Diekplous! or something thereabouts PD Dr. Jorit Wintjes - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Diekplous!

• r something thereabouts …

PD Dr. Jorit Wintjes Lehrstuhl für Alte Geschichte, Universität Würzburg

• I. Introductjon: Naval Warfare in the

Ancient World – quite important…

The Ancients and the Sea.

Large-scale naval warfare did end with Actjum, did it not?

              

Blue – 1st c. AD, Red – 2nd c. AD, Green – 3rd c. AD, Black – 4th c. AD

                

Some pleasant truths about ancient naval warfare …

1. Ancient naval warfare features prominently throughout ancient history. Some pleasant truths about ancient naval warfare …

1. Ancient naval warfare features prominently throughout ancient history. 2. The importance of naval warfare is refmected by the available evidence. => literary evidence. => epigraphic evidence. => iconographic evidence. => archaeological evidence. Some pleasant truths about ancient naval warfare …

1. Ancient naval warfare features prominently throughout ancient history. 2. The importance of naval warfare is refmected by the available evidence. => literary evidence. => epigraphic evidence. => iconographic evidence. => archaeological evidence. 3. Naval warfare is inherently complex – and was already so in antjquity. Some pleasant truths about ancient naval warfare …

Of known unknowns and unknown unknowns…

Present-day knowledge about ancient land and naval warfare compared

Of known unknowns and unknown unknowns…

100

Present-day knowledge about ancient land and naval warfare compared

sea – land a n tj q u i t y

Of known unknowns and unknown unknowns…

100

Present-day knowledge about ancient land and naval warfare compared

30-35 sea – land a n tj q u i t y t e c h n

• l
• g

y 5-10

Of known unknowns and unknown unknowns…

100

Present-day knowledge about ancient land and naval warfare compared

30-35 sea – land a n tj q u i t y t e c h n

• l
• g

y

• p

e r a tj

• n

s 5-10 0-… 10-15

… and some rather unpleasant truths about ancient naval warfare.

4. Much less knowledge is lost about land warfare than about naval warfare. => most obvious in weapons & equipment = technology. … and some rather unpleasant truths about ancient naval warfare.

4. Much less knowledge is lost about land warfare than about naval warfare. => most obvious in weapons & equipment = technology. 5. The available evidence ofgers litule informatjon on technology and signifjcantly less on operatjons. => no corpus of naval “taktjka” extant. … and some rather unpleasant truths about ancient naval warfare.

4. Much less knowledge is lost about land warfare than about naval warfare. => most obvious in weapons & equipment = technology. 5. The available evidence ofgers litule informatjon on technology and signifjcantly less on operatjons. => no corpus of naval “taktjka” extant. 6. At sea, even more so than on land, it is all about operatjons. => a key part of the overall picture is missing! … and some rather unpleasant truths about ancient naval warfare.

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC

Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, 1863

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC ~350 Carthaginian ships vs. ~330 Roman ships

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC ~350 Carthaginian ships vs. ~330 Roman ships

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC ~350 Carthaginian ships vs. ~330 Roman ships

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC A standard reconstructjon of the sequence of events.

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC A standard reconstructjon of the sequence of events.

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC A standard reconstructjon of the sequence of events.

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC The nasty truth about Quinqueremes: they are big...

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC The nasty truth about Quinqueremes: they are big...

width of the ship: 5m width of the ship including oarsmen: ~ 10m!

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC The nasty truth about Quinqueremes: they are big...

10 ships = 50m; 2 squadrons = 150 ships in this „formatjon“: 750m – outrigger to

• utrigger!

width of the ship: 5m width of the ship including oarsmen: ~ 10m!

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC The nasty truth about Quinqueremes: they are big...

10 ships = 50m; 2 squadrons = 150 ships in this „formatjon“: 750m – outrigger to

• utrigger!

width of the ship: 5m width of the ship including oarsmen: ~ 10m! 5 ships = 50m; 150 ships in this formatjon: 1.500m – oars to oars!

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC What, then, happened at Ecnomus?

~150 ships

A quick example – the Batule of Cape Ecnomus, 256 BC What, then, happened at Ecnomus?

~150 ships half a ship-length in between ships: ~3.750m

• ne ship-length in between

ships: ~6.000m

• II. Simulatjons – a possible solutjon?

Simulatjons are everywhere, and have been for quite some tjme …

Types of simulatjons physical simulatj tjons interactj tjve simulatj tjons

Types of simulatjons physical simulatj tjons

Types of simulatjons physical simulatj tjons Environmental change (rivers, coastlines etc.).

Types of simulatjons physical simulatj tjons Environmental change (rivers, coastlines etc.). Testjng and validatjng the reconstructjon of ancient architecture, technology etc.

