Nautical Archaeologist & Ancient Historian • Greek & Roman Maritime History & Archaeology • Naval Warfare, Warships, & Naval Rams http://stephendecasien.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mkyhhnyjck23Someone over on X confidently claimed that certain ships never existed because we haven’t found any wrecks, and “every fleet in history has shipwrecks.” Well… welcome to antiquity, I guess. By that standard, we can go ahead and erase most ancient navies from existence.04 May 2026 00:53 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkyhhnyjck23https://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mhsg4vnahs2w“For when a ship was overtaken by several triremes and struck from all sides by their bronze rams, as the water rushed in, it would be swallowed by the sea with all its crew.” - Diod. Sic. 13.16.324 Mar 2026 10:57 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsg4vnahs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mkafm45tvk2vYou have to give serious credit to Octavian and Marcus Agrippa’s naval forces at the Battle of Actium for not panicking when they saw the size and scale of the ships Mark Antony and Cleopatra brought. Visit the Actian Victory Monument and you understand it immediately.24 Apr 2026 11:16 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkafm45tvk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mk7u6dcyxk2gI love the Olympias trireme, but it still bothers me that they used the Athlit ram design. Even the publication admits the mismatch. Still, it was an ambitious experimental project and some compromises were inevitable. Maybe time for a quinquereme build next with an Egadi ram?24 Apr 2026 06:04 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk7u6dcyxk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mk56sivk322oNaval blockades in antiquity rarely seem to be carried out solely by naval forces; most have some form of land-based pressure. The closest case I can think of is the Siege of Tyre, though even there the mole proved decisive. Can anyone think of a successful example carried out by naval forces alone?23 Apr 2026 04:36 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk56sivk322ohttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mk4nchmx622mWe can only guess what happened to the Punic ships after the Battle of the Egadi Islands (241 BCE). Sources vary wildly on how many were destroyed, captured, or recovered. Some were likely reused, others stripped, plenty just lost. What’s striking is the silence on the rams.22 Apr 2026 23:23 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk4nchmx622mhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mk3722o44s2nOut of all the Punic Wars, the First is the best because… lots of warships… and lots of rams… [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 Apr 2026 09:35 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3722o44s2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mjxu4o2vns2xPhilo Mechanicus would love this thread…he was a sucker for naval blockade talking points. [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Apr 2026 01:41 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjxu4o2vns2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mjnhkum5ck26My sister’s new article in Science!!! Congrats 🎉 @coevolvinglab.bsky.social Sex effects on gene expression across the human cerebral cortex at cell type resolution | Science https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea906316 Apr 2026 22:30 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjnhkum5ck26https://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mjh4o4imf22dGot a chance between teaching classes to explore the historic shipyard where China’s first aircraft carrier (the Liaoning) was commissioned. The story behind it is honestly wild. This place once produced a significant number of Chinese naval vessels (also the Shandong aircraft carrier).14 Apr 2026 09:59 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjh4o4imf22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mi4jzjle5k2d“If you should chance to have a naval force that is slightly inferior to that of the enemy, take on your fighting decks your best and most experienced soldiers. Order them neither to climb out, nor to board any enemy ship, but to use the bronze ram.” – Philo Polior. D.103 [104.9].28 Mar 2026 11:34 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi4jzjle5k2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mifelnvivs2hIn my intro to Digital Humanities class, I present one core idea: every project should be guided by human judgment from start to finish. I think many students came in expecting to learn how AI or certain programs could do all their work for them.31 Mar 2026 23:50 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mifelnvivs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mi4jzjle5k2d“If you should chance to have a naval force that is slightly inferior to that of the enemy, take on your fighting decks your best and most experienced soldiers. Order them neither to climb out, nor to board any enemy ship, but to use the bronze ram.” – Philo Polior. D.103 [104.9].28 Mar 2026 11:34 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi4jzjle5k2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mi4cwlb2xk2vWarships