NĀVIS, NĀVĬGIUM (ναῦς, πλοῖον), a ship. The numerous fleet, with
which the Greeks are said to have sailed to the coast of Asia Minor,
must on the whole be regarded as sufficient evidence of the extent
to which navigation was carried on in those times, however much
of the detail in the Homeric description may have arisen from the
poet’s own imagination. In the Homeric catalogue it is stated that
each of the fifty Boeotian ships carried 120 warriors, and a ship
which carried so many cannot have been of very small dimensions. What
Homer states of the Boeotian vessels applies more or less to the
ships of other Greeks. These boats were provided with a mast (ἱστός)
which was fastened by two ropes (πρότονοι) to the two ends of the
ship, so that when the rope connecting it with the prow broke, the
mast would fall towards the stern, where it might kill the helmsman.
The mast could be erected or taken down as necessity required. They
also had sails (ἱστία), but no deck; each vessel however appears to
have had only one sail, which was used in favourable winds; and the
principal means of propelling the vessel lay in the rowers, who sat
upon benches (κληΐδες). The oars were fastened to the side of the
ship with leathern thongs (τροποὶ δερμάτινοι), in which they were
turned as a key in its hole. The ships in Homer are mostly called
black (μέλαιναι), probably because they were painted or covered with
a black substance, such as pitch, to protect the wood against the
influence of the water and the air; sometimes other colours, such
as μίλτος, _minium_ (a red colour), were used to adorn the sides
of the ships near the prow, whence Homer occasionally calls ships
μιλτοπάρῃοι, i.e. red-cheeked; they were also painted occasionally
with a purple colour (φοινικοπάρῃοι). When the Greeks had landed on
the coast of Troy, the ships were drawn on land, and fastened at
the poop to large stones with a rope which served as anchors. The
Greeks then surrounded the fleet with a fortification to secure it
against the attacks of the enemy. This custom of drawing the ships
upon the shore, when they were not used, was followed in later times
also, as every one will remember from the accounts in Caesar’s
Commentaries. In the Odyssey (v. 243, &c.) the building of a boat
(σχεδία) is described, though not with the minuteness which an
actual ship-builder might wish for. Ulysses first cuts down with his
axe twenty trees, and prepares the wood for his purpose by cutting
it smooth and giving it the proper shape. He then bores the holes
for nails and hooks, and fits the planks together and fastens them
with nails. He rounds the bottom of the ship like that of a broad
transport vessel, and raises the bulwark (ἴκρια), fitting it upon
the numerous ribs of the ship. He afterwards covers the whole of the
outside with planks, which are laid across the ribs from the keel
upwards to the bulwark: next the mast is made, and the sail-yard
attached to it, and lastly the rudder. When the ship is thus far
completed, he raises the bulwark still higher by a wicker-work which
goes all around the vessel, as a protection against the waves. This
raised bulwark of wicker-work and the like was used in later times
also. For ballast Ulysses throws into the ship ὕλη, which according
to the Scholiast consisted of wood, stones, and sand. Calypso then
brings him materials to make a sail of, and he fastens the ὑπέραι or
ropes which run from the top of the mast to the two ends of the yard,
and also the κάλοι with which the sail is drawn up or let down. The
πόδες mentioned in this passage were undoubtedly, as in the later
times, the ropes attached to the two lower corners of the square
sail. The ship of which the building is thus described was a small
boat, a σχεδία, as Homer calls it; but it had like all the Homeric
ships a round or flat bottom. Greater ships must have been of a more
complicated structure, as ship-builders are praised as artists. Below
(p. 266), a representation of two boats is given which appear to
bear great resemblance to the one of which the building is described
in the Odyssey.--The Corinthians were the first who brought the art
of ship-building nearest to the point at which we find it in the
time of Thucydides, and they were the first who introduced ships
with three ranks of rowers (τριήρεις, _Triremes_). About B.C. 700,
Ameinocles the Corinthian, to whom this invention is ascribed, made
the Samians acquainted with it; but it must have been preceded by
that of the _Biremes_, that is, ships with two ranks of rowers, which
Pliny attributes to the Erythraeans.[3] These innovations however
do not seem to have been generally adopted for a long time; for we
read that about the time of Cyrus the Phocaeans introduced long
sharp-keeled ships called πεντηκόντοροι. These belonged to the class
of long war-ships (νῆες μακραί), and had fifty rowers, twenty-five on
each side of the ship, who sat in one row. It is further stated that
before this time vessels called στρογγύλαι, with large round or
rather flat bottoms, had been used exclusively by all the Ionians in
Asia. At this period most Greeks seem to have adopted the long ships
with only one rank of rowers on each side (Moneris).
