this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
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Suck at sea battles? Just turn them into regular battles! (infosec.pub)
submitted 2 months ago by mech@feddit.org to c/roughromanmemes@piefed.social
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[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Are there any records of Carthage’s response? Just sailing further away before you’re spiked seems like the obvious strategy.

Pre-steam engine ships turn pretty slowly. There's not much of an agile dodge to be had while still remaining in maneuvering distance for archery, ramming, or traditional boarding. Shipboard artillery was used, but only sporadically and primarily as a harassing tool rather than dedicated ship-sinking devices (anything heavy enough to sink a ship is also heavy enough to be a bad idea to put on a ship; and generally too inaccurate to hit a moving target on the open seas).

Carthage was essentially in the position of choosing to either fight the Romans with their new spike bridges, or just not fighting them, which is effectively giving up control of the sea whenever a Roman fleet shows up.

Carthage chose to fight, considering, one presumes, that their more experienced marines with their sea legs would be a match for a bunch of landlubbers. Or simply considering that giving up control of the sea was unacceptable.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hmm. I suppose so, although if the wind wasn't going inland and their ships were faster, maneuvering downwind and setting the sails to run seems like an option. But then you don't necessarily know where the Romans are, either... What's the Roman equivalent of an armchair?

And yeah, it's also a bit of a meme that Carthage couldn't fight them up-close during a boarding.

[–] PugJesus@piefed.social 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Hmm. I suppose so, although if the wind wasn’t going inland and their ships were faster, maneuvering downwind and setting the sails to run seems like an option.

Winds are notoriously finicky! Before the 'Age of Sail', you had to wait for a good wind to make any kind of crossing. Even crossings as short as the English Channel could be held off for months until a fleet had a good wind ready for them! Caesar, famously, ran into wind-related delays in both of his crossings of the Channel to Britannia.

Rigging design in the Age of Sail reduced this by greatly increasing the angle at which the wind could be utilized in the sails, but even then delays for a good wind were not unknown.

What’s the Roman equivalent of an armchair?

A couch, or a curule seat if you're feeling the authority of an official

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 months ago

I think a "curule general" would just be a general, lol.