with rams are everywhere in antiquity! Here’s another one I didn’t include in my article on naval ram portrayals (DeCasien, 2025). A small bone "appliqué", mentioned by Casanovas et al. (2021), shows a warship prow with a ram, likely part of a Punic decorative lectus.28 Mar 2026 09:27 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mi4cwlb2xk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mhsg4vnahs2w“For when a ship was overtaken by several triremes and struck from all sides by their bronze rams, as the water rushed in, it would be swallowed by the sea with all its crew.” - Diod. Sic. 13.16.324 Mar 2026 10:57 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsg4vnahs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mh7jzmnfjk2jThanks to the Anthropuzzled podcast for having me on to talk about nautical archaeology! Episode comes out in July!16 Mar 2026 22:47 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh7jzmnfjk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mgp7z3pwis2uAccording to the ancient historian Eutropius (Brev. 2.27), today marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Egadi Islands, fought on March 10, 241 BCE. I have the privilege of working on the battle site itself, where excavations have recovered a remarkable range of material!10 Mar 2026 11:05 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgp7z3pwis2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mgoaugn4222cOne thing I enjoy about ancient history is the distance. It gives people room to explore big questions without the weight that often comes with more recent history, while still offering lessons that apply just as much today.10 Mar 2026 01:47 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgoaugn4222chttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mggxmjabmc2jGiven the current academic job market, the old adage “publish or perish” increasingly feels like “publish and perish anyway.” I’m glad to have a temporary position, but it still makes the future feel uncertain.07 Mar 2026 04:13 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mggxmjabmc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mge5qa4vss24One thing I really love in Greek and Latin poetry is how naval rams are often referred to simply as bronze rather than by technical terms like rostrum or embolos. The ships don’t just ram each other—they cut through the sea with bronze, they clash in bronze, or their prows bear teeth of bronze.06 Mar 2026 01:25 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mge5qa4vss24https://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mga2e5tkbs22Whoever made this graphic hates ancient warships….04 Mar 2026 10:14 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mga2e5tkbs22https://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mg2udw6gd22uStill working on the same paper about the Syracusan trireme modifications of 413 BCE, and my interpretation keeps shifting every time I go back to the sources. The evidence is so compressed and assumes so much background knowledge that each reread seems to suggest a different reconstruction.02 Mar 2026 08:43 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg2udw6gd22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mf4riovogc2fI have the proofs in hand to review, but unfortunately the release isn’t scheduled until 2027! Slowly but surely getting all my ram ideas onto paper and out into the world. Honestly, I’ll take any excuse to talk about ancient naval warfare. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Feb 2026 09:32 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf4riovogc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mef6eglip22yTried the AI caricature trend. Asked it to draw me and my job. Not sure whether to laugh or file a complaint.09 Feb 2026 00:18 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mef6eglip22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3me3ugtm2hs2b"Half his body was under water, & half above it; & this was carried all over the sea — a piteous sight — fastened in death upon the ship's ram. Both fleets now increased their speed, & the rowers' faces, as they sped on, were spattered with a bloody dew from the splashing oars." - Sil. Pun. 14.48005 Feb 2026 07:27 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3me3ugtm2hs2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mdzgz4ds4s2eBeen tagging all naval battles, coastal actions, ship engagements, and smaller maritime operations in this copy of Caesar. Also finding little nuggets of solid seafaring detail, but as with Caesar, it all gets overshadowed by everything else going on. I think it’s time to get back to Thucydides!04 Feb 2026 08:21 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdzgz4ds4s2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/sdecasien.bsky.social/post/3mdubbhy4j22wAfter reading a lot about ancient naval warfare, I’m convinced fighting at sea was one of the worst ways to die in antiquity. The five that stand out most: 1. Beaten to death with an oar while trying to swim away. 2. Falling overboard and getting crushed between two ships as they rammed.02 Feb 2026 06:55 +0000at://did:plc:yaz52url6hpkrdrk6alwpbo2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdubbhy4j22w