[Illustration: Moneris. (Montfaucon, vol. IV. pt. II. pl. 142.)]
Their name varied accordingly as they had fifty (πεντηκόντοροι), or
thirty (τριακόντοροι), or even a smaller number of rowers. A ship
of war of this class is represented in the preceding woodcut. The
following cut contains a beautiful fragment of a Biremis with a
complete deck. Another specimen of a small Biremis is given further
on.--
[Illustration: Biremis. (Winckelmann, pl. 207.)]
[Illustration: Navis Aperta. (Coin of Corcyra.)]
The first Greek people whom we know to have acquired a navy of
importance were the Corinthians, Samians, and Phocaeans. About the
time of Cyrus and Cambyses the Corinthian Triremes were generally
adopted by the Sicilian tyrants and by the Corcyraeans, who soon
acquired the most powerful navies among the Greeks. In other parts of
Greece and even at Athens and in Aegina the most common vessels about
this time were long ships with only one rank of rowers on each side.
Athens, although the foundation of its maritime power had been laid
by Solon [NAUCRARIA], did not obtain a fleet of any importance until
the time of Themistocles, who persuaded the Athenians to build 200
Triremes for the purpose of carrying on the war against Aegina. But
even then ships were not provided with complete decks (καταστρώματα)
covering the whole of the vessel. Ships with only a partial deck or
with no deck at all, were called ἄφρακτοι νῆες, and in Latin _naves
apertae_. Even at the time of the Persian war, the Athenian ships
were without a complete deck. Ships which had a complete deck were
called κατάφρακτοι, and the deck itself κατάστρωμα. At the time when
Themistocles induced the Athenians to build a fleet of 200 sail he
also carried a decree, that every year twenty new Triremes should
be built from the produce of the mines of Laurium. After the time
of Themistocles as many as twenty Triremes must have been built
every year both in times of war and of peace, as the average number
of Triremes which was always ready amounted to between three and
four hundred. Such an annual addition was the more necessary, as
the vessels were of a light structure and did not last long. The
whole superintendence of the building of new Triremes was in the
hands of the senate of the Five Hundred, but the actual business was
entrusted to a committee called the τριηροποιοί, one of whom acted
as their treasurer, and had in his keeping the money set apart for
the purpose. Under the Macedonian supremacy the Rhodians became the
greatest maritime power in Greece. The navy of Sparta was never of
great importance. Navigation remained for the most part what it had
been before; the Greeks seldom ventured out into the open sea, and
it was generally considered necessary to remain in sight of the
coast or of some island, which also served as guides in daytime: in
the night the position, rising and setting of the different stars
answered the same purpose. In winter navigation generally ceased
altogether. In cases where it would have been necessary to coast
around a considerable extent of country, which was connected with the
main land by a narrow neck, the ships were sometimes drawn across the
neck of land from one sea to the other, by machines called ὁλκοί.
