Boarding a cruise ship in antiquity

Archimedes and his “Eureka” are common knowledge, but few people know that he designed an enormous cruise ship, the Syracusia.

It happened during the reign of King Hieron II of Syracuse, who in 240 BC ordered Archias of Corinth to execute the plans. The design was a very ambitious one, and we may wonder how on earth anyone in antiquity could possibly build the biggest and largest vessel ever. Money clearly was not an issue, for it seems that even the best was good enough! What’s more surprising is that the project was completed in one year by 300 craftsmen.

Athenaeus gives us a very detailed description of the Syracusia and its cargo. She could carry 1940 passengers, soldiers, and crew, and boasted plush stables for twenty horses, each with its own stall. Next was a storage room for the horses’ fodder and the quarters reserved for the riders and their slaves.

Figures from antiquity are not always reliable, but it is generally accepted that the Syracusia had a length of 110 meters, which is more than twice the largest merchant ship in those days.

Wood from the Etna was implemented, and the doors were made of cypress and citrus wood. Hemp had been imported from Iberia to make the cables, whereas pitch and more hemp came from the Rhone Valley. As soon as one deck of the ship was completed, it was covered with slabs of lead. 

The upper deck was supported by three-meter-high Atlantes or Telamones, replacing regular columns (see: The Valley of Temples at Akragas). The very top of the ship was a promenade reserved for the guests who could wander through gardens filled with different species of trees and flowers. These were watered through well-hidden lead pipes. Individual sections of this deck were made more comfortable with shaded roofs or tents covered with branches of ivy and vine. The layout inevitably led the guests to the Temple of Aphrodite, paved with agate. It was furnished with statues, and its walls were covered with frescoes. The entire ship was further adorned with statues and vases, painted walls, and fancy earthenware. Ivory and precious marble were lavishly used.

The second deck served as lodging for the passengers and counted 142 cabins, all paved with mosaics. Together, these individual pavements told the whole story of the Iliad. The guests could enjoy the comforts of a bathroom and a gymnasium, relax in a common dining room, or withdraw in the serene setting of the library and drawing room. The entertainment of the passengers was guaranteed!  

An onboard kitchen was a must, and Athenaeus confirmed that there were ovens and mills. Freshwater was stored near the head of the ship in a cistern that could hold as much as 78,000 liters. This water tank was caulked with pitch and covered with tarpaulins. Another cistern contained seawater to store the cook’s fish supply. This one, in turn, was coated with lead. Nothing is said about the service on board, the people responsible for the maintenance, and the cleaning.

The Syracusia also had its own army on board,  which, according to the sources, varied between 200 and 400 men. They were housed on a special deck in front of the ship where a giant catapult was mounted. This machine could shoot a stone weighing ninety kilograms to a distance of 200 meters. Eight towers, each manned with two archers and four men in full armor, further assured the defense of this unique vessel against any possible attack. The ship was additionally equipped with four wooden defense towers. The crew to steer this oversized ship was probably handpicked. It is said there were twenty banks of rowers. The entire ship was protected by a surrounding palisade, making enemy boarding impossible. 

All the components of the Syracusia were beyond normal proportions as Archimedes clearly thought out of the box! Besides, this is one example where his famous screw was successfully implemented to pump out the bilge water.

The number of provisions on board was equally huge. Athenaeus once again provides the facts and figures: 90,000 bushels of grain, 10,000 amphorae of Sicilian salt fish (is this the famous garum?), some 500-600 tons of wool (for what purpose?), and 20,000 talents were spent on “other cargo”. All these goods were stored in the lowest deck.

To ensure safe anchoring, the Syracusia counted eight iron anchors. Unfortunately, these were used only once because that huge ship made only one single trip across the Mediterranean to Alexandria in Egypt. It is important to realize that only a few ports were large enough to receive this size of vessel. As far as I know, besides Syracuse, only Rhodes, Pergamon, and probably Portus/Rome offered the necessary space and maneuverability for the Syracusia. 

In the end, all King Hieron could do, it seems, was to present the Syracusia as a gift to Ptolemy III Euergetes. It was eventually renamed Alexandreia. Otherwise, nobody knows what happened to this proud, colossal ship afterward.

