Risks in ancient seafaring
The variety of measures in a central field of ancient life:
from risk-minimizing contracts to magical practices
PD Dr. Ulrike Ehmig
SFB 933 – TP A03-UP2
Ústav klasických studií
Masarykova univerzita
Brünn, 12.10.2017
RIB I 544 = ILS 2441 (p. 178) = CSIR GB I 9, 55: Chester / Deva
[------] / optionis ad spem / ordinis | centuria Lucili / Ingenui qui / naufragio peri(i)t /
(hic) s(itus) e(st)
Causes of death: Shipwreck and drowning
Mykonos Mus.Delos Mus. A 1297
Epitaphs from Rhenea / Delos with illustrations of shipwrecks
http://oxrep.classics.ox.ac.uk/databases/shipwrecks_database/
The Oxford Roman Economy Project: Shipwrecks Database
Lardier 4
Madrague de Giens
Examples of Roman shipwrecks
Excellent example for the variety of the ancient perception of the possibility and,
due to experience, and also of the probability of future damages and losses
Ancient seafaring
wide range of preventive measures that can be detected in very different sources
Distinction into three categories:
- sacred rituals
- technical measures
- tried and tested behaviors
Animalization of the ship’s spur: boar head and ship's eye
Attic-red-figure Stamnos, London Brit. Mus.
Fos, Bouches-duRhône,
Istres Mus.
René Beaucaire
Fishing boat from Sicily
Hansen, Von der Schönheit alter Schiffe 1971, 57
Attic-red-figure Kylix, Paris Louvre
Modern examples from Madeira and
Salerno
Apotropaic horns at stem and mast
Leadhorn from the wreck of Albenga
Albenga Mus. Navale
Romano
Mast-step coin from the Roman wreck Blackfriars I, London
Carlson, Int. Journal Nautical Arch. 36/2, 2007, 318 Marsden, Ships of the Port of London 1996, 77
Ancient shipwrecks with mast-step coins
Carlson, Int. Journal Nautical Arch. 36/2, 2007, 319
Oinochoe from Mykalessos,
Thiva Arch. Mus. Theben
Prayer at the start
Illustrations of sacred rituals during shipping
„Guard it (the ship)!“
salutatio deorum litoralium
Relief for the Dioskures from Piraeus
Athen Arch. Nat.-Mus.
Relief from Portus, Rom Mus. Villa Torlonia
Sacrifice on entering the port
Roman anchor stock from Sicily, Palermo Mus. Arch. Reg. A. Salinas;
Inscription: Iovi // Veneri
Barque de Blessey, Dijon Mus. Arch.
Boater from the Magdalensberg,
Klagenfurt Landesmus. Kärnten
without location, Paris Mus. Guimet
Votive offerings in the context of ancient shipping
Roman anchor stock from Cyrene, London Brit. Mus.;
Inscription: Zeus // Hypatos
Votive ships known from different places in Europe
Illustration of the offering of a
votive ship
Henri Royer (1869–1938),
L'Ex-voto, 1898
Quimper, Mus. Beaux-Arts
AE 1969/70, 436: Marbach (227 n.Chr.)
In h(onorem) d(omus) d(ivinae) / Bonis
Cas{s}ibu[s] / eo quod pos[t] /
summersam{m} / bon(a)e salut[i] / sit
redditu[s] / et sui(s) L(ucius) Licinius /
Divixtu[s] / negotiato[r] / ex voto posu[it] /
Abbino / et Maximo / co(n)s(ulibus) l(ibens)
l(aetus) m(erito)
In honor of the divine imperial house. For the Good Chances, the
merchant Lucius Licinius Divixtus had put (the altar) for himself and
his own due of his vow, because after the shipwreck he has
regained good health. Done during the consulship of Albinus and
Maximus.
Votive altar for rescue from a shipwreck
on the Neckar
Offering for the rescue from distress
[---]n Erucina hic Amaranthus naufragiu fe[cit?]
Heidenheim, from the leveling for the bath of the Roman military camp, late 1st/early 2nd century AD
Amaranthus has offered this to Erucina because of
his shipwreck.
Technical measures to optimize ship safety
Wreck Monaco A: a complexe construction of the keel,
Pomey u.a., Int. Journal Nautical Arch. 41/2, 2012, 246
Wreck Madrague de Giens: bilge box &
Wreck Saint Gervais 2: bilge pump,
Carre/Jézégou, Archaeonautica 4, 1984,
130 und 139
Wreck Saint Gervais 3:
floorboard with water drainage holes,
kept free with ropes found in situ,
Liou/Gassend, Archaeonautica 10, 1990, 233
Wreck Villa Nova (Bay of Grado): Fragments of leaddressed
planks
Gaddi, Operazione Iulia Felix 1999, 22
Sounding leads: examples and types
Oleson, Testing the waters 2008, 120–122.
Orientation: Periploi and lighthouses
Codex Palatinus Graecus 398, 40v–54v: Ps. Flavius Arrianus,
Periplus maris Erythraei (Konstantinopel, late 9th c.)
Iskan et al. Patara. Lykiens Tor zur römischen Welt 2008, 86
London?; Brick (later) with graffito of a
lighthouse, London Brit. Mus.
