archaeology Military & Non Military Archaeology

Odd to read that Carthaginian rams were of lesser quality considering Carthage had been the leading naval power in the Med. at that point and superior to the Roman navy, especially during the First Punic War.
 
Now that I come to think of it Rome was known for it's advances in metallurgy, but I'm not sure they were that far along in the late third century BC.
 
Now that I come to think of it Rome was known for it's advances in metallurgy, but I'm not sure they were that far along in the late third century BC.

May be when the author writes about ram's quality he means design and construction rather then material?

As for "Carthage had been the leading naval power in the Med. at that point..." - Due to overwhelming naval power of Carthage there were no significant naval battles for more then a generation, Carthage sailors hadn't had actual battle experience and there also was no real incentive to experiment and improve ram designs and other military aspects of their ships before the 1st Punic war started.
 
May be when the author writes about ram's quality he means design and construction rather then material?

As for "Carthage had been the leading naval power in the Med. at that point..." - Due to overwhelming naval power of Carthage there were no significant naval battles for more then a generation, Carthage sailors hadn't had actual battle experience and there also was no real incentive to experiment and improve ram designs and other military aspects of their ships before the 1st Punic war started.
One is linked to the other. With the wrong kind and/or inferiour metal you are limited to what you can build.

People lived shorter lives so "generation" is a relative term. Also technogical advancement was far slower than it is today, so unless there was a specific technological breakthrough at exactly that point in time one ram design or build would not have made that much of a difference. This is not like comparing HMS Dreadnought (1906) to HMS King George V (1937). It's more like comparing two ships of the same class with one completed slightly later and to a slightly altered specification.

The quadrireme and quinquereme had been in use for about two centuries at that point. Quantity and naval tactics (as well as plain luck) would have made far more of a difference than the design of the ships which were practically the same as they had been for hundreds of years.
 

Crusaders sword.png
 
Homo-naledi.jpg

A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans. The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation and published in the journal eLife. Image credit: John Gurche / Mark Thiessen / National Geographic.

This hominin species survived until 335,000-226,000 years ago, placing it in continental Africa at the same time as the early ancestors of anatomically modern Homo sapiens were arising.
 

Odd thing is it is not the most 'artistic' mosaic I have ever seen


much better quality :)
Mosaics weren't just restricted to the most expensive houses, they were quite common among the middle class too ranging from very simple crudely made designs to imperial palace level sophistication.
 
Mosaics weren't just restricted to the most expensive houses, they were quite common among the middle class too ranging from very simple crudely made designs to imperial palace level sophistication.
I have a feeling the owner had failing eyesight - it's rough - sort of Friday afternoon job before a crucifixion
 

Roman soldier pay slip.jpg

I received my stipendium of 50 denarii, out of which I have paid barley money 16 denarii. […]rnius: food expenses 20(?) denarii; boots 5 denarii; leather strappings 2 denarii; linen tunic 7 denarii
 

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I received my stipendium of 50 denarii, out of which I have paid barley money 16 denarii. […]rnius: food expenses 20(?) denarii; boots 5 denarii; leather strappings 2 denarii; linen tunic 7 denarii
shows that nothing much changes.........

by the way very nice hand writing
 

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