The Macedonians obeyed his orders in this respect with the utmost alacrity, 5for they are not only most intrepid in regular battles on land, but very ready to undertake temporary service at sea, and also industrious in digging trenches, 6just as Hesiod represents the sons of Achaeus to be "joying in war as if it were a feast."
7 The king, then, and the bulk of the Macedonian army remained in Corinth occupied with this training and preparation. 8But Apelles, being unable either to keep Philip under his influence or to endure the diminishment of his power that resulted from the king's disregard, formed a conspiracy with Leontius and Megaleas by which these two were to remain with Philip and in the actual hour of need damage the king's service by deliberate neglect, while he himself would withdraw to Chalcis and take care that the supplies required for Philip's project should not reach him from any quarter. 9Having come to this mischievous understanding with these two colleagues, he left for Chalcis, alleging some plausible pretext to the king, 10and remaining there so effectually kept his sworn word, all yielding him obedience owing to his former credit at court, that at length the king was in such want of money that he was compelled to pawn some of the plate in use at his table and subsist on the proceeds.
11 When the ships were collected, the Macedonians being now well instructed in rowing, the king, after issuing rations of corn to his troops and paying them, put to sea, and on the second day arrived at Patrae with six thousand Macedonians and twelve hundred mercenaries.
Livy XXXVII.22-23
It was now decided that Eumenes should go home and make the necessary preparations for the passage of the consul and his army across the Hellespont, whilst the Roman and Rhodian fleets returned to Samos, and remained stationed there to prevent Polyxenidas from moving out of Ephesus. Here M. Aemilius the praetor's brother died. After the funeral honours had been paid, the Rhodians set sail for Rhodes with thirteen ships of their own, one quinquereme from Cos and one from Cnidus. They were to take up their station there in order to be ready for the fleet which was reported to be coming from Syria. Two days before Eudamus arrived with the fleet from Samos, a squadron of thirteen ships, together with four which had been guarding the coast of Caria, had been despatched from Rhodes under the command of Pamphilidas to meet this same Syrian fleet, and had raised the siege of Daedala and other fortified places belonging to Peraea which the king's troops were investing. Eudamus received instructions to sail again at once. The fleet which he had brought with him was augmented by six undecked ships, and with this force, by making all possible speed, he overtook the other at a harbour called Megiste. From there the combined fleets sailed on to Phaselis, which appeared to be the best position in which to await the enemy.
Phaselis is situated on the confines of Lycia and Pamphylia and stands on a headland jutting out into the sea. It is the first land visible to ships sailing from Cilicia to Rhodes, and affords an extensive view seawards. This position was selected mainly because it lay on the route of the enemy fleet. One thing, however, had not been foreseen. Owing to the unhealthiness of the locality and the season of the year - it was midsummer - and also in consequence of a strange and mysterious smell, there was a great deal of sickness, especially among the men at the oars. Alarmed at the spread of this epidemic they sailed away and passing the Pamphylian Gulf anchored off the mouth of the Eurymedon. Here they were informed by messengers from Aspendus that the enemy were at Sida. The progress of the king's fleet had been retarded by the Etesian winds, which blow from the N.W. at a fixed season. The Rhodian force consisted of thirty-two quadriremes and four triremes; the king's fleet numbered thirty-seven vessels of larger build; amongst them were three hepteres and four hexeres. There were in addition to these ten triremes. They, too, discovered from an observation post that the enemy were not far off. On the morrow, as soon as it was light, the two fleets left their anchorage, prepared to fight on that day. As soon as the Rhodians had rounded the point which projects into the sea from Sida, both fleets came at once in sight of each other. The left division of the king's fleet which stood out to sea was under Hannibal's command, the right under that of Apollonius, one of the court nobles, and they already had their ships in line. The Rhodians came on in a long column, Eudamus' ship leading, Chariclitus closing the rear and Pamphilidas commanding the centre. When Eudamus saw that the enemy were in line and prepared to engage, he too put out to the open sea and signalled to the ships which followed to move into line as they came up, keeping their order. This at first led to some confusion as he had gone sufficiently far out to sea to allow of all the ships coming into line towards the land, and in his extreme haste he had only five ships with him when he met Hannibal, the rest were not following, but were, as ordered, getting into line. On the extreme left there was no further room towards the land, and they were still in confusion when the fighting began on the right with Hannibal.
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