Dover, Roman
lighthouse
Flavius Vegetius Renatus,
Praecepta belli navalis
Timetable of shipping
27.5.–14.9. shipping is safe
14.9.–11.11. shipping is
dangerous
11.11.–10.3. mare clausum
Sueton, Claudius 18, 2
Shipping during winter: incentive and calculation
Als aber einmal wegen andauernder Missernten das Brotkorn
sehr knapp geworden war, hielt ihn die Menge mitten auf dem
Forum an und ihn mit Schimpfworten und zugleich mit Brotstükken
so sehr an, dass er sich nur mit Not durch eine Hintertür auf
das Palatium zu retten vermochte. Daraufhin traf er alle erdenklichen
Vorkehrungen, um die Kornzufuhr auch für die Zeit der
Winterstürme zu sichern. So garantierte er z.B. den Kornhändlern
ihre Gewinne, indem er den Verlust übernahm,
wenn einer in der Sturmzeit Schiffbruch erleide, und gewährte
denen, die Handelsschiffe bauten, jedem nach seinen
Verhältnissen große Vergünstigungen:
Profit guarantee for the grain traders in the case of a shipwreck
during winter
Granting benefits to those who built merchant ships
Sueton, Claudius 18, 2
Shipping during winter: incentive and calculation
Demosthenes, or. 35, 10
Als aber einmal wegen andauernder Missernten das Brotkorn
sehr knapp geworden war, hielt ihn die Menge mitten auf dem
Forum an und ihn mit Schimpfworten und zugleich mit Brotstükken
so sehr an, dass er sich nur mit Not durch eine Hintertür auf
das Palatium zu retten vermochte. Daraufhin traf er alle erdenklichen
Vorkehrungen, um die Kornzufuhr auch für die Zeit der
Winterstürme zu sichern. So garantierte er z.B. den Kornhändlern
ihre Gewinne, indem er den Verlust übernahm,
wenn einer in der Sturmzeit Schiffbruch erleide, und gewährte
denen, die Handelsschiffe bauten, jedem nach seinen
Verhältnissen große Vergünstigungen:
Androkles of Sphettos and Nausikrates of Karystos have lent Artemo
and Apollodoros, both of Phasalis, 3.000 drachmas in silver for a
voyage from Athens to Mende or Skione and from there to the Bosporos,
of if they wish as far as Borysthenes on the left-hand side of the
Black Sea, and from there back to Athens, at a rate of 225 drachmas
per 1.000, but if they set sail from the Black Sea to the Hieron after
the rising of Arcturus (the dog star) at the rate of 300 per 1.000.
This is on the security of 3.000 jars of wine from Mende, which will be
transported from Mende or Skione in the twenty-oared ship owned by
Hyblesios.
Contract of loan: interest rate 22.5% - if shipping continues in winter 30%
Attic black-figure Kylix,
Berlin Antiken-Slg.
Mosaic from Dougga, Tunis Mus. Bardo
Illustration of pirates (transformed into dolphins) in the myth of the capture of
Dionysus
Weapons on board of transport vessels: Prevention against pirate raids?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
4.Jh.v.
3.Jh.v.M
itte
2.-1.Jh.v.
M
itte
1.Jh.v.-1.Jh.n.
2.Jh.n.
3./4.Jh.n.
5./6.Jh.n.Datierung
n Schiffe
Albenga
Mal di Ventre
BenicarloBaia Salinedda
P. Köln III 147: Contract of hiring a ship (augustan time, unknown provenance)
Merchant names in the painted inscriptions on Roman amphorae (Cologne)
Baetian olive oil amphora
South Gallic olive amphora
Iberian amphora for fish sauces
South Gallic wine amphoraLyon: amphora for fish sauces
P. Lugd. Bat. XIII 6: List of cargo
Paul. Dig. XIV 2,2,2: lex Rhodia de iactu
Cum in eadem nave varia mercium genera complures mercatores coegissent
praetereaque multi vectores servi liberique in ea navigarent, tempestate gravi
orta necessario iactura facta erat …
When, in the same ship several traders had stored various kinds of goods, and many
passengers, slaves and free, sailed in it, the necessary jettisoning was carried out
because a heavy storm had arisen …
Several merchants transport their goods on the same ship
„jettisoning”: throwing goods overboard to lighten the load of the ship
Simple names in painted inscriptions on Roman amphorae (Mainz)
P. London II 378 (2. Jh.n.Chr.)
Sijpestejn, ZPE 95, 1993, 127–130
Merchant companions on ancient cargo ships
… notice to a not mentioned person that Stotoëtis, son of Apynchis grandson of
Stotoëtis, will serve as supercargo for Soknopaiu Nesos in Kerke where he will be
responsible for the lading of 12.722 artabas (of wheat) of the 3rd regnal year of an
unknown emperor into the ship formerly belonging to Papirios son of Hermas from
the same village of Soknopaiu Nesos.
Merchant companions on ancient cargo ships
The merchant has the right to have two servants on board; but he is to pay their ferry.
Fragmenta ad rem nauticam pertinentia, quae vulgo vocantur Ius navale Rhodiorum
… inprimi charactere regulas ferreas et / adplicari
prosecutores ex officio tuo iu/beas …
... so that you give instruction to mark the iron measuring vessels,
and that accompanying personnel from your office is involved …
CIL III 14165,8 = ILS 6987 = AE 2006, 1580
Berytus (Paris Louvre)
Looking at the risk = looking from different perspectives