This was done most frequently across the isthmus of Corinth.--The
various kinds of ships used by the Greeks might be divided, according
to the number of ranks of rowers employed in them, into Moneres,
Biremes, Triremes, Quadriremes, Quinqueremes, &c., up to the enormous
ship with forty ranks of rowers, built by Ptolemaeus Philopator. But
all these appear to have been constructed on the same principle,
and it is more convenient to divide them into _ships of war_ and
_ships of burden_ (φορτικὰ, φορτηγοὶ, ὁλκάδες, πλοῖα, στρογγύλαι,
_naves onerariae_, _naves actuariae_). Ships of the latter kind were
not calculated for quick movement or rapid sailing, but to carry the
greatest possible quantity of goods. Hence their structure was bulky,
their bottom round, and although they were not without rowers, yet
the chief means by which they were propelled were their sails. The
most common ships of war in the earlier times were the pentecontori
(πεντηκόντοροι), but afterwards they were chiefly Triremes, and
the latter are frequently designated only by the name νῆες, while
all the others are called by the name indicating their peculiar
character. Triremes however were again divided into two classes:
the one consisting of real men-of-war, which were quick-sailing
vessels (ταχεῖαι), and the other of transports either for soldiers
(στρατιώτιδες or ὁπλιταγωγοί) or for horses (ἱππηγοί, ἱππαγωγοί).
Ships of this class were more heavy and awkward, and were therefore
not used in battle except in cases of necessity. The ordinary size of
a war galley may be inferred from the fact that the average number of
men engaged in it, including the crew and marines, was two hundred,
to whom on some occasions as many as thirty epibatae were added.
[EPIBATAE.]--Vessels with more than three ranks of rowers on each
side were not constructed in Greece till about the year 400 B.C.,
when Dionysius I., tyrant of Syracuse, who bestowed great care upon
his navy, built the first Quadriremes (τετρήρεις), and Quinqueremes
(πεντήρεις). In the reign of Dionysius II., Hexeres (ἑξήρεις) are
also mentioned. After the time of Alexander the Great the use of
vessels with four, five, and more ranks of rowers became very
general, and it is well known that the first Punic war was chiefly
carried on with Quinqueremes. Ships with twelve, thirty, or even
forty ranks of rowers, such as they were built by Alexander and the
Ptolemies, appear to have been mere curiosities, and did not come
into common use. The Athenians at first did not adopt vessels larger
than Triremes, probably because they thought that with rapidity and
skill they could do more than with large and unwieldy ships. In the
year B.C. 356 they continued to use nothing but Triremes; but in
B.C. 330 the republic had already a number of Quadriremes, which was
afterwards increased. The first Quinqueremes at Athens are mentioned
in a document belonging to the year B.C. 325.--Among the smaller
vessels we may mention the ἄκατος or ἀκάτιον, which seems to have
been sometimes used as a ship of burden. The name Scapha (σκάφη)
denotes a small skiff or life-boat, which was commonly attached to
merchantmen for the purpose of saving the crew in danger.--_Liburna_,
or _Liburnica_, in Greek λιβυρνίς or λιβυρνόν, is a name given
apparently to every war-ship, from a bireme up to those with six
lines of rowers on each side, but in the time of Augustus, liburnae
even with six lines of rowers were considered small and swift in
comparison with the unwieldy ships of Antony at Actium. They were
usually provided with a beak, whence a _navis rostrata_ is generally
the same as a Liburna. They were first constructed by the Liburnians
(whence they derived their name), and formed the main part of the
fleet of Augustus in the battle of Actium.--Every vessel at Athens,
as in modern times, had a name given to it, which was generally
of the feminine gender. The Romans sometimes gave to their ships
masculine names. The Greek names were either taken from ancient
heroines such as Nausicaa, or they were abstract words such as
_Forethought_, _Safety_, _Guidance_, &c. In many cases the name of
the builder also was added.--The Romans appear to have first become
aware of the importance of a fleet during the second Samnite war,
in the year B.C. 311: when _duumviri navales_ were for the first
time appointed by the people. The ships which the Romans now built
were undoubtedly Triremes. This fleet, however insignificant it may
have been, continued to be kept up until the time when Rome became a
real maritime power. In the year B.C. 260, when the Romans saw that
without a navy they could not carry on the war against Carthage with
any advantage, the senate ordained that a fleet should be built.
