07-06-2011, 06:36 AM
That sounds a lot more possible. I'd be wary about Paulinus reaching the Senegal river, btw - it's quoted as a fact in various places, based on Pliny's Natural History, but the names of the rivers and places in Pliny have not been firmly established, as far as I know. It's a hell of a long way from the Atlas to Senegal, across some major desert! There are several rivers flowing south from the Atlas, and one of these is perhaps more likely - the Draa, for example, in southern Morocco, which has sizeable palm groves (which I've visited myself, although I saw no snakes or elephants!). Pliny is also rather prone to exaggeration...
There were Roman exploration expeditions into Africa, although it's not clear quite how far they went - Nero sent two parties of praetorians to find the source of the Nile, and they possibly reached the great lakes. There was also a civilian explorer around the same time (described by Pliny again, of course!), who may have crossed the Libyan desert to the oases around Lake Chad.
Liburnians, though, are quite plausible - Agricola used them in the seas around the north of Britain, so they were clearly thought to be quite seaworthy and good exploration vessels. Two masts? why not... The only problem here would be that an oared galley is less subject to wind and tide than a sailing vessel, so might be less likely to get carried far from shore. In any case, the crew would certainly make strenuous efforts to haul themselves back eastward - you'd be looking at some seriously blistered oarsmen, at the very least.
There were Roman exploration expeditions into Africa, although it's not clear quite how far they went - Nero sent two parties of praetorians to find the source of the Nile, and they possibly reached the great lakes. There was also a civilian explorer around the same time (described by Pliny again, of course!), who may have crossed the Libyan desert to the oases around Lake Chad.
Liburnians, though, are quite plausible - Agricola used them in the seas around the north of Britain, so they were clearly thought to be quite seaworthy and good exploration vessels. Two masts? why not... The only problem here would be that an oared galley is less subject to wind and tide than a sailing vessel, so might be less likely to get carried far from shore. In any case, the crew would certainly make strenuous efforts to haul themselves back eastward - you'd be looking at some seriously blistered oarsmen, at the very least.
Nathan Ross