[The picture of the mosaic representing the Death of Archimedes is from NYU Mathematics]

Archimedes, the most illustrious citizen of Syracuse

If one name is immediately associated with Syracuse, it certainly is the mathematical genius Archimedes (ca 287-212 BC). Yes, we all know he was Greek, but never realized that he actually lived and died in Sicily, which was then part of Magna Graecia.

It is unclear whether he was a close friend or a relative of King Hieron II of Syracuse (c.308-215 BC). Still, we know that the king sponsored Archimedes’ trip to Alexandria to study at the renowned Library. Here, he seems to have met his friend Conon of Samos and Eratosthenes of Cyrene, whom he mentioned in the introduction of two of his works. 

Archimedes was working for Hieron II and his son Gelon II, constructing devices such as catapults, burning mirrors, and an iron claw, a sort of crane with a grappling hook that could lift the ships out of the water and make them capsize and sink. He is also famous for inventing an orrery, i.e., a mechanical model of the solar system. The sun is at its center, and the Earth rotates around it. The device could predict solar and lunar eclipses. Archimedes established the relationship between the circumference and the diameter of a circle. 

His best-known invention happened while he took a bath and noticed that the water level rose when he stepped into the tub. This led to his theory to calculate the volume of an object, and he was so excited about his discovery that he ran out of his house, stark naked, shouting “Eureka!” I found it! Vitruvius says that Archimedes applied this principle when King Hieron II asked him to determine whether the votive crown he had ordered for a temple was indeed made with pure gold he had supplied. He suspected the goldsmith of adding some cheaper silver. A charming anecdote, no doubt, but it may not be entirely accurate as the calculations are far more complex than that.

Another invention called Archimedes’ screw has been used successfully over the centuries and still is in those places where water has to be moved from a lower level to higher grounds or canals. His system, consisting of a revolving screw inside a cylinder, even applies to moving coal or grain. There are, however, discussions that tend to attribute the invention to the Babylonians, who used the principle to irrigate their Hanging Gardens.

As written down by Athenaeus of Naucratis, history tells us that King Hieron II asked Archimedes in 240 BC to build a large ship to carry huge supplies. It should also be used in war as well as for pleasure. It was, in fact, a catamaran weighing 4,000 tons for which timber from Mount Etna was used together with rosewood and ivory from Africa and rope from Iberia – nothing less! It could transport 600 people and was enhanced with a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, a gymnasium, and even a garden! Because of its size, the ship that was appropriately called the Syracusia would leak considerably through the hull, but Archimedes’ screw could pump the excess bilge water out. As the boat was far too big to anchor in most harbors, Hieron II generously sent it to Ptolemy IV Philopator in Egypt, loaded with wheat, when Egypt was struck by famine.

It should be noted that Hieron II perfectly realized the advantages of taking the side of Rome rather than resisting it, and his sixty-year-long reign brought the city great prosperity. This especially shows in the colossal altar used to sacrifice to Zeus. As many as 450 bulls could be offered in one day. It is still there for us to see, nearly 200m long and 23 meters wide, making it the most enormous altar ever known. Initially, it was 15 meters high until the Spaniards reused the stones to fortify the harbor of Syracuse in 1526. We also owe this king the construction of the largest theater of the Greek world of his day, which could hold 15,000 people. When Hieron II died in 215 BC, his successor decided to choose the Carthaginians' side, who were threatening Rome at the time. This event had unfortunate results for our dear Archimedes.

 

During the Second Punic War, the Romans, after a two-year-long siege, finally took possession of Syracuse. The leading general, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, had issued clear instructions that whoever found Archimedes should treat him kindly and not harm him. Yet an inpatient soldier, noticing that the old man refused to meet his general, killed Archimedes, totally absorbed in his mathematical diagram. Apparently, the soldier had not realized that he was addressing Archimedes – this is at least what Plutarch tells us.

Not a single trace is left of Archimedes in today’s Syracuse, except for a square in the heart of Ortygia that is named after him, Piazza Archimede. Recently, a tiny science museum has opened there, entirely dedicated to the city’s famous citizen, exhibiting many interactive displays and models that illustrate some of his inventions and theories, like the Stomachon, a 14-piece composition puzzle; a sphere contained by the cylinder; and the burning mirrors. These are all very intriguing and very much worth the visit.

[Drawings taken from Wikipedia]