The Age of Titans The Rise and Fall of the Great Hellenistic Navies

by Murray, William M.

• ISBN13: 9780195388640
• ISBN10: 019538864X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

While we know a great deal about naval strategies in the classical Greek and later Roman periods, our understanding of the period in between--the Hellenistic Age--has never been as complete. However, thanks to new physical evidence discovered in the past half-century and the construction of Olympias, a full-scale working model of an Athenian trieres (trireme) by the Hellenic Navy during the 1980s, we now have new insights into the evolution of naval warfare following the death of Alexander the Great. In what has been described as an ancient naval arms race, the successors of Alexander produced the largest warships of antiquity, some as long as 400 feet carrying as many as 4000 rowers and 3000 marines. Vast, impressive, and elaborate, these warships "of larger form"--as described by Livy--were built not just to simply convey power but to secure specific strategic objectives. When these particular factors disappeared, this "Macedonian" model of naval power also faded away--that is, until Cleopatra and Mark Antony made one brief, extravagant attempt to reestablish it, an endeavor Octavian put an end to once and for all at the battle of Actium. Representing the fruits of more than thirty years of research, The Age of Titansprovides the most vibrant account to date of Hellenistic naval warfare.

Author Biography

William M. Murray is Mary and Gus Stathis Professor of Greek History and Director of the Ancient Studies Center at the University of South Florida.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. ix
List of Maps	p. xvii
list of Tables	p. xix
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Abbreviations	p. xxv
Introduction: Understanding the Big Ship Phenomenon	p. 3
Frontal Ramming and the Development of "Fours" and "Fives"	p. 13
Frontal Ramming: Structural Considerations	p. 31
The Development of Naval Siege Warfare	p. 69
Philo the Byzantine and the Requirements of Naval Siege Warfare	p. 129
Big Ships, Boarding, and Catapults	p. 143
The Culmination of the Big Ship Phenomenon	p. 171
The End of the Big Ship Phenomenon	p. 208
Conclusion	p. 245
Testimoniafor "Fours"	p. 251
Testimoniafor "Fives"	p. 261
Testimoniafor "Sixes" to "Tens"	p. 269
Testimoniafor "Elevens" to "Forty"	p. 279
BOOKVofPhilo's Compendium of Mechanics-The Naval Sections	p. 283
Testimoniafor Naval Artillery	p. 303
Glossary	p. 307
Chronology	p. 311
Bibliography	p. 315
Index	p. 329
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