Gaius Duilius and the CorvusThe Romans

Chapter 2 Case Study

How the corvus worked…

3. Sharp ‘beak’ penetrates enemy hull

2. A System of ropes & pulleys lowers the corvus

1. The corvus, a 4ft by 36 ftbridge on a rotating axle is fitted to the Roman ship

4. The Roman landlubber armyfights on a flat surface and the enemy ship is disabled

Images courtesy of Andrew McCabe: http://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/Corvus.htmlThis is an excellent website with scholarship of the development of the corvus in a number of sources.

Aes grave:‘heavy bronze’Both the platform and the sharp beak are visible

Fighting platform

Sharp beak

Ramming prow

New shape for thebeak & platform

Coins minted by theend of the 3rd C, BC were smaller & moreDetailed, with writing to denote a mint: ‘ROMA’

Rostral column reconstruction

Prows

Anchors

‘MCR - colonna rostrata di C Duilio 1150130’ by Lalupa – . Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MCR_-_colonna_rostrata_di_C_Duilio_1150130.JPG#mediaviewer/File:MCR_-_colonna_rostrata_di_C_Duilio_1150130.JPG

G. Duilius’ dedication of booty at the Rostra, CIL 6.1300, c. 260 BC, recarved in the early imperial period

Note the arcane spellings

Captom Captum ‘Captured’

Navaled Navales ‘Ships’

Poplom populum ‘People’

The Republican Forum in the 5th Century BC

Column of Duilius?

Senate house

Temple of Saturn

Temple of Castor

RegiaLapis Niger

Proposed location ofTemple of Janus

Church of St Nicholas in Carcere

Theatre of Marcellus

Labels added by author. ‘Forum Holitorium - Lancianu 1893-1901’. Licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forum_Holitorium_-_Lancianu_1893-1901.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Forum_Holitorium_-_Lancianu_1893-1901.jpg

Image from http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2013/04/rare-bronze-rams-from-the-first-punic-war-discovered/

One of ten ancient ship prows found by the Egadi Island Survey Project (off the coast of Sicily)