07-25-2010, 12:27 PM
True enough. The Roman army undoubtedly had specialized troop and horse transport ships.
The ship at the link above would have been the type still in use for commerce--perhaps all the way to Britain, hence the presence of Mediterranean pottery shards at sub-Roman sites--after the Roman army had pulled back to the continent. I can't imagine a Briton warlord or king building specialized horse transports when his focus would have been on securing his immediate borders (from his Briton neighbors as much as against the Saxons). Sunk remains of these merchant ships have been found from one end of the Mediterranean to the other and into the Black Sea and Atlantic.
As pointed out above, the Saxon keels, more like later Viking long boats than like contemporary merchant ships, would have been unsuitable for moving horses. The long boats I've seen in museum at Oslo had quite thin hulls. The tour guide said the sailors couldn't walk on them, only on the foot rails. Assumedly the Saxons' keels were not so refined or fragile, but horses probably don't watch where they step quite the way a sailor would. (The Viking hull's fragility and flexibility, of course, contributed to its strength and speed on the high seas. The claimed distances they could sail or row in a day pushed credibility.)
The ship at the link above would have been the type still in use for commerce--perhaps all the way to Britain, hence the presence of Mediterranean pottery shards at sub-Roman sites--after the Roman army had pulled back to the continent. I can't imagine a Briton warlord or king building specialized horse transports when his focus would have been on securing his immediate borders (from his Briton neighbors as much as against the Saxons). Sunk remains of these merchant ships have been found from one end of the Mediterranean to the other and into the Black Sea and Atlantic.
As pointed out above, the Saxon keels, more like later Viking long boats than like contemporary merchant ships, would have been unsuitable for moving horses. The long boats I've seen in museum at Oslo had quite thin hulls. The tour guide said the sailors couldn't walk on them, only on the foot rails. Assumedly the Saxons' keels were not so refined or fragile, but horses probably don't watch where they step quite the way a sailor would. (The Viking hull's fragility and flexibility, of course, contributed to its strength and speed on the high seas. The claimed distances they could sail or row in a day pushed credibility.)
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
Ron Andrea
