Forgotten Footnotes from the Ancient World, #1 | by Jeff Miller | Mar, 2025

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corvus: In the 3rd century BC, Rome was trapped in a fierce competition with Carthage in modern-day Tunisia due to its rule of the Western Mediterranean. Carthage was a prominent sea power and Rome, whose land corps were shining as naval rivals. That changed when the Romans copied the construction of the captured Cartaginian ship and improved the design of the galley by adding a portable gangplank near the bow. Gangplanks, known as “crows” or “Colves,” were topped with iron weight similar to the crow’s beak and dropped onto an enemy ship while plunging in. The two ships were trapped together, allowing Roman soldiers to charge across the gangway and turn naval involvement. Carthage, History – The Roman Marines had a clear advantage to “a battle from the hand.”

ShivalightEnglish vocabulary Shivalightmeaning someone dedicated to luxury and joy, and is derived from the ancient Greek city of Sivalis in the Calabria region of present-day southern Italy. Founded in the 8th century BC, Sivalis’ wealth promoted the ancient report of a sensible, complacent lifestyle, rich in luxury delights of all kinds, as both a trading port and an agricultural centre. Diodorus Siculus, one such Roman reporter (written for centuries), claims that Sybaris has grown to 300,000 residents. The more likely number is 100,000, still an impressive number, aided by Shivalite’s policy of granting citizenship to those who move there.

Slinger: By the 5th century BC, Things Shot was far from what is considered a toy for children today. As Victor David Hanson writes The ancient Greek war“Lifetime training allows seasoned slingers to smash more than 350 yards of lead bullets, and potentially crush exposed limbs and facial bones…” The best slingers came from Rhodes, in the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain, on the Tessary of the Greek mainland. In fact, in the second century BC, during the two-year Roman conquest of Mallorca, the largest Balearic island, the valeric lingers located on the coastline were able to sink the invaders’ galleys by targeting the hull just below the waterline.