Fig. 12 is an illustration of an Athenian
merchant-ship of about 500 B.C. It is taken from the same painted vase
as the galley shown on Fig. 9. If the illustration can be relied on, it
shows that these early Greek sailing-ships were not only relatively
short, but very deep. The forefoot and dead wood aft appear to have
been cut away to an extraordinary extent, probably for the purpose of
increasing the handiness. The rigging was of the type which was
practically universal in ancient ships.

Fig. 13 gives the sheer draught or side elevation, the plan, elevations
of the bow and stem, and a midship section of a Roman vessel, which from
her proportions and the shape of bow is supposed to have been a
merchant-ship. The illustration is taken from a model presented to
Greenwich Hospital by Lord Anson. The original model was of white
marble, and was found in the Villa Mattei in Rome, in the sixteenth
century.

We know from St. Paul's experiences, as described in the Acts of the
Apostles, that Mediterranean merchant-ships must often have been of
considerable size, and that they were capable of going through very
stormy voyages. St. Paul's ship contained a grain cargo, and carried 276
human beings.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Greek merchant-ship. About 500 B.C.]

In the merchant-ships oars were only used as an auxiliary means of
propulsion, the principal reliance being placed on masts and sails.
Vessels of widely different sizes were in use, the larger carrying
10,000 talents, or 250 tons of cargo. Sometimes, however, much bigger
ships were used. For instance, Pliny mentions a vessel in which the
Vatican obelisk and its pedestal, weighing together nearly 500 tons,
were brought from Egypt to Italy about the year 50 A.D. It is further
stated that this vessel carried an additional cargo of 800 tons of
lentils to keep the obelisk from shifting on board.

Lucian, writing in the latter half of the second century A.D.,
mentions, in one of his Dialogues, the dimensions of a ship which
carried corn from Egypt to the Piraeus. The figures are: length, 180 ft.;
breadth, nearly 50 ft.; depth from deck to bottom of hold, 43-1/2 ft.
The latter figure appears to be incredible. The other dimensions are
approximately those of the _Royal George_, described on p. 126.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Roman merchant-ship.]

DETAILS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF GREEK AND ROMAN GALLEYS.

It is only during the present century that we have learned, with any