Navis lusoria
The Navis lusoria ( Latin literally "playful / dancing ship"; plural naves lusoriae ) is a type of Roman warship from late antiquity . Lusoriae were slender and shallow rowing boats driven by about thirty rowers who sat on one level. In addition, a mast could be rigged .
Importance in Roman times
Naves lusoriae were mainly used for patrol trips on rivers. With a length of up to 21.7 m, a width of about 2.80 m and 96 cm height board they belonged to the category of small, fast military ships, could be used to also shallow and confusing flow ranges traveled, approximately from the classis Germanica at Rhine and Danube . Archaeologically, the type mentioned by late antique writers such as Ammianus Marcellinus is best known from the findings of the Mainz Roman ships . Since the Lusoriae only have a flat lateral plan with little dimensional stability , sailing is extremely demanding.
The older type of Navis actuaria , which was primarily a transport ship, must be distinguished from the Navis lusoria .
Reconstructions
Danube
The reconstruction by Olaf Höckmann , based on the remains of the Roman ships in Mainz, served as the basis for the authentic replica of a Navis lusoria by students from the Department of Ancient History at the University of Regensburg . Since the ship was christened in 2004, the Regensburg ancient historians have been experimentally investigating the use of this late antique type of ship in terms of nautical possibilities through numerous trips on the Naab and Danube . For example, it was tested in which way the narrow point of the Danube breakthrough at Kelheim near Regensburg could be overcome with a Navis lusoria. In the summer of 2006, the ship was subjected to a long-distance test: In the footsteps of Emperor Julian , the route Regensburg- Budapest was covered on the Danube . In the course of this long-distance experiment, which is the longest river trip by a Roman rowing ship since the end of antiquity, the students were able to cover distances of up to 100 km per day and thus prove the high degree of mobility of the late Roman river fleets.
Lusoria Rhenana
Another reconstruction of a Navis lusoria, which is also based on the Mainz ship finds, has been built since January 2010 on the site of the General-Hans-Graf-Sponeck-Kaserne in Germersheim . The ship was launched in Wörth in April 2011, and the first test drives took place in May 2011. Later, tourists and visitors are to be given the opportunity to sail on some waters in the district of Germersheim with the ancient ship. Christoph Schäfer from the Department of Ancient History at the University of Trier , who was already involved in the Regensburg reconstruction, is responsible for the scientific supervision of the project and the faithful reconstruction . Since April 6, 2013, the Lusoria has been on the Setzfeldsee in Neupotz over the summer months and can be rented for trips and weddings.
literature
- Hans-Christian Dirscherl: Queen of the Danube . In: Adventure Archeology 4/2004, p. 50ff.
- Hans Ferkel, Heinrich Konen, Christoph Schäfer (Eds.): Navis lusoria. A Roman ship in Regensburg . Scripta-Mercaturae-Verlag, St. Katharinen 2004, ISBN 3-89590-152-0 .
- Florian Himmler, Heinrich Konen, Josef Löffl: Exploratio Danubiae. A reconstructed late antique river warship in the footsteps of Emperor Julian Apostatas . Frank & Timme-Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3865962270 ( review ).
- Christoph Schäfer : Lusoria. A Roman ship in the experiment. Reconstruction, tests, results . Koehler, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7822-0976-2 ( publisher information ).
Web links
- Article in the Regensburg university newspaper
- Homepage of the Regensburg project
- Homepage of the Germersheim project "Lusoria Rhenana"
- Late antique border defense
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ammianus Marcellinus 17, 2, 3; 18, 2, 12.Historia Augusta , Quadraginta tyranni 15, 1, 2.
- ↑ Roman ship “Lusoria Rhenana” ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press review.