Triremes would now have been of no avail against the high-bulwarked
vessels (Quinqueremes) of the Carthaginians. But the Romans would
have been unable to build others had not fortunately a Carthaginian
Quinquereme been wrecked on the coast of Bruttium, and fallen into
their hands. This wreck the Romans took as their model, and after it
built 120, or according to others 130 ships. From this time forward
the Romans continued to keep up a powerful navy. Towards the end of
the Republic they also increased the size of their ships, and built
war vessels of from six to ten ranks of rowers. The construction of
their ships, however, scarcely differed from that of Greek vessels;
the only great difference was that the Roman galleys were provided
with a greater variety of destructive engines of war than those of
the Greeks. They even erected turres and tabulata upon the decks of
their great men-of-war (_naves turritae_), and fought upon them as if
they were standing upon the walls of a fortress (see cut, p. 260).
[Illustration: BIREMIS.
A. _Prora_, πρώρα.
B. _Oculus_, ὀφθαλμός.
C. _Rostrum_, ἔμβολος.
D. _Cheniscus_, χηνίσκος.
E. _Puppis_, πρύμνη.
F. _Aplustre_, ἄφλαστον, with the pole containing the _fascia_ or _taenia_.
G. τράφηξ.
H. _Remi_, κώπαι.
I. _Gubernaculum_, πηδάλιον.
K. _Malus_, ἱστός.
L. _Velum_, ἱστός.
M. _Antenna_, κεραία, κέρας.
N. _Cornua_, ἀκροκέραιαι.
O. _Ceruchi_, κεροῦχοι.
P. _Carchesium_, καρχήσιον.
Q. κάλοι, καλῴδια.
R. πρότονος.
S. _Pedes_, πόδες.
T. _Opifera_, ὑπέραι.]
We now proceed to describe the parts of ancient vessels.--1. The prow
(πρώρα or μέτωπον, prora) was generally ornamented on both sides
with figures, which were either painted upon the sides or laid in.
It seems to have been very common to represent an eye on each side
of the prow. Upon the prow or fore-deck there was always some emblem
(παράσημον, insigne, figura) by which the ship was distinguished from
others. At the head of the prow there projected the στόλος, and its
extremity was termed ἀκροστόλιον, which was frequently made in the
shape of an animal or a helmet. It appears to have been sometimes
covered with brass and to have served as an embole (ἐμβολή) against
the enemy’s vessels. The ἀκροστόλιον is sometimes designated by
the name of χηνίσκος(from χήν, a goose), because it was formed
in the shape of the head or neck of a goose or swan, as in the
accompanying woodcut.
[Illustration: Cheniscus. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)]
The cheniscus was often gilt and made of bronze. Just below the prow
and projecting a little above the keel was the _Rostrum_ (ἔμβολος,
ἔμβολον) or beak, which consisted of a beam, to which were attached
sharp and pointed irons, or the head of a ram and the like. This
ἔμβολος was used for the purpose of attacking another vessel and of
breaking its sides. These beaks were at first always above the water
and visible; afterwards they were attached lower, so that they were
invisible, and thus became still more dangerous to other ships. The
annexed woodcuts represent three different beaks of ships.
[Illustration: Rostra, Beaks of Ships. (Montfaucon, pl. 133.)]
The command in the prow of a vessel was exercised by an officer
called πρωρεύς, who seems to have been next in rank to the steersman,
and to have had the care of the gear, and the command over the
rowers.--2. _The stern_ (πρύμνη, _puppis_) was generally above the
other parts of the deck, and in it the helmsman had his elevated
seat. It is seen in the representations of ancient vessels to be
rounder than the prow, though its extremity is likewise sharp. The
stern was, like the prow, adorned in various ways, but especially
with the image of the tutelary deity of the vessel (_tutela_). In
some representations a kind of roof is formed over the head of the
steersman, and the upper part of the stern frequently has an elegant
ornament called _aplustre_, and in Greek ἄφλαστον, which constituted
the highest part of the poop. It formed a corresponding ornament to
the ἀκροστόλιον at the prow. At the junction of the aplustre with
the stern on which it was based, we commonly observe an ornament
resembling a circular shield: this was called ἀσπιδεῖον or ἀσπιδίσκη.
