Military Wharf

All states built their navies to safeguard their merchants' vital trade across the Mediterranean. The Carthaginians were the most daring seafarers of the ancient world, preferring to hire mercenaries for their land wars whilst concentrating on the construction of a huge fleet of ever-larger ships. As Carthaginian trade and the need to transport troops increased, so did the importance of sea control. They built vast war galleys manned by citizen rowers. Alongside Greek-style triremes, quinqueremes ('fives') and septiremes ('sevens'), reinforced for ramming, were constructed. Even so, the largest ship of the ancient world was the Syracusia, designed by Archimedes and built in 240BC by King Hiero II. It used some sixty times the resources needed for an average trireme and took 300 skilled workmen over a year to build.