Types of simulatjons interactj tjve simulatj tjons

Types of simulatjons interactj tjve simulatj tjons Infmuence of human decision-making on sequence of events

Types of simulatjons interactj tjve simulatj tjons Infmuence of human decision-making on sequence of events General process / systems analysis

Systems analysis is great – but what exactly is the system?

Systems analysis is great – but what exactly is the system? large group of ships – fmeet

Systems analysis is great – but what exactly is the system? large group of ships – fmeet small group of ships – squadron

Systems analysis is great – but what exactly is the system? large group of ships – fmeet small group of ships – squadron Individual ship

A couple of – rather unsetuling – statements on simulatjons

A couple of – rather unsetuling – statements on simulatjons 1. Interactjve simulatjons are a proven method for training in and transmittjng knowledge of processes ... => … which are known in detail …  … which is not the case with ancient naval ops!

A couple of – rather unsetuling – statements on simulatjons 1. Interactjve simulatjons are a proven method for training in and transmittjng knowledge of processes ... => … which are known in detail …  … which is not the case with ancient naval ops! 2. Interactjve simulatjons are a proven method for analyzing systems and processes … => where the result does not match expectatjons ground in knowledge of the nature of the system/process.  There is no such knowledge with ancient naval ops!

A couple of – rather unsetuling – statements on simulatjons 1. Interactjve simulatjons are a proven method for training in and transmittjng knowledge of processes ... => … which are known in detail …  … which is not the case with ancient naval ops! 2. Interactjve simulatjons are a proven method for analyzing systems and processes … => where the result does not match expectatjons ground in knowledge of the nature of the system/process.  There is no such knowledge with ancient naval ops! 3. Interactjve Simulatjons work best if there is only one variable element in a set of otherwise known factors.  “known factors” is not a terribly accurate descriptjon

• f what is known about ancient naval operatjons…

• III. Diekplous! – The project

The known knowns and the known unknowns …

The known knowns and the known unknowns …

Olympias from above

The known knowns and the known unknowns …

Olympias from above 36,9 m 5,5 m 10 m

Available data on ancient naval warfare

Available data on ancient naval warfare 1. Signifjcant amount of performance data from trireme reconstructjon Olympias. => Allows for a moderately precise reconstructjon of tactjcal capabilitjes  Olympias is a “fmoatjng hypothesis” (B. Rankov)!

Available data on ancient naval warfare 1. Signifjcant amount of performance data from trireme reconstructjon Olympias. => Allows for a moderately precise reconstructjon of tactjcal capabilitjes  Olympias is a “fmoatjng hypothesis” (B. Rankov)! 2. Data on tactjcal/operatjonal procedures can also be taken from literary sources.  Ofuen poor level of detail.

Available data on ancient naval warfare The kyklos – example involving 24 ships

250 m

Available data on ancient naval warfare 1. Signifjcant amount of performance data from trireme reconstructjon Olympias. => Allows for a moderately precise reconstructjon of tactjcal capabilitjes  Olympias is a “fmoatjng hypothesis” (B. Rankov)! 2. Data on tactjcal/operatjonal procedures can also be taken from literary sources.  Ofuen poor level of detail. 3. With polyreme warfare being fundamentally similar to trireme warfare, data is to some extent relevant to Hellenistjc and later polyremes…  Really?

Main purpose of Diekplous!

Main purpose of Diekplous! 1. Establishing a tactjcal simulatjon of a 5th c. trireme allowing to exploit the capabilitjes and limitatjons of the type.

Main purpose of Diekplous! 1. Establishing a tactjcal simulatjon of a 5th c. trireme allowing to exploit the capabilitjes and limitatjons of the type. 2. Puttjng the individual ship into the context of a multj-ship engagement. => dynamics of large-scale unit movement => C3 – issues

Main purpose of Diekplous! 1. Establishing a tactjcal simulatjon of a 5th c. trireme allowing to exploit the capabilitjes and limitatjons of the type. 2. Puttjng the individual ship into the context of a multj-ship engagement. => dynamics of large-scale unit movement => C3 – issues 3. Analyzing 5th/4th c. naval history by employing results gained from 1. and 2.

Main purpose of Diekplous! 1. Establishing a tactjcal simulatjon of a 5th c. trireme allowing to exploit the capabilitjes and limitatjons of the type. 2. Puttjng the individual ship into the context of a multj-ship engagement. => dynamics of large-scale unit movement => C3 – issues 3. Analyzing 5th/4th c. naval history by employing results gained from 1. and 2. 4. Transferring methodology and results to Hellenistjc and later polyreme warfare.