It is seen on the two aplustria here represented. The aplustre rose
immediately behind the gubernator, and served in some degree to
protect him from wind and rain. Sometimes there appears, beside the
aplustre, a pole, to which a fillet or pennon (ταινία) was attached,
which served both to distinguish and adorn the vessel, and also to
show the direction of the wind.--3. The τράφηξ is the bulwark of the
vessel, or rather the uppermost edge of it. In small boats the pegs
(σκαλμοί, _scalmi_) between which the oars move, and to which they
are fastened by a thong (τροπωτήρ), were upon the τράφηξ. In all
other vessels the oars passed through holes in the side of the vessel
(ὀφθαλμοί, τρήματα, or τρυπήματα).--
[Illustration: Aphlaston, Aplustre.]
4. The middle part of the deck in most ships of war appears to have
been raised above the bulwark, or at least to a level with its upper
edge, and thus enabled the soldiers to occupy a position from which
they could see far around and hurl their darts against the enemy.
Such an elevated deck appears in the annexed woodcut representing a
_Moneris_.
[Illustration: Moneris. (From a Painting at Pompeii.)]
In this instance the flag is standing upon the hind-deck.--5. One of
the most interesting, as well as important parts in the arrangements
of the Biremes, Triremes, &c., is the position of the ranks of
rowers, from which the ships themselves derive their names. Various
opinions have been entertained by those who have written upon this
subject. Thus much is certain, that the different ranks of rowers,
who sat along the sides of a vessel, were placed one above the
other. In ordinary vessels, from the Moneris up to the Quinqueremis,
each oar was managed by one man. The rowers sat upon little benches
attached to the ribs of the vessel, and called ἑδώλια, and in Latin
_fori_ and _transtra_. The lowest row of rowers was called θαλάμος,
the rowers themselves, θαλαμῖται or θαλάμιοι. The uppermost ordo of
rowers was called θράνος, and the rowers themselves θρανῖται. The
middle ordo or ordines of rowers were called ζυγὰ, ζύγιοι or ζυγῖται.
Each of this last class of rowers had likewise his own seat, and
did not, as some have supposed, sit upon benches running across the
vessel. The gear of a vessel was divided into _wooden_ and _hanging
gear_ (σκεύη ξύλινα, and σκεύη κρεμαστά).
I. WOODEN GEAR.--1. _Oars_ (κώπαι, remi). The collective term for
oars is ταῤῥός, which properly signified only the blade or flat
part of the oar, but was afterwards used as a collective expression
for all the oars, with the exception of the rudder. The oars varied
in size accordingly as they were used by a lower or higher ordo of
rowers, and from the name of the ordo by which they were used, they
also received their special names, viz., κώπαι θαλάμιαι, ζύγιαι, and
θρανίτιδες. Each Trireme had on an average 170 rowers. In a Roman
Quinquereme during the first Punic war, the average number of rowers
was 300; in later times we even find as many as 400. The lower part
of the holes through which the oars passed appears to have been
covered with leather (ἄσκωμα), which also extended a little way
outside the hole.--2. _The rudder_ (πηδάλιον, _gubernaculum_).
[Illustration: Gubernacula, rudders. (From an ancient Lamp and Gems.)]
Before the invention of the rudder, vessels must have been propelled
and guided by the oars alone. This circumstance may account for the
form of the ancient rudder, as well as for the mode of using it. It
was like an oar with a very broad blade, and was commonly placed on
each side of the stern, not at its extremity. The annexed woodcut
presents examples of its appearance as it is frequently exhibited on
gems, coins, and other works of art. The figure in the centre shows a
Triton blowing the buccina, and holding a rudder over his shoulder.
The left-hand figure represents a rudder with its helm or tiller
crossed by the cornucopia. In the third figure Venus leans with her
left arm upon a rudder to indicate her origin from the sea. The
rudder was managed by the gubernator (κυβερνήτης), who is also called
the _rector navis_ as distinguished from the _magister_. A ship had
sometimes one, but more commonly two rudders; but they were managed
by the steersman to prevent confusion. In larger ships the two
rudders were joined by a pole, which was moved by the gubernator,
and kept the rudders parallel. The contrivances for attaching the
two rudders to one another and to the sides of the ship, are called
ζεῦγλαι or ζευκτηρίαι.--3. _Ladders_ (κλιμακίδες, _scalae_). Each
Trireme had two wooden ladders, and the same seems to have been the
case in τριακόντοροι.--4. _Poles_ or punt poles (κοντοί, _conti_).
Three of these, of different lengths, belonged to every Trireme.--5.
Παραστάται or supports for the masts. They seem to have been a kind
of props placed at the foot of the masts.--6. The _mast_ (ἱστός,
_malus_). The ancients had vessels with one, two, or three masts.
The fore-mast was called ἀκάτειος, the mainmast, ἱστὸς μέγας. A
triaconter, or a vessel with 30 rowers, had likewise two masts, and
the smaller mast here, as well as in a trireme, was near the prow.
In three-masted vessels the largest mast was nearest the stern. The
masts as well as the yards were usually of fir. The part of the mast
immediately above the yard (_antenna_), formed a structure similar to
a drinking-cup, and bore the name of _carchesium_ (καρχήσιον). Into
it the mariners ascended in order to manage the sail, to obtain a
distant view, or to discharge missiles. Breastworks (θωράκια) were
fixed to these structures, so as to supply the place of defensive
armour; and pulleys (τροχηλίαι, _trochleae_) for hoisting up stones
and weapons from below. The continuation of the mast above the
carchesium was called the “distaff” (ἠλακάτη), corresponding to
our top-mast or top-gallant mast.--7. The _yards_ (κέρα, κεραίαι,
_antennae_).
[Illustration: Ceruchi. (From an ancient Lamp.)]
The mainyard was fastened to the top of the mast by ropes termed
_ceruchi_, as seen in the preceding woodcut. To the mainyard was
attached the mainsail, which was hoisted or let down as the occasion
might require. In the two extremities of the yard (_cornua_,
ἀκροκέραιαι), ropes (_ceruchi_, κηροῦχοι) were attached, which passed
to the top of the mast; and by means of these ropes and the pulleys
connected with them, the yard and sail, guided by the hoop, were
hoisted to the height required. There are numerous representations of
ancient ships in which the antenna is seen, as in the two woodcuts
here appended. In the second of them there are ropes hanging down
from the antenna, the object of which was to enable the sailors to
turn the antenna and the sail according to the wind.
[Illustration: Antennae. (From ancient Gems.)]
II. HANGING GEAR.--1. _Hypozomata_ (Ὑποζώματα), thick and broad ropes
running in a horizontal direction around the ship from the stern to
the prow, and intended to keep the whole fabric together. They ran
round the vessel in several circles, and at certain distances from
one another. The Latin name for ὑπόζωμα is _tormentum_. Sometimes
they were taken on board when a vessel sailed, and not put on till
it was thought necessary. The act of putting them on was called
ὑποζωννύναι, or διαζωννύναι, or ζῶσαι. A Trireme required four
ὑποζώματα.--2. _The sail_ (Ἱστίον, _velum_). Most ancient ships had
only one sail, which was attached with the yard to the great mast. In
a Trireme also one sail might be sufficient, but the trierarch might
nevertheless add a second. As each of the two masts of a Trireme
had two sail-yards, it further follows that each mast might have
two sails, one of which was placed lower than the other. The two
belonging to the mainmast were called ἱστία μεγάλα, and those of the
fore-mast ἱστία ἀκάτεια. The former were used on ordinary occasions,
but the latter probably only in cases when it was necessary to sail
with extraordinary speed. The sails of the Attic war-galleys, and
of most ancient ships in general, were of a square form. Whether
triangular sails were ever used by the Greeks, as has been frequently
supposed, is very doubtful. The Romans, however, used triangular
sails, which they called _Suppara_, and which had the shape of an
inverted Greek Δ (⛛), the upper side of which was attached to the
yard.--3. _Cordage_ (τοπεῖα) differed from the σχοινία or κάλοι.
The σχοινία (_funes_) are the strong ropes to which the anchors
were attached, and by which a ship was fastened to the land; while
the τοπεῖα were a lighter kind of ropes and made with greater care,
which were attached to the masts, yards, and sails. Each rope of this
kind was made for a distinct purpose and place (τόπος, whence the
name τοπεῖα). The following kinds are most worthy of notice:--_a_.
καλῴδια or κάλοι, were probably the ropes by which the mast was
fastened to both sides of the ship, so that the πρότονοι in the
Homeric ships were only an especial kind of καλῴδια, or the καλῴδια
themselves differently placed. In later times the πρότονος was the
rope which went from the top of the mainmast (καρχήσιον) to the prow
of the ship, and thus was what is now called the main-stay. _b_.
_Ceruchi_ (κεροῦχοι, ἱμάντες), ropes which ran from the two ends
of the sail-yard to the top of the mast. In more ancient vessels
the ἱμὰς consisted of only one rope; in later times it consisted of
two, and sometimes four, which uniting at the top of the mast, and
there passing through a ring, descended on the other side, where it
formed the ἐπίτονος, by means of which the sail was drawn up or let
down. _c_. ἄγκοινα, Latin _anquina_, was the rope which went from
the middle of a yard to the top of the mast, and was intended to
facilitate the drawing up and letting down of the sail. _d_. Πόδες
(_pedes_) were in later times, as in the poems of Homer, the ropes
attached to the two lower corners of a square sail. These πόδες ran
from the ends of the sail to the sides of the vessel towards the
stern, where they were fastened with rings attached to the outer
side of the bulwark. _e_. Ὑπέραι were the two ropes attached to the
two ends of the sail-yard, and thence came down to a part of the
ship near the stern. Their object was to move the yard according to
the wind. In Latin they are called _opifera_, which is, perhaps,
only a corruption of _hypera_.--4. Παραῤῥύματα. The ancients as
early as the time of Homer had various preparations raised above
the edge of a vessel, which were made of skins and wicker-work, and
which were intended as a protection against high waves, and also to
serve as a kind of breast-work behind which the men might be safe
against the darts of the enemy. These elevations of the bulwark are
called παραῤῥύματα. They were probably fixed upon the edge on both
sides of the vessel, and were taken off when not wanted. Each galley
appears to have had several παραῤῥύματα, two made of hair and two
white ones, these four being regularly mentioned as belonging to one
ship.--5. Σχοινία are the stronger and heavier kinds of ropes. There
were two kinds of these, viz. the σχοινία ἀγκύρεια, to which the
anchor was attached, and σχοινία ἐπίγυα or ἐπίγεια (_retinacula_),
by which the ship was fastened to the shore or drawn upon the
shore.--6. The _anchor_ (ἀγκύρα, _ancora_). We have already remarked
that in the Homeric age anchors were not known, and large stones
(εὐναὶ, _sleepers_) used in their stead. When anchors came to be
used, they were generally made of iron, and their form resembled
that of a modern anchor. Such an anchor was often termed _bidens_,
διπλῆ, ἀμφίβολος or ἀμφίστομος, because it had two teeth or flukes;
but sometimes it had only one, and was then called ἑτεροστόμος.
The technical expressions in the use of the anchor are: _ancoram
solvere_, ἀγκύραν χαλᾷν, to loose the anchor; _ancoram jacere_,
ἀγκύραν βάλλειν or ῥίπτειν, to cast anchor; and _ancoram tollere_,
ἀγκύραν αἴρειν or ἀναίρεσθαι, to weigh anchor, whence αἴρειν by
itself means “to set sail,” ἀγκύραν being understood. The following
figure shows the cable (_funis_), passing through a hole in the
prow (_oculus_). Each ship of course had several anchors. The last
or most powerful anchor, “the last hope,” was called ἱερά, _sacra_,
and persons trying their last hope were said _sacram solvere_.--The
preceding account of the different parts of the ship will be rendered
still clearer by the drawing on p. 263.
[Illustration: Biremis. (From a Marble at